THE STORY OF IRELAND

New Zealand Tablet, 30 December 1920, Page 7

THE STORY OF IRELAND

(By A. M. Sullivan.)

CHAPTER. LX V.~ (Continued). .«/! this " 16 William, at the head of some five thousand of the l flower of hi f cavalry, lay behind the slopes of Julljallen, close by the lowest ford on the extreme left of his army waiting anxiously for news of Schomber"'s passage at Oldbridge. Rut now learning that his centre had been repulsed ho disengaged his wounded arm from its sling 1 and calling aloud to his troops to follow him, plunged boldly into the stream. The water was deepest at tins lord, for it was nearest to the sea, and the tide which was out at the hour fixed for crossing in the monrin£ was now beginning to rise. William and his five thousand cavalry reached the south bank wth difficulty. Marshall™ his forceion , the shore with marvellous celerity, he did not Irl n rii f!"T r 11^" 1 f « rio Ward upon the Irish right flank. The Irish command at this point was held by the young Duke of Berwick with some squadrons of Irish horse, some French infantry, and Irish pi leme The Irish were just starting to charge the Williamites at the back, when the latter, as already noted, dashed for™£zsst C & S "?V a ] V a filled with IS 68 "V 10180 Wre simultaneously under wav niled uith all th veliemence and fury which could be irn parted by consciousness of the issues' depending on the cob lision now at hand. , As they neared each other the excitement became choking and above the thunder of the horses' feet on the sward could be heard bursting from , hundred hearts the vehement passionate shout g ofeerv cK'l-On S^ ° "P.; for God's sake,, closer! £ WW 7 came ca ™ering like the whirlwind-arid then!—What a crash! Like a thunder-bolt the Irish horse broke clear through the Williamites ThnJ tit Ir ? from tlie hill above, saf that !ih£& tlioTfu met, there was barely a second of time (a year of S suspense it seemed at the moment to some of the look"™ on) during which th wild surges rendered it ,fe which one was to bear down the other But in one insW the gazers beheld the white plumedformof SS wick at. the head of the Irish cavalry far into the"middle

of the^Williamiterm^ass"; ; and soon,, with a shout —a roar that rose above all the din of battle —a frantic peal of J exultation and vengeancethe Irish-absolutely swept the Dutch and Enniskillen cavalry ; down the slopes upon tho river, leaving in their track 1; only a broken I crowd' of unhorsed or ridden down foes, ; v whom the Irish pike-men finished. - But now' the heavy firing from Oldbridge announced that the ,Williamite.; centre; was crossing once more, and soo'n it became clear that even though the Irish repulsed man for man, there still 1 were enough of their foes to make a lodgment on the . bank too. powerful to be resisted. Bodies of his troops streaming down to him from the centre, gladly proclaimed ' to William that they were across again there. Rallying his left wing with these aids he advanced once more. He now had infantry to check the everdreaded charges. of : the Irish horse, arid so pressing steadily onward, he drove the Irish back along the* lane, leading from the fiver to Sheephouse, a small hamlet half-way between Donore and the Boyne. Here the Irish were evidently prepared to make a stand. William, who throughout this battle exhibited a braverya cool, courageous"recklessness of personal peril, which no general ever surpassed, now led in person a charge by all his left wing, forces. But he found himself flanked by ■- the Irish foot posted in the hedges and cabins, and confronted by the invincible cavalry. He turned a moment from the head of- the Enniskillens and rode to the rear to hurry up the Dutch. The Enniskillens seeing Berwick in front about to charge,' allege that they thought the king's movement was to be followed by them, so they turned, and William coming up with the Dutch met them flying pell mell. He now handed over the Dutch to Ginckel, and took himself the unsteady Ulstermen in charge, fie appealed entreatingly to them to rally and stand-by him, and not to ruin all by their weakness at such a. critical moment. By this time the Huguenot horse also came up, and the whole combining, William a third time advanced. The Williamite accounts describe to us the conflict that now ensued at this point as one of the most desperate cavalry combats of the whole war. According to the same authorities the Dutch recoiled, and Ginckel had to throw himself in their rear to prevent a disordered I*!] c ,\ lla ! n ' dauntless and daring, was in the thickest ol the fight, cheering, exhorting, leading his men . The galant Berwick and Sheldon, on the other hand, now assisted by some additional Irish, hurried up from the centre and pressed their foes with resistless energy. Brave and highly dsciplmed those foes were undoubtedly; nevertheless, once more down the lane went the Williamite horse and foot, with the Irish cavalry in full pursuit. - This time, "like Rupert at the battle of Edge Hill " the Irish "pursued too far." While all that has been described so far was occurring on the Jacobite right, at the centre (Oldbridge), overwhelming masses of William's cavalry and infantry had, notwithstanding the best efforts of the French and Irish foot, forced all the fords and mastered everything at that point. In detached masses they were now penetrating all the approaches to Donore, in the direction of Sheephouse, driving the Jacobites before them. While the Irish cavalry on the right, as above described were m pursuit of the Williamites, the lane leading to Sheephouse was left unoccupied. This, being observed by two regiments of Williamite dragoons, they quickly dismounted and lined the hedges of the lane, at the same time sending word to Ginckel to take advantage of what they were about to do. The Irish cavalry after their charge now returned slowly through the lane to resume their position. Suddenly and to their utter consternation they found themselves assailed by a close and deadlv fusillade from the ambuscade around them, so close, so deadlv the guns almost touched each horseman; and there was no room for evolution in the narrow place. While they were t ,!?;£'• "I 010 maSS6S ,° f tr °P s ™ flung upon them Ginckel in their rear, their lately routed but now rallied locs on the right, and all combining, pressed the overborne but, not outbraved fierce* "P & lane upon Ay 0110 !"€*•• ■ n(l^ the Irfs i turned-doggedly for a resolute standand William saw that though forced indeed from the river they considered themselves far from being beaten yet Alter a few ineffectual charges, he suspended" the attack, force" m S ranks f ° r ' a grand assault in f " i'ill ''oil** 8 i at th! 's moment—while his devoted little armv, still all undaunted , were nerving themselves" for tho oris of their fate-that James, yielding readily to the advice of lyrconnel and Lauzun (which'quite accorded with hi own anxiety), flea precipitately. for Dublin; taking with him as a guard for US i person the indignant and Exasperate Sarsfield and his splendid cavalry regiment, at that foment so sorely needed on the field! moment Some Irish writers, embittered against James for this flight go so far as to contend that had he remained and handled his troops skilfully, it was still within possibd tv to ! turn the fortunes of the day, and drive fe ? °S~Bi!

er C The point is . untenable. The Jacobite left, right, and 'centre had i been driven in, and the Williamite forces were all now in full conjunction; in front. It was possible to hold William in check; to dispute with him each mile of ground to -Dublin but Napoleon himself could not "' r (with only six field-pieces) have beaten William at the Boyne. ;" It is certain, however, that the Irish troops themselves were ; not of this mind; for when they- heard that Donore was to be . relinquished, and that they must fall back on Duleek, they murmured and groaned aloud, and passionately declared it was "snatching from them a certain victory! Nevertheless, to fall back was now essential to their safety; for already bodies of Williamite troops were streaming away on the Jacobite left towards Duleek, designing to get in the Irish rear. To meet this movement, the Irish left was swung round accordingly, and pushed on also, mile for mile, with the flanking Williamites; until eventually the struggle in front was virtually abandoned by both parties, and the competition was ali as, to the manoeuvres and counter-manoeuvres on the Duleek road; the Irish falling back, yet facing the enemy, and making their retreat the retiring movement of an overpowered army, by no means the flight of one routed. At Duleek they turned to bay, taking up a strong position on the south of the little stream which passes the. town. The Williamites came on, and having looked at the ground and the disposition of the Jacobite forces, deemed it well to offer battle no further, but to rest content, as well they might, with the substantial victory of having forced the Boyne and vanquished the Stuart king.

(To be continued).