CHAPTER XIII.

ARRIVAL OF THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH—THE SIEGES OF CORK AND KINSALE.

While the events just narrated had been passing in Ireland, King James remained at the court of France, endeavoring to win King Louis' consent to his favorite plan of invading England in the absence of the Prince of Orange. Having failed in this through the persistent opposition of the French minister, he turned his attention once more to his affairs in Ireland, and requested an expedition to sustain his arms in that country. But the misrepresentations of De Lausun had so warped the mind of this sovereign, that in this he was equally unsuccessful; and finding himself unable to awaken the interest of Louis, or to change the mind of his minister, he gave way to despondency, and remained a passive spectator of surrounding events. In this exigency the Duke of Tyrconnell determined to present himself at the court of Versailles, and plead the cause of his country. The successful defence of Athlone and Limerick furnished him with arguments that her cause was not yet hopeless; and the favor hitherto shown him by the French monarch, led him to believe that his suit would not be unfavorably received. So, having constituted a council of three lords-justices and sixteen senators, to conduct the civil affairs of the nation, and appointed the Duke of Berwick as deputy, with Sarsfield as his second in military command, he left the city in company with De Bo?sselau, the late governor, and joined De Lausun at Galway, where he embarked for France on an important mission.

Scarcely had he departed from the city when the spirit of discontent became manifest in the council and among the leaders of the army. Believing, or affecting to believe, that the deputy was indifferent to their wants and grievances, and had abandoned the country to its fate, they resolved to send a deputation to France to represent their policy, and urged the Duke of Berwick to sanction their proceedings. He opposed the design for some time; but the excitement daily increasing, he was forced to acquiesce in order to restore the general harmony. "Accordingly," says he, "I summoned all the principal lords, as well of the clergy as the laity, and all the military officers down to the colonels, inclusive, to attend me.... I proposed to them the Bishop of Cork, the two Luttrells, and Colonel Purcell. My choice was unanimously approved, and a few days after I dispatched my deputies. At the same time I sent Brigadier Maxwell, a Scotchman, to explain to the king my reasons for appointing this deputation, and to beg of him not to suffer either Brigadier Luttrell or Colonel Purcell to return: they were the two most dangerous incendiaries, and I had chosen them on purpose to get them out of the way. When these gentlemen were got on board, they conceived a suspicion that Maxwell might be charged with some instructions relating to them, for which they proposed to throw him overboard, but were prevented by the bishop and the elder Luttrell. The first was a prelate of distinguished piety; the other was of an obliging disposition, and always appeared to me to be a man of honor. Notwithstanding Maxwell's representations, the king permitted these gentlemen to return to Ireland. Tyrconnell consented to it, but he had reason to repent of it after."51 Such were the inauspicious signs, too plainly indicative of a divided interest, and such the difficulties that beset the deputy in this, perhaps, the greatest emergency of his country. But undeterred by the party intrigue of the hour, he addressed himself to the duty of his embassy with such tact and decision that he soon gained the ear of the French monarch, put the conduct of de Lausun before him in its proper light, propitiated the minister, counteracted the designs of the cabal, and obtained the promise of an expedition to Ireland proportionate to the importance of the cause and the necessities of the crisis. This success being communicated to the council in Limerick, had the most favourable effect; hope and confidence were renewed among all classes of the people, and activity and courage were soon manifest in all ranks of the army.

On the other hand, the intrigue and party strife that prevailed at the court, and in the legislative councils of England, were of a nature, not less serious, than those which menaced the success of the Jacobite arms. Since the accession of William to the throne, two factions had been gradually maturing there, and at this time had reached the acme of party strife and hatred. These, for convenience, may be termed the Dutch and English interest, which they respectively represented, while apart from both, and, perhaps, numerically as strong as either, stood the Jacobite party, watching the course of events, and determined to take advantage of their mutual animosity.

William, who looked to the elevation of Holland as a European power, and the humiliation of France as the primary objects of his life, had neglected his English partisans, and raised his Dutch and foreign mercenaries to the highest civil and military offices of the State; and this lost him much of his prestige among the parliamentary leaders, while the people, who had begun to look calmly on the condition of their country, saw it, after all, but a conquered province of Holland. The invasion had succeeded, but their liberties were more circumscribed: "Popery" was ignored, but prelacy was enslaved; the Parliament existed, but the people had no voice in its construction; the foreign legions revelled in the capital, but the English soldiers were disfranchised and conscripted for foreign service. The general discontent had become alarming, and to add to the growing disaffection, and give it point and purpose, the Princess Anne, the younger daughter of King James, being treated with studied neglect by both William and Mary, to whose elevation she had contributed by a plot unworthy of her station as a princess and her dignity as a wife, had become their bitterest enemy, and the recognized head of the English interest. To such a pitch had she carried her resentment, that on William's return from Ireland, she had raised up an English champion to humble his pride, by eclipsing his military fame, and the person thus put forward was Lord Churchill, afterwards the renowned Duke of Marlborough. Owing to this, the return of William was not hailed by any of those popular manifestations that mark the return of a conqueror to his country. On the contrary, the ordinary gratulations, things of everyday occurrence, were but coldly accorded to him by the people;—his parliamentary partisans scarcely deigning the formal acknowledgments of success, while the opposition declared that the victory of the Boyne was overbalanced by the defeat at Athlone and Limerick, and that the result of his expedition was degrading to the British arms. He endeavored to remove this impression by representing to the Parliament, and causing to be reported on the continent, that the heavy rains which had fallen during the siege were the cause of its abandonment, although many then knew, what the Duke of Berwick afterwards affirmed, "that not a single drop of rain fell for above a month before, or for three weeks after that event."52 But the English party were not deceived by the device, the assertion gave point to their irony, opposition became more bitter and clamorous, and in order to humiliate him the more, it was proposed to send Marlborough,—"at his own request,"—to Ireland to redeem the disgrace by completing the reduction of the country. William, though knowing this to be a direct insult to himself and his foreign army, was obliged to acquiesce, for the conquest of Ireland was a matter of pressing necessity to both parties; each desiring it for the national safety, and yet each aspiring to that honor, as a means to the perpetuation of its power. The expedition was accordingly ordered; but, while Marlborough was making preparations for his departure, William sent the Duke of Wurtemberg to Ireland with secret orders to claim the command of the expedition on its arrival, by right of military precedence, and thus counteract the designs of his political enemies.

After the departure of the Luttrells and Purcell for France, and the restoration of harmony in the councils of the Irish Senate, Sarsfield and Berwick directed their attention to the military affairs of the nation, which were in a very disheartening condition. The defences of the city were repaired, the garrisons along the frontier were strengthened and reinforced, and detachments sent into the counties bordering on the Shannon, to co-operate with the Rapparees in levying contributions of corn and cattle for the support of the army. The sieges of Athlone and Limerick, following in such quick succession, had nearly exhausted all their military stores, and had the enemy chosen to make a rapid descent on the river fortresses immediately after the retreat of William, it is more than probable that the war would have been terminated by the close of 1690; for there remained but fifty barrels of powder within the city, "and there was not, in the whole country which remained under the control of the royal army, enough to double the quantity."53 But the indecision of the enemy, after the withdrawal of the Prince of Orange, enabled the Irish generals to anticipate events, and to distribute a supply of military stores, which soon after arrived from France. Early in September, with about 3,000 infantry, seven battalions of cavalry and four field-pieces, they encamped at Banagher, a good strategic position, on the Shannon, about fourteen miles south of Athlone, resolved to take the offensive, in order to check the enemy, now extended from Clonmel to Enniskillen, and making stealthy approaches towards the frontier garrisons along that river. The town of Birr, in the King's County, about seven miles from their encampment, was the most advanced post of the enemy at this time, and the first to invite an attack. It was a place of much importance, as it threatened the passes of Banagher, Meelick, and Portumna; and being the principal depot of military stores and provisions for that district, its capture would have been of immense advantage to the army. Accordingly, on the 13th of September, Berwick appeared before the town, and had soon carried the outer works of the castle by which it was protected, but met with considerable delay from the inefficiency of his guns, which gave the enemy time to hasten up their reinforcements. In a short time General Kirke appeared with a regiment for its relief, but seeing the Irish cavalry drawn up on a hill overlooking the town, he retreated back to Roscrea, where he was joined by General Douglas, and with a force of 8,000 men and ten pieces of artillery, appeared again on the 16th, as the garrison was on the point of capitulating. Upon this, Berwick withdrew his guns from the trenches, and taking up a good position on the hills, about a mile from the town, he spent all that day and the next offering every inducement to battle, which the enemy as persistently declined,—each failed to draw the other from its chosen position. At last, on the third day, Berwick withdrew towards his camp, followed at a distance by the enemy, who advanced when he advanced, and halted when he halted, until his cavalry, making a detour of several miles, assailed their flanks, doing great execution, and putting their whole force in disorder, when they retreated precipitately, pursued up to their defences; and so the affair ended. A series of bitter skirmishes between the pickets of both armies succeeded this for a few days, when the enemy again moved towards Clonmel and Kilkenny, where there was a general muster to reinforce the Duke of Marlborough, who had effected a landing at Cork, and Berwick retired behind the Shannon to collect troops to oppose him; the garrisons at Birr and Banagher were withdrawn to their defences, but the Rapparees moved over the country at will, and harried it without fear of retaliation.

On the 21st of September, Marlborough sailed up the harbor of Cork, effected a landing at Passage, without any serious opposition, and took up his march for the city, the men hauling the cannon, he being unprovided with train-horses or cavalry. His force consisted of 8,000 infantry, six hundred marines, some ships of war, and a few transports; but being joined by the Duke of Wurtemberg and General Scravenmore with 4,000 infantry and nine hundred cavalry, his army was augmented to about 14,000 men, provided with all the essentials of a siege, and a co-operative fleet to assail the city from the water-side. On the 23d, he appeared before it in form; Wurtemberg, according to the secret orders of William, claiming precedence in command, and Marlborough demurring, on the ground that he was specially commissioned for this campaign. A warm dispute arose, one insisting on the privilege of rank, and the other on delaying the siege, and referring the question back to the Parliament. This delay being likely to hazard the success of their arms, by giving the besieged time to strengthen their defences and get in supplies, a compromise was agreed upon, by which they were to assume the command alternately. Marlborough's turn came first, and he gave the word, "Wurtemberg," and in acknowledgment of this politeness, the latter, when his turn came, gave the word "Marlborough;" but notwithstanding this outward exchange of military compliments, their mutual jealousy continued without affecting the progress of their arms.

The city of Cork, situated in a valley surrounded by high hills, was defended by a few dilapidated outworks, all of which, excepting the Castle of Shandon, which overlooked it on the northern side, were abandoned as the enemy approached, the troops retiring into the principal fortress, which stood on a low, marshy plain, between two branches of the river Lee, accessible only at low-water, but poorly supplied with artillery, and almost exhausted of provisions and military stores. The Castle, after repulsing an assault of the Danes, was also evacuated, and its troops withdrawn into the inner fortress, against which the entire force of the enemy was now directed. Its garrison, after this junction, amounted to 4,500 men—a force ample for a protracted resistance; but already on limited rations, and there were only five barrels of gunpowder within its walls. By the loss of Shandon it was exposed on three sides to the fire of the enemy's land batteries, and on the fourth, to that of his ships, which could come within short range at tide-water.

On the approach of the enemy, the governor, Colonel McElligot, had received orders from the Duke of Berwick to demolish the fort, burn the city, and retire with his command into Kerry; but having disobeyed this mandate, at the solicitation of the citizens, until too late, he determined to redeem his error by the gallantry of his defence, and hold out long enough to give Berwick time to hasten up succors to raise the siege. The enemy, having gained possession of the hills, opened a fierce cannonade on the city itself, and having levelled all the intervening houses, descended into the valley, opened on the citadel, and after a most spirited resistance of two days, silenced its guns, and prepared to carry its works by storm. The assault could only be made at low-water, and once each day was there assault and repulse, in one of which the Duke of Grafton54 was killed while leading his regiment across the marsh. At length, after a desperate defence of twelve days, it surrendered on the 5th of October, on terms considered highly honorable; "but the ink with which the capitulation was signed, was not yet dry when it was violated in every particular." The Catholic people were stripped and driven from the city; the city itself was given to pillage; the Earls of Tyrone and Clancarty were wounded and grossly outraged by the soldiers and the mob, and the prisoners subjected to indignities and cruelties, compared with which death would have been a refuge. They were pent up within a loathsome fen, where, being denied food, they were necessitated to feed on putrid carrion; more than half of them died within a fortnight, from the diseases it engendered; one-half the remainder were murdered by order of one Captain Lauder, on the way to Clonmel, some time later; and of the survivors, few ever returned to report the inhuman deed.55 Marlborough and his English army were even more barbarous than the Prince of Orange and his foreign mercenaries.

On the surrender of Cork, Marlborough turned his attention to Kinsale, which is about twelve miles distant by land, and sixteen by water, and which had, in the mean time, been invested by a portion of his land force and his navy. The town was defended by two forts—Castle Ny and St. Charles—named respectively the Old and New Forts; the former having a garrison of 450 men, and the latter one of 1,200; and both being better provided in guns and material than the fortress just surrendered. But the Old Fort had been blown up by accident on the 3d, causing the death of two hundred of its garrison and the capture of the remainder; so there was now but the New Fort to resist the united efforts of the army and navy of Marlborough. The defence, however, was a gallant one, and marked by deeds of great personal daring, both of the men and commandant; but, being cut off from succor both by land and sea, they capitulated on the 15th; being allowed to depart with their baggage and arms, and to join their countrymen at Limerick. As this fort was impervious to the enemy's cannon, and might have held out, while its provisions lasted, a suspicion of treachery attached to its governor, and it is intimated by more than one of our annalists that he must have been bribed by Marlborough, who was impatient of delay, as he had pledged himself before his departure from England to reduce both Cork and Kinsale within a month; but the accusation is not sufficiently authenticated by any, while it is liable to doubt, on the consideration, that a soldier base enough to accept a bribe would not have scrupled to turn over his command to the enemy, which might have been as easily accomplished. The loss of life, with the exception of those blown up at Castle Ny, did not exceed four hundred on each side, but the Irish army lost heavily in prisoners at Cork, few of whom survived their subsequent sufferings; and the loss of those two maritime stations to their cause was incalculable.

The Duke of Berwick tells us that during the interval, he had collected a force of about 8,000 men, and had got as far as Kilmallock, in the County Limerick, with the purpose of compelling Marlborough to raise the siege. But considering his force inadequate, he contented himself with watching the enemy, and when the expedition was finished returned to his quarters. The indecision shown by Berwick at this juncture, in view of his well-known valor and intrepidity, would favor the impression that he was unwilling to appear in arms against his uncle, and his explanation would seem rather to fix than to remove it. Eight thousand men, in a friendly country, under the command of such generals as himself and Sarsfield, who was also there, against 14,000 investing two strong fortresses, and extended over a line of seven or eight miles, seem not inadequate, and might have created such a diversion as would have at least protracted the siege; and any disarrangement of Marlborough's plans would have placed him in a very critical position.

With the fall of Cork and Kinsale, the campaign of Marlborough may be said to have terminated; he remained but a few days more in the country, and after planning offensive measures against the counties of Cork and Kerry, to be conducted by Ginkle, he returned to England after an absence of five weeks, and received the congratulations of the people and Parliament, to the great annoyance of the Prince of Orange and his partisans. He was thenceforth the great popular idol of the nation, and was soon after started on that military career that has placed his name among the greatest of England's generals. After his departure, Ginkle pressed the war in the south with great vigor. Scravenmore and Tettau, with a heavy force of infantry and cavalry, penetrated northward to Mallow, and, turning to the west, began to plunder and lay waste the country. But they were soon beset by organized bodies of farmers and Rapparees, and, by an assault, as vigorous as it was unexpected, were driven with great slaughter towards Bandon, where they were again furiously assailed by Colonel O'Driscoll, and, panic-stricken, fled back to their quarters.