CHAPTER XV.

THE ARRIVAL OF ST. RUTH—GINCKLE TAKES THE FIELD.

Towards the middle of January, 1691, three French ships entered the harbor of Galway, as an escort to the Duke of Tyrconnell, who, it was confidently believed, had succeeded in the object of his mission, and the tidings of his arrival were received with general manifestations of joy. To the soldiers this news was particularly gratifying. He left them victors, it is true, but victors over a city in ruins;—exhausted in military resources, worn out by fatigue, without clothing or pay, and living on the bounty of a greatly impoverished country. They had borne their privations with cheerfulness, restored and strengthened their city, maintained their flag against overwhelming numerical odds at every post of their frontier; and believing their services about to be rewarded, their enthusiasm knew no bounds, and they looked to his arrival in Limerick with the happiest anticipations. They had been led to expect a full arrear of pay, a complete outfit of clothing, arms equal to their need, and a powerful French auxiliary, that would enable them to turn the tide of war, and wrest the conquered provinces from the grasp of the invader. They were bright hopes;—the brighter for being so long deferred—but, like those of the previous years, they were doomed to cruel disappointment. It soon became known that the only money he brought was about ￡8,000, to be distributed as a present donation; that the clothing received was not only insufficient, but entirely unfit for wear—their old regimentals being preferable;—and that, instead of the expected auxiliary, he was accompanied but by Sir Richard Nagle and Sir Stephen Rice,—who had been sojourning in France,—and a few of those military adventurers that in all ages appear wherever hostilities in any cause offer a road to ambition. Furthermore, it was found that the Duke of Berwick, who had performed signal service to the cause, and who shared the popular favor with General Sarsfield, was ordered to France, and that the latter was to be placed in a secondary position to another French general,—the Marquis de St. Ruth,—who had been appointed to the command of the army. Serious discontent soon became manifest at this neglect of a general whose unceasing activity, through the darkest period of the war, had kept the army from entire dissolution, and saved the Jacobite cause from irretrievable ruin. Besides, it was believed that the experiment of placing French generals over native troops had proved too disastrous to be again repeated, and, notwithstanding the high military reputation of St. Ruth, the news was received with great disfavor, and in the army created a spirit of disaffection that it required but a breath to fan into mutiny. That Sarsfield himself felt deeply humiliated, we have abundant evidence in the records of the period; nor did the title of Earl of Lucan, nor the commission of lieutenant-general which was borne to him by the deputy, entirely reconcile him to his altered condition. The unbounded confidence reposed in him during the interval of Tyrconnell's absence, had invested him with almost plenary powers, which had been exercised with a discretion and ability that pointed him out as the man for the time; public sentiment was undisguisedly in favor of continuing those powers; and his own heart responded to the wish, for he saw there were elements of success around which he, and only he, could call into action. His humiliation was the greater on this account: that though irrevocably bound to serve his king and country in any position, however subordinate, it greatly impaired his future efficiency; and the new appointment was viewed by all as another fatal step in the downward tendency of the Catholic cause.

There was, however, a consideration which, when duly weighed, as no doubt it was at the time, must have lessened the poignancy of this neglect, and rendered it less intolerable. The Duke of Berwick had high claims to this appointment,—perhaps higher even than Sarsfield. He was the king's son, and had been Lieutenant-General since 1689: he was brave, and accomplished in the art of war; and there was no cause but his youth, why he should not have received it. That he ambitioned it, is plainly inferable from the tone in which he notices his "recall from a country so full of troubles," and from his disapproval of the manner in which his successor conducted the ensuing campaign. It would, in short, seem that King James, being a dependant on the good-will of the French monarch, had to bow to that will in resignation; that this new general was selected by Louis; and that Berwick, by his recall, was saved the indignity of being reduced to a secondary position.

The result of this last mission to France, becoming known along the English lines, gave rise to mirth and ridicule among the soldiery, who might well pride themselves on the timely consideration of their own provident monarch, who left nothing undone that could contribute to their comfort or efficiency. Wherever they met the Irish soldiers, as they did along the river during the month of February, they taunted them with their repeated disappointments. The effect on the weak and vacillating was soon visible. Desertions became of not unfrequent occurrence among the soldiers of English descent, but those of the native race clung more faithfully to their cause with every reverse; but the general depression soon passed away, and all murmurs and despondent thoughts were lost in the notes of preparation.

So frequently are the names of King James and his ally, Louis XIV. of France, linked with mismanagement and misadventure through the history of this period, that it would seem all the attendant misfortunes of the Catholic cause resulted from the weakness and indecision of the one, and the absence of timely support arising from the mistaken policy of the other. But though these were the leading, and perhaps the main causes of its ultimate defeat, it was also induced by the prejudices and follies of the Irish leaders themselves, as much as by the errors of either king, or of both together. We have already seen some of the evil effects of divided counsels, and of incipient treason in the senate: we have now to make a cursory allusion to a character hitherto unnoticed, who played no insignificant part in the closing scenes of the drama, and added a ludicrous page to a melancholy and tragic dénouement.

It had long been an accepted prophecy in Ireland,—one much akin to that of the "sleeping warriors" of Aileach,—that an O'Donnell, a descendant of the house of Tyrconnell, was one day to return from Spain, and free the land of his fathers from the English yoke, by a great victory to be gained by him at, or near Limerick; and this chief was to be known by the Ball-dearg,—or red mark,—on the shoulder, which, 'tis said, attaches to the true descendants of that noble house. It happened that at this time there lived in Spain, an O'Donnell, of the family mentioned, and known also to bear the mark that distinguished its true representatives, and him fame pointed out as the destined liberator of the country. Whether this personage ever entertained an idea of his wonderful virtue or not, until consulted by an Irish deputation in Spain, does not clearly appear from the records of the time; but that he was waited on, and awakened to a sense of his importance, there seems to be abundant testimony to warrant this allusion.58 In the nineteenth century this infatuation of men intrusted with the destiny of a nation would seem almost incredible, but it was not the less true. It was a glorious destiny to be the liberator of the land of his ancestors; he heard the call, obeyed it, and arrived at Limerick during the month of August, 1690. It was the time of the siege, and he took part in its most stirring events from the 17th to the 27th, and, it is said, did good service in the memorable conflict that has immortalized that city. His appearance at such a time was hailed with acclamations of joy by the populace, and even the leaders of the army treated him with consideration. After the retreat of the Prince of Orange, he was furnished with a Colonel's commission, and empowered to raise troops from among the Rapparees, to co-operate with the regular army. Those of the north and north-west, scattered along the frontiers, at once flocked to him and acknowledged him as their hereditary chief: others sought his standard under the influence of the prophecy that attached to him, until he had a following, variously estimated at from eight to ten thousand men. But here his services ended. With this following, he established his quarters from Clare-Galway to Sligo, behind the Irish lines, and assuming the authority of an independent chief, instead of harassing the movements of the enemy, he levied on the surrounding districts, wasting the subsistence of the remaining province to support his infatuated followers.—

"In short, he was," says O'Driscoll,59 "of a class found in Ireland and elsewhere. He was a great boaster, suspected to be a coward, known to be a knave; noisy, insolent, presumptuous, and corrupt.... He was afterwards known to have been in correspondence with both William and Ginckle, and treating for a title and a command in the English army." Yet he played his part ably; so ably, that he carried himself through to the end of the war; nor did he appear in his true colors to his deluded followers, or indeed to the leaders of the army, until the final result of the war, revealed at the same time, and in the same manner, the intrigues of Ball-dearg O'Donnell, and the treason of Henry Luttrell. Such was one of the many influences that helped to divert the strength of the country from the direct purpose of the war, and its evil effect cannot well be over-estimated. It placed a covert enemy in the rear of the national army; materially lessened the resources of a province already overburdened with a helpless floating population; and withdrew from the enemy's country, which the other provinces then virtually were, the most daring of those hardy Rapparee bands, that had hitherto wrung their support from it, and materially embarrassed the movements of the foreign army.

Though the appointment of the Marquis de St. Ruth was opposed to the public sentiment of the people and army, still they well understood that the countenance of the French king was indispensable to their cause, and resolved to make a virtue of necessity; all now daily wished for his arrival to remove the general suspense and disquietude of feeling. The enemy was known to be in an advanced state of preparation, and it was feared that he would open the campaign before a corresponding force should be ready to meet him. It was also hoped that as King Louis had this time made his own selection of a general, he would support him in all things necessary—arms, ammunition, and artillery, and perhaps a contingent of troops to sustain the national honor. The public mind now underwent another of those changes incident to a condition of war, markedly in contrast with that of the previous month. From the western headlands a daily watch was kept up, and expectation was on tiptoe for his arrival. But day after day, and month after month passed on, and still neither armament nor general relieved the fever of anxiety. At length, on the 7th of May, when all hope seemed to fail, a French fleet was signalled off the headlands of Kerry, and the next day, riding up the Shannon, it came to anchor off Limerick. It bore the Marquis de St. Ruth, with Generals d'Uson and de Tessé, and about one hundred French officers of different rank; but no money, and no military contingent. He came, however, well provided with the munitions of war, a good supply of arms, and an outfit of serviceable clothing. His arrival was hailed with general acclamations, the bells of St. Mary's chimed forth throughout the day, and the most solemn ceremonies of religion welcomed this devoted soldier of the Catholic cause.

Though considerably beyond the middle age, St. Ruth was still a man of vigor and activity. He was of a commanding presence, pleasing aspect; was nervous in address, and energetic in command;—the first passports to the confidence of the Irish soldier. He had but lately returned to Paris, after a successful campaign in Savoy, and was selected by Louis to command the Jacobite forces in Ireland. But fame, which preceded him there, had also told how the finer traits of his character were marred by a vain ostentation, a hauteur of manner towards his subordinates, and an overweening conceit in his own importance,—the very worst traits to win the confidence or esteem of the Irish officers of that period, on whom the conduct of de Rosen and de Lausun had left a very unfavorable impression; or that of the generals; who could not see the necessity for his appointment at all, when he came unsupported by an army, and without coffers to warrant the raising of one from the floating population of the country.

Preparations for the renewal of hostilities were now actively resumed along the lines, and the minds of the soldiers were diverted from all other considerations. Their "penny-a-day" went far, for the country still abounded in the necessaries of life, and the people shared their means liberally. The proclamation of non-intercourse between the British Islands and France, announced at once both in London and Dublin, only served as a spur to greater enterprise both by sea and land, and every succeeding day witnessed the arrival of trading vessels, bearing arms and munitions—while the love of adventure brought daily accessions to the ranks of either army.

After a hasty inspection of the frontier and the condition of the troops, St. Ruth directed himself to the work of reconstructing the army, and his first movement for that purpose tended to raise him greatly in the estimation of the soldiers. Notwithstanding the exertions of the Rapparees through the winter and spring, there was still a deficiency of cavalry horses, and to remedy this defect became a matter of the first necessity. He at once issued an order to the gentlemen of the surrounding country to assemble at Limerick to take counsel on the state of the nation, and for other purposes. They felt highly pleased at the courtesy extended; and in order to pay all possible respect to this champion of their cause, came armed and on horseback; making, notwithstanding the general depression, a most gallant show. The meeting was held on King's Island, the soldiers being drawn around it, to render the proceedings more solemn and impressive. After a spirited address in French, on the duty of allegiance and patriotism; and the sacrifice that all should be prepared to make for their country, he ordered them to dismount and surrender their horses for the use of the army. Remonstrance was useless, and any attempt at resistance would be less so, for the soldiers, closing in on all sides, showed them that the émeute was preconcerted. They bowed in resignation, seemed to relish the joke exceedingly, and were deeply impressed with his capacity to deal with coming events, while he extended to them the acknowledgments of his distinguished consideration.

The disbanded soldiers were next called into service, and on the 15th of May, the Duke of Tyrconnell issued a proclamation ordering the Rapparees to retire behind the Shannon and hold themselves subject to another levy. They obeyed with promptitude, and the required number being selected, the rest scattered or returned to their former haunts. But they were no longer able to perform any considerable exploit, and their after-fate was tragical in the extreme: prices were set on their heads; the trade became exciting and profitable: they died on the mountains and by the wayside, prowling like wolves, and fighting like tigers to the last.

While preparations went forward day by day within the Irish lines, it is necessary to revert to the other side, and note the progress of Ginckle's affairs since the suspension of active hostilities; and perhaps the fairest exposition that can be given, is the following extract from Story's Impartial History, about the beginning of February, 1691: "The king did as much as possible in the time, as any who have seen the country may know; for if Ireland were as well-peopled as the soil itself will bear, it may defy all the world besides. You cannot see a town but where there is either a bog or a river, or both," &c. Here follows a dissertation on the natural difficulties the English army had to contend with, and the wiles and wickedness of the Rapparees, that retarded their movements "the whole winter long," concluding with the following consolatory reflections: "As to our own army, our numbers are the same as last year (except two regiments that were broke); they are also much healthfuller, and better acquainted with the country and their arms; and to encourage us the more, the Parliament has granted his Majesty a considerable fund to carry on the war, and also to equip his fleet. Besides, we have now at least 12,000 of the militia in good order, either to defend the garrisons behind us or to assist our army upon occasion ... and more than all, we shall have a great many Protestant Rapparees from the North and other places, for the northern people are mostly armed ... so that we shall have no want of men."

Such was the numerical status of Ginckle's army at that period, and from that until the summer; recruits, ordnance stores, and clothing were poured in daily to every port in his possession. From the 30th of April until the 6th of June, "all hands" were at work in Mullingar fitting up every thing for the coming campaign: for instance—

April 30th. A large body of recruits sent into the County Kildare.—Same day, all hands at work making cartridges, &c., "though it was her Majesty's birthday."—Same day, several ships arrived at Kinsale from England, and the Charles galley and Assurance frigate landed at Waterford with four other ships under convoy, all loaded with cannonball, bombs, powder, and several other materials.—May 8th, five ships loaded with arms arrived at Dublin.—May 18th, Dragon and Advice land four hundred marines at Baltimore.—Same day, six English ships come to Cork with recruits and provisions, under convoy of the Smyrna frigate; and so on to the 6th of June.

Towards the end of May the different divisions of the British army were put in motion towards Mullingar. On the 27th, General Douglas marched from the North with a force of about 10,000 men, and encamped at Ardagh. At the same time Wurtemburg put his troops in motion from Thurles, taking the detached garrisons on his route, and replacing them with the organized militia. On the 28th, Major-Generals Mackey and Ruvigney arrived with their divisions and encamped outside the town. About the same time General Talmash and Sir Martin Beckman, the Chief Engineer, landed at Dublin with troops and a corps of sappers and miners, and set the great train of artillery—"such as had never been seen before in that kingdom"—on its way, and immediately started for the camp. And "to give them the more comfort," Ginckle received advice from Opdam, who regulated the cartel at Breda, that the Irish soldiers released in lieu of the Dutch prisoners, were not to be returned to Ireland, but sent into the French service, and that the Irish officers would not be exchanged according to the rank they laid claim to.60 Proclamations again became the order of the day, all tending to the same object—the "comfort" of the English troops, and inviting desertions from their enemy. On the 31st of May, Ginckle appeared in person at Mullingar. All his outposts were immediately called in, notwithstanding strong protests from the Lords-Justices to the contrary; for he had determined to put forth all his strength, as the arrival of St. Ruth filled him with apprehension, and he only yielded to their appeals so far as to give them some officers from the army to command the private companies which all the country gentlemen now enrolled for their own protection.

Ginckle immediately contracted the defences of Mullingar, drew out his troops, and sent orders to Wurtemburg to encamp opposite to Banagher and Meelick, being resolved to force the river at one or both of those places, and afterwards to invest Athlone on the east and west. But finding a portion of the Irish army well advanced towards Frankfort, he abandoned that design, the order was countermanded, and Wurtemburg was directed to take a more circuitous route to the eastward, and join him on his way to Athlone.

Ginckle drew out his army from Mullingar on the 6th of June, and halted at Rathcondrath, where he was joined the same day by General Douglas. Here he encamped for the night, and sent out a party to reconnoitre the fort of Ballymore, then held as an outpost of the Irish army. After a brisk skirmish with the pickets of the fort, this party returned, bringing in a wounded prisoner, from whom he learned the force and disposition of the garrison, and appeared before it at noon on the following day. The town of Ballymore lay on the direct road from Mullingar to Athlone, and a little to the right of it stood the fort on a peninsula, isolated from the mainland except at one pass which led up towards the town, and which was commanded by a ruined castle that stood at its outer entrance. The place had been in the possession of the English during the preceding autumn, but the country around it becoming too poor to subsist a garrison, it was abandoned, when the Rapparees took possession of it, and held it through the winter, as a rendezvous in their raids against Mullingar and the surrounding posts of the enemy. The place was of much strategic importance, being well adapted for either offensive or defensive warfare; but having been utterly neglected by the different parties occupying it through the last year, it was now in a dilapidated condition. The fort was of mud, mounting two pieces of "Turkish cannon on cart-wheels," with a garrison consisting of eight hundred soldiers, two hundred and sixty Rapparees,—four hundred women and children who had fled to it as a refuge,—and was commanded by Colonel Ulick Burke, who had orders to hold it to the last extremity, in order to gain time for the Irish army to anticipate Ginckle before Athlone.

Ginckle, impatient of delay, and not wishing to lose time in storming the castle, into which Burke had thrown a sergeant and fifteen men, deployed to the northward, and, erecting his batteries, directed a heavy fire against the fort. But as the great body of the lake intervened, no impression could be made from that direction, and it was found necessary to reduce the castle, which commanded the narrowest part of the lake, and also the pass leading into the fort. It was accordingly stormed, carried after an obstinate defence of two hours, and the gallant sergeant hanged in sight of the fort, for an "obstinate defence of an untenable position." This obstacle being removed, eighteen guns and four mortars were brought to bear against the fort, until eight o'clock in the morning, when the firing ceased, and Ginckle demanded a surrender, the summons being accompanied by a threat, that if it were not vacated within two hours, the garrison would share the fate of the sergeant, which they had just witnessed. Colonel Burke denied its authenticity, asserting that Ginckle would not set his signature to such an atrocious order, and demanded the summons in writing. The form was soon complied with, the threat was repeated over Ginckle's signature, but leave was granted for the women and children to depart or share the fate of the garrison. Burke next stipulated for permission to withdraw the garrison, as the non-combatants were determined to share their fate; but this being refused, the firing was resumed on both sides, and continued without intermission until noon, when the Irish gunner being killed, and the sand-walls of the fort completely beaten down, Burke displayed a flag of truce to the assailants. Ginckle, greatly incensed by the obstinacy of the defence, refused to notice the signal, and the cannonade was continued until seven o'clock in the evening, when a storming party and boats being ready to cross the lake, Burke again displayed his flag, surrendered unconditionally, and Colonel Earl, at the head of eight hundred troops, took possession of the fort. The booty of the captors was considerable, consisting of four hundred and thirty sheep, forty cows, fifty horses, a quantity of oatmeal, the arms of the garrison, two pieces of artillery, "but no powder." The loss of life was inconsiderable on either side; the threat of the English general was not put in execution;—the men of the garrison became prisoners of war, and the women and children were sent beyond the Irish lines, in conformity with the usage of the times.

Ginckle made a pause of several days at Ballymore, awaiting his heavy artillery, and the reinforcements expected from the south. While here, he sent Lord Lisburn with 2,000 foot and five hundred horse, to attempt the river at Lanesborough, and another body to reconnoitre the defences of Athlone, and report the condition of the enemy. The former suffering a severe repulse, returned after a few days, and pronounced the place impracticable, and the latter reported that the Irish army must have arrived at Athlone, as they saw some troops of horse drawn up on the hills on the western side of the river. While here, also, General Douglas departed to join the army of William in Flanders, and part of his regiment were left under the command of Colonel Toby Purcell, to occupy Ballymore, which had undergone a thorough reconstruction, consisting of bastions, hornworks, a platform for a battery of eight guns, and a floor of mortars. At length, on the 18th, Ginckle's train having arrived, he moved forward to Ballyburn Pass, where he was joined by Wurtemburg and Count Nassau, with a force of 8,000 men, and the next day resumed his march for Athlone.

Though Ginckle's preparations had extended farther into the season than he at first intended, he had still taken the field considerably in advance of his enemy, and Ballymore had been reduced, and his march resumed, before St. Ruth had moved out of Limerick. Nor did the knowledge of this disturb the equanimity of the latter, nor disconcert his arrangements. Hearing that Ginckle's army had left Mullingar, he dispatched a regiment of horse for the defence of Athlone, with orders to its governor, Colonel Fitzgerald, to strengthen his defences and hold both sections of the town until his arrival; then sending a force under Brigadier Maxwell to move along on the east, and waste the country as he went along, he drew out his army, turned his steps towards Athlone, and moved by easy marches along the western side of the river. Maxwell performed this duty with characteristic promptitude:—he soon rendered the country, for several miles beyond the river, destitute of provender; drove immense herds of cattle within the Irish lines; and then making that skilful display of his force at Ballyboy and Frankfort, which diverted Ginckle's attention from the lower fords, he recrossed the river at Banagher, and moved towards Ballinasloe, where he anticipated the arrival of St. Ruth.

The two armies now approaching each other were quite as disproportioned as when they met in the former year upon the banks of the Boyne. That of Ginckle, exclusive of the garrisons left at Mullingar and Ballymore, must still have numbered over 30,000 men, while that of St. Ruth, after all his detachments had been called in, and the garrisons depleted to the limit of safety, was, according to the most reliable estimate, but 23,000,—horse and foot. In artillery, and all the appliances of war, the disproportion was still greater; while the arms and appointments of the English army were incomparably superior to those of its less numerous adversary.