William thus disappointed of bringing the Irish issue to a conclusion, and his presence being much needed in England, drew off his forces, and he himself made little delay till he set sail from Waterford to make matters in London comfortable, and keep a sharp lookout on the unfriendly proceedings of his bitter foeman, Louis XIV.
In September Count Solmes, who was left in command after William's departure, went to England, and Ginckell succeeded to his office. A better choice could not have been made; he established his head-quarters at Kilkenny.
TYRCONNELL'S POLICY.
Tyrconnell, who all along was no better than a drag on his party, who desired peace in order to secure his own estates, and who was accused of holding secret correspondence with William, sailed to France soon after the siege of Limerick. Previous to his departure he appointed the young Duke of Berwick commander-in-chief; giving him twelve councillors to aid him with their advice. Some of these were men after Tyrconnell's own heart, such as in our own days are called Cawtholics by their own party. Sarsfield happened to be among them, because, if he were not, Tyrconnell's arrangements would have been little regarded by the men of heart and head among the loyalists. Count O'Kelly declares that Tyrconnell's reasons for repairing to the presence of Kings Louis and James were to nullify tile [{717}] effect that the gallant defence of Limerick might have made upon their minds. He would so twist and remould circumstances as to show that there was not a shadow of hope for ultimate success. James appears to have long entertained the notion of recovering England by losing Ireland, hence his enduring patronage of Tyrconnell. Berwick was influenced, of course, by what he knew were the cherished wishes of his father and his father's favorite, and by his inaction, and want of cordial co-operation with Sarsfield and the others, who, like him, were in earnest, did all that in him lay to make General Ginckell's task easy. On more than one occasion the Irish party were about deposing the young duke, but he managed by a show of compliance to still retain his power.
In September of this year the brave soldier but faithless adherent, Lord Churchill, afterward Duke of Marborough, took Cork, which the Duke of Berwick had previously advised the brave M. Elligot to burn, and then retire to Kerry, as its defence seemed hopeless. He rather chose to hold it out for five days. The Duke of Grafton, a natural son of Charles II., and who bequeathed his name to the Bond street of Dublin, commanding the navy, perished at the siege, fighting against his uncle's supporters. Marlborough next marched against Kinsale, which he entered without opposition, but the new fort commanded by Sir Edmund Scott held out for twenty days.
THE RAPPAREES: UNCOMFORTABLE WINTER QUARTERS, 1690.
Those patriotic and troublesome light-armed irregulars, the rapparees, continued during the decline and fall of the year 1690 to do the English in Leinster and Munster much mischief by unexpectedly visiting places supplied with provisions, either cattle or corn, and carrying off all they could seize. So General Ginckell finding himself straitened, conceived the idea of effecting a settlement in Kerry, from which Limerick obtained much provender. With this object he directed Lieutenant-General Douglas to march on Sligo, and take it if possible, at all events to move down the west bank of the Shannon, and co-operate with Colonel Richard Brewer, then at Mullingar, in attempts to pass the river at Jamestown and Lanesboro' above, and Banagher below Athlone. While the attention of King James's generals would be drawn to these proceedings in the north and east, Major-General Tettau would quietly proceed from Cork into Kerry, and take possession of that ancient "kingdom," seconded in his expedition if necessary by forces from Clonmel under the brave Ginckell himself. The advance was really made, and skirmishes and attacks of forts ensued, and after all, the English forces were withdrawn, leaving matters pretty much as before, except the damage mutually inflicted. Some desultory encounters took place on the east bank of the Shannon between portions of the hostile forces, and the rapparees improved every opportunity of despoiling the English foe, and collecting munitions into their boggy or hilly retreats. There are sufficient materials for a dozen romances in the adventures of Maccabe, Grace, O'Higgins, O'Callaghan, O'Kavanagh, the White Sergeant, Galloping Hogan. The last-named worthy indeed figures in the two standard romances of the Jacobite wars which we are happy to possess. It may be supposed that the deeds of these heroes smelt unsavorily in the nostrils of our chaplain, who thus descanted both in sorrow and anger on their proceedings. He prefaced his remarks with an expression of Lord Baltimore to King James I., namely, that "the Irish were a wicked people, and had been as wickedly dealt withal," and conscientiously adds, "I make no application of the expression to ourselves, the most people that have been in that country know how to do it."
One expedition of some moment was made by Colonel Foulkes into an island in the Bog of Allen. This was connected by two toghers or causeways to two points on the dry land, one of them being furnished with twelve trenches. These the brave colonel, who brought three field-pieces along with him, was obliged to fill up one after the other. When he arrived he found Colonel Piper, who had approached by the other causeway. The rapparee garrison had all carefully retreated into the woods when they became aware of their danger, leaving, as Mr. Story says, "only some little things for the invaders."
Of course no quarter was ever extended to the poor rapparees. However, the usual forbearance was exhibited by the regular forces on both sides toward each other. Opposite Lanesboro, on the other side of the Shannon, were posted three regiments of Irish, with the duty of watching the English on the east bank, during some days in December; and (in Mr. Story's words) "then little hapned of moment only some small firings, and sometimes they made truces, Colonel Clifford and the other Irish officers drinking healths over to our men, and those on the other side returning the compliment."