THE STORY OF IRLAND

New Zealand Tablet, 14 April 1921, Page 7

THE STORY OF IRLAND

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Chapter LXXV.-—The Irish Army in Exile. How v Sars- , ■ r field ;Fell;(m LandenPlain. How the Regiments of Burke and 6’Mahony Saved Cremona, Fighting K®l Mi£sC.Murfht|| and Shirts." The Glorious Victory).: of Fontenoy! How the Irish Exiles, Faithful to ;-■ the End} Shared the Last Gallant Effort of Prince; Chariest Edward, .s | «4jaasiu Olia mttOSd O.'X . • - $ The, glory of Ireland was all abroad in those years. Spurned from the 1 portals /of ' the constitution established by the conqueror, the Irish slave followed with . ‘ eager gaze the meteor track of “the Brigade." Namur Steenkirk, Staffardo, Cremona, Ramillies, Fontenoy each, in its turn, sent’ a thrill through the heart of Ireland;. The trampled captive furtively lifted his head from the earth, and looked eastward, and his face was lighted up as by the beam of. the morning sun..,. $ * IJtJFor a hundred years, that magnificent body, the Irish Brigade—(continuously recruited iL from k home, though death was the ; penalty by English law) made the Irish name synonymous with heroism and fidelity throughout Europe. Sarsfield , was ; amongst the first to . meet a soldier’s, death. . But he fell in the arms of victory, and died, as the old annalists would say, with his mind and his heart turned to Ireland. | In the bloody battle of Landen, fought July 29, 1693, : he fell mortally wounded, while leading , a victorious charge • u of the Brigade. 1 The , ball had entered near his heart, v. and while he lay on the field his corslet was removed in v ' order that the] wound might be. examined. - c -He himu 3 self, in a pang of pain, put his hand to his breast as if to staunch the wound. When he took away his hand, it was full of blood. Gazing at it for a moment sorrowfully, he faintly gasped out: “Oh ! that this were for Ireland ! ’ ’ He never spoke again. V, His — place ;was — : soon filled from the ranks ■ of ? ■ the r exiled Irish nobles—those illustrious men whose names are emblazoned on the glory roll of France— and the Brigade went forward in its path of victory. At Cremona, 1702, an Irish regiment, most of the I men ; ~ fighting in their shirts —(the place had been surprised in the dead of .. night by , treachery)—saved the l ? town. under most, singular circumstances. Duke Villeroy, commanding the French army, including two Irish >: % regiments under O’Mahony and Bourke, held Cremona; | his adversary, Prince Eugene, commanding the Ger- - mans, being encamped around Mantua. Treason; was at work, however, ,to betray Cremona. ; One night a partisan of the Germans within the walls, traitorously opened one -of the gates to the Austrian troops. | Before the disaster was discovered the French general, most of the officers, the military chests, etc., were ; taken, 3 and the German horse and foot, were in possession of the town, excepting one place* only—the Po . . Gate, which was guarded by the two Irish regiments. ; In fact, Prince Eugene had already taken up his headquarters in the , town hall, and Cremona was;: virtually in his hands. The Irish were called- on to [surrender j. the Po Gate. They answered with a volley. The Ausi ■ 3j*>u . r&gutten yv SH »> t?! #».?%■;• jk .»* fit* •• J $1“ : trian general; on" learning they were Irish troops, desired to save brave men from utter sacrificefor he had Irish in his own, service, and held the men qf Ireland in high estimation. He sent to expostulate with them, and show them the madness of sacrificing their -dives y. where tjiey could have no probability of relief, and to i assure them a that if they would enter into the imperial - • • .>1 '- r ;i -- 1 -it fr-"] ■■ .Xu..service, they should be . directly and honorably I promoted. “The first part of this proposal,” says the .■ authority I have been c following, “they heard with im- - patience ; the second, with disdain. •> ‘ Tell; the prince,’ said they, “that we have hitherto preserved the Honor of our country,* and that we hope * this day to convince 1 him we are worthy of his. esteem. While one of us exists the German eagles shall not be displayed upon these walls.’ ” The attack upon them was forthwith j commenced by a large body of foot, supported i: by i — five thousand cuirassiers. As I have already noted, the Irish, having been aroused 1 from their .sleep] had

barely time to clutch their arms; and rush forth undressed. Davis,, in his ballad of Cremona; informs us, indeed (very probably more for “rhyme” than with “reason”) that , .-/■ ~,, / „ , :V ;. .. * -the major is drest; adding, however, the undoubted fact— But muskets and shirts are the clothes of the rest. A bloody scene of street fighting now ensued, and before the morning sun had risen high, the naked Irish had recovered nearly half the city! “In on them,” said Friedberg—“and Dillon is broke, Like forest flowers crushed by the fall of the oak.” Through the naked battalions the cuirassiers go,— • But the man, not the dress, makes the soldier, I trow. Upon them with grapple, with bay’net and ball, - Like wolves upon gaze-hounds the Irishmen fall— Black Friedberg is slain by O’Mahony’s steel, And back from the bullets the cuirassiers reel. Oh! hear you their shout in your quarters, Eugene? In vain on Prince Vaudemont for succor you lean! The bridge has been broken, and mark ! how pell-mell • v Come riderless horses and volley and yell! He s a veteran soldier clenches his hands, He springs on his horse, disengages his bands— He rallies, he urges, till, hopeless of aid, He is chased through the gates by the Irish Brigade .” It was even so. “Before evening,” we are told, “the enemy were completely expelled the town, and the general and military chests recovered!” Well might the poet undertake to describe as here quoted the effects of the news in Austria, England, France, and Ireland "' V - T - :t News, news in Vienna!— Leopold’s sad, News, news in St. James’s!—King William - is mad, News, news in Versailles!—“Let the Irish Brigade Be loyally honored and royally paid.” News, news in old Ireland!—high rises her pride, And loud sounds her wail for her children who died And deep is her prayer“ God send - ! may see Mac Donnell and Mahony fighting for me!” (To be continued.)