-1' o \- The BATTLE of the BOYNE THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUNT BASED ON FRENCH AND OTHER UNPUBLISHED RECORDS OF THE WAR IN IRELAND (1688-1691) AND OF THE FORMATION OF THE IRISH BRIGADE IN THE SERVICE OF FRANCE By Demetrius Charles Boulger J9^ J9^ J9^ ILLUSTRATED WITH MANY PORTRAITS FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS REPRODUCED IN PHOTOGRAVURE LONDON: MARTIN BECKER NUMBER FIVP: JOHN STREET ADELPHI MCMXI PRINTED BY VVIILIAM 3REND0N A.>ID SON, LTD, Pi-YMOVTB Contents I. THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 9 II. KING JAMES GOES TO IRELAND 39 III. A GREAT VICEROY 60 IV. KING JAMES IN IRELAND 82 V. THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 12c VL THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 148 VIL THE FIRST SIEGE OF LIMERICK 183 VIII. THE MOUNTCASHELL BRIGADE 207 IX. THE CAMPAIGN OF AUGHRIM 223 X. THE SECOND SIEGE OF LIMERICK 245 XL THE CONVENTION OF LIMERICK 263 Xn. THE IRISH ARRIVE IN FRANCE 283 XIII. THE FIRST ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE BRIGADE 308 XIV. THE PEACE OF RYSWYCK 337 INDEX 374 List of Illustrations KING JAMES II From the Portrait by Sir Godfrey K^ieller in the National Portrait Gallery Fro'uhpiece QUEEN MARY OF MODENA From the Painting by W. Wissing in the National Facing page Portrait Gallery 34- RICHARD TALBOT, DUKE OF TYRCONNELL From the Paiiiting in the National Portrait Gallery 66 WILLIAM HERBERT, DUKE OF POWIS From the Portrait at Pozcis Castle, in the possession of the Earl ofPozvis 90 THE LORD THOMAS HOWARD From the Painting at Arundel Castle, in the possession of the Duke of Norfolk 1 16 PATRICK SARSFIELD, EARL OF LUCAN From the Portrait in the possession of the Order of Franciscan Friars in Dublin 1 64 VALENTINE BROWNE, VISCOUNT KENMARE From the Portrait at Killarney House, in the possession of the Earl of Kenmare 242 COLONEL JOHN BROWNE From the Portrait at Westport House, in the possession of the Marquis ofSligo 264 JAMES, DUKE OF BERWICK From the Portrait in the possession of the Due D'Alba 324 CHARLES, EARL OF MIDDLETON From the Portrait in the possession of James Paton, Esq. 338 The BATTLE of the BOYNE Chapter I THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS DURING the night of December 19-20 (N.S.), 1688, there sailed into Calais harbour an English yacht, which was engaged in its customary work of conveying travellers across the Channel between England and France. On this occasion there were twenty-six passengers on board, including an infant, and the captain, Clark by name, had never before conveyed a living freight so precious and unusual. Under different circumstances, if History had only taken a slightly altered form, the little boat might have become famous as having borne the destiny of England. But dis aliter visum. It took away those who were never to return, the representatives of a lost cause, the last members of the sovereign House by right divine in this United Realm. It is true the sovereign himself was not on board, but he was to follow some little time after, and for all practical purposes the yacht may be considered to have carried with it the hopes and fortunes of the Stuarts. The little barque made a good passage, and as a piquant detail, considering who were on board, it may be mentioned that she passed unchallenged and unmolested through a fleet of fifty Dutch warships in the Downs. The principal passengers were Mary Beatrice d'Este of 10 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE Modena, Queen of England, etc., her son, the infant Prince of Wales, William Herbert, Marquis of Powis, his wife, nee Lady Elisabeth Somerset, Lady Sophia Bulkeley and two of her daughters, Anne, unmarried but destined to be Duchess of Berwick, and Charlotte, wife of Charles CBrien, afterwards Viscount Clare, a hero of Blenheim and Ramillies, where he received his death-wound, not for England but for France. There were other passengers closely attached to the Queen : her lifelong friend, Madame Davia, not yet Countess d'Almonde, 7ii'e Anna Victoria de Montecuculli of Modena, the faithful Turini, her bed- chamber woman, the courier, or page of the backstairs, Riva, another Italian. To these three faithful citizens of her own native town must be added Lauzun, the impresario of the scene, the man who has arranged the flight, and who in his own estimation at least is the hero of the adventure. Before going further let us give the full list of those on board : — FULL LIST OF PARTY ACCOMPANYING QUEEN MARY Number OF MODENA of Persons Queen Mary, Prince of Wales 2 Lady Sophia Bulkeley, Miss Anne Bulkeley 2 Marquis and Marchioness of Powis 2 Victoria Montecuculli Davia, and her brother the Marquis Montecuculli 2 Lady Strickland and Madame Turini (the Queen's jemme de chambre) 2 Father Giuduci and Sir William Waldegrave (physician) 2 Dominic Sheldon, Guttier Fran9ois, Riva, Dufour, and Leyburn 5 Lord and Lady O'Brien de Clare (really Charles O'Brien, afterwards Viscount Clare) 2 Three Irish Captains (McCarthy of Petersfield probably one of them) 3 Turini, Mrs. L'Abadie, dry nurse, and a wet nurse unnamed 3 Lauzun i 26 THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS ii The passage from Gravesend must indeed have been excellent, for the child slept throughout the journey. We will now take a brief glance at the events which pre- ceded the flight, and more especially does it concern this narrative to show how and why it was that the Royal Family of England should flee to France in the absolute conviction that protection and hospitality awaited them in that country. The affairs of England had been the subject of the closest attention in Paris ever since the accession of James II, on the death of his brother Charles II in 1685, and still more especially since the formation of the League of Augsburg in July, 1686, by William of Orange and the Emperor of Germany. During the whole of Charles's reign French influence had been in the ascendant at Whitehall. A French mistress had ruled the King, English ministers received French pensions, and English ofiicers and men learnt the art of war under Turenne. There was no definite agreement, but there was a very good e^itente cordiale. Louis wanted this good understanding to be converted into a regular alliance, and when James proclaimed himself a Catholic it looked for a moment as if his end would be attained. But the King's conversion raised fresh obstacles instead of removing those that already existed, and when Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes a great outcry arose in England that the country was about to be betrayed to the Pope. It was this appre- hension that gave William, Prince of Orange, the chance of posing as the champion of Protestantism. He took a leaf out of Louis's own book, and began to bribe the ministers of England. Sunderland, the most notorious of them all, took one salary from France and another from Holland. To James he swore by all the saints that he was a good Cathohc ; to William he made no oaths, but he sent him the priceless information that Louis had engaged to invest Maestricht if the Prince of Orange made any move against England. 12 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE Although Louis XIV was then at the height of his power, the league arrayed against him was formidable, and if England were to be added to it the odds against him might become too great. So long as James, not merely his first cousin, but his guest, companion, and fellow-soldier of the days of exile under Cromwell, held the throne there was no risk of this. Indeed, if James could hold his ground there was far more likelihood of his becoming the open ally of France, and had that stage been reached the map of Europe could have been re- arranged. But the desire to obtain the English alliance did not blind the wisest of the French ministers to James's own position. Early in 1688 it became clear in Paris that James was in great difficulties, and the impression grew that he did not know how to deal with them. He was told that Sunderland was a traitor, but he continued to entrust him with his closest secrets. This conduct was the first cause of the want of confidence felt by Louvois, the great Minister of France, who was the main prop of Louis's government, in James, which became intensified with each fresh experience. Lookers-on proverbially see most of the game, and soon it was discovered that James was not merely in difficulty, but in danger. It was then that George Skelton, James's ambassador at Versailles, alarmed at the news from London, took upon himself to ask Louvois to send over a French army to keep James on the throne. Louvois having just committed himself to the invasion of the Palatinate, declined the proposal, and James, alarmed at the effect on English opinion of the rumoured introduction of French troops into the country, recalled Skelton and sent him to the Tower. He was kept there for a short space as a prisoner, but he remained somewhat longer as its governor. It was said with some neatness at the time that James punished Skelton's indiscretion with a cell, and rewarded his loyalty with the governor's quarters. THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 13 When it became generally known that William of Orange was preparing a large fleet and army to cross into England, and that he had been invited to come over for the preservation of the Protestant cause by some of the most influential men in England and Scotland, French statesmen had to face the fact that James, far from being likely to succeed in holding his own, was confronted with the grave risk of losing his throne. This risk was increased by James's own conduct. He would not believe that those who offered him such effusive lip-service could be false. He should have sent Sunderland to the Tower, instead of loyal George Skelton. French opinion was prepared then for the downfall of James long before the poor King realised his own position, and there was no inchnation at Versailles to risk the mad adventure of keeping him on the throne by means of a French army. But, on the other hand, the fact was appreciated that while the Prince of Orange had an army in England he would have fewer troops in the Netherlands, and that then would be the time for France to press him in the Meuse valley. It was also hoped that the presence of foreign troops in England would arouse national opposition to that veiled conquest of 1688 which behevers in the invulnerability of England have so consistently ignored down to the present day> and it was never conceived to be possible that the English people would make, even for the sake of a menaced Church, that tame surrender which they did to the Danes, Prussians, Huguenots and Dutchmen collected under the Orange flag in the winter of 1688-9. '^^^ French hoped then that William might well burn his fingers over his adventure, and their conception of the likely course of events was at least not uncompHmentary to the English character. For the moment the only active part that the French authorities were disposed to take towards upholding the Stuarts was in facilitating the escape of the English Royal Family, and above all of the young Prince of Wales, and 14 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE in providing them with a secure place of refuge. The darker and more uncertain the future was deemed for King James himself, the more essential did it seem from the French point of view to acquire the person of his only male heir. There was no difference of opinion on this point between Louis and his Ministers. Louvois, moved by political calculations alone, was in complete accord with the chivalric impulses of Louis XIV which led that monarch to decide on giving the most cordial hospitality to the fugitive Stuarts. Louvois gladly found the money to refurnish Vincennes which was first selected as their residence, and he went even further than his sovereign in thinking that the sooner the Queen of England and her son were safe in France the better. He was also not very sanguine about James's own chances. It was not merely that he had even in these early days no high opinion of the King's ability, but his own recent experience in interfering with the religious sentiments of a people had not been very successful, and had left him in a chastened mood. The Louvois of 1688 was not quite the same person as he had been in 1685, when James's conversion had seemed to herald the return of England to the Catholic fold. The success of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the dragonnades had not been so absolute in France as to make him think that James Stuart would succeed in a task somewhat similar to but more difficult than his own, when Protestant England was the scene in lieu of Catholic France. When George Skelton asked for French troops Louvois knew that James II had already failed. The letters from his agents in England made him think, rightly or wrongly, that for the completeness of his failure James was himself much to blame, and thus his distrust and dislike of the Stuart King dated from a time anterior to their meeting in France. But Louvois had no doubt as to the wisdom of welcoming the Stuart family. The possession of the legitimate heir THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 15 to the Crown of England was a trump card in the great game of politics. If William of Orange secured not merely his father-in-law's crown, but the persons of the King and his only direct heir, then his triumph would be doubly great and lasting. How was this to be prevented ? Fate came to the assistance of his plans in the person of Lauzun, and it was the more remarkable because Louvois was not his friend. It will be more convenient to give the story of this worthless person {ce triste fersonnage of Louvois) at a later phase of his participation in the Stuart drama, but in 1688 he had not long been released from ten years' imprisonment in the Bastille and elsewhere on condition that he did not come within two leagues of the Court. He still dreamt of great deeds, and of his return to the Court where he had once been prime favourite, but no one believed that so long as Mademoiselle de Mont- pensier (La Grande Mademoiselle) lived he had any chance of success. At the very moment that Lauzun was con- ceiving impossible adventures, Louvois needed an ad- venturer of good class, accustomed to Courts, but with a reputation to restore. The adventure of bringing over the heir to the English crown and his mother was made for Lauzun, and Lauzun was made for the adventure. Besides, he had some special qualifications. He knew the Enghsh language a little ; he had been to London, and he had served with King James as a comrade in the trenches before Landrecies in 1655. The character of the rescuer of the wife and child of an old companion in arms, who had had the good fortune to become a monarch in the interval, was one that well accorded with the grandiose ideas of his own magnificence and importance. On October 21, 1688, we learn from the invaluable diary of Dangeau that Lauzun left for England to offer his services to James II. A more cautious chronicler expressed the current talk of the day on the subject in the words : " Lauzun has gone to England in search of some amusement." The cynical St. Simon adds that 1 6 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE " the English Revokition broke out expressly in Laiizun's interests." The official biographer ^ of King James H merely states that " all things being ready by this time for the Queen and Prince's departure it fell out opportunely enough that the Count de Lozune, a French gentleman, was then at the Court of England, whither he came to offer his services to the King ... so His Majesty accepted of his offer an other way, as thinking him a proper person to attend upon the Queen in this voyage, and that under the notion of his returning to his own country (there being no business for him in England) a yacght might be prepared and the Queen and Prince pass unsuspected in his company." By the time that Lauzun's services were required half the month of December, 1688, had passed away. The Prince of Wales had been sent to Portsmouth, under the personal charge of Lord and Lady Powis, in the belief that the Prince of Orange intended landing on the East Coast, while the King and Queen remained in London. But when William landed at Torbay, and his patrols were riding through Dorset to Hampshire, it was seen that Portsmouth was no longer a safe place, and Lord Powis, with his precious charge, was summoned back to London. There seems no doubt that the party only escaped capture in the neighbourhood of Petersfield through the intelli- gence of " Mr. Macarty, an Irish Officer," and when they reached London everything was ready for the immediate departure of the Queen and her child for France. James had made up his mind to quit England. He had entrusted his personal papers to the safe custody of the Marquis Terriesi, Envoy from Tuscany, who undertook to convey them to Italy and thence to Paris. It only remained then to arrange the details for the flight, and as it was impossible for them all to escape together, it was decided that the Queen should leave immediately ^ The autobiography (practically speaking) based on the Stuart papers by the Rev. J. S. Clarke, 1816. THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 17 after the arrival of her child, under the escort of Lauzun. The Queen was quite willing for her son to be sent over, but her reluctance to leave her husband was only over- come by his assurance that he " would follow within twenty-four hours of her departure." It was thereupon agreed that the Queen and the Prince of Wales should start first. According to Lauzun's own account, all the preparations for departure having been made in advance, the flight took place on the same night as the arrival of the Prince from Portsmouth, and this was the 6th (O.S.) or i6th (N.S.) of December. The threatening attitude of the mob in Southwark towards the soldiers sent to escort the young Prince into London showed that there was no time to lose, and that a wise precaution had been adopted in bringing the party from Portsmouth by a roundabout route over Kingston Bridge. Francesco Riva, an Italian gentleman in attendance upon the Queen ever since her first arrival in England, prepared an official account of the flight, which was no doubt read by the Queen and corrected under her personal direction. It is not free from some errors and omissions, but on the whole it is the best account we possess. He states that he was sent to bring the Prince back from Portsmouth, and that the route was guarded by several regiments, notably by the Earl of Salisbury's at Guildford. He also states that the party reached Whitehall at three in the morning, and that the young Prince was kept concealed in the apartments of M. de I'Abadie, groom of the chambers, all day — de I'Abadie's wife being his dry nurse. On the night of December 16, then, the King and Queen retired as usual to rest in Whitehall, and no one was informed that the Prince had arrived. He was kept, as described, in M. de I'Abadie's chamber, close to the royal apartment, with Lord and Lady Powis and his nurse. A quarter of an hour after retiring King James 1 8 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE got up, and the Queen rose at the same time, ready dressed for travelling. Those in the antechamber, joined by the Queen's favourite, Madame Davia, entered the room, and the King, taking the child in his arms, enveloped as it was in a bundle of linen, led the way down a back stair- case and several passages to a small door on the side of the Palace nearest to the river. Here Lauzun and his friend, M. Saint Victor, a French officer of approved courage and an expert swordsman, who may have been the original of Dumas' D'Artagnan, were waiting. Saint Victor took the child in his arms, and the King, turning to Lauzun, said briefly that he entrusted to him all he held dearest in the world. There was no time to waste, and Lauzun led the way, escorting the Queen to the boat held in readiness at the Palace stairs. The night was dark, and there was rain, with a high wind, and the crossing of the river in the obscurity was no easy matter. On reaching the Lambeth side the coaches had not arrived, and for an hour the party found such shelter as they could under the wall of Lambeth Chapel. During this hour of suspense the Queen, wrote Sir J. Dalrymple, whose literal accuracy is not remarkable, " turned her eyes, streaming with tears, sometimes on the Prince, unconscious of the miseries which attend upon Royalty, and who, upon that account, raised the greater compassion in her heart, and sometimes to the innumerable lights of the City amidst the glimmerings of which she in vain explored the Palace in which her husband was left, and started at every sound she heard from there." Riva's account is more detailed and circumstantial. It shows that besides the comparatively small party escaping from the Palace, several of the Queen's friends had gone direct to the rendezvous at Lambeth, under the charge of Dufour, page of the backstairs, and that three carriages were in readiness. Riva, curiously enough, omits to mention the name of Saint Victor, who carried the Prince in his arms, but there is no room for doubting that he was THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 19 there. Some one described him as formerly squire to the Due de Vendome. As soon as the party had crossed the river the page Dufour went off to call the carriages. He found the ostlers all drinking. They had not drunk so much, however, as not to feel a little curious as to who the travellers were, and one came forth with a lantern to find out. By this time most of the party had taken their seats, and Riva, appre- hensive lest the ostler might discover the Queen, jostled up against him, upsetting him in the narrow alley, and extinguishing his lantern. Riva also fell and rose covered with mud. He then jumped into the back seat of the Queen's coach, and the party drove off. After proceeding some distance on the Old Kent Road they were met by Leyburn, the Queen's squire, with two horses. Riva put on riding-boots, and mounting one of them, rode with Leyburn as a rear-guard. It seems probable that Saint Victor did likewise, for Leyburn led two horses. Riva either forgot all about the French officer, or did not wish any one to share in the credit of the successful flight but himself. Riva, not Lauzun, much less the unnamed Saint Victor, is the hero of the occasion in the Italian's narrative. Some time after this incident three Irish officers joined the party, and thus the Queen had a small guard of trustworthy and devoted men. The names of these officers are not given, but in all probability McCarthy of Petersfield was one of them. Without accident the Queen and her companions reached Gravesend. All were got on board the yacht in safety and without attracting notice, the little Prince being carried on board by Saint Victor " in a bundle of soiled linen." It had been arranged that if the captain dis- played the least sign of treachery he should be thrown overboard, but he spontaneously protested his loyalty, and declared that the only reward he asked for was the Queen's passport, to be preserved as an heirloom in his family. Saint Victor returned to the shore, and when 20 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE he had seen the yacht sail with a fair wind, he rode back to London to inform the King that all had gone off as proposed. The King then made his own arrangements to follo'w the Queen the next night. This programme could not be carried out, for reasons that have yet to be given, but the description of James's own adventures may be left over for a little while. It will not be disputed that the Count de Lauzun, to whom, despite Riva's reticence, we give the main credit, had managed the affair very well, and when the yacht was moored to the wharf at Calais he counted on a very brilliant reception at Versailles, where he hoped to pose as the rescuer of a distressed Queen and Prince. No doubt so good a manager carefully rehearsed the scene in his own mind. Lauzun, the champion of distressed royalty, was to be the centre of the picture he conjured up as occurring at Versailles rather than the English royalties themselves. If such were his dreams before arriving, they were destined to a rude disillusionment on landing. Awaiting him was the lieutenant of the Governor of Calais and Picardy, the Due de Bethune-Charost, and the first question addressed to him was an enquiry for the names of his party. Lauzun, conceiving it to be necessary for the success of his project that the Queen's presence should not be known, or at least that he should, before divulging it, get his own courier off first to carry the news to Versailles, dechned to give them. He rephed in general terms that he was the Count de Lauzun and that he had some ladies with him under his protection. The lieutenant reported the reply to the Due de Bethune, who then appeared on the scene in person. The Due said with quiet irony to the Count that if he did not give him the ladies' names he would have to ask them himself. Concealment being no longer possible, Lauzun admitted that it was the Queen of England whom he was escorting, and the Due de Bethune, having welcomed Her Majesty THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 21 to France in the name of his royal master, sent off an express courier to convey the news in his own name, and not Lauzun's, to Versailles. At the same time he informed the Queen that as there was no suitable accommodation for her at Calais, carriages would be provided as quickly as possible to drive her to Boulogne, where the Due d'Aumont held his chateau in readiness for Her Majesty's reception. On December 22 the Queen reached Boulogne, where she found it reported that her husband had been captured during his attempt to follow her, and thrown into prison. The poor Queen, whose aft'ection for her husband was immense and only stimulated by his misfortunes, declared that she would return at once to England to " share his martyrdom." This step was naturally not at all to Lauzun's liking, as it threatened to upset not only his own plans, but those of his Government, and he employed all the arguments he could think of to dissuade the Queen from taking it. He succeeded so far as to induce her to consent to wait for the receipt of further and more definite news. Expresses were sent off to Paris to warn Louis of this inclination, and orders were issued thereupon to hasten the preparation of St. Germains. Indeed, it was clear that the sooner the Oueen took the road for Paris the better for the full satisfaction of French political requirements. But snow covered the country, the highways were in a bad state, and above all the definite instructions of the Great King had not been issued. As a matter of fact, there had been a change of plan at the eleventh hour. Orders had been given to prepare Vincennes, but Vincennes was inconveniently situated with regard to Versailles, and St. Germains was substituted for it at the last moment. But many preparations had to be made there, and King Louis had decided to send his own carriages to Boulogne for the Queen's journey. All these arrangements filled up the fortnight between the landing at Calais and the departure from Boulogne. 22 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE Madame de Sevignc mentions in one of her letters that " the King is sending three of his carriages with ten horses apiece, Htters, pages, footmen, guards, and officers to Boulogne for the Queen of England's journey." Another chronicler avers that Louis sent pioneers to make a straight road across the country, but this need not be accepted too literally. Mary of Modena had brought away but a slender wardrobe, and while at Boulogne she was visited by the Duchess of Portsmouth (Charles H's mistress), who placed her wardrobe at the Queen's disposal. The Duchess was not received on this occasion, or, indeed, until some months later when the Stuart Court was formally estab- lished at St. Germains, but the Queen accepted some of the articles which were most indispensable to her. At last, on January 4, 1689, the Queen left Boulogne in the King's carriages, and along the whole of the route she was received with royal honours. At Beaumont, where she passed the night of the 5th, the joyful news reached her that her husband had landed at Ambleteuse the day before, and her anxiety as to his personal safety being thus removed, it was with better heart she set out on the last stage of her journey to the chateau, which was to be her home for thirty years. Whatever political motives may have inspired Louvois, King Louis was actuated by a chivalric desire to succour a brother sovereign in distress when he gave shelter to the exiled Stuart King and his family. Never was royal hospitality bestowed with more cordiality, generosity, and tender regard for the feelings of those who had lost the state to which they were born and had inherited by right divine, than by the King of France on this occasion to King James and Queen Mary. He had marked out a hne of conduct for himself in this role of combined host and protector that remains a model for all time, and he never swerved from it under the very different circumstances of the closing ten years of his reign. When he first received the exiles he was the Roi Soleil and the arbiter of Europe, THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 23 but the misfortunes and calamities of the Spanish Succes- sion War produced no change in his attitude or action. When he learnt that the Queen had left Boulogne, he sent the Marquis Dangeau and other high courtiers to offer her a welcome in his name at Beaumont, and on the following day he drove out to Chatou, a league west of St. Germains through the forest, to await her arrival. He was accompanied in his carriage by Monseigneur (his eldest son, the Dauphin) and by Monsieur (his brother, the Due d'Orleans), and the whole Court followed in coach and carriage to witness the meeting. Arrived at the extremity of the forest the courtiers, descending from their carriages, which lined both sides of the avenue, formed a circle, while in the centre remained the King's state carriage drawn by a team of ten horses. Shortly it was announced that the car- riages of the Queen of England were in sight, and at once the King got out of his carriage, leaving the Princes, as etiquette required, to await his return. In the first carriage were the Prince of Wales, Lady Powis, Madame Davia, and the nurses, and as the King approached the ladies were about to bring out the baby, when he stopped them with a gesture, and entering the carriage took the child in his arms, praised his beauty, and kissing him declared that he would be his protector. Then, leaving him, he found that the Queen had descended from her carriage, and hastening towards her at the little running pace, which conveys in France the height of welcome and emfressement, and which no one but a French courtier could execute without losing dignity, the King welcomed her with both hands, kissing her lightly on both cheeks and declaring that he and everything he possessed was at her disposal. Then, leading the way, he escorted the Queen, carrying on an animated conversation all the time, to his own carriage, into which she entered, and here Monseigneur and Monsieur were duly presented to her. The cortege then proceeed to the chateau, where everything was in readiness. 24 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE including a guard of honour of the Maison du Roi. King Louis did the honours in person, escorting the Queen to her chamber, where on the table was placed a beautiful casket containing sixty thousand francs for her personal requirements. All the furnishing had been done by Tourolle, the King's own tapis sier, and when the King took his departure it was with the expression of the hope that " Her Majesty, his dear sister, would find herself quite at home." The next day there was a repetition to some extent of the same scene when King James arrived, for he was only twenty-four hours behind the Queen, and as he travelled with less ceremony his movements were more rapid. In fact, the Duke of Berwick, who, as will be described later on, had escaped with the King from England, reached St. Germains in the evening of the day of the Queen's arrival, having been sent on in advance to inform her of James's journey and near approach. King James passed the night of the 6th at Breteuil, and the next morning he set out early with the intention of visiting King Louis at Versailles before proceeding to St. Germains. This detour led to some delay in his reaching St. Germains, where the King of France had gone to receive him on his arrival. Louis, again accompanied by Monseigneur and Monsieur, proceeded to St. Germains in the afternoon of January 7 to enquire after the health of the Queen, and to receive her husband on his arrival. It was, perhaps, owing to the delayed arrival of James that Louis had half an hour's talk with the Queen in her bedroom, where she was in bed, and when the King of England's approach was announced the grand saloon and staircase were so crowded with courtiers that Louis could not get through the crush in time to reach the courtyard, cour (fhonrietir, where he had intended to receive his guest. He was consequently obliged at the last moment to change the place of reception to the entrance of the Salle des Gardes. THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 25 Here he received James in the most cordial manner, embracing him several times, and having talked with him for a little while with great animation, he led him, holding his hand in his own, to his wife's chamber, where he addressed the Queen in these words : " Madam, I bring you a man whom you will be very glad to see." Then, making the excuse that he would go and see the young Prince, gracefully to leave the restored husband and wife alone for a little time, he retired. On his return James came out to escort him to his carriage, but Louis stopped him. " No, you are to-day my guest. To-morrow you will come and see me at Versailles as we have arranged. I will do you the honours as you will do them to me the next time I come to St. Germains, and afterwards we shall live together without ceremony." The main facts in this description are taken from Dangeau's Memoirs. Madame de Sevigne described these scenes in a letter dated three days later. " Le Roi fait pour ses Majestes anglaises des choses toutes divines, car n'est-ce point etre I'image du Tout Puissant que de soutenir un roi chasse, trahi et abandonne comme il est ? La belle ame du Roi se plait a jouer ce grand role. II fut au devant de la reine avec toute sa maison et cent carrosses a six chevaux. Quand il aper^ut le carrosse du Prince de Galles il descendit et ne voulut pas que ce petit enfant beau comme un ange, a ce qu'on dit, descendit ; il I'embrassa tendrement ; puis il courut au devant de la reine qui etait descendue ; il la salua, lui parla quelque temps, la mit a sa droite dans son carrosse et lui presenta Monseigneur et Monsieur qui furent aussi dans le carrosse et la mena a St. Germain ou elle se trouva toute servie comme la reine, de toutes sortes dc hardes et une cassette tres riche avec six mille louis d'or. " Lc lendemain le roi d'Angleterre devait arriver. Le roi I'attendait a St. Germain. II y arriva tard parcequ'il venait dc Versailles. Eniin le Roi alia au bout de la salle des Gardes au-devant de lui. Le roi d'Angleterre se 26 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE baissa fort comme s'il eilt voulu embrasser ses genoux. Le Roi Ten empecha et Tembrassa a trois ou quatre reprises fort cordialemcnt. lis se parlerent bas un quart d'heure. Lc Roi lui presenta Monseigneur, Monsieur, les princes du sang, et le Cardinal de Bonzi. II le mena ensuite dans la chambre de la rcine qui eut peine a retenir ses larmcs. lis furent quelque temps a causer, puis le Roi les mena chez le Prince de Galles ou ils furent encore quelque temps et les y laissa ne voulant point etre reconduit, et disant au roi Jacques : ' Voici votre maison ; quand j'y viendrai vous m'en ferez les honneurs, et je vous les ferai quand vous viendrez a Versailles.' " Although the story is well known, it is not possible to omit all account of King James's own escape from England. Unlike the Queen's, his adventure was full of excitement, and it was only at the second attempt that he got in safety out of the country. True to his promise to the Queen, he made all his arrange- ments to follow her the next night as soon as Saint Victor brought the news of her departure from Gravesend. Among his final acts of authority was to write an order to Lord Feversham (Duras), commanding his troops, to make no further opposition and to disband his men. His own departure was fixed for the night of December 20 (N.S.), and about midnight he left Whitehall accompanied by Sir Edward Hales and M. de I'Abadie, his groom of the chamber and the husband of the Prince of Wales's dry nurse. They took the first hackney coach they saw and drove to the horse ferry. Here M. de I'Abadie left them, and the King with his companion or companions, for there seems no reason to doubt that Saint Victor, although un- named, was with him, entered the boat to be rowed across to Vauxhall. The tide ran strong, and the King helped the boatman by himself taking a pair of oars. On the southern side horses, held by Sir Edward's quartermaster and a man who knew the road to act as guide, were in readiness, and the whole party reached the Medway at Alford bridge about THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 27 seven in the morning without molestation. Here a relay of fresh horses, provided by Mr. Ralph Sheldon, one of James's equerries, was in waiting, and Faversham was reached at ten o'clock. The custom-house hoy had been hired, apparently by Sheldon, to convey the party to France, but when the passengers were on board the master stated that he had not enough ballast on to put to sea. The King as a practical seaman saw that this was true, but the delay proved fatal, and a comparative trifle not merely prevented the escape, but placed the King's life in jeopardy. The boat dropped a little down the river to fill up with sand, and after some hours' labour the work was finished, and everything was again ready for a start, when three boats filled with armed men arrived from Faversham and boarded the hoy. Resistance being out of the question, it was hoped that the King might not be recognised, and indeed he was not until brought back to Faversham, where he had some narrow escapes from mob violence, which it is unnecessary to describe. On December 26 the King was back in Whitehall. To the astonishment of the Prince of Orange, and perhaps also of the King himself, his return was made the occasion of much public rejoicing. In London there were " such bonfires, ringing of bells and all imaginable marks of love and esteem as made it look more like a day of triumph than humihation." It was under the impression caused by this incident that the Prince of Orange resorted to extreme measures. He sent his Dutch Guards, under Count Solmes, to turn out the King's Guards at Whitehall, and although the stout-hearted old Earl of Craven would have fought to maintain his post, James forbade useless bloodshed. When the Palace was entirely in the hands of the Dutch, the King retired to rest and went fast asleep. But his trials for the day were not over. A peremptory order came late at night that the King should leave before nine the next morning for Ham, and despite his protests the Earl of Middleton was forced to convey the news to his royal 28 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE master while he slept. The scene has been often described how, kneeling beside the King's bed, he whispered the messaq;c in his ear. James protested merely against the choice of Ham as " an ill winter house and at that time almost unfurnished," and said he would much prefer to return to Rochester, where the Prince had expressed a regret that he had not stayed. This reasonable wish was conveyed to the Prince of Orange, then at Sion House, and he consented to the change. He was probably glad of it, for at this period his greatest desire was to get James safely out of the country. At the same time he sent James a blank pass for one person to leave the country, ostensibly for a messenger to proceed from him to the Queen in France ; but it is impossible not to see in it the conveyance of a hint to the King that he might himself be off. When James got to Rochester the second time there was further evidence to the same effect, for while the front of his residence was closely guarded with sentinels, the back door, and that the one nearest to the river, was left un- guarded and ostentatiously open. For three nights, Decem- ber 29-31 (N.S.), King James slept at Rochester while his friends were completing their plans for his escape. There were among them men whom we shall meet under different circumstances — General Sutherland, Sir John Talbot, and Lord Griffin ; but the two officers who arranged for the shallop to be ready to carry the King to France were Captains Trevanion and Macdonnell (probably Ronald Macdonald), and as he was one of the party it is not unreasonable to suppose that the young Duke of Berwick took some active part in it as well. Berwick does not seem to have been with the King on the first journey to Faversham. He had been with Lord Feversham's army, and probably had not got back in time. On the night of January i, 1689 (N.S., or December 22, 1688, O.S.), the King retired as usual, but as soon as all was quiet Captain Macdonnell came to him, and leading THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 29 him out hy the back door and through the garden brought him to the place where Captain Trevanion was waiting by the boat. James, the Duke of Berwick, the two captains and a Mr. Biddulph got into the boat, which was pulled down the river to join the smack off Sheerness. The wind and tide were so much against them that they could not reach her, and the King's party was obliged to take shelter on board the " Eagle " fireship commanded by an officer of whose loyalty James felt assured. When it became broad daylight on January 2 the smack was discovered at no great distance sheltering in the Swale, and although it was still blowing half a gale the King insisted on going on board her. The next night had to be passed in shelter under the lee of the Essex shore, and the following day they got as far as the buoy of the Red Sand, where they waited throughout the night. The wind having by this time greatly fallen they set sail early in the morning of the 4th, and making a quick passage, although not able to get into Calais, reached Ambleteuse in safety the same day. Owing to the delay in getting out of the Thames provisions ran short, and Captain Trevanion, an officer of the Royal Navy, cooked a rasher of bacon for the King in a pan with a hole in it, and gave him to drink " out of an old furred can tied round with a cord." Yet such is the force of need that James declared that he had never enjoyed a meal more heartily in his life. And so King James landed in France on Old Christmas Day, 1688, equivalent to January 4, 1689, or fifteen days after the arrival of his wife and son at Calais as described. By a curious circumstance his younger natural son, then called Lord Henry Fitzjames, who was serving as a mid- shipman in the EngHsh Navy, was landed by Lord Dart- mouth's order from a man-of-war at Boulogne on the same day, and joined his father and the Duke of Berwick a few hours later. The Duke of Berwick was at once sent off to carry the news of the King's landing to Versailles and 30 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE St, Gcrmains, and was received by the Queen during the evening of the day of her arrival. One other passenger connected with these incidents claims notice. The Count de Lauzun, after the Queen took up her residence at Boulogne, left for Paris, and was ordered to Versailles to give King Louis an account of the Queen's escape. On January i, 1689, he was given an audience of three-quarters of an hour. Madame de Sevigne, who was personally well-disposed towards him, treated the episode as almost heroic, and wrote the words : " Lauzun a trouve le chemin de Versailles en passant par Londres." There was one person, however, who refused to change her opinion about him — the Grande Mademoiselle, the lady who had caused Lauzun to be put in the Bastille. King Louis, before he gave the Count permission to come to Court, wrote to his cousin to inform her of his intention to do so on account of his fine conduct in rescuing the Queen of England, and he begged the lady not to be cross about it. She could not oppose the King, but she did not change her views about Lauzun, for, as Voltaire wrote : " Les Frangaises portent rancune," and when he sent her a letter advising her of his return not merely to France but to the King's favour, she threw it in the fire. Her relentless attitude towards the man who had once enjoyed her special favour, and who had been named in her first will as her sole heir, strengthens the presumption that they had been secretly married. The Count was five years her junior, which may perhaps explain much that is mysterious in regard to the breach in their relations. Although Lauzun was allowed to present himself at Court, he was not restored to all his old privileges ; for instance, he did not receive the right of the grande entree, and when he was created a Due by the special request of Queen Mary a little later, it was in the restricted form, not carrying with it a French peerage (paire de France), and thus giving him no higher precedence. King James paid his return visit to King Louis at Ver- THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 31 sailles on the day following his arrival at St. Germains. He arrived there at four o'clock, but earlier in the day an amusing little incident had occurred which brings out the severe etiquette of the French Court and the curious anomalies that arose from the presence of a new King and Queen. The Dauphiness, the wife of Monseigneur, was the first lady of the French Court, and as she was a German Princess not altogether happy or at her ease in her surroundings, she clung to all her privileges with rigid tenacity. She had taken no part in the meetings at St. Germains, and the uppermost question in her mind was how she could avoid calling first on the Queen of England. Queen Mary was also very sensitive about her own dignity, and when she was informed that the Dau- phiness was indisposed and confined to her apartments, she decided to find out how far the illness was true or simulated. She therefore instructed her Grand Chamber- lain, the Marquis of Powis, to drive over to Versailles, in the morning of January 8, and enquire in Her Majesty's name as to the health of the Princess. He was also in- structed to make a point of seeing her. The Marquis of Powis was one of the most distinguished members of the English aristocracy, and he and his wife, Lady EHsabeth Somerset, had kept aloof from the scandalous Court life of Charles H's reign. His loyalty and devotion to his sovereign were beyond question, and he had left behind him a fine estate, producing one of the greatest incomes in England at that period, to follow King James to France. But he was only a Marquis, and the Dauphiness had her reasons for not wishing to be seen. When Lord Powis reached Versailles he was received by the Chamberlain and other dignitaries forming the Court of the Princess, and in reply to his enquiries he was informed that the Dauphiness was still indisposed and confined to her apartments. Lord Powis replied by begging permission to be received, as his royal mistress's concern was so great that she would be content with 32 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE nothing short of a personal report from himself. The request was passed up to the wife of the heir of France with the lord's name ; but when she heard that his title was only that of Marquis she retorted that she could not receive persons with a half-and-half sort of title, and that only Dukes could be admitted to her apartments. Her true reason will be made clear in the sequel, but the direct consequence of her refusal to receive the Marquis of Fowls was that four days later James raised him to the rank of a Duke. It was some hours after this that King James, attended by the Duke of Berwick, arrived at Versailles, where he was received by King Louis, and after some conversation, visited in their turn in their separate apartments the Dauphiness (who was in bed), the Dauphin, and Monsieur. Strict formality was observed as to the King's reception in each quarter of the Palace, and as to the exact point to which the particular Prince of the Blood on whom he called was to escort him on retiring. The two Kings then rejoined company, and passed through the grand saloons engaged in animated conversation, and the ob- servant Dangeau reports that James displayed a complete knowledge of art, china, faience, and furniture. The Queen's first visit to Versailles was delayed by the fact that her new dress was not ready ; but when it was she drove over in state, accompanied by the Duchess of Powis and her two ladies-in-waiting. Lady Sophia Bulkeley and Countess d'Almonde (the Montecuculli), to call upon the Dauphiness. Out of consideration for her indisposition the Queen had waived the right to receive the first visit, but we are told that when she entered the Princess's bedchamber and found her up and dressed, she was somewhat taken aback. Louis had accompanied the Queen into the room, but as the Princess could not sit down in the King's presence, he considerately with- drew. The formalities were thus got over ; but in this case no cordial relations were established, and indeed THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 33 the Dauphiness, who died in 1693, took very little part in the ceremonies of the French Court durins: the last few years of her life. On the other hand, she wrote a good deal about it, and always as a severe and caustic critic, in the letters to her relations in Germany. Many questions of etiquette arose during the first few days after the formation of the Court at St. Germains, and they were not so easily solved as on the earlier occasion of Stuart exile when Henrietta Maria abode there. Charles I's wife was not merely a Frenchwoman, but she was fille de France (that is. Princess of France), and easily accommo- dated herself to the French etiquette in which she had been brought up. But Queen Mary was not French, and the Court etiquette to which she had been accustomed was that of England, which differed materially from what was the vogue at Versailles. Two striking differences offered thorny problems in those early days. In England the Queen did not kiss men, even Princes of the blood. In France Princes of the blood had the right to kiss the Queen of France. When Queen Mary omitted to kiss Monseigneur and Monsieur at their first meeting they were quite huffed. A more difficult matter related to the Queen's reception of Princesses and Duchesses. By French etiquette Prin- cesses and Duchesses were offered seats by the reigning Queen, but they were not kissed by her. By English etiquette Princesses and Duchesses were kissed by the Queen, but not offered seats. Henrietta Maria had adopted the French mode ; but she had sought to extend it by kissing those Duchesses whose husbands were Marshals of France (Duchesses-Marechales), and also the ladies of the Court (Household). This innovation was purely personal, and had not been continued after her time. In the first receptions Queen Mary followed the English etiquette, which led to some confusion and much heart- burning among the great French ladies whose highest privilege was to be seated. The Queen had the good c 34 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE sense to see that the position was strained and would soon become intolerable. So she referred the point at their next interview to Louis, who had been rather upset by the representations made to him on the subject. Louis liked above all things a Court in which everything went smoothly on the surface ; at the same time he did not see how as host he could say anything to the Queen on the subject. Mary d'Este, therefore, gave him sincere pleasure when she addressed him in the following words almost immediately after the first complaints began to reach his ears : — " Dites-moi comment vous voulez que je fasse. Si vous voulez que ce soit a la mode de France je saluerai qui vous voudrez ; pour la mode d'Angleterre c'est que je ne baisais personne." In a few delicately turned sentences King Louis inti- mated that, if it would not be personally irksome to the Queen, it might be as well to adopt French etiquette as had been done by Henrietta Maria. Thus were the troubled waters calmed. Monseigneur and Monsieur received the sisterly kiss, and the Princesses and Duchesses were to be offered their seats on visiting the Queen at St. Ger- mains. Louis certainly deserved this little consideration to be shown to him in return for all that he had done for the Stuarts ; but his opinion of Queen Mary d'Este, which had from the first been favourable, was immensely raised by the good sense and feeling she displayed on this occasion. He repeatedly expressed the opinion in the hearing of his chief courtiers that she was " the model of what a Queen should be, and that she bore her misfortunes heroically." For the harmony of Versailles it was satisfactory that she made the same favourable impression on all the Court. Madame de Sevigne gave what may be called the verdict of society in the following description : — " La reine est maigre, avec des yeux qui ont pleure mais beaux et noirs, un beau teint un peu pale, la bouche grande, ,^^Uceey^^y^.y^^ac/l.^^x^/'^^^^^^^^ THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 35 de belles dents, une belle taille, et bien de I'esprit ; ime per- sonne fort posee qui plait fort." There were other and more serious matters to be settled with the new Court before the relations of the two Kings could be regarded as placed on a permanent footing. The Stuart sovereigns were literally penniless. Queen Mary had brought away with her a considerable portion of her jewels. But James had carried off nothing save the Queen's bodkin with a great diamond in the button of it, and his coronation ring. At least he had saved them at Faversham on his first flight, and it is probable that he retained them about his person. Reference has been made to the present of 6000 pistoles in the cassette on the Queen's dressing- table. It remained to equip King James, whose wardrobe had to be replenished, for he had only the clothes he escaped in, and to provide the means of maintaining the Court of St. Germains. The arrangement was come to that Louis should give James a sum of fifty thousand ecus for his outfit, and that he should receive a pension of fifty thousand francs a month. Louis wanted to give him a larger sum, but, to James's credit let it be said, he refused to accept more than the lowest sum that would suffice to maintain his Court. The Court itself was carried on on the most economical lines, and the French officers who happened to dine there reported that the King of England kept a very poor table {une table tres mediocre). For the first month after the arrival at St. Germains the guard of honour was provided by a section of the Maison du Roi, under the command of Lieutenant Saint Vians (Marquis de Saint Viance), who gained so much favour with James that he rarely drove out without him. But many followers of the Stuarts had by that time come over from England, and about January 20 Lord and Lady Dover and Lord Dumbarton landed at Calais. Lord Dumbarton had commanded a regiment in the EngHsh army under King James, and he brought with him a hundred Irish soldiers from a corps that had been dis- 36 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE banded. It was necessary to give these men employment, and it was also desirable that the French King's personal guard, which was composed of the noblest names of France, should not be diverted to duties in attendance on a foreign prince which were entirely alien to its own proper functions. Moreover, to be part of the sad Court of St. Germains, where the cuisine was second-rate and the cellar empty, was straining the loyalty of men who looked upon the good living and plenty of Versailles as part of their reward. Another false position was remedied when at the beginning of February, 1689, the Maison du Roi was withdrawn from St. Germains, and it was announced that the officers and troops arrived from England would be turned into a body-guard for King James. The agreeable and capable Saint Vians was permitted to remain at St. Germains, in order to train the new guard in the French fashion. There remains, before concluding this chapter, to refer to one important personage, Madame de Maintenon. The Stuarts were installed at St. Germains in a little Court of their own ; they had also established themselves quite naturally and without friction in the eyes of the French Court. The Government, personified in Louvois, had accepted their presence for reasons of state. They were pawns in the great game of politics that might at some stage or other be of great value. But there was another person whose opinion counted, the uncrowned Queen of France, Madame de Maintenon. Her opinion might always be computed to be worth as much as a Council of State, if not more, and it was the more necessary to know what that opinion would be in this case, because King Louis was already credited by some of his courtiers with a slightly excessive zeal for the cause of Queen Mary d'Este, and in their view of life excessive zeal could only mean that the monarch was a little epris. Some ill-natured wags already began to whisper what would Madame de Maintenon say if she saw all this. Madame de Maintenon did not often attend the Court, THE ARRIVAL AT ST. GERMAINS 37 but she was kept well informed of what passed there, and she saw Queen Mary and became her lifelong friend. Not thus had she treated Elisabeth Hamilton, Countess de Gramont, whose Irish audacity had so far attracted the King by the force of contrast that he gave her a special villa in the park of Versailles. For her she reserved to the end the shafts of her jealousy, even when she made her second appearance at Court with much of her beauty gone and her face disfigured by blotches. But she read Queen Mary at a single interview. The poor Queen was wholly in love with her own husband ; she had forgiven him all his infidelities. The only circumstance she found trying was to see his natural children around her, and to bear their presence she schooled herself as for a martyrdom. Besides, the two women had one strong connecting link, religion. They were both profoundly devote. King James, whatever his earlier failings — on coming to the throne in 1685 he had dismissed Miss Sedley, Ara- bella Churchill's successor as mistress en litre — was at this period a strictly religious man, and he looked to his Church for support and consolation. This feeling became in- tensified with his later misfortunes, but even in 1689, when he certainly had not given up hope of regaining his lost crown, he was prone to regard his exile as an earthly punishment for some neglect of duty or offence. One of his first visits after the formal ceremonies at Court were concluded was to Mother Agnes, the Superioress of the Grandes Carmes, who he declared had converted him ; and it was a few days after this that Madame de Maintenon made one of her rare appearances in the Grand Salon at Versailles in order to be presented to King James. From those days to the end of the sad story — for the story of fallen greatness, not through any real fault of the individuals, but by the force of circumstances, is sad — the closest intimacy existed between Madame de Maintenon and Queen Mary. She was always and under every cir- cumstance the supporter of the Stuart cause. To her, 38 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE more than to any one else, was due the recognition of James HI as King after his father's death in 1701. Enough has been said for the moment in the way of detail about the arrival of the Stuart exiles in France, their reception by the King of France, and the establish- ment of the separate Court of St. Germains. The points that stand out in the story are the magnanimous attitude of Louis XIV, his unexampled hospitality to his guests, the rare and bounteous consideration for the deposed sovereigns displayed in his most trifling acts, and the in- sistence with which he required his Court to extend to them all the attributes and homage due to royalty. Even his own son and brother were not exempt from these commands. On the other hand, it says a good deal for the tact of the Stuarts that there was never at any time the smallest friction between the Courts of Versailles and St. Germains, and that they coexisted in unclouded brotherly relationship for the long period of a quarter of a century. When the relationship terminated the great King lay dying, and the most disastrous of France's many wars was closing in a peace dictated, so far as the Stuarts were concerned in it, by the conquerors. Chapter II KING JAMES GOES TO IRELAND THE political considerations of the time must be taken into careful account if the true charac- ter and full import of King James's Irish ad- venture are to be properly appreciated. King James had lost the crown of England by his adoption of the Roman Catholic religion, but it is very doubtful if he would have lost it even temporarily if there had not been an ambitious Protestant Prince ready to take ad- vantage of his difficulties for the attainment of his own political ends. In other words, high policy and not religion was the uppermost thought in William's mind, and it was William's disciplined army that decided the fate of Eng- land. The Prince of Orange was quite convinced that to succeed in his great duel with his old enemy, the King of France, the co-operation of England was indispensable. Without her money, fleet and soldiers the League of Augsburg was unequal to the task it had taken in hand, and after James's accession it seemed far from improbable that the leaguers would find France and England united against them. This was the outlook which made William throw his best troops across the North Sea into England in the autumn of 1688, whilst Louis, ill-advised, was plundering the Palatinate. The first measure was a well- timed move to secure a great political result ; the other was a useless military promenade only calculated to make the German enemies more bitter. 39 40 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE James, dispossessed of his throne, flees to France, and England, without a national army, lies at the mercy of foreign troops. It was the only means of saving the Protestant succession, but it was a humiliation for all Englishmen of patriotic feeling. James had still, not- withstanding the dislike of the mass of the nation for his religion, a strong hold on the sentiment of the country as its lawful, legitimate King, and the Jacobites of England were probably as numerous as the Williamites, but they had no organisation, no enthusiasm, and the King to whom they were attached quitted the country and left them to do as best they could for themselves. It was creditable to James's humane disposition that he would not sanction what he called " useless bloodshed," but a king who will not allow his troops to fight when they are willing must not be surprised if they are not very en- thusiastic afterwards in his cause. King James, then, was turned out of England without striking a blow, but he had not given up the hope of recovering what he had lost, and he cherished the belief that his subjects would of their own accord return to their duty and invite him back again. But this expectation was far too nebulous to suit the plans of French statesmen. The situation in their opinion was full of peril for France, and James's pious belief in the spontaneous return of his English lieges to their duty at some future date af- forded them no ground for satisfaction. They also noticed that James was somewhat inert by character, and that he seemed very content with being where he was. Most of his time was given up to the practice of his religion — a devotion which, however excellent it might be, would not bring back to him his crown. It was noted that Queen Mary was more ambitious, and that she would be glad to return again to preside over the Court of Whitehall. She was ambitious not merely for her husband's sake, but for that of her son. In her, then, the French Ministers, when they recommended active measures, had a staunch ally. KING JAMES GOES TO IRELAND 41 The King had lost England, but he had not lost Ireland. His change of religion made him unpopular in the former country, but it ensured him the support of the inhabitants of the other. Ireland was a Catholic country, and his measures for the establishment of a Catholic Government proved as successful in Dublin as they had been a failure in London. It was perfectly clear to Louvois that James's chance lay in Ireland, the part of his kingdom which re- mained absolutely loyal, and it seemed also clear that if King James were at the head of an army in Ireland, the Prince of Orange would not venture to take any of his forces out of England, and thus France would have one enemy the less on her own frontier. Vauban agreed with Louvois. He said of James's chances : " Son reste est rirlande. II faut qu'il y aille." The chivalrous sympathy of Louis XIV with a brother king in trouble was edifying, but the great French Minister wanted some return for the outlay, and he felt very decidedly that the Stuarts must be turned to some useful and profitable account. The general situation was far too serious to be trifled with, and France, with practically no ally but the Turk, could not throw a chance away. As Madame de Sevigne wrote : " We are now threatened with enemies on all sides, which is a little too much. We must hope that a war in Ireland will effect a powerful diversion and prevent the Prince of Orange from tormenting us by making descents." But the thoughts of James were not set upon being an Irish king. Ireland might be useful to him, but only as a sort of indirect means of recovering England. All his steps after reaching St. Germains show this. On January 14 he addressed an open letter to the Lords and other Members of the Privy Council in England, asking them " to concert and to send in your advice as to what is fit to be done by Us towards our re- turning." Almost on the same day he sent Captain Michael Roth, of whom much more will be heard, to 42 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE Dublin as the bearer of the following letter to Lord Tyrconnell : — " I send this bearer, Captain Rooth, to you to give notice of my being here, and to be informed how things are with you that accordingly I may take my measures ; hopping you will be able to defend yourself and support my interest there till summer at least. I am sure you will do it to the utmost of your power, and I hope this King here will so press the Hollanders that the Prince of Orange will not have men to spare to attack you ; in the mean time (till I hear from you by the bearer) all I can get this King to doe is to send 7 or 8000 muskets, he not being willing to venture more arms or any men till he knows the condition you are in, so that it will be absolutely necessary that you send back this bearer as soon as may be with one or two persons more in order thereunto. Just before I left Rochester I had a letter from you, as I remember it was on the 13th of December, which told me all was quiet with you, and I hope it is so still, and that the Prince of Orange has sent over no force to invade you yet. For more I refer you to this bearer, who can give you an account how we all got away and how kindly I have been received here." This letter shows conclusively that at the moment of writing James had no intention of going himself to Ireland, and, coupled with his appeal to the English peers, it seems safe to conclude that his hope lay in his coming to terms with his English subjects on the basis of his return to Whitehall by their repentance for their disloyalty, and by some agreement leaving him free to follow his own religion while they received his further assurances that he would not interfere with theirs. It is well to remember what was in James's mind when we come to consider his conduct in Ireland. Down to the Treaty of Ryswyck James never wavered in his belief that the English people would recall him, and in January, 1689, he was absolutely convinced that they would very KING JAMES GOES TO IRELAND 43 soon tire of the presence of the Prince of Orange and his foreign army. As for Ireland, he only hoped that Tyr- connell would be able to hold it against invasion. James himself had no hope of recovering England by means of an Irish army. He repelled the suggestion to take this step when first proposed in 1687-8, and he knew that in 1689 an Irish army would appear in the eyes of English- men just as much a foreign one as William's army of Dutchmen, Danes, Prussians and Huguenots, who at least were of the same creed and observed a stricter dis- cipline. James was by no means the fool in all matters that Louvois took him for. He knew that to bring an unrestrained pillaging Irish army into England was the sure way to destroy all the chances which the Stuart cause possessed. Besides, let it be recorded to his credit, he loved his country better than his throne, and through- out the whole of his life he showed that by his country he meant England. These views w^ere quite naturally different from those held by French Ministers ; but while the strategical im- portance of Ireland as a base against England was sufficiently obvious, they had no information as to the state of things in Ireland, and as to the forces at the disposal of its Viceroy. They accordingly supplied Captain Roth with a travelling companion in the person of the Marquis de Pointis, a naval artillery officer, who was to prepare a report on the subject. There was a good deal of correspondence passing at this time between Ireland and France, and one matter of common enquiry was as to the treatment Louis extended to James. To some one asking this question an English officer in the entourage of the King of England at St. Germains replied in a Latin version of the scriptural text : — " Dixit Dominus domino meo — Sede a dextris meis donee ponam Inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum." 44 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE " Sit thou on my right hand and I will make thy enemies thy footstool." The two emissaries reached Dublin on January i8 at a critical moment. Although five-sixths of Ireland was Catholic and subject to Tyrconnell, the Protestants were drawing together at Enniskillen and Londonderry, and many of the Viceroy's own Council belonged to the same party. Among them was Lord Mount] oy, unques- tionably the best general in Ireland, and supported by two of the best trained and best armed regiments in the country. Tyrconnell was afraid of his capacity and in- fluence, but he did not know how to dispose of him. The arrival of the King's letter provided him with an excuse. He proposed to Lord Mount joy that he should go to St. Germains, and explain to the King that their position was such that they had no alternative to making the best terms they could with the Prince of Orange. This view entirely accorded with Lord Mount joy's own opinion, and in order that the clearest light may be shed on this burning subject, free from all political and religious bias, I must record that Lord Mount joy held this opinion because he believed that it was the only way to protect the Irish Protestants against the reprisals of the Irish Catholics. Lord Mountjoy fell into the trap and agreed to go. With him went as joint envoy the Lord Chief Baron, Sir Stephen Rice, a Catholic in Lord Tyrconnell's confidence. They left Dublin on January 20, in order to return by the vessel which had brought Roth and de Pointis. They reached St. Germains early in February, and Sir Stephen Rice lost no time in discharging his secret instructions, which were to assure King James that Ireland was loyal to his person, and to advise him to pre- vent Mount joy's return as the Protestant leader and the most formidable enemy of his cause. This view of the situation suited the French hopes and plans, but it was necessary to await the return of the French emissary before arriving at a final decision. On KING JAMES GOES TO IRELAND 45 February 21 M. de Poinds returned to Paris with the news that Lord Tyrconnell was supreme in Ireland and that he had an army of 80,000 men, adding that all that was needed to ensure a great triumph was King James's presence in Dubhn. On the very day that M. de Pointis came back Lord Mountjoy was sent to the Bastille, where he remained for three years. Thus did Louvois carry the day. King James was put in the position of being unable to refuse to go to Ireland without incurring the charge of cowardice and of seeming to abuse the hospitahty which had been so cordially bestowed on him and his by the French Court. But he consented to go with mixed feelings. He was being forced to a land he knew not, to strange surroundings, and called upon to deal with a compHcated situation outside all his experiences. England he knew, France, the home of his childhood, he knew, but Ireland was beyond his ken. Madame de Sevigne read his mind when she wrote : " He seems to prefer to remain where he is." But although Louvois was set upon King James's going to Ireland, he was not disposed to be very lavish in rendering him any tangible assistance, and on one point he was quite resolved. Not a French regiment should leave the country. France wanted all her troops for her own home needs. By this time Louvois had partially awoke to the stupendous blunder he had committed by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which dealt the power of Louis XIV a blow somewhat similar to that experienced by the Great Napo- leon through the imprudent Russian campaign. His friend Vauban, at this very juncture, in also opposing the despatch of French troops to Ireland, supplied him with a memorandum estimating the direct loss that the Revocation had inflicted on the country. From this document the following passage may be taken : — " The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes has cost France the loss of between 80,000 and 100,000 persons, and those among the most intelligent and instructed classes of the 46 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE nation. She has lost at least 30 million livres of revenue. Many of her special arts and industries, much of her trade, have been ruined. The fleets of her enemies have been reinforced by 8000 good sailors. Their armies have been increased bv five or six hundred of our best officers and 10,000 excellent troops.'^ Vauban did not exaggerate. The France of 1689 was a considerably poorer country than she had been only four years before. With enemies on all sides of her it would have been folly to send troops to Ireland. King James was to go to Ireland, but all the aid that France could give him was some arms, some money, and a few officers. Even under these heads the aid could not be very great. The French arsenals were somewhat bare, the revenue had fallen, and there were not more than enough officers to supply the armies then in the field in Flanders, Alsace, Savoy, and Catalonia. Besides, had not Pointis reported that there were 80,000 men in Ireland with the colours, and were there not several hundred EngHsh, Scottish, and Irish officers at St. Germains, with whom w^e shall make closer acquaintance as this narrative proceeds ? Clearly there was no need for French soldiers, but even if there had been they would not have been sent. So James for very shame's sake was committed to the Irish expedition. It was one of those situations created for a man in difficulties to which he had been no willing party, but which could not be evaded. The whispering at Versailles and St. Germains that something was on the tapis for the exiled King grew into the open report — " King James is going to Ireland." The report was first spread as the outcome of a striking incident at Versailles. King Louis was holding his Court late in the evening of one of those critical days of February, when a messenger arrived with a private letter from King James for King Louis. King Louis glanced through it, and then, wishing to give those present the latest news, handed it to the Archbishop of Rheims to read to the KING JAMES GOES TO IRELAND 47 company. The Archbishop began to read the note aloud, but suddenly stopped short. He had come to a secret passage, and being a man of tact was trying to skip it. The King, realising his dilemma, snatched the paper from his hand, and those present were very anxious, as Dangeau remarked, to learn the secret. They were not enlightened at the time, but we need not be reticent. King James had expressed his willingness to start for Ireland. While these important events were in progress. King James was making the best of his troubles, taking part in stag and wolf hunts in the forest of Marly, and it was noted that he was always in front with the dogs. He also supped several times with Louis at Marly, and these entertainments were always turned to account for the discussion of serious business. During this period the Duke of Berwick was coming more to the front, and acquired considerable influence in his father's councils. He had been made a Knight of the Garter before James left London, but no opportunity had offered to place his arms and banner in St. George's Chapel. Notwithstanding this defect, James gave him permission to wear the Star of the Order. About the same time Louis invested him with authority to raise a regiment to be called by his own name, and to be composed exclusively of Irish, English, and Scot- tish Catholics. It was to be of exceptional strength, in forty companies of 100 men each, and a rallying-place was fixed for it upon the Somme. So far as strength went the regiment never existed save on paper. There is a reference to the assembly of this corps at Rhue, near Abbeville, and to the regiment numbering 400 men besides 150 officers, all fugitives from England. There were also 300 cavalrymen or dragoons at the same place, but nothing had been decided as to their grouping. Early in February the troops belonging to King James began to be moved from Paris and St. Germains towards the sea-coast. On February 5 young John Hamilton (the cadet Hamilton) arrived from Ireland, and on the 17th 48 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE he left " with all the English and Scottish officers and soldiers " (Irish not mentioned by Dangeau) to join Berwick for Ireland. Berwick himself had left two days earlier for Orleans with marching orders for Brest, which had been fixed on for the place of rendezvous. Finally, Dangeau makes the first reference to an incident, to which fuller reference will have to be made later on, in the following passage : " The elder Hamilton (Richard) goes to Scotland to see Tyrconnell on safe conduct from Prince of Orange, and his promise not to join the troops." It need only be noted that to accord with the facts, Dangeau's entry in February must be ante-dated by nearly two months. While these movements were in progress Louis was selecting the French officers who w^ere to go to Ireland. The first officer chosen was the Marechal de Camp Mau- mont de Fontange (wrongly spelt as Monmont), a soldier of merit. To him were joined Pusignan and Lery (Marquis de Girardin) as Brigadiers of infantry and cavalry respec- tively. Pointis, having been to Ireland, was sent back in charge of the cannon and munitions of war. He had under him twenty gunners, four carpenters, and two smiths. Another French officer who played a great part in the expedition was Boisseleau. Finally, a French Lieutenant-General named Roze (not Rosen) was given the command-in-chief, and to denote his superior rank James shortly after his arrival in Ireland made him a Marshal. Roze was not French, but a Russian. His contemporaries considered him a good cavalry leader, but no general. Louis could not have made a worse choice, for to a want of true military capacity Roze added a savage nature and an inclination towards ruthless war. The Duke of Berwick said of him that " he was subject to passion even to a degree of madness." Lauzun was to have had the command because it was thought that he would be the most agreeable person to King James, but his head had been turned by his getting KING JAMES GOES TO IRELAND 49 back to Court, and he declined to go unless the very rarely conceded style of Captain-General were bestowed upon him. Louis declined, and Roze got the post. As some compensation for the disappointment James made Lauzun a Knight of the Garter. Louis also promised James the services of twenty captains, twenty lieutenants, and twenty cadets, but as they did not sail in the first flotilla reference will be made to them later on. These arrangements were pushed on with the idea that James's departure should be as speedy as possible. A squadron of thirteen men-of-war, six frigates, and three fire- ships, under the command of Admiral Gabaret, was waiting in readiness at Brest. On February 25 James drove into Paris to offer up his prayers for success at Notre Dame. He then dined with Lauzun at his hotel in company with the Archbishop of Paris and M. Jeannin, and after dinner he visited the Convent of the English Sisters, called on the Grande Mademoiselle and the other members of the Royal Family who happened to be in Paris, and then drove to Versailles, which he reached at seven in the evening. Louis was waiting to receive him for what was intended and hoped to be their last interview, and for the occasion the Court had assembled in great numbers. Both Kings wore violet in mourning for the Queen of Spain, who had just died. When the hour for James's departure for St. Germains arrived, Louis made him a little farewell speech concluding with the words : " I hope, sir, never to see you again. Nevertheless, if Fortune decrees that we are to meet, you will find me always the same as you have found me." (" Je souhaite, Monsieur, ne vous revoir jamais. Cependant si la fortune veut que nous nous revoyions vous me trouverez toujours tel que vous m'avez trouve.") On the following day James received visits from Monsieur and Madame, and most of the princes of the blood at St. Germains. Queen Mary, who was believed to be enceinte, fainted, and James kissed all the princes of the blood. D so THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE On the same day James refused permission to the young Duke of Richmond to accompany the expedition " because he was too young and too little." There may have been another reason for this decision, as he and his mother, Louise de Querouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, had been accused of whispering against the legality of the birth of the Prince of Wales. The young Duke had had a special audience with Louis on the subject, and received the as- surance that the King had never credited the report that he could have said anything so baseless. Events will show that there was not much love lost between James and his brother's son. Indeed, the complications already existing in the French Court by the recognition of so many of Louis's own bastards did not need any addition through the presence of the illegitimate offspring of foreign kings. On February 27 Louis drove over to St. Germains to take farewell of his guest, whose departure was fixed for the next morning. James had asked permission for Saint Vians to accompany him as commander of his body-guard, but Louis refused because he thought that Saint Vians (apparently the Marquis de Saint Viance) had been wounded too often. He nominated in his place d'Estrades, another officer of the Maison du Roi, and it is curious to note that the English papers, in describing the departure of James, stated that he was accompanied by Marshal d'Estrades, whom the French King had lent him to command his army. The army rank of d'Estrades was Marechal de Camp, which was two grades below that of Marshal of France, and may be considered as the equivalent of Major-General. The Marshal d'Estrees, Governor of Brittany, was in supreme charge of the arrangements for the despatch of the expedition from Brest. The similarity of names may have led to some confusion ; but d'Estrees' part in the Irish expedition began and ended at Brest. The parting of the two kings was naturally of the most cordial character, and while the formalities of ceremony KING JAMES GOES TO IRELAND 51 had to be observed there was evidence o£ deeper feelings being aroused. James addressing Louis, who had just referred to his having placed 500,000 ecus (an error of the chroniclers) and 10,000 muskets at his disposal, received the reply : " Sir, you have forgotten only one thing, and that is to arm me," whereupon Louis unbuckles his own sword and fastens it to James's side. Queen Mary over- flows with tears, and another woman present, Madame de Sevigne, records the impression of the hour for all time : " Magnanimity could not go further, the King (Louis) has surpassed all the heroes of romance." In the early morning of February 28, 1689, James left St. Germains in his state-coach drawn by six horses, with Lauzun in the carriage. He drove across Paris to reach the high-road for Orleans, and at Bourg la Reine, five miles south of Paris, he found his travelling carriage waiting for him. Here Lauzun and the state-coach are left behind while James goes on accompanied by Powis, Melfort, and others, with halting-places fixed at Orleans, Tours, and Angers. This programme has to be departed from, for James's carriage breiks down, and he has in consequence to accept the hospitality of the Due de Chaulnes at Roche Bernard. Twenty-four hours after the King left St. Germains, Lady Melfort, refusing to be left behind, followed her husband with servants in four travelling carriages, and as she was the only lady in the expedition the fact deserves special notice. Lady Melfort was Euphemia Wallace, daughter of Sir Thomas Wallace, Lord Justice of Scotland, and she gave her husband nine children, her eldest son (the second Duke) marrying eventually the widow of James's natural son, the Duke of Albemarle. D'Avaux, the French ambassador, of whom we are now about to speak, describes Melfort as in a state of constant jealousy about his wife, and the anxiety to accompany her husband in 1689 has just been mentioned. Even the Duchess of Powis, who was certainly deeply attached to her husband, 52 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE remained at St. Germains, but Lady Melfort would not be consoled or left behind. Many men of all our races and religions followed James to Brest. The Duke of Northumberland, one of the sons of Charles H, scarcely landed at Calais, hastened there to join him, and arrived in time. Lord Dover also posted there, arriving too late and having to follow by a later relay. But the only woman to sail from Brest was Eu- phemia, Countess of Melfort, while Queen Mary d'Este, who would have Hked to go, retired for a time to Poissy with her infant son. " She is always crying and in such a nephritic state," declares Madame de Sevigne, " that stone is apprehended." When she returned to St. Ger- mains it was to live in close retirement, and the world was officially informed that during her husband's absence the Queen of England would receive only one day in the week. While the parade of the affair was being carried along by the kings and the courtiers, Louis's Ministers were attending to the real business, so that the expedition to Ireland should promote the interest of France. The soldiers had been named. It was necessary to send with James a sound adviser who, while guiding his policy for practical ends, would make those ends serve French policy. Louvois chose the ablest diplomatist in his service, Jean Antoine de Mesmes, Count d'Avaux. Diplomacy was the birthright of his family. His immediate forbears had signed in the name of France treaties ranging from that of St. Germains in 1570 to that of Munster in 1648. He himself had been plenipotentiary at Nimeguen, and during ten years he was ambassador at the Hague. He therefore knew the Prince of Orange, his ambitious views and his ways of doing business, and as he was going to be pitted against that Prince, no more qualified person could have been found. Besides, the Count d'Avaux was a man of great method and common sense. His axiom was to do the w^ork that lay ready to hand and not to take up idle schemes outside it. A better selection could not have been made. KING JAMES GOES TO IRELAND 53 Whoever was responsible for the Irish failure, it was certainly not the Count d'Avaux. The Count d'Avaux received his instructions in a document signed at Marly, on February 11, 1689, by Louis and countersigned by Louvois. After mentioning that the aid rendered to the King of Great Britain in arms, muni- tions of war, officers, and money was as great as Louis's own excessive requirements against a great number of enemies allowed, the representative of France was warned to remember the interests of his own Government, as well as to see that King James was acting prudently for the promotion of his own. While these were general instruc- tions, the specific point of doing all in his power in recon- ciling Protestants and Catholics, and especially in assuring the former that they would be safe from molestation and injury, was not to be forgotten. He was also instructed to send information as to the state of things in Ireland as frequently as possible, and to forward several copies of the same letter by different routes so as to ensure one at least of them reaching Paris. Finally, he was entrusted with the sum of 500,000 livres, of which 300,000 were to be paid to the order of James as he required, while the remaining 200,000 were to form a secret reserve, which the Count was only to disclose when he thought a real need for it existed. The instructions to the diplomatist were supplemented by those to the general. General Maumont was their recipient, for at the time of their being drafted no officer of higher rank had been named, and after General Roze's appointment this part of the arrangement remained undisturbed. The division of responsibihty between D'Avaux, Maumont, and de Pointis was to lead to some confusion and bickering among the French representatives in Ireland, but we shall come to that later on. Maumont was to take with him 10,000 muskets, 100,000 charges of powder, the same allowance of tinder and lead. Whether it was impossible to provide the arms, or that 54 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE the French intendants held them back for reasons of their own, it is certain that Maumont did not take this quantity with him. The totals given in the French War Office list are 3000 swords, 16,000 sabres, 19,000 belts, 600 pairs of pistols, 500 single pistols, 500 muskets, and 500 guns. It is very dubious if even this mixed assortment of weapons was ever sent in its entirety. De Pointis was appointed to the charge of the material, and he was to select twenty naval gunners, four carpenters, and two smiths as the nucleus of an artillery corps. Maumont was also supplied with funds. He was to take with him 300,000 livres in gold, but he was to keep the matter secret, and even if the Duke of Ber- wick were to ask him what the sum was he was to reply in general terms, " between 50 and 60,000 ecus." A further instalment of 200,000 livres, bringing the total up to 500,000 (making altogether a million livres advanced by Louis through D'Avaux and Maumont), was to follow by the second relay, which was to consist of the Berwick regiment, etc. Maumont had other instructions. He was not to land until he had ascertained that Ireland still held out for King James, and also that Lord Tyrconnell was loyal, for it was not known in France whether the reports of his over- tures to William of Orange were genuine or not. If he was not satisfied on both these points, he was to return at once to Brest without landing arms or money. On the other hand, Maumont might promise in Louis's name that if Ireland held out till the winter he would send over French troops. Louis also hoped to be able to send another half-million livres during the summer, as he understood " money was very scarce in Ireland." With the view of promoting trade also, he removed all customs dues from Irish goods excepting wool ; but wool was precisely the Irish produce for which free entry was most desired. These instructions show that Louis's personal chivalry towards James was not displayed at the cost of prudence in the regulation of the details of the enterprise. KING JAMES GOES TO IRELAND 55 Before he left Paris King James requested that the sum of 20,000 Hvres out of the sum placed in D'Avaux^s charge should be sent to London for the use of Lord Preston ; and Lord Waldegrave, James's ambassador in Paris, who had married his daughter Henrietta Fitzjames, undertook to see that it was safely remitted. Before his departure from Paris King James had sent Sir George Porter on a mission to Rome to interest the Pope in his cause, and he also arranged for Mr. George Skelton to proceed to Vienna on a similar errand to the Emperor. Louis provided the expenses at an agreed sum, but when James had started for Brest Skelton represented that the sum was inadequate and that he ought to be allowed more. Louis refused the request, and when the matter was reported to James at Brest he was very annoyed and angry, declaring that the allowance was quite sufficient if Skelton went alone. It seemed clear to the King that Skelton had raised his terms because he wished to take his wife. In the end Skelton went alone. Neither of these envoys did any good. Sir George Porter remained at Rome three months, but eventually he came away quite disconsolate because the Pope was thoroughly in sympathy with the enemies of France. Skelton brought back a letter from the Emperor Leopold, to whom James had appealed not merely in the name of religion, but for the sacred cause of Kings, that gave him but little comfort. Leopold, after employing the commonplaces of civility in reference to James's deplorable experience of the instability of human affairs, went on to declare that it was due to his " listening to the fraudulent suggestions of France," and made a special grievance not merely of the French plunder- ing of the Palatinate, but also of their concluding an alliance with the Turks. The Emperor professed sorrow at his brother's troubles, but would render no assistance in overcoming them. Skelton does not appear to have been received by the Emperor, who only recognised the Earl of Car- lingf ord, duly accredited as James's ambassador, at his Court. 56 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE These replies could not have left any doubt in James's mind that his sole support must come from the side of France. The leaguers of Augsburg were not to be detached from one another by the difference of religion between some of their members. As soon as it was definitely known at Brest that King James had quitted Paris, the frigate " Soleil d'Afrique " was sent, with Lord Dungan on board, to Ireland to an- nounce the coming of the King. It was assumed that he would follow close on its heels, but the frigate returned to Brest before the fleet had departed. Contrary winds entailed ten or twelve days' further delay, but on March 15 all seemed well and anchors were raised. King James's last request before communication with the land was severed was that the French should send him some bakers and a man who could make powder. The departure was further delayed by a sharp gale, and the King's ship came into collision with that commanded by M. de Rosmadek. The consequences would have been serious but for the skill displayed by that officer. The damage having been repaired and the gale abating, sail was set at five in the evening of March 17, and within a couple of hours the flotilla had passed out of sight. The voyage was rapid and quite uneventful, and in the morning of March 22 the fleet anchored off Kingsale. Although the bulk of the officers and men of King James's army, who had followed him to France, did not leave Brest until the second flotilla sailed under Chateau Renaud at the end of April, Admiral Cabaret's squadron conveyed altogether eighty-three Jacobite and French officers in addition to the King, Lady Melfort, and their servants. The following is a fairly complete and accurate list of the passengers, with many of whom we shall make closer acquaintance. Many of the Irish officers had served with Dumbarton's force in England, others had belonged to the French army, chiefly in the " gensdarmes." Others again, like Taaffe and de Lacy, had come from Lorraine Ship The " Saint Michel." " Courageux." KING JAMES GOES TO IRELAND 57 and Austria to take the hazard of recovering the estates lost hy their families in 1649-51. A large proportion of the officers ended their career on the field of honour during the twenty-five years covered by this narrative. In the list occurs the name of at least one traitor, the Chevalier de Murray. List of persons who sailed with King James from Brest in March, 1689 {according to list of Marshal d^Estrees). The names are given correctly where identified ; otherwise the French spelling is followed : — Passengers H.M. King James II, the Duke of Berwick and his brother, Count d'Avaux, Lord Melfort, Lord Thomas Howard, and the servants required for their service. Sir Stephen Rice, Chief Baron, Mr. Trinder, Mr. Collins, Lord Brittas, Capt. Edmund Burke (? de Burgh), Mr. Lane, Mr. Sars- field, Mr. Archdeacon, Mr. Ravne, Mr. Clinton. Lady Melfort, her servants and suite, Mr. Drummond, son of the Scottish Chan- cellor (Perth), and Colonel Wauchope. Captain Talbot, Lieutenant Boulger, Lieu- tenant Bourke (? de Burgh), Lieutenant Baker, Lieutenant Kelly and Mr.Plunkett. Duke of Powis and his suite, Captains McCarthy, Corbet, Dicconson, Lieu- tenants Tobin and McCarthy, Messrs. Nagle, O'Neill, Butler, Hussey, and Lavary. MM. de Lery, de Pusignan, and de Pointis, Captain Nangle, Messrs. Rivedan, King, Roche, and Burke. " Entreprenant." MM. de Roze, de Maumont, Boisseleau, Colonel Hamilton (John), M. de St. Didier, Chevalier Vadre (Vaudrey ?). Colonel Sutherland, Colonel Dorington, Captain Luttrell, Captain O'Gara, Cap- tain Fitzpatrick, Lieutenants Binguen, Bourke, and Power, and Messrs. Nugent, Bourke, Lucas, and Corvido. " Furieux." Francois." " Apollon. " Fort." " Sage." 58 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE Ship Passengers The " Due." Colonel Sarsfield (Patrick), Col. McEllicott, Sir Neil O'Neil, Chevalier Baud, Cap- tain Ulick Burke, Lieutenants Burne, Callaghan, Rayne, Murphy, Bourk, and Captain MacDonald. „ " Faucon." Sir — Murray, Capt. Arundel, Lieutenant Plowden, Lieutenant Baptiste. „ " Neptune." Major de Lacy, Mr. Taaffe, Messrs. Sars- field, Nugent, Acton, Carroll, Nagle, and Oglethorpe. 83 names, excluding the King and Lady Melfort. Brief reference must be made to Scotland, the native kingdom of the House of Stuart. The Jacobite party was supreme in the Highlands, and possessed a military leader of remarkable capacity in the Viscount Dundee. But the Lowlands were Presbyterian to a man and regarded a Catholic as outside the law. The Duke of Hamilton was prominent among those who had invited the Prince of Orange over, and at his instigation the Presbyterian Lords seized the Government at Edinburgh. The Earl of Perth, the Chancellor, was captured as he was escaping in a fishing-boat and sent to Stirling Castle. Lord Dundee withdrew to the Highlands. The Duke of Gordon held Edinburgh Castle for the King, and a smaller garrison occupied the Bass Rock. While the Irish Jacobites were animated principally by love of Ireland and the desire to make her independent, the Scottish Jacobites were impelled by personal loyalty to the Stuarts. James had a warm feeling for Scotland, almost as great as he had for England, and when he heard that a Scots Parlia- ment had been summoned by the usurped authority of the Prince of Orange he sent a letter signed by Melfort to warn those who rebelled against his authority of the consequences of their action, and promising those who returned to their loyalty his full pardon and forgiveness. This letter, written on the " St. Michel " immediately before the fleet sailed from Brest, was entrusted to Mr. Crane, but before KING JAMES GOES TO IRELAND 59 it reached its destination King James's followers had retired behind the Grampians. The embassies to Rome and Vienna, the appeal to the subjects of " our antient native kingdom of Scotland," were minor incidents in the main enterprise w^hich, thanks to French insistence, was now to be concentrated on the complete establishment of James's authority in Ireland, with the view of making it a thorn in the side of the Prince of Orange. James himself was not enthusiastic about the enterprise, and went into it half-heartedly, and only because he could not refuse to go without offending the French. He would have gone to Scotland quite wilHngly. With regard to England he was fully persuaded that he had only to wait with a little patience to be recalled by his repentant subjects. But towards Ireland he had no inclination, and when he got there he could only think of how he might get away from it into Scotland or England. But this is anticipating. Chapte?^ Ill A GREAT FICEROr WITHOUT wandering too far into other fields of history, it may be said here for the sake of clearness in the narrative that the Jacobite movement in Ireland, which began with Lord Tyrconnell's appointment to the Viceroyship in 1687, was the direct sequel to the war waged by the Irish Con- federation in the royal cause of Charles I against the Parliament and Cromwell. That war, long drawn out and marked by many of the savage incidents not peculiar, as Protestant writers affirmed, to Ireland, but common to all wars in that age, had led to the wholesale confiscation of the estates of the Catholic nobility and landed gentry of the country. Then occurred the great migration of the native Irish nobility, who with only their pedigrees in their pockets and their swords by their sides left their homes to seek their fortunes in foreign lands. They went to Spain, the Netherlands, and Austria ; very few on this occasion going to France. The emigration of 1649-51, unlike its successor in 1690-1, was that of a class limited in numbers, scattered over a certain period and following different routes as opportunity occurred. If we put the emigration at a total of 5000 individuals we probably exceed the truth, but they represented the cream of the native Irish chiefs, whose ancestors had fought under Art Macmurrogh against Henry VIII and under the two O'Neils against Elizabeth. These men had lost their estates, their castles had been destroyed, and in the pedigrees of more than one illustrious 60 A GREAT VICEROY 6i Hiberno-Austrian family the founder of the old house on foreign soil recites as the cause of his presence, " domibus ab Cromwello raptis." The lands were given to others, and the others v/ere " the tinkers and tailors " who had been turned into soldiers by the iron discipline of the Lord Protector. A fresh plantation of Englishry had been effected in Ireland on terms very advantageous to these new settlers. History does not contain a more striking instance of the spoils to the victors. But the period of Republican triumph was brief, a day of reckoning came for the King-killers, and the Restoration of the Stuarts raised hope once more in the hearts of the Irish and other exiles who had lost all for their cause. The hopes of the English and Scottish cavaliers were to be realised, those of the Irish were to be dashed to the ground. Charles II publicly and solemnly declared that he would see them righted. In his speech to his first Parliament, he said : " I hope I need not put you in mind of Ireland, and that they alone shall not be without the benefit of my mercy. They have shown much affection to me abroad, and you will have a care of my honour and what I have promised them." These were fine words ; unfortunately they were not matched by acts. It would require much space to show how and why the Irish Catholics did not recover their estates. It must suffice to say here that the Cromwellian confiscations were left undisturbed. Ten years of recent occupation were held of greater force than ten centuries of prior possession. So much for Charles II and his promises. A new situation was created with the accession of his brother, James II, in 1685. James was a declared Catholic where his brother was a concealed, and as England was essentially Protestant it was a brave thing on James's part, whatever we may think of its wisdom (all religious con- troversies being not merely foreign to this historical narrative but repugnant to my mind), to proclaim that his religion was different from the Church and sentiment of his 62 TliE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE principal Kingdom. The matter has a direct bearing on our subject. If James had not become a CathoUc there would have been no Jacobite Movement in Ireland and no Irish Brigade in France. No elaboration is needed to show that the Catholics of Ireland at once became an important political factor in the calculations of a Catholic King, and there was a man in James's confidence who did not fail to impress upon him the wisdom of utilising the military resources placed at his disposal by the religious zeal and sympathy of the Irish Catholics. This man was Colonel Richard Talbot, whose policy in the cause of James closely resembled that of Strafford half a century earlier on behalf of Charles I. Macaulay, following the English libellers of the day, has given a very unfavourable picture of Dick Talbot, but Macaulay's Whig prepossessions destroyed or deadened his sense of a historian's duty, and in this particular instance he especially allowed his pen to run riot, and he laid the colours on thick in the conviction that no one would ever think it worth their while to take up the cause of vindicating Lord Tyrconnell from his scurrilous attacks. It will not be difficult to show that, although Tyrconnell was not on the same plane as Strafford in statesmanship, he was not the poor creature that Macaulay's diatribes have led the English reader so long to believe, and that he was a man of honour and of rare devotion to his King. The Talbots of Cartown, in the county of Kildare, were descendants of the House of Shrewsbury. Their establishment in Ireland dated no farther back than the sixteenth century, but although among the latest recruits of English immigrants they, like so many other of the Norman settlers, had become more Irish than the Irish. When Sir William Talbot, upon whom James I had con- ferred a baronetcy, was sent by the Irish Confederates to plead their cause before the House of Commons, he made an oration of such striking eloquence that it was decided to send him to the Tower, " because Ireland will never be A GREAT VICEROY 63 subdued whilst it possesses such an orator." By his wife, Alison Netterville, Sir William Talbot had a large family, of whom there were eight sons and at least one daughter, Mary, who married Sir John Dungan, second Baronet, whose eldest son, William, afterwards became Earl of Limerick. Another of his sons, named Walter, was with Richard Talbot at Madrid in 1653, and afterwards served some time in the French army. The fact that Walter Dungan was only a year or so younger than his uncle Richard has led to some confusion and uncertainty. Of the order in which these sons came by age it is im- possible to speak with any confidence, except that the eldest was named Robert and succeeded to the baronetcy. Some writers have placed Richard fifth in order, but there seems no doubt that he was, as Father Anselm stated in his funeral oration before King James at the English Church in Paris, the youngest. The names of the sons appear to have been Robert, Peter, Gilbert, John, James, Thomas, Garret, and Richard. The Griffith Talbot, who died in London in 1724 at the age of eighty- two, must have been a nephew and not a brother as assumed in some of the peerages. The confusion in distinguishing among the members of the Talbot Family is excusable, seeing that there were fourteen members of the Cartown family serving James II in 1689, and all my efforts to fix the relationship of one called Buno Talbot have failed. It is also hazardous to establish the connection of Colonel Richard Talbot of the Bastille and Luzzara fame with the Duke, although there is no reasonable doubt that he was his natural son. Of Sir William's sons the only two to find a place in history were Peter, who joined the Order of Jesuits and became titular Archbishop of Dublin, and Richard, with whom we are chiefly concerned. The date of Richard's birth is uncertain, but it is believed to have taken place in 1630, and he is supposed to have received his first commission as a cornet of horse in Charles I's Irish army when he was only eleven years of 64 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE age. If such a commission was issued it is to be regarded as purely honorific, for he remained at home receiving his education, chiefly from his mother, until he was fifteen. At tliat age he may have joined Lord Preston's army, and was present with it at the rout outside Dublin in 1647. He was taken prisoner on this occasion, but does not seem to have been detained long (probably being exchanged or released on account of his youth), for in the following year he was one of the defenders of Drogheda against Cromwell. He was severely wounded during the assault on and sack of the place, and left for dead on the ground. It was said that he lay there for three days, and owed his life to an Englishman called Commissary Reynolds who, noticing some signs of life in what was thought to be a dead body, took him into the town and gradually brought him round. If the story is true that Reynolds had great difficulty in saving him from a fanatical brother soldier who wished to kill him when he declared himself to be a Catholic, a guardian angel must surely have watched over the young Talbot. He is included among the twelve Irish survivors, including men, women and children, of the sack of Drog- heda. When he had recovered from his wounds Reynolds provided him with a woman's dress, and in this garb he finally escaped from the town. As Talbot was considerably above the stature of even tall men — he was sometimes called Goliath at the Court of Charles II — the manner in which he escaped has sometimes roused incredulity. After the conclusion of the war in Ireland, and when leave was given to the Catholics to go abroad, Richard Talbot went to Spain. He and his nephew, Walter Dungan, were at Madrid in 1653, and when they learnt that Charles II had fixed his Court at Breda they proceeded to join him. This step seems to have been taken on the invitation of Peter Talbot, who was one of the principal advisers of the Duke of York. At this juncture James, Duke of York was serving in the French army in Flanders under Turenne, and had greatly A GREAT VICEROY 65 distinguished himself by his courage. Richard Talbot served with him, and in the royalist camp many daring schemes were suggested, and found favour with the young bloods who were growing up to manhood with the exiled princes. There was the Wogan affair, when that young officer and eight others made their way, in fulfilment of a pledge, to London, and rode through the length of England in an open manner to join the Stuart partisans in the Highlands. They reached their destination in safety, and after passing through these great dangers Wogan died through the neglect of a trivial wound. Dick Talbot, in the full force and flush of his youth, was not to be outdone at this kind of game even by another Irishman. He went over to London, in 1655, on no Platonic mission. Nothing less than the assassination of the arch-enemy Cromwell would satisfy him. There had been a blood feud on his side since Drogheda. He crossed the Channel, he resided in London for a time, and then was arrested before his scheme had taken form in his own mind. He was brought before Cromwell himself, wdio cross-questioned him, and then he was consigned to prison for further examination. He had a good supply of guineas in his pocket, and induced his guards on the way to the Tower to enter a wine shop. Here he drank with them hard and fast until all except himself were under the table, whereupon he escaped while they were sleeping off the effects of their debauch. He reached Brussels on January 3, 1656, and was soon appointed to command as Lieutenant- Colonel the regiment named after the Duke of York, and composed chiefly of men from Munster. When the Restoration took place he returned to the Duke of York, to whom he was appointed gentleman of the bed-chamber, at a salary of ;^300 a year. He was one of the prominent figures in the gay and giddy Court of Charles II. He made love to Elizabeth Hamilton, and then to Fanny Jennings. He was so much in love with the latter that he presumed to give her good advice — she also (>(i THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE was of the York establishment being lady-in-waiting to the Duchess — at which she took umbrage, flirted with little Lord Jermyn — the David to Talbot's Goliath — and event- ually married Sir George Hamilton. The question of the restoration of the Irish lands to their proper owners now comes up, and Talbot is accused of doing what every one else did at the time, taking bribes. When he was taxed with claiming commission on some lands that he had helped owners to recover, he replied haughtily : " At least I helped to restore lands, not to forfeit them like the Duke of Ormonde," who was accused of receiving a large extension to his estate as the price of his opposing the repeal of the Cromwellian forfeitures. Ormonde hears of this remark and accuses " the gentleman of the bed-chamber " of presumption and insolence. Talbot gives him a high answer, and tells him that Duke as he is, he is every way as good as he, and challenges him to a duel. Ormonde, the foremost man of the exiled Court, and scarcely less important at Whitehall, hurries off to Charles and asks, " Is it compatible with my dignity to fight with Colonel Talbot ? " Charles says " no," and sends Colonel Talbot to the Tower. The offence is not deemed so very great, for in the very next year Talbot is sent to Portugal to bring back the King's bride, Catherine of Braganza. He then becomes more than ever closely connected with the Duke of York, whose household he manages ; and when that prince took command of the fleet in the war with the Dutch, he fought on board his ship at the severe battle off Lowes- toft. Seven years later he was taken prisoner in the battle in Sole Bay, near Southwold. Before that incident he had married the languishing Miss (Mary) Boynton, " with- out knowing exactly why " {sa7is savoir fourquoi), in the words of Gramont, and she died in 1678 in Dublin, leaving him with a single daughter, named Charlotte, who eventu- ally married his nephew and became Countess of Tyr- connell. W^e shall make her better acquaintance later on. sniSf ■!»-*•**'■»»!». ; ■?a/' A GREAT VICEROY (>-] In 1678 Talbot was in Ireland when his brother Peter was Archbishop of Dublin. They were incriminated in the concocted revelations of the Titus Oates conspiracy. Peter was accused of aiming at the establishment of Catholic supremacy, Richard of holding the Pope's com- mission to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the Irish forces. The allegations were really farcical and without foundation. This does not of course alter the main fact that they were both of them prominent Catholics. Rumours of Papist plots were at this time upsetting the judgment of the whole nation. The two Talbots were imprisoned in Dublin, their master, the Duke of York, was temporarily banished from the kingdom to Flanders. In the midst of this trouble Mary Boynton died, and Richard, having no further tie to keep him in Ireland, exerted his ingenuity in removing bolts and bars once more and made good his escape to France, and there a remarkable incident occurs in his life. He meets his first love, Fanny Jennings, now a widov/, in Paris, and forthwith marries her, though she has not a penny and is burdened with six daughters. We must leave Talbot for a moment to describe the fortunes of his second wife, since they were members together of the York establishment in the first five or six years of the reign of Charles II. Talbot had been genuinely in love with the sprightly Frances, and she had been well disposed to give him her hand and heart ; but he had offended her when he presumed to offer her advice, because she prided herself most of all on her capacity to take care of herself. The reader of the Gramont Memoirs will know how effectively she repelled and got rid of the attentions of James himself by allowing his hillets-doux to drop unopened from her muff. At last, in 1665, she married George Hamilton, the second son of Sir George Hamilton, Bart., who was the younger son of James Hamilton, first Earl of Abercorn. Sir George Hamilton married the daughter of Lord Thurles, and 68 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE the sister of James Butler, first Dnke of Ormonde, and by lier he liad a family of at least six sons and three daugh- ters. The sons were in their order of birth, James, George, Anthony, Richard, Thomas, and John. Of the daughters the best kno^vn was Elizabeth, la belle Hamilton, who married in 1665 Philibert, Count de Gramont ; but it may be mentioned that one of her sisters married Matthew Ford and the other Sir Donogh O'Brien. James was killed in 1673 in a naval battle with the Dutch, Thomas also died in a sea fight later on, while serving with the French fleet, and Elizabeth's two sisters have no place in our narrative. With Elizabeth and three of her brothers we shall come into repeated contact. Sir George Hamilton, like Sir William Talbot, was a Catholic and one of the leaders of the Irish Confederation. He had consequently to give up his property at Roscrea, in the county of Tipperary, and he withdrew with his family to Paris in the year 1651. At that time his son George was about seven, Anthony five, and Richard three years of age. Lady Hamilton's sister was the Countess of Clancarty, and they all seem to have lived with their brother, the Duke of Ormonde, during the years of exile. This fact explains how easily the younger Hamiltons adopted France as a second home. When Charles, by his treaty with France, allowed Louis to recruit a regiment of English gendarmes, in Ireland, about 1670, George Hamilton was appointed its Colonel, and it is curious to note that the scale of pay then scheduled for officers and men served as a model for the one adopted in 1692, when the Irish brigade passed into France. In consequence of this appointment George and his wife took up their residence in Paris, where most of their children were born, and the title of Count was conferred on the Colonel, who had not then succeeded to the baronetcy. Hamilton and his regiment played a distinguished part in Turenne's campaigns, and for a time John Churchill served under him. Hamilton was present when Turenne A GREAT VICEROY 69 was killed in 1675, and the next year was himself killed at Saverne. Some months before this event Evelyn describes in his diary a journey to Dover in the company of Lady Hamilton. His comment on her is, " Lady Hamilton, a sprightly young lady (had been maid of honour to the Duchess of York, and turned Papist), accompanied Lady Berkeley and her husband, Ambassador to France and Plenipotentiary for Nimeguen." A few months later she was a widow, and Madame de Sevigne devotes some of her pity to her because she was " left penniless with six children, all of them girls." Louis probably gave her a pension, for she was still living in Paris in 1679 when Talbot, himself a widower, appeared upon the scene and married her. On George Hamilton's death the question arose who should succeed him in the command of the regiment, and for a short space his next brother, Anthony, held the command as locum tenens. John Churchill was proposed for the post, but the stern Louvois decided that " he was too much addicted to pleasure," and be- stowed it on Justin McCarthy, whom we shall know later on as Viscount Mountcashell. He was the third son of Donogh McCarthy, first Earl of Clancarty, by Elizabeth Butler, and consequently first cousin of the Hamiltons. At this time Richard Hamilton was also serving in the French army in the regiment de Roussillon. The peace of Nimeguen being signed, Louis at once reduced his army, and the regiment of English gendarmes was aboHshed, McCarthy and the Hamiltons returning to England. In 1679, ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ °^ ^^'^ marriage of Richard Talbot and Frances Hamilton, James was residing in Brussels, it having been deemed prudent to send him out of England during the excitement over what was known as the Popish plot. An alarming illness of Charles II led to his sudden return, and at the same time Talbot and his wife crossed over cither with the Duke of York or immediately after- 70 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE wards. Charles recovering from his illness, it was thought desirable that James should again quit London, and during the last five years of his brother's life he was con- stantly traveUing here and there, now at York on his way to Scotland, for a brief space at Edinburgh, and again in Flanders. In these journeys Talbot was James's con- stant companion and most trusted confidant, and the relations formed in the days of exile under Cromwell were cemented by the close association of this later period. Talbot \vas not merely a brave man, but an amusing, and his presence always cheered James in the days of his adversity. James, having become King, thought naturally enough of rewarding the most faithful member of his household, and Talbot proposed to him that the time was favourable for the restoration of their estates to some at least of the Irish Catholics as his brother Charles had promised. They have met many of them abroad — Taafies, Kavanaghs, O'Neils, and O'Donnels, to name but a few — all dreaming that their forfeited lands must come back to them under a Catholic king. Talbot is also a soldier, and has military schemes. An Irish Catholic army might prove a bulwark of the throne, but the existing Irish army is Protestant, with a pronounced leaning towards Presbyterianism and Cromwellism. Talbot suggests that he is willing to purge it of these elements, and James adopts the suggestion. But for other reasons the Earl of Clarendon, James's brother-in-law, the uncle of his daughters, has been appointed Lord Deputy or Viceroy, and he is a strong Protestant. His idea is to rule Ireland by and for the English, and towards Talbot he has a personal repugnance, which he seems to have transmitted to Macaulay. Talbot is an Irishman and a Catholic, two facts which disqualify him from all consideration in the eyes of men like Clarendon. Notwithstanding his disHke for his associate. Clarendon has to acquiesce in Talbot's appointment with the rank of Lieut. -General, " to regulate the troops, and to place A GREAT VICEROY 71 and displace whom he pleased." In the royal letter of appointment he is described as " a man of great abilities and clear courage, and one who for many years had had a true attachment to His Majesty's person and interests." It is rather difficult to discover that Talbot accom- plished very much during this first commission, and it is more reasonable to suppose that he was thinking mainly of his future plans. Among his most definite measures was the attempt to disarm the militia by requiring them to deposit their arms in the residences of the captains. Both Anthony and Richard Hamilton were sent to Ireland at the same time, and associated with him in this work. In 1686 Talbot returned to London, to report what he had done and to make suggestions ; and although Clarendon did not refrain from stating that he entirely disapproved of everything in his programme, James expressed his approval of Talbot's conduct and created him Earl of Tyrconnell. In consequence of Clarendon's discontent, James began to entertain the idea of replacing him by Tyrconnell, and this intention was strengthened by Clarendon's own orders in Council, assuring the Protestants that they would be left unmolested and free from arbi- trary treatment. While Clarendon reassured them, Talbot had tried to take away their arms. The Protestants were alarmed, the Catholics began to raise their heads, and all the premonitions of change and turmoil were in the air. In the preamble to Lord Tyrconnell's patent as a peer of the realm reference is made to " his immaculate allegiance and his infinitely great services performed to the King and to Charles II in England, Ireland, and foreign parts, in which he suffered frequent injuries and many wounds." At this juncture, February, 1687, Clarendon resigns, and Tyrconnell, as we must now call him, proceeds as Viceroy to Ireland, to take up the reins of power, which he was to hold without a break (except during the King's visit) till his death, nearly five years later. They arc to be the five most stirring years in Irish history, and names 72 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE will be mentioned and scenes described which even to-day, after the lapse of two centuries, suffice to raise the storm of faction and bitter strife. The appointment of Lord Tyrconncll was received by the English public with some dismay, for it was fully appreciated that he was a man of action, and that he would not confine his proceedings to empty words. The observant Evelyn records that " his departure for Ireland could only herald a marked change and stormy times." Tyrconnell, who had been half-courtier, half-soldier up to this point, had now got the chance of showing his merit on the larger stage of statesmanship ; but, unfortunately, he was in his fifty-seventh year, and had lived a hard life — hard, not in Macaulay's sense, but from many wounds in honourable fray, from the time of Drogheda, and from confinements as prisoner of war or of state in many prisons. Activity and energy were especially needed in the task that lay before him ; and, owing to his physical condition, they were the qualities in which he was least well provided. On the other hand, he knew exactly what he wanted to do, and if any man could transfer the ruling power from the hands of the Protestant faction to those of the Catholic faction, he had the knowledge of Irish affairs and the courage of his opinions to do the deed. So far as his policy in Ireland was concerned, James left the entire matter in Tyrconncll's hands, and he took no active part in the management of the Irish question until after his arrival in DubHn in March, 1689. The whole credit of success or the whole discredit of failure rested with Tyrconnell, and it is therefore important to record that King James, compiling in the closing years of his life his own authentic narrative — which, as Sir John Macpherson (the Whig) records, has never been shaken as a record of fact — declares that Ireland was certainly " never in a more flourishing way than during the time he (Tyrconnell) governed it." The three measures that Tyrconncll took immediately A GREAT VICEROY 73 after his arrival related to the civic charters, the abuse of the pulpits as places from which politics might be fulminated, and the control and reorganisation of the army, with regard to which very little had been accom- plished during his earlier missions, owing to Lord Claren- don's opposition and veto. The civic councils, owing to the Cromwellian law unrepealed by Charles II, were entirely in the hands of the Protestants. Catholics were ineligible for a seat on them, and when the Viceroy proposed a change he was met with a defiant answer, " Here are our charters ! " In very moderate language Lord Tyrconnell proposed that Catholics, not less than Protestants, should be made free of the Corporations ; but when his proposal was met with defiant rejection, he resorted to the weapons left to him by the exercise of the royal prerogative, and he issued an order in Council calling in the charters. Some acquiesced without demur ; others protested and took measures to defeat the Viceroy. Among the latter were Dublin and Londonderry. Dublin sent its Recorder, Sir Richard Rivers, to London to protest, but King James was in no mood for such controversies, and ordered him to return without an audience. The matter was referred to the Courts, which decided almost without debate that the King could cancel or suspend whatever charters had been granted by the Crown, and finally all had to be brought in. There was, in James's words, " no great trouble except at Londonderry (a stubborn people, as they appeared to be afterwards), who stood an obstinate suit, but were forced at last to undergo the same fate with the rest." The calling in of the charters was the first blow at the Protestant ascendancy established by Cromwell, and in all the towns of Ireland, with the possible exception of Londonderry and Enniskillen, it was in accordance with simple justice that the Corporations should be free to Catholics and Protestants alike. The ephemeral republic 74 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE of Cromwell had given an aggravated form to English ascendancy in Ireland by importing a religious test and privilege which had never before been tolerated or dreamt of. The second matter to which Lord Tyrconnell turned his attention was the suppression of political oratory from the pulpit. An order in Council was issued, with a warning as to the penalties that persistence in this course would entail, and with a pointed " reference to a few fiery spirits in the pulpit who seek to discuss matters that do not appertain to them, and who declare that the King intends to rule by a new and arbitrary law." What King James did intend was that his Catholic sub- jects, who in L-eland at that time outnumbered his Pro- testant by ten to one, should have equal rights with the Protestants, and no one in these days would dare to call that unjust or tyrannical. Even Macaulay, the champion of militant Orangeism, did not venture to say that. He confined himself to hurling epithets of abuse and con- tumely at the head of the innocent and unoffending Tyrconnell. Undoubtedly the measures relating to the armed forces of the country were the most important part of Lord Tyrconnell's programme. The regular garrison was small, and seems to have consisted in 1685 of no more than two regiments, known after the names of their respective commanders. Lord Mount joy and Colonel Lundy. In addition there vv^as a large militia, to which only Protestants were admitted. It might be said without much exaggera- tion that every adult Protestant was a militiaman, and in that capacity he had a musket and a sword, which he kept in his house. On the other hand, the Catholics were not merely excluded from all military training, but they were absolutely deprived of arms. After 1650-51 there was not a single armed Catholic in the country, and as there were neither arsenals nor factories, there were no means of replacing what had been confiscated. A GREAT VICEROY 75 In the whole range of history there is no similar case of an entire nation being placed in a state of absolute defencelessness as the Catholics were in the thirty years immediately preceding the accession of James II. The first step towards redressing this flagrant injustice was taken when Tyrconnell ordered all the arms of the militia to be stored with the captains, and only to be distributed when the men were called out for drill. This was followed by an order to the regular troops requiring them to pay for whatever they obtained from the in- habitants, to preserve the peace and to refrain from brawling. In the same order there was a strict injunction that none of the officers should quit their garrisons, and that they should hold themselves in readiness to support the civil authorities on all occasions. At the same time more definite regulations were issued as to the pay and clothing of the troops. Finally, two regiments of Irish Catholics — one of horse and the other of foot — were raised, and as soon as they had been recruited to full strength they were sent across to England to be trained. Several of the officers had served in the Anglo-Irish regiments in France. Richard Hamilton was appointed Colonel of the horse regiment, and Cannon (a Scot, whose correct name seems to have been Canan), of the foot. The corps was first quartered at Chester, where it underwent some preHminary training, and was then moved to Nottingham. The discipline of these troops does not appear to have been very strict, and even after Lord Dumbarton was appointed to the command of the brigade formed by these two regiments and a third one of Irish Dragoons, the order maintained among them was somewhat lax. The truth is that James did not know what to do with his Irish auxiliaries when he got them. Their presence enabled his enemies to suggest that he contemplated terrorising England with an Irish army. The unfortunate Irishmen were only home-sick, and James would have been wise if he had -je THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE returned tlicm promptly to their own country. They stayed on, were useless for all practical purposes, and were eventually interned in the Isle of Wight. Many of them escaped to France or were allowed to go there, and so they gradually filtered back to Ireland. The mention of Richard Hamilton's name excuses a reference, as no convenient place may occur, to his breach of parole of which Macaulay, following Story, makes so much case in his description of the Boyne. In October, 1688, when it was believed that William would land on the east coast, Richard was sent to Ipswich with his regi- ment, which was attached to the force under Sir John Lanier. When, in accordance with James's instructions, Lord Feversham two months later disbanded his army, Hamilton came to London, arriving there after the King had gone. The Prince of Orange was anxious about Ireland, and as there were rumours that Tyrconnell would accept terms, he sought an emissary to send him a message. Who could be more suitable than Tyrconnell's own cousin, Richard Hamilton ? Hamilton accepted the mission in January, 1689, and, to use Dangeau's words, he " went to Tyrconnell on the Prince of Orange's safe conduct and his promise not to join the troops." Evelyn, referring to the Boyne in July, 1690, says, " Hamilton, who broke his word about Tyrconnell, was taken," and therefore the two diarists agree. Hamilton was not to take an active part in any war, and therefore he broke his parole, to the injury of his reputation among the French authorities, who were very punctilious in such matters. But, judging him by the standard of English life, Hamilton was no better or worse than Marlborough, Sunderland, and hundreds of others. The only difference was that he broke his word to join James Stuart, all the others to betray him. Having thus paved the way for the creation of a national Irish army, Tyrconnell set himself to the more serious task of raising a considerable force in Ireland itself, and A GREAT VICEROY ^-j it was rendered the more difficult by the circumstance that to a large extent it had to be done sub rosa. For the Protestants, who were armed, might easily become alarmed, and, taking the law into their own hands, put an end to his Government altogether. Even on his own Council, strengthened as his side was by the inclusion of Antony Hamilton and WilHam Talbot, Tyrconnell could not be sure of a majority, and in Lord Mountjoy he had an opponent of proved skill and great reputation. The raising of Catholic regiments for service in England did not excite much apprehension among the Irish Protestants, for England could be left to take care of herself, but how would it be when recruiting was commenced on a large scale throughout the island for home service ? Tyrconnell was too prudent to make the attempt, and all his efforts were concentrated on the concealment of his plans. Antony Hamilton was sent to Limerick to act as governor of an undefended town, which was, however, a convenient centre for rallying to the cause the powerful family of O'Brien. Justin McCarthy was sent on a similar mission to Cork. Their instructions were to incite the chiefs of the Irish families to prepare lists of officers and men who in due course might form regiments bearing their names. The Munster septs were especially appealed to, but the southern counties of Leinster and parts of Connaught (including the whole of Galway) were also included in this movement. The result surpassed Tyr- connell's expectations. An army of 50,000 men was promptly brought into existence " on paper," and the Protestant leaders had no inkhng of the movement. But this army was entirely unarmed, and absolutely innocent of military training. This result was a kind of moral support for the Viceroy, and enabled him to proceed with greater confidence in his measures for deahng with the regular troops who were armed. But in order to bring home to the levies on paper that when they were called up they would receive good 78 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE pay, he issued special schedules showing how the men of the different arms would be remunerated. Soldiers in ordinary foot regiments were to receive two shillings a week for subsistence in addition to their clothes, those selected for service in the regiment of Guards were to receive two shillings and six pence, while the cavalry man was to be paid for himself and horse six shillings. These allowances were high for the times, and the Irish recruits looked forward with eagerness for the day when they would begin. Unfortunately they were fixed too high, and when the regiments were called up the foot- soldier's pay had to be reduced to one shilling and sixpence, and the Guardsman's to two shillings. By the time that these preliminary arrangements had been completed it was known in Ireland that the Prince of Orange had landed in England, and this news was speedily followed by the tidings of the Queen's flight and the King's detention. Lord Tyrconnell decided that his only safe course was to induce the two Protestant regiments to remove to a part of Ireland where he knew that he had no influence, and to which his own plans had no reference. He visited Lord Mount joy's camp at Mullingar, reviewed his troops, and proposed that his regiment should be sent to garrison Londonderry. Lord Mountjoy, who believed that Lord Tyrconnell might not be averse under the stress of circumstances to come to terms with the Prince of Orange, assented, but substituted the other regiment for his own. At the same time the Protestant soldiers were granted permission to leave the army and to return to their homes. This offer was made because a rumour was current that the Roman Catholics contemplated a massacre of the Protestants. The splitting up of the force rendered it no longer formidable as a danger to Tyrconnell's government, and was at once followed by the summons to the Catholic nobility and gentlemen to call out their regiments, at the same time investing them with the requisite authority to grant commissions. A GREAT VICEROY 79 Before the end of January, 1689, Tyrconnell had an Irish army of 60,000 men on the roster, but very few of them possessed arms. Some muskets had been taken from the mihtia, a few more had been surrendered by the troops who had resigned, and no doubt there was a small stock in Dublin Castle. The Viceroy had also called in all bayonets, swords, and firearms In Dublin, and although many were concealed, some had to be surrendered, and a little arma- ment for the force was acquired in this manner. In December, 1688, it was reported that preparations of a hostile nature were being made at Trinity College, where- upon Captain Talbot was sent at the head of three com- panies to occupy the buildings, to search for arms, and to order the students to disperse to their homes, all of which was done. It was shortly after this incident that the Marquis de Pointis arrived from France, as already described, for the purpose of reporting to Louis on the situation. In the part of Ireland that he visited he found the people unanimous for King James, and signs of the levies of men in all directions. Tyrconnell was the un- questioned lord of the land, more especially since he had got rid of his rival Mount] oy by the ruse described in the last chapter. Moreover, many of the Irish troops sent to England in the previous years were filtering back to Ireland, and these included some good officers, of which there was great lack, like Colonel Thomas Bourke, Captain Drummond, Owen McCarthy, John Scot, Gilbert Hore, William Carroll, Garret Parry, and Cornelius Mahan. It was clear to Pointis, as it is to any impartial student of the question, that Tyrconnell had got together the nucleus of an army — one, indeed, with many defects and short- comings, but still one in which the raw material, the brawn and sinews, was first-rate — as good char a canon as could be found in the wide world. Let us turn from Ireland to cite what was being written in England about the Irish army, and we will select the 8o THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE anonymous author of " The Popish Champion," as he was one of Macaulay's witnesses. This is what this high authority had to say about it : " The meaning of the word courage is unknown among them, and for their officers the best of them had rather creep into a scabbard than draw a sword. As for their common souldiers what are they ? but the very excrement of common prisons with which their army is cumbered not manned. ... As for their general it is the same Tyrconnell who is famed for a coward throughout Europe." Poor scribbler ! He could not foresee the unwavering advance across the bullet- swept plain of Marsaglia, the unbroken ranks at Oberglau, or the tempestuous onset at Almanza. What is clear, then, is that Tyrconnell, on his own resources, very limited as they were, with an empty treasury and an emptier arsenal, had set up an Irish administration such as had never before existed. He had evoked three of the strongest and noblest sentiments in the human mind, religious fervour, loyalty to the King and patriotic en- thusiasm. How was this done ? Tyrconnell, by some stroke of genius, had revived the hopes of a downtrodden nation. Why did the Irish respond to the appeal again to champion the Stuarts who in the past had been so ungrateful to Ireland ? The answer is supplied in the anonymous work entitled, " A Light to the Blind," which forms the basis of Gilbert's Jacobite narrative. The following passage has not lost its force even to-day : — " It will be requisite in the King to restore unto the Irish Catholics their ancient estates which the Protestant usurpers have retained in possession these forty years past ; to make the parliament of Ireland absolute in enacting laws without being obliged to send beforehand the pre- pared bills which are destined to pass into acts by the consent of both houses of parliament for the King's precedent approbation of them, it being sufficient to have the King's assent given unto them by the voice of his Deputy after the said bills have passed both the houses ; A GREAT VICEROY 8i to make the judicature of the nation determine causes without an appeal to the tribunals of England ; to give full liberty to merchants to export the products and manufactures of the kingdom and to import foreign goods without an obligation of touching at any harbour of England ; to erect studies of law at Dublin ; to put always the viceroydom into the hands of an Irish Catholic ; to set up a silver and gold mint in the capital city ; to confer the principal posts of state and war on the Catholic natives ; to keep standing an army of eight thousand Catholics ; to train a Catholic militia ; to maintain a fleet of 24 war- like ships of the fourth rate ; to give the moiety of ecclesi- astical livings to the Catholic Bishops and parish priests during the life of the present Protestant bishops and ministers, and after the death of these to confer all the said livings on the Roman clergy ; to make the great rivers of the kingdom navigable as far as 'tis possible ; to render the chief ports more deep and thoroughly tenable against any attacks from sea ; in fine, to drain the multiplicity of bogs which being effected will support a vast addition of families." James's programme was to make Ireland the base and stepping-stone for his recovery of the Crown of England. The Irish programme was to secure Home Rule. Tyr- connell's part was to invest both projects with a character of feasibility. When the year 1689 dawned the eyes of both England and France were fixed on Ireland. Chapter IV KING JAMES IN IRELAND AT the beginning of April, 1689, Evelyn entered in his journal : " King James was now certainly in Ireland with the Marshal d'Estrades, whom he made a Privy Councillor, and who caused the King to remove the Protestant Councillors, some whereof it seems had continued to sit, telling him that the King of France, his master, would never assist him if he did not immediately do it, by which it is apparent how the poor prince is managed by the French." As history this entry is worthless, there was not an iota of truth in it. Alany of the Councillors were Protestants down to the Boyne, and some even till the Limerick Convention. It is only interesting for the undue prominence it gives to d'Estrades, not a Marshal but a Marechal de Camp, who had been sent to train a royal body-guard at Dublin, which only got its horse^ on the eve of the Boyne campaign. What purported to be the description of King James's arrival in Dublin by an eye-witness, a forerunner of the special correspondent, was hawked about the streets of London as a broadside. It read : — "On Thursday the 14th of March (O.S.) the late King being recovered of the indisposition caused by the sea set out for Dublin, where he arrived on Saturday following, being the i6th of the month, being met and received by the Earl of Tyrconnell ten miles from Dublin, who con- ducted him thither, having caused all the forces to be drawn up at the entrance into the town, who saluted the late King's arrival with three volleys of shot. The Lord KING JAMES IN IRELAND 83 Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council also met him in their formalities. The streets were lined with the Irish Life Guards even to the Castle Gates, where the late King was conducted and lodged. The Papist inhabitants shouting, the soldiers musquets discharging, the Bells ringing, and at night Bonfires in all parts of the town. " The next day being Sunday there was singing of Te Deum, and Processions for joy and a multitude of masses said for the advancement of the Catholic Church." With which account we need not greatly quarrel ; let us pass to more authentic records. On the fifth day (that is March 12 O.S., 22 N.S.), after sailing from Brest the squadron, commanded by Admiral Gabaret, cast anchor in Kingsale Bay. King James landed that day, and waited while horses were ob- tained for the journey to Cork. This was no easy matter. No preparations had been made for the royal arrival and horses were scarce. Two days were taken in getting ten together, and thereupon the King, the Count d'Avaux, and the more important members of his suite set out for Cork. It is said that some of the French officers not wishing to be left behind seized some of the horses in the place, whereupon the natives took offence and drove their horses and ponies into the hills. The story rests on no sure basis. The statement is better authenticated that the people themselves made a free gift of fifty oxen and four hundred sheep to the French sailors. On this occasion and throughout the long struggle the best relations existed between the French and the Irish, and no credence whatever need be given to the stories to the contrary. The original impressions of the French envoy were very much to the point, and anticipated with almost prophetic precision the causes of ultimate failure. In his very first letter to Louvois, written from Kingsale, D'Avaux wrote : " Our chief difficulty will be the irresolution of King James, who often changes his mind and then decides not always for the best." An instance of this occurred on the 84 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE journey. One of the officers on board the " Faucon," the Chevalier de Murray (Sir Murray), was discovered to be a traitor, and King James agreed that he should be sent back to France. A day later he changed his mind and allowed him to remain as a prisoner in Cork, from which place he eventually made his escape to England. Two Protestant lords, one of whom was Lord Inchiquin (who died in 1693 as Governor of Jamaica), had been given leave by General McCarthy to quit the country before the King's landing, and on hearing of this both D'Avaux and Melfort urged the King to countermand it. He did so, but was so slow in his decision that the two noble lords escaped from Cork in an English frigate that happened to lie there. The true significance of the affair lay in the fact that they took _^20,ooo away with them, and that money was a very rare commodity in Ireland. McCarthy's co-operation in the flight of Lord Inchiquin is quite intelligible, for his father had been the chief commander of the Irish in the Wars of the Confederation. At Cork Lord Tyrconnell was waiting to receive the King, and he then and there delivered an account of the state of the Kingdom to His Majesty. It was to the following effect, as expressed in the King's own words : " Lieutenant-General Hamilton had been sent down with two thousand five hundred men, as many as could be spared from Dublin, to make head against the Rebels in Ulster, who were masters of all that Province except Charlemont and Carrickfergus ; that in Munster the whole province was totally reduced by Lieutenant-General McCarthy ; that by the diligence of the Catholic nobility and gentry above fifty regiments of foot and several troops of horse and dragoons had been raised ; that he had distributed amongst them about twenty thousand muskets, most of which, however, were so old and unserviceable that not above one thousand of the firearms were found to be of any use ; that the Catholics of the country had no arms, whereas the Protestants had great plenty as well as KING JAMES IN IRELAND 85 the best horses in the kingdom ; that for artillery he had but eight small field pieces in a condition to march, the rest not mounted, no stores in the magazines, little powder and ball, all the officers gone for England, and no money in cash." This was not a very cheering statement for a King in search of a lost throne to receive on the threshold of his enterprise, but it showed that Lord Tyrconnell did not disguise the truth for the sake of making his sovereign believe for a moment that he had done more than he had. James's comment on the report was : " there is a great deal of goodwill in the kingdom for me, but little means to execute it." He was also displeased at some of the details of Tyrconnell's administration, but he succeeded in hiding his displeasure, and raised Tyrconnell to the rank of Duke. For instance, he disliked the conferring of such high military rank as that of Lieutenant-General on Hamil- ton and McCarthy. It placed him in a difficulty with the French officers, who had to be raised to the same rank forthwith. He also was not pleased with the order de- priving the Acts of the English Parliament of force in Ireland, but when he realised that he must bow to this popular decision among the Irish, until at least he had recovered England, he held his tongue. In the meanwhile D'Avaux was keeping his eyes open and collecting information. On the road from Kingsale to Cork he passed a battalion of good-looking Irish troops, but armed only with cudgels (probably shillelaghs). When Louvois read the lines he wrote the caustic note : " What will these fine fellows do against the Prince of Orange's troops armed with muskets and sabres ? " At Cork D'Avaux saw some of McCarthy's troops partially armed and consequently making a better show. He again describes them as splendid men, the shortest foot-soldiers being over 5ft. 10 in., and the pikcmen and grenadiers 6ft. i in. At Cork also D'Avaux established friendly relations with William Talbot, Tyrconnell's nephew, as well as with McCarthy, 86 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE who had not forgotten " la belle France." D'Avaux \vhispers in his ear the project of exchanging Irish and French regiments, and that McCarthy is the man to command the former. McCarthy is delighted at the idea, and assures the French envoy that he will not say a word to either the King or Melfort, who would be sure to oppose the scheme. The conferences at Cork cover several days while carriages and carts and horses are got together for the King's journey to Dublin. It is also necessary to provide the means for conveying there the French money and some, at least, of the arms and ammunition. During this interval James shows his hand. He has come to Ireland not to rule an Irish kingdom, but to make his way to Scotland or England for the recovery of his English Crown. Tyrconnell takes a black view of the situation in England, and is not afraid to declare his opinion that the English Crown is lost past recall for many years. James is not merely optimistic himself, but he likes those around him to paint things in rosy colours. The Secretary Melfort is at his elbow to echo his views and humour them. He, too, shares at least one of his master's opinions. He has no wish to stay in Ireland. Of what value is an Irish Crown ? Better 'twere to have none at all. And so the war of factions begins before the Stuart King has been a week on Irish soil. TyrconneU, who has done everything to make the adventure possible, is already cold-shouldered as an Irish enthusiast. He not merely exposes the impossibility of a descent on England, but he dwells on the difficulty of taking Londonderry. Its garrison is well armed, the best troops in Ireland are there, and they are more closely knit together than the Jacobite forces. Nor has he any exaggerated opinion of the value of his own army. There arc fifty or sixty thousand men on the paper lists. He proposes to the King that this force should be reduced to 25,000 foot, 3000 dragoons, and 2000 cavalry. He does not see how more can be paid KING JAMES IN IRELAND 87 for out of the moderate sum of money brought from France. He is also disappointed with the assistance rendered hy the French King. He is told that more is coming with the second squadron, and that if he can only hold out till Christmas French troops will follow. But the need is at the moment, and he wishes they had come, for with Ulster unsubdued Ireland is only half .von for the Jacobite cause. Tyrconnell is an adviser whom James does not want to see every day, or for long audiences. He prefers the honeyed words and cerulean dreams of Melfort. But at last things are as ready for leaving Cork as they ever will be in a country where D'Avaux declares it " takes three days to do what is done in one elsewhere," and King James sets out on his journey to Dublin in Lord Tyrcon- nell's carriage on April i (N.S.). On the 3rd he enters the capital in state amid popular demonstrations of extreme joy. The French ambassador, asking himself the reason of this, supplies his own answer. It is " because the Irish hope to become independent of England." Let us quote the description of the journey given by the author of " A Light for the Blind." " All along the road the country came to meet his Majesty with staunch loyalty, profound respect, and tender love as if he had been an angel from heaven. All degrees of people and of both sexes were of the number old and young ; orations of welcome being made unto him at the entrance of each considerable town, and the young rural maids weaving of dances before him as he travelled. In a word, from Kingsale to Dublin (which is above a hundred long Irish miles) the way was like a great fair, such crowds poured forth from their habitations to wait on his Majesty, so that he could not but take comfort amidst his misfortunes at the sight of such excessive fidelity and tenderness for his person in his Catholic people of Ireland. This was a different behaviour from that which his Majesty found from his subjects in England after the Prince of Orange's 88 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE arrival. And happy would the King be if he could have preserved unto himself this island which in a few years would make a prince very powerful if due care were taken by reason that it is fertile in soil, notably productive of corn and cattle of all sorts, abounding in fish, marine and fluvial, admirably situated for a general trade, and endowed with excellent harbours from nature. " But to go on. The King made his entry into Dublin on March 24 (O.S. April 3, N.S.) being Palm Sunday that year. He was received by the Lord Mayor, Sir Michael Creagh, and aldermen in their formalities, by the principals of the city, and by the garrison under arms, while the bells rang, the cannons roared, and the music, on stages erected in the streets, harmoniously played. And in this manner his Majesty was lodged in the royal Castle where the court of the kingdom is usually kept." Ireland had not seen a King since Richard H, and it was not so very surprising that an emotional people should under the circumstances receive the last of the Stuarts to reign " like an angel from Heaven." Unfortunately, James was not worth all their enthusiasm. His thoughts were elsewhere. Shortly after reaching Dublin letters from Scotland with what was called pleasing news were placed in his hands, and he was all for setting off for that country forthwith. D'Avaux had to make a firm stand and tell him that it was not for visionary schemes that the King of France had taken up his cause and rendered him generous aid, but to accomplish the definite task of securing the whole of Ireland. This was the beginning of the breach between James and the French ambassador. Writing long afterwards the Duke of Berwick records in his Memoirs about D'Avaux that " the King was dissatisfied with his haughty and disrespectful manner of conducting himself," but he is constrained to add, " he was, however, a man of sense." One of the first steps taken by the King on his arrival in Dublin was the formation of an inner and supreme KING JAMES IN IRELAND 89 Council of three, the presence of the sovereign having nulhfied Tyrconnell's commission as Lord Deputy. The three were Tyrconnell, Melfort, and D'Avaux ; and as the first two were bitterly opposed to each other, and as the feud extended also to their ladies, it followed that for a time D'Avaux controlled the Council. This suited neither Melfort nor James, so Tyrconnell was given a commission nominally to carry out his proposed reduction of the army, but really to get him out of Dublin. His absence was prolonged by illness, which at one time seemed likely to prove fatal. Before Tyrconnell left the capital, however, he was to take a leading part in a ceremony that claims brief notice. The citizens of Dublin have been feted with the entry of a King. They are now to be provided with a second show in the reception of an Ambassador. Count d'Avaux, the Ambassador of His Most Christian Majesty, has to present his letters of credence, and April 15 is the day fixed for the ceremony. The Duke of Tyrconnell calls for him at his residence, and drives him in his six-horse coach to the Castle, where the ambassador is received by the Duke of Powis, Lord Chamberlain, and conducted to the royal presence. The formal letters are presented and the usual formal speeches are made, James thanking his good brother Louis for the assurance of his friendship. The street to the Castle is lined by the Lord Mayor's Regiment (commonly called Creagh's), and the people are delighted with a show such as had never been seen in Dublin before. From Jacobite Ireland the scene changes to Londonderry, where a small but determined force holds on to the last vestige of Protestant ascendency in Ulster. These men are formidable by the spirit which animates them. The very extremity of their situation has inspired them with a resolution to conquer or to die, and while Dublin and southern Ireland are absorbed in the delight of welcoming a King and seeing unwonted sights, the people of London- 90 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE derry are busily turning the place into some imitation of a fortress. On February 20, 1689, the people of Derry, having got rid of the Cathohcs in the garrison and town, proclaimed the Prince of Orange as King Wilham. It was then that Tyrconnell sent Richard Hamilton with 2500 men, as mentioned by him at Cork, to drive all the outlying Protestant garrisons into Derry. The first news that James received on entering the capital was that Hamilton had routed the enemy at Dromore. Hamilton reported that he had driven the enemy out of Dromore and across the Bann to Coleraine, where, however, they were so numerous and well-posted that he must await reinforce- ments. James at once sent General Pusignan and the Duke of Berwick with such troops as could be gathered to his aid, and resolved to follow himself in a few days with Roze and others. Both Tyrconnell and D'Avaux opposed the King's going, but he would not listen. It was at that moment that Tyrconnell was ordered to Munster, and D'Avaux, seeing that there was no use in staying behind, and that his presence might baffle Melfort's plan of getting the King over to Scotland, accompanied the royal party to Armagh. At this stage the French envoy did two things that were not unavailing. He wrote to Louvois suggesting that Louis should get Queen Mary d'Este to write to her husband begging him not to leave Ireland until it was completely subdued. He also called attention to the fact that while the Irish people were whole-hearted in their sympathy for France, James was only partly of the same way of thinking and Melfort not at all. Louvois records in his despatches : " lis n'entrent pas tout a fait dans les bons sentiments des Irlandais pour la France." Insensibly French policy partook more and more of a character to help its own interests before those of James. A Franco- Irish alliance was in the air, and D'Avaux urged Louis to send over 4000 French infantry, and engaged to send back KING JAMES IN IRELAND 91 in exchange six or seven thousand of the best Irish troops under McCarthy, who was entirely devoted to him and to France. The proposal to send Irish troops was first intro- duced to pacify Louvois and Vauban, who had declared that France could not spare a man. D'Avaux therefore made a proposal by which France would gain two or three thousand men, and he described them as physically among the finest men he had ever seen. After a little discipline and with good arms, France might thus find the Irish as useful as the Swiss. This proposal gave a new complexion to the question, and Louvois agreed to sending over four regiments at the first favourable chance. But he insisted that the situation in the Low Countries must first be improved. The campaign of 1689 revealed that the pressure there was much diminished by the absence of William and his best troops in England. On reaching Derry the King found that something had been accomplished by Hamilton in the way of confining the garrison to the place by the capture of Culmore Fort at the entrance to the channel leading to Derry. He had also erected two small batteries to command the channel, and had cast a boom across the passage above Culmore. The garrison, in the belief that their communication with the outer world was cut off, seemed inclined to treat for surrender, and declared that they would give up the place on terms, provided the Jacobite army did not come within a stipulated distance of the walls, and also that they were satisfied that King James was really in Ireland. The townspeople were allowed to send two delegates into the camp, where they saw the King ; but they also saw a good deal more, and when they returned into Derry they reported that the enemy had no mortars or heavy artillery. It was not difficult, therefore, to persuade the citizens to hold out a little while, and the negotiations were broken off. When wanted an excuse can be found for almost any human action. The people of Derry alleged that Roze had broken the truce by coming within the prescribed limits. Ap- 92 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE parently he had. He had marched his troops up a hill and down again. James, finding that he was not to enjoy the cheap triumph of seeing Derry surrender at his presence, decided to return to Dublin, taking with him Roze and D'Avaux, and entrusting the joint command to Maumont and Hamil- ton. Major-General Pusignan was also left in charge of the infantry. The conduct of the siege was distinctly faulty, as there was not a competent engineer in the investing force, and the only mortar of any size burst after a few discharges. It was said at the time that Hamilton's military knowledge had been acquired in an infantry regi- ment, but it showed extraordinary neglect for any soldier to leave the camp of the besieging force quite open and defenceless. It was due to this fact that the besiegers suffered a heavy and irreparable loss in the early days of the beleaguerment. The two French generals were watching the town from Penniburn Mill, not far from the walls, when a party from the place seeing their opportunity sallied out and cut them off. The French officers and their small escort made a brave resistance, but before a relieving force could reach them they were all killed or mortally wounded. Both the French officers were men of ability as well as courage, and what is more rare, they were very popular on account of their affability. Among others slain was at least one Irish officer of experience and distinction, Major John Taaffe, brother of the Earl of Carlingford and Count Taaffe. A few days later Captain Maurice Fitzgerald was killed in another sortie, and in the meantime no impression whatever had been made on the walls. The advantage rested with the besieged. Hamilton, from inclination or necessity, con- fined his attention to an investment in the hope that the garrison might be starved into surrender. We must return to Dublin, whither D'Avaux had preceded James. The French envoy took advantage of the King's absence to reconcile Tyrconnell and McCarthy, on KING JAMES IN IRELAND 93 whom the title of Viscount Mountcashell had just been conferred. James arrived some days later for the purpose of meeting his first Parliament, which had been summoned for May 7. For this occasion a new crown had been made for the King's use, and the two Houses were opened with all possible formality. The House of Peers numbered only thirty-five, but in compensation the counties and boroughs returned not fewer than 200 representatives to the Com- mons. On the very day that the Parliament was opened a large French fleet sailed from Brest with reinforcements and supplies. The commander of this fleet was the Count de Chateau Renaud, one of France's most distinguished seamen, and he had under his orders twenty-eight ships of the line, fifteen frigates, and fifteen fire-ships. There were on board the more or less trained English, Irish and Scottish troops who had escaped to France from England. These men had formed the bulk of James's loyal troops under Lord Dumbarton and Colonel Scott at the time of the Dutch invasion. It is declared that they numbered 3000 officers and men, and on arrival in Ireland they were placed under the orders of M. Boisseleau, governor of Cork, to undergo a course of training and to be passed into different regiments. One regiment, named after Boisseleau himself, was formed at once, and its numerical strength is given at not less than 1600 men. A certain number of French oflftcers of higher grade arrived about the same time to replace Maumont and Pusignan. Among these we may name the Count de Gace, Chevalier d'Escots, D'Hoc- quincourt, D'Amanze and Saint Pater. These came by their King's orders, but M. d'Anglure, ex-captain in the French guards, came to serve James " through pure devotion." Chateau Renaud's cruise was not without its adventure. He reached Kingsale Bay without coming across the English fleet, under Admiral Herbert, which was cruising somewhere in the Channel ; but while he was engaged in the work of disembarkation news was brought that the 94 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE English fleet was in the ofiing. He at once stopped the work of landing and hastened out to sea. In the fight that ensued the English fleet was beaten off with some loss, and had to make for Plymouth to refit. The news of this victory reached Dublin while Parliament was sitting, and a Te Deum was sung for it in St. Patrick's Cathedral ; but James was peevish and cross, and when D'Avaux informed him that the English ships had been driven off, he ex- claimed with some irritation, " C'est bien la premiere fois done." The French ambassador must have been puzzled by this professional spirit which asserted itself over self- interest. No one would have suffered more than King James from an English victory at that juncture, and yet he was sorry to learn of the defeat of the navy in which he had served. He even imagined all kinds of excuses for it, and fully persuaded himself, at least, that Admiral Herbert had sailed away out of loyalty to his person. It is not surprising if James became an enigma to his French allies. But although he disparaged Chateau Renaud's success, he was quite prepared to turn it to account, and proposed that he should sail round Ireland and attack Derry by Lough Foyle. The French admiral's reply was that his orders were to return without delay to Brest ; but if it had been possible to spare the fleet out of French waters for any length of time, the result might have justified James's strategical insight. A little later French frigates did appear on the north coast of Ireland, and the gallant Du Quesne navigated lochs and estuaries on the west coast of Scotland, where warships had never been seen since the Spanish Armada. Before returning to the incidents at Derry, where by the tacit admission of both sides the first decisive phase in the struggle was to be enacted, we may describe what happened in James's first Parliament. Proof was furnished therein that the King and his legislative Assembly were not in accord, and that when he gave his assent to measures that could not be avoided, it was very often against his own KING JAMES IN IRELAND 95 wishes and convictions. The speech made by the King at the opening of ParUament read as follows : — " The exemplary loyalty which this nation expressed to me at a time when others of my subjects so undutifully misbehaved themselves to me, or so basely betrayed me, and your seconding my Deputy as you did in his bold and resolute asserting my Right in preserving this Kingdom for me, and putting it in a posture of defence, made me resolve to come to you, and venture my life with you in defence of your liberties and my own Right, and to my great satisfaction I have not only found you ready to serve me, but that your courage has equalled your zeal. " I have always been for libertie of conscience and against invading any man's right or liberty, having still in mind the Saying of the holy writ ' Do as you would be done to, for this is the law and the Prophets.' " It was this liberty of conscience I gave which my enemies both at home and abroad dreaded to have established by law in all my Dominions, and made them set themselves up against me, though for different reasons, seeing that if I had once settled it my people in the opinion of the one would have been too happy, and, in the opinion of the other, too great. " This argument was made use of to persuade their own people to join with them, and so many of my subjects to use me as they had done, but nothing shall ever persuade me to change my mind as to that ; wheresoever I am Master I design, God willing, to establish it by law, and have no other text or distinction but that of Loyalty. I expect your concurrence in so Christian a v^'ork, and in making laws against profaneness and against all sorts of debauchery. " I shall most readily consent to the making such laws as may be for the good of the Nation, the improvement of trade, and relieving such as have been injured in the late Act of Settlement, as far forth as may be consistent with reason, justice and the public good of my people. " And as I shall do my part to make you happy and 96 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE rich, I make no doubt of your assistance by enabling me to oppose the unjust designs of my enemies, and to make this Nation flourish. " And to encourage you the more to it, you know with how great generosity and kindness the Most Christian King gave a sure retreat to the Queen, my Son and myself, when we were forced out of England and came to seek protection in his Kingdom, how he embraced my interest, and gave me such supplies of all sorts as enabled me to come to you, which without his obliging assistance I could not have done ; this he did at a time he had so many and so considerable enemies to deal with, and you see still continues so to do. " I shall conclude as I have begun, and assure you I am as sensible as you can desire of the signal loyalty you have expressed to me, and shall make it my chief study as it has always been to make you and all my subjects happy." This speech would have been an excellent one before an English Parliament, but in Dublin in the year 1689 it was out of place and incomprehensible to the mass of the people. The exhortation that all men should be free to follow their conscience was not to the liking of the Irish Catholics. It was not followed in England or Scotland, as James's own experience showed, for he had been deprived of his throne for exercising the very liberty that he so much vaunted. If there were no other evidence, this alone would convict James of being no statesman. The Irish members wanted to hear that all their old estates were coming back to them, and instead the King gave them a sermon on religious tolerance, which was not the general practice among either Catholics or Protestants until two centuries later. The following passage, taken from " A Light for the Blind," shows very clearly what was in the minds of the Irish Catholics : — " No experience will make him behave himself towards those traitors (Protestants) as he should do. He spoiled KING JAMES IN IRELAND 97 his business in Ireland by his own great indulgence to- wards them. He was infatuated with this rotten principle — provoke not your Protestant subjects — the which hin- dered His Majesty from drawing troops sooner out of Ireland into England for the security of his person and government ; from making up a Catholic army in England ; from accepting those forces the Most Christian King had offered him. It was this false politic which prevailed with him to declare that he had no alliance with France ; that he did not believe the Dutch had any design on him till they were almost landed in England. In fine 'twas this deceitful suggestion that ruined him entirely by not mis- trusting in time the loyalty of those heretics, as it was that which made King Charles the Second commit such horrid injustices in leaving the estates of his faithful Irish in the usurped possession of known rebels both to himself and to his royal father Charles the First." The observant D'Avaux had read the situation far more correctly when he wrote, " les Irlandais sont ennemis irreconciliables des Anglais en sorte que si on leur lachait la main ils egorgeraient en peu de temps ceux qui sont icy." Having listened to the King's homily, the Irish Parlia- ment proceeded to conduct its business in its own way. A Bill was brought in to repeal the Act of Settlement. In the House of Lords the Bishop of Meath made a set speech against it, on the ground that it would be unjust to the actual holders who were, with the exception of five or six of the greatest or most fortunate peers — then in England with the Prince of Orange, the second Duke of Ormonde at their head — descendants of the Crom- welHan settlers. The Lord Chief Justice Keating backed up the Bishop's speech with an address to the King, repre- senting that the repeal would be " the ruin of trade and future improvements." But these efforts by the small Protestant faction to maintain the Act of Settlement were quite futile. The two Houses passed by a practically unanimous vote the law abrogating it, so that all their old G 98 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE estates were to be repossessed by their original Catholic proprietors ousted from them in 1650-52. The decision of the Legislature was absolute, and James appended his signature because he was told that if he did not he might just as well quit the country at once. He signed, but he entered in his private diary a note which has passed into history to the effect that " it had without doubt been more generous in the Irish not to have pressed so hard upon their Prince when he lay so much at their mercy, and more prudent not to have grasped at regaining all before they were sure of keeping what they already pos- sessed." The Irish Parliament was in session from May 7 until July 20, and during that time it passed a very generous vote of ^20,000 per month for the King's service ; but, unfortunately, this vote was meaningless, because there was no money in the treasury and no trade or commerce on which to raise taxes or customs. The small sum pro- vided by the King of France went but a very little way, and the people, not liking the look of the small French silver coins, a royal order had to be issued showing the rate at which they were to be accepted. But the evil was far greater than uncertainty as to the value of this money. There was not enough of it or of any other. On June 18 another order was issued decreeing that a new coin of brass or copper was to pass current as the equivalent of sixpence. As time went on recourse to base money became more frequent and on a larger scale, but it was remarkable in the first instance as coinciding with the Parliament's generous paper subsidy. Notwithstanding the adoption of a meaningless vote about liberty of conscience, and James's repeated declara- tion that he meant to treat the Protestants by an equal law with the Catholics, he was forced by his advisers, despite the support of Lord Melfort, to recognise the facts of the situation. He might call the Protestants his subjects if it pleased him, but that did not alter the fact that they KING JAMES IN IRELAND 99 were his enemies, and that they were treating his forces very badly in the north. On July 15 he had to sign the order calling upon the Protestants, of whom there were a good many in Dublin, to surrender their arms and horses within fifteen days. Those Protestants in Dublin who were not citizens were ordered to leave within twenty-four hours, and thus James was com- pelled to do at last what Tyrconnell and D'Avaux had been urging him to do ever since his arrival. During all these months, too, James absolutely refused to make a declaration of war against England. The English were his dear subjects ; it was only the Prince of Orange, his nephew and son-in-law, who was " his unnatural enemy " ; but the consequence of this was that he could not grant letters of marque to Brest privateers to prey on English commerce. Neither could he fit out Irish privateers for the same purpose. To the French his policy seemed neither one thing nor the other, a mixture of senility and impracticability. As a matter of historical justice it must be mentioned that James wanted something that was not in the minds of either his French or his Irish advisers. He wished to get back to Whitehall, and he knew that to employ Irish methods would be to blast his chances of doing so for ever. Probably every day of his residence in Ireland he regretted that his obliga- tions to the French King had deprived him of the liberty to refuse to go to that country. His changing policy, his inability to adapt himself to his surroundings, prove, not that he was the fool that D'Avaux and Louvois took him for, but that he was in a false position. Having referred to the delicate question of the proper course for James to have pursued towards the Protestants in Ireland, it will be appropriate at this stage to deal with and demolish the monstrous charge Macaulay brings against D'Avaux of having counselled James to authorise a massacre of the Protestants. His words are : — " With this view he (D'Avaux) coolly submitted to the 100 THE BATTLE OE THE BOYNE King n proposition of almost incredible atrocity. There must be a St. Bartholomew. A pretext would easily be found. . . . Any disturbance, wherever it might take place, would furnish an excuse for a general massacre of the Protestants of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught " (" History of England," Vol. V, p. 39). This charge is a figment of Macaulayan imagination. To support it, the not over-scrupulous historian had to invent a misquotation. Let us examine the evidence. Macaulay gives as his authority an extract from the letter written by D'Avaux to Louis XIV, dated August 10, 1689 (N.S.), and he quotes as follows : — " J'estois d'avis qu'apres que la descente seroit faite, si Ton apprenoit que des Protestants se fussent soulevez en quelques endroits du royaume on fit main basse sur tous generalement." D'Avaux never wrote the words alleged. The following is the correct quotation of the passage : — " J'estois d'avis qu'apres que la descente seroit faite si I'on aprenoit que des Protestants se fussent soulevez en quelque endroit du royaume on s'^asseurast generalement de tous les autres, puisqu' on ne pouvoit douter que ceux qui ne s'estoient pas encore declarez n'attendoient que I'occasion favorable pour le faire." What D'Avaux proposed, then, was to " make sure of " or " to arrest " {s'' assurer) the Protestants. He must be judged by what he wrote, not by what Macaulay invented, and no twisting of words can make " s''asseurast " mean anything more than " secure " or " arrest." It is quite true that in Louis's reply, dated September 6, disapproving of this counsel, on the ground that the Protestants could carry out more effective reprisals, Louis uses the words " de faire main basse,''"' but this remark will be explained later on. Again we must repeat D'Avaux is to be judged on his own merits or demerits. As Macaulay could have satisfied himself by carefully perusing D'Avaux's despatches, the French ambassador advocated the arrest KING JAMES IN IRELAND loi of leading Protestants, their being disarmed, and the prevention of their sending money out of the country ; but from first to last there is not a word suggesting their being killed, and losing their lives by being massacred. It is most extraordinary that Macaulay should have made so terrible a charge, and that his statement should have been allowed to pass unchallenged and unrefuted for half a century. The essential facts on the point are those cited ; but, lest it might be said that the remark attributed by D'Avaux to James himself, in his letter of August 14, bears out Macaulay's assertion, we must examine that point also. Let us premise, however, that D'Avaux can only be held responsible for what he said himself, and not for a hasty ejaculation or conclusion by the King. In his letters of August 4 and 6 to Louis, D'Avaux elaborates what he means by " s'asseurer " of the Protestants. He proposes that they should be disarmed, and that they should be dispersed in small parties throughout the prisons of different towns. His fear, as he states many times, was that in several towns, notably DubHn and Galway, the Protestants would be more than a match for the Catholics. At the same time he had pressed upon James the counsel that, in view of the imminent descent of Schomberg, the whole of Ulster outside Londonderry, Enniskillen, and the other places held by the Protestants should be laid bare, so that William's general would be unable to draw any supplies therefrom. He would have driven off the cattle, burnt the villages and crops, and generally laid waste the province. But James would not listen to this proposal, and declared he " would not pillage his own subjects." All that need be said on this proposal of D'Avaux's is that it was in accordance with the usages of war, and that its execution would have embarrassed Schomberg. In his letter of August 14 D'Avaux describes the closing scene in the episode. He brings up again in an audience with the King the question of the measures he had pre- 102 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE viously proposed to be taken against the Protestants, and he asks James if he has come to any decision about his proposals. Thereupon James bursts out with the remark that he will be no party to " cutting his subjects' throats " [cgorger ses sujets). James had, as we have seen, a habit of blurting out his inner thoughts, and it is a pity from the historical point of view that D'Avaux did not reply, " But I have never proposed that you should cut their throats." We must, however, remember the strict etiquette of Court life in those days. As a courtier D'Avaux could not meet the King's outburst with a flat contra- diction. He could only turn the allegation aside by saying, " What I proposed was after all not so very in- human." His actual reply really signified the same thing. It reads : — " Je lui repartis que je ne lui proposois rien de fort in- humain, que je ne pretendois pas qu'on fist aucun mal aux Protestants qu'apres qu'on les verroit se soulever, et que s'il en usait autrement la pitie qu'il aurait pour eux serait un cruaute pour les Catholiques." Which may be translated : — " I answered that I proposed to him nothing very in- human, that I did not suggest any harm being done the Protestants until after they had risen in insurrection, and that if he treated them otherwise the pity shown to them by the King would be an act of cruelty to the Catholics." What he had proposed, disarmament and imprisonment, is on record, but it suited Macaulay to ignore it, and to represent that cutting people's throats was, in D'Avaux's opinion, " nV« de fort inhumain.'''' What D'Avaux meant was clearly that disarmament and imprisonment were " nothing very inhuman." But it may be said that Louisas own use of the phrase " de faire mam basse,'''' in his letter of September 6 shows that he knew what was in D'Avaux's mind. It does nothing of the kind. It was based on James's communi- cation alleging that D'Avaux had proposed a massacre KING JAMES IN IRELAND 103 of the Protestants, and that he wished the ambassador to be restrained. But James's misinterpretation of D'Avaux's advice does not justify Macaulay's assumption. D'Avaux must be judged by his own words in the letters of August 4, 6, and 10. At the same time James may be pardoned, as he lived in constant dread of the Irish Catholics falling upon and massacring the Protestants in Dublin. The memory of what had happened fifty years before was ever in his mind, and he knew that if such a calamity occurred he would be held responsible, and that his chances in England would be destroyed for ever. There is excuse for James in magnifying " s^asseurast " into " egorger.'''' There is none for Macaulay in quoting '^'faire main basse " for " s^asseurast.^^ We may return to Londonderry, where Hamilton, deprived of the assistance of French officers, contented himself with watching the place. The offensive was taken by the besieged, who seized a mill on the north side of the town and protected the road to it with a palisade twelve feet high. While they were doing this Hamilton did not interfere with them, but when he found himself galled by the fire from this new post he proceeded to attack it. He had no artillery to cover the assault, for his cannon were at Culmore and in the batteries on the river. He trusted to his infantry capturing the palisade at a single dash, and it was not very surprising, considering that they rested on no sure foundation, that these hopes should be disappointed. In this assault, which occurred on May 16, he lost one hundred and fifty killed, includ- ing some good officers. We may name among them Brigadier Ramsay, Lieutenant-Colonel William Talbot, of Templeoge, and Viscount Netterville, of Douth. Sir Garret Aylmcr and Captain John Browne, of Neal (Mayo), were taken prisoners, and the repulse was rendered all the more aggravating by the knowledge that the enemy had suffered very little loss. 104 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE Undeterred bv this reverse, Hamilton decided to re- peat the attack in the same manner, but in somewhat hugcr force. Unfortunately, the movements of his troops were clearly visible from the town, and gave full notice of what was coming, and the garrison made suit- able preparations to meet the attack. The incident may be described in the words of Plunkett's narrative slightly epitomised : — " Hamilton draws out the greatest part of the foot and orders them to attack the line. A detachment out of all the grenadiers of the army marched a little before under the leading of Captain John Plunkett, the youngest son of Mr. Nicholas Plunkett of Dunsoghly (county Dublin). After them there came the line of Colonels with their pikes in hand at the head of the infantry. On the right marched a detachment of horse under the conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel Edmund Butler, eldest son of Viscount Mountgarret. In their march they were exposed to the cannon of the windmill ; they also received a shower of ball from the entrenchment in long fowling pieces without seeing an enemy. Captain Plunkett received at the first fire his mortal wound, and being carried off to his tent died an hour later. Notwithstanding their losses the loyal party went on boldly and attempted to mount the entrenchment, but their endeavours proved all in vain, by reason the work was so high that they had need of ladders to carry it suddenly. At the same time the party of horse on the right went to attack the end of the entrenchment by the river where it was somewhat lower. But on coming near they found it not practicable for cavalry. However, Colonel Edmund Butler, being extraordinarily well mounted, resolved to show the way if possible. At which clapping spurs to his charger he flies over, but was immediately taken prisoner. Captain Purcell of Thuiies (Tipperary) followed, but his horse was killed, and he leaped back in his armour and so saved himself. An old gentleman, Edward Butler of Tinnahinch KING JAMES IN IRELAND 105 (Carlow), gained the ditch, but he and his horse were both slain. The rest of the troopers retired having lost some of their men. Upon the conclusion the Irish were forced to retreat with the loss of at least two hundred men killed without doing any damage to the defendants. Among the slain in addition to those named were Lieutenant- Colonel Roger Farrell, Captain Barnewal of Archerstown (Meath), Captain Patrick Barnewal of Kilbrue, Captain Richard Grace, Captain Richard Fleming, brother of Sir John of Staholmock, and Captain William Talbot of Wexford." These successive repulses shook the confidence of Hamilton's soldiers in their leader, and the King's con- fidence in Hamilton, who was freely criticised on all sides. Louvois said it was absolute folly to entrust an important siege to an officer whose only training had been in a foot regiment, adding, a little spitefully, " and not very distinguished in that." James, thoroughly alarmed by the holding out of Derry, decided to send General de Roze, on whom he conferred the rank of Marshal- General, to conduct the siege in person, and he moved northwards as many troops as possible, including some of those which had arrived with Chateau Renaud. Of the twenty French officers who had come with that commander ten were at once sent off to Derry. Of these two, the Chevalier de Tangy and Lieutenant Dastier, were en- gineers, and the first of any competence to look at the walls of Derry. Pointis, the artillerist, also went there about the same time, but he had no artillery, and as he was trying to make some use of one of Hamilton's cannon he was shot in the leg, rendered helpless for many months, and at one moment brought by the incompetence or neglect of his surgeons to death's door. This misfortune did not stand alone. Tangy, an admittedly competent engineer ofhccr, was challenged by another French officer, named Coulanges, described by D'Avaux as incapable and mad, and in the ensuing duel was killed. Dastier io6 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE was too young and inexperienced to take his place, and Masse, the artillerist who followed Pointis, was killed by a shot from the town. Clearly, as the French would say, James is to have no chance. Up to this phase in the question General Roze, the officer lent by Louis to James as getieralissimo, has done nothing beyond riding in the King's company on that first journey to Londonderry. He is a cavalry officer not less ignorant of sieges than the infantry officer Hamilton. Some curiosity must have been felt as to how he would fare. The curiosity must have been greater among his L-ish colleagues, because his criticism of the Irish forces had been free and scornful. Most of the officers, Irish as well as French, had de- plored the lack of adequate supplies in equipping the troops for the field, and the badness of the weapons sup- plied to them. For instance, the Walter Butler regiment, so named after its Colonel, had no swords and no powder or ball. The Bagenal regiment had swords, but no bullets. Another regiment had swords, but of several lengths, and no belts to attach them to, consequently they carried them in their hands ! A French report on the arms of the Lord Mayor's regiment (Creagh's) was to the effect that for one good musket ten were bad. Here also the swords were bad and of unequal lengths. But Roze, while dwelling on these defects of armament, did not confine himself to that point. He attacked the Irish officers, alleging that commissions had been recklessly given to tradespeople who knew nothing about the military profession, that the only officers who were of any good were those who had served in continental and the EngHsh armies. Tyrconnell did not deny that there was some truth in this statement, for one of the objects of his provincial tour had been to cancel commissions. But the shortcomings of the officers was not the only defect in the Irish army. There were no artisans, no smiths, not even -a baker. The art of making bread seems KING JAMES IN IRELAND 107 to have been unknown in Ireland, and the most urgent of the many urgent requests sent to France was one for several bakers. There was also no salt in Ireland, and the want of these simple necessaries reveals the deplorable state of the country. The one thing in which the country- was rich was live stock, and the French commander re- cords with some astonishment that every Irish soldier was by trade a butcher. Finally, in the list of Irish defects Roze reports that the beer was brewed so badly that it could not be drunk without producing dysentery, from which one man died out of ten. Nothing, he adds, but his duty to King Louis could keep him in such a country, and it was in this frame of mind that the General-Marshal proceeded to take charge of the Siege of Derry. Roze having formed such a poor opinion of the forces at his disposal, was fully satisfied that the only way to secure Derry was to starve out the garrison, who were known by this time to be in straits, but he had thought out a cruel way of expediting the end. He gave orders that all the Protestants of the Province of Ulster — men, women, and children — were to be herded together and driven to the walls of Derry, so that the garrison might take pity on them and admit them, with the consequence that their supplies of food might be more speedily reduced. These unfortunate people were told that if they returned to the Irish lines they would be massacred. But Roze had gone in this beyond his powers, and directly contrary to a Royal Order which James had authorised Hamilton to issue, promising clemency, protection and liberty to all Protestants not in arms. The French General, by his new order, made the King appear in the light of a perjurer. James was naturally furious, and declared to his Court, " If Marshal Roze were my subject I would hang him " ; but as he was not his subject he had to write him a civil letter, telling him that " it is positively our will that you do not put your project in execution as far as it regards the men, women and children of whom you speak, but io8 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE on the contrary that you send them back to their habita- tions without any injury to their persons." This counter-order was highly creditable to James's humanity, and was in full accordance with Hamilton's procedure, for before Roze took up the command he used to allow fifty and sometimes a hundred a day of the aged, the young, and the sick of the townspeople to leave Derry and go to their friends elsewhere. It remains to the lasting credit of King James that, although he was himself a con- vert to Rome, and the most fervid of Catholics, he set himself rigidly against continuing the cruel proceedings so common to all religious wars. But James did not limit his disapprobation to a mild censure. He sent Lord Dover on a special mission to France " to endeavour with all the softness imaginable to have our dearest brother recall the Marquis de Roze as one after having done what he did at Londonderry incapable to serve us usefully. Since we will not vindicate our justice by punishing of him we must show our dislike of his procedure by having him recalled." After this incident all Marshal Roze could think of doing was to take some steps to protect his camp, which had been left quite open, and to wait with such patience as he could command until the place should surrender through famine, and for a time he waited with considerable confidence, for a first attempt by General Kirke to throw supplies and troops into the town had failed. But at this juncture a very great disaster befell a part of the King's army, and not merely shook his position in Ulster, but everybody's confidence in the Army itself. The mis- fortune was all the greater because it befell Lord Mount- cashell, who was the most experienced of the Irish generals, and whose regiment was one of the best trained and armed in the whole force. At the same time that Roze was sent to Derry Mount- cashell was ordered to collect a mixed force of 4000 men and proceed to capture Crum Castle, in Fermanagh, KING JAMES IN IRELAND 109 as a preliminary to attacking Enniskillen. The cavalry of his force was commanded hy Anthony Hamilton, and the result showed that he was better with his pen than his sword. But although Mountcashell's force was not lacking in numbers, it had no artillery, and when its commander found that Crum was too strong for attack without cannon he drew off his troops and marched towards Newtown Butler. Hamilton, with the horse, marched in front, and Mountcashell followed with the infantry. Now news of the intended attack on Crum had reached the garrison of Enniskillen, which was under the command of Brigadier William Wolseley, and it was decided to march out to relieve that place. Without either being aware of the fact Hamilton and Wolseley were marching against one another, and they came into contact near Newtown Butler. There was some little firing between the dragoons on either side, and then Hamilton, thinking he ought to rejoin his chief, gave an order which was, to put the matter charitably, misunderstood. Whatever the explanation the fact remains that the Irish cavalry turned right about and galloped off the field as fast as they could, and that Brigadier Hamilton galloped off with them, which was scarcely reconcilable with his own story at the subsequent court martial that he intended to rejoin Mountcashell. But the affair was even more dis- creditable than described, for the cavalry were seized with a panic in their flight, threw away their arms, and even abandoned their horses to escape across country. News of the flight of his cavalry and of the advance of the enemy reached Mountcashell together, and thus before his force was engaged its confidence was seriously shaken by the overthrow of the cavalry. An honourable exception must be made for Mountcashell's own regiment, which stood firm and was cut to pieces. A French officer. Captain Marigny, of the regiment de Champagne, rallied the regiment of Lord Bophin and made a good stand with the best part of it, but the rest of the foot ran away as no THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE ianominiously as the cavalry had done. Both Mountcashell and ]Marign\- were scrlonsly wounded and taken prisoners. The French report of the battle is brief and sarcastic : " Lord Mountcashell deserted by his cowardly soldiers was wounded and taken prisoner." There is nothing in the rout of Newtown Butler to show that the Irish Catholic army might become an efficient war instrument. Roze saw his chance and capped the incident by declaring that if there were only capable officers in Derry they would lead out their men and drive his army away. Roze also presided at the court martial on Anthony Hamilton and Captain Lavalin, who misunderstood the order. Hamilton was given the benefit of the doubt, but Lavalin, an officer of some experience abroad, was ordered to be, and was, shot. Somebody ought certainly to have been punished for such a disgraceful affair, but the opinion of the day was that the real culprit was not Lavalin. D'Avaux, indeed, declared that all the intriguing of the day was for the purpose of saving the Hamiltons from the consequences of their failures, Anthony at Crum and Richard at Derry ; but then, they were not his friends. The Mountcashell disaster was soon followed by another. The Derry garrison was at last in the throes of starvation, and unless supplies reached them surrender within a few days had become inevitable. General Kirke with the reinforcements and stores was still in Lough Foyle, a fresh effort was decided on to get succour up the river, and the " Dartmouth" frigate was assigned to lead the forlorn hope. It got past Culmore and the batteries without being hit (it was said that the men in them were all made drunk by the gift of a cask of brandy), and it smashed its way through the boom. Then people marvelled why Hamilton had not sunk boats or barges in the navigable channel. But regret was too late when in the wake of the " Dart- mouth " came the rest of the ships with Kirke's regiments and ample supplies on board. Roze at once accepted the situation. Derry had been KING JAMES IN IRELAND iii relieved. It only remained for him to draw off his army. He retreated until he came to Drogheda at the mouth of the Boyne, and there he halted by the King's order. The total losses of the Irish army before Derry amounted to 8000 men, chiefly from disease, and it was computed that the defenders lost about 3000. But the Irish army was completely demoralised and presented a deplorable appearance. It is a well-known fact that the best armies deteriorate during the long beleaguerment of a place, and the Irish army had never been more than an army in the making. D'Avaux wrote with more or less truth, " the troops returning from the Siege of Derry are entirely ruined, and it is useless to expect anything from such men." Alarm was felt even in Dublin, where the garrison consisted of six badly armed regiments who had never fired a shot, and in the event of withdrawal from it becoming necessary, Athlone and Limerick were the only places left to retire to. But for the moment there was no real danger, the Ulstermen had not the power to assume the offensive, and although it was known with more or less certainty that an army was coming from England, it had not yet arrived. There was no need then for Roze's force to continue its retreat south of the Boyne. At this moment further bad news came from Scotland. James's personal desire to go to Scotland has been mentioned. In April he had allowed two of his officers, both Highlanders, Sir John Maclean and Captain Ronald Macdonald, chief of his clan, to go to Scotland and raise there forces to help Dundee. It was also agreed that 2000 Irish troops should follow, and Dundee had specially asked for some cavalry. This was compromised by the despatch of the Purcell Dragoon regiment dismounted, and at the same time Colonel Cannon (apparently Canan) with some more of the Scottish officers in James's service left for their native heath. This force was conveyed across on the three French frigates already referred to as being under the command of M. Du Quesne. Thus reinforced Dundee T 12 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE gave battle to William's army, commanded by General Mackay in the pass of Killiecrankic, on July 27, and com- pletely defeated it. But in the moment of victory the gallant Stuart leader received a severe and, as it proved, a mortal wound. Before he died he wrote a letter to his sovereign, which is interesting on account of the tribute it pays to the Irish soldiers who took part in the battle of Killiecrankic. The following extracts will suffice : — " I gave the enemy's baggage to the soldiers, who, to do them all right, both officers and common men. Highlands, Lowlands and Irish, behaved themselves with equal gallantry to whatever I saw in the hottest battles fought abroad by disciplined armies. . . . Therefore, Sir, for God's sake assist us, though it be with such another detach- ment of your Irish forces as you sent us before, especially of horse and dragoons." The death of Viscount Dundee, " last of Scotsmen and last of the Grahams," as the poet called him, was the death-blow to James's chances in Scotland. Colonel Cannon succeeded to the command, but although a good officer he did not understand the High- landers' way of fighting and was not popular with them. He suffered a serious defeat at Dunkeld, and then the clans retired into the hills. The unfortunate Irish soldiers, in a strange land where supplies were exceedingly meagre, seem to have died almost to the last man, and literally of starvation. A certain number of the officers of Dundee's army later on reached France, where we shall meet them again. This succession of failures and reverses brought James's fortunes to a low ebb, but before we record the remarkable improvement that took place in them during the late summer of 1689, and that was maintained until WilHam's arrival in the following year, it will be well to describe the episodes which culminated in Melfort's removal from office and D'Avaux's departure for France. Louis was very much concerned when he learnt, through KING JAMES IN IRELAND 113 D'Avaux's communications, that James's councillors were divided against each other, and he exhorted his envoy " to try and impress on Melfort that the interests of his King and my own (Louis's) are the same," and D'Avaux rephes that he will do his best to get on with Melfort and " to induce him to do things which shall be advantageous for Ireland and France." But a very little later he reports that Melfort is hopeless, that he has two faults characteristic of Scotsmen, " he is very hot-tempered and takes offence at trifles," and besides that, even if he gave way to him in everything, no good would follow because the Irish de- tested him and were clamouring for his removal from office. Financial considerations were also the determining factors in the situation. There was practically no money in Ireland ; that brought from France was not much, and both James and Melfort seemed unable to make the most of the little they had. Besides, it was impossible to get accounts from them. D'Avaux writes in one despatch : " King James wastes his money, gives nothing for useful pur- poses, and thousands for useless. I have paid two hundred and fifty thousand francs to his Receiver, and I can get no information as to what has been done with it." Certainly none of the Irish commanders ever got a penny of it, and Melfort's neglect to send supplies was often the direct cause of some of the worst mishaps. Melfort's fall was deferred by the frequent illnesses of Tyrconnell, but about the time of the withdrawal from Derry he recovered sufficiently to resume his place on the Council, and a concerted effort was made to get rid of the Secretary of State, as Melfort was called. D'Avaux undertook to bell the cat, and called upon Melfort to give some explanation in regard to what had been done with the money supplied by France. Melfort replied that this was very little, and that much more was required. The French ambassador retorted that he had allowed Protestants to leave the country with a million 114 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE (i.e. francs) of money, and Melfort said that they had only removed 400,000. The scene became somewhat stormy, and angry words were exchanged. Among other things D'Avaux asked Melfort to take oft" the import duty on French wine, and Melfort replied that he would do so if France removed her duty on Irish wool and cloth. Several Platonic ordi- nances had been published in both countries about the naturalisation of the two peoples in the other's country, and Louis had taken off the import duties on all Irish articles " except wool." The situation somewhat recalls the speech of Dido to ^neas : " Tros Tyriusque idem, et nullo discrimine agetur." Immediately after this interview D'Avaux had an audience of the King, and expressed a very strong opinion that Melfort was incompetent and ought to be removed from office. James replied with some asperity that he was aware of his shortcomings, and that he would remove him if there was any one to put in his place, but unfortunately there was not. As D'Avaux then suggested, would it not be better to have no ministers here than retain one who was clearly injuring the King's cause ? At this time letters arrived from Queen Mary d'Este urging James to dismiss Melfort, but unfortunately the weight of the advice was diminished by an attack on D'Avaux, who was alleged to have said in his letters to France that James had no will of his own, that he was ruled in everything by Berwick, who in turn was swayed by the Hamiltons. James thereupon taxed D'Avaux in the matter, alleging that he was making charges behind his back, but he denied ever having said anything of the kind, and a search of his published correspondence reveals no evidence on the subject. What he had written was that James consulted Berwick in all matters affecting the army, and allowed him alone to make the appointments, giving as an instance of this that Berwick had made his Lieutenant-Colonel a Major-General, although a regular toper who got drunk every day. As this officer was not KING JAMES IN IRELAND 115 Irish it is unnecessary to give his name. He may have drunk hard, but he could also fight well. At the same time D'Avaux had written some very severe things about James in his letters to Louvois. He accused him of " sleeping when he should be awake." He also complained of Jameses want of appreciation of good service, instancing the case of Du Quesne, who took the Irish regiment to Scotland and captured several prizes, which he handed over to James without receiving any reward or recognition, and when he came to Dublin to have a farewell audience the King left him to pay his travelling expenses out of his own pocket. As a final censure the French ambassador declared that the King " gets angry very easily," and then " il n'agit pas avec la noblesse de coeur qu'on devrait attendre non pas d'un roi mais d'un simple gentilhomme." This free criticism of royalty in that age was somewhat unusual and hazardous. D'Avaux was certainly bringing about Melfort's fall, but at the same time he was under- mining his own position at Versailles. He did not know, of course, that quite unconsciously he was playing the game into the hands of his successor Lauzun, the next puppet of the show. Lauzun was the carrier of the tales between Versailles and St. Germains. His friend. Lord Dover, who did not care much for the French making for the moment an exception in Lauzun's favour, but who detested the Irish, brought him a supply of gossip after each mission to Dublin. Queen Mary insensibly adopted the opinion that Lauzun, who had rescued her, might prove her husband's saviour also. Sir George Porter, who had been James's ambassador at Rome (whence he reported that the Pope was all for the enemies of France), was sent by the Queen to Dublin to disparage D'Avaux and support the interests of Lauzun. D'Avaux described him as " lazy, generally disliked, and dishonest," and there is good reason for saying that the criticism was just. When Louvois got wind of the plot he warned D'Avaux to be ii6 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE more careful, but by that time his relations with James had become hopelessly strained, and he was only desirous himself of getting back to France. If the objection to Melfort's remaining in office had only come from D'Avaux it is probable that James would have succeeded in putting off a decision to remove him, but the outcry among the Irish at his disregard of their interests had become loud and menacing. The climax of his shortcomings seems to have been reached when he turned a deaf ear to Sarsfield's request that 300 horses should be sent to him in Sligo. It was after this incident that Tyrconnell, with a deputation of Irish officers, presented himself to James and formally demanded Melfort's removal. To such a plain and public request as this James was unable to give any but an affirmative answer. He removed Melfort from the post of Secretary of State for Ireland, accepting Tyrconnell's nephew, Sir William Talbot, in his place, and then to show that the deposed Secretary was still in favour he made him Secretary of State for England ! The consequence of this was that while Irish affairs were left to Sir William Talbot, Melfort, although de- nounced on all hands, still ruled the King. The Duchess of Tyrconnell, in the absence of her husband, spoke to him for interfering in matters that no longer concerned him, and Melfort haughtily and angrily justified himself by declaring that " an angel from Heaven could not have done better than he had done," adding in what might seem to us an irrelevant manner that " those who were afraid should leave the country." Melfort might have stayed on indefinitely, and had the satisfaction of seeing D'Avaux go first, if he had not suddenly learnt that there was a plot among the Irish officers to assassinate him. His last offence had been to allow four Irish Protestant peers in Dublin and Kildare to retain strong mounted bodyguards, for which he was bribed. The imminence of the danger was brought home to him by the lawlessness of some of the KING JAMES IN IRELAND 117 troops in Dublin. More than one encounter took place between the bodyguard and the men of other regiments, and on September 6 he requested James's leave to return to France. He and his wife left Dublin in secret, and it was said that in their carriage they carried away a good deal of treasure. D'Avaux's comment on the news when it reached him was, " if it had only taken place three months ago it might have done some good ; now it is too late." Melfort reached France in safety, and was received by Queen Mary on September 26 at St. Germains, where we may leave him for the present. He was more fortunate than poor Lord Thomas Howard, of Worksop, who sailed shortly afterwards and was lost at sea. Lord Thomas, " the best man here," according to D'Avaux, was a nobleman of great parts, but he stood aloof from political intrigues. His two sons (to whom Evelyn refers) became in turn Dukes of Norfolk. No exact information of Lord Thomas's fate has been forthcoming, and the records at the French War Office contain nothing on the subject. The known facts are that he sailed on board a ship called " The Tempest " in com- pany with a well-known French officer — the Chevalier de St. Didier — and that nothing was ever heard of either again. The weather was very bad at the moment of sailing from Cork, and the captain — an Englishman, who had been consul in Holland — was advised not to sail, but he refused to listen to the advice. Melfort was one of those bad advisers with whom the Stuarts were cursed at all stages of their history. There is no evidence to show that he was a traitor like Sunderland, although one of the subsequent edicts passed at St. Germains in 1694 was '' a pardon to the Earl of Melfort for acts of treason to James and his predecessor." But it is clear that he had no grasp of the state of affairs. He pursued the shadow of James's possible return to England, and neglected the substance of setting up a strong Government in Ireland. As he was a Protestant he had no sympathy with the views ii8 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE of Catholic reactionaries, and it was quite impossible for him to work in harmony with Tyrconnell. He had gained James's ear by flattery, and especially did he flatter him in his views about the sentiments of love and loyalty of his English subjects who rose in arms against him. At the same time Melfort was extremely jealous of his master's attentions to his wife. Much of his time was given up to watching her movements, and as Lady Melf ort's main object was to amass money — a special collection being raised for her benefit among the Jacobites in Scotland — an explanation may be furnished of the fact that whatever the Secretary of State may have done with the French money, very little of it ever reached James. In James's own memoir it is stated with some bitterness that he long was charged for the maintenance of 50,000 troops whilst there were only 18,000 men with the colours. Certainly if money was diverted from its proper purpose Melfort was the only man into whose pockets it could have passed. The disputes with Melfort had shaken the faith of the French Government in the feasibility of doing anything material from the side of Ireland. If James could only have made Ireland an independent kingdom it would have remained a thorn in the side of England, cramping her efforts as against France. But James did not show the smallest inclination to pacify the whole of Ireland, or to rest contented with it if pacified. He had his own ends in view, and they were totally disconnected with French interests. Louvois saw quite clearly what was in James's mind ; he also saw that his schemes were visionary and unattainable. The Frenchman said, " England is lost, but Ireland may be won." The Stuart Prince replied, " I do not care about Ireland, but I want England." Louvois wrote peremptorily to D'Avaux on receiving these chimerical propositions : " Tell King James bluntly that if he continues to listen to bad advisers it will be useless for King Louis to waste his resources in trying to help him." And if Louvois had had his own way it is KING JAMES IN IRELAND 119 probable that the Irish adventure would have been dropped then and there. But King Louis had passed his word to help his royal brother, and while he often heeded the wise counsels of Louvois there were times when he followed his own line and was not to be turned from his course. Provided his arms were successful in the Netherlands he was quite prepared to send some troops to Ireland to endeavour to change the fortunes of the war there. He had the assurances of his ambassador that at least an equal number of Irish troops should come over to France, and of his officers Boisseleau and Pointis that Irishmen only required good discipline and arms to make good troops. It is quite true that down to September, 1689 (the date of Melfort's departure), they had done nothing to deserve this good opinion. Defeat, disaster, and even disgrace (the affair between Crum and Newtown Butler was disgraceful) were the only records attached to their name and efforts. The army created by Tyrconnell had failed in every sense to justify its existence. It might have been termed a horde or a mob, and if James had fled with Melfort it seems only too probable that no opportunity would have been left it of redeeming the fallen reputation of the Irish people for natural courage reduced to the lowest possible ebb by the failure at Derry and elsewhere. The remarkable change that followed will be the theme of the next chapter. CIiapte7^ V THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689 90 WHEN Melfort left Ireland for France it looked as if James's situation were desperate. What were the causes of the remarkable improve- ment that took place immediately after his departure ? They may well have been more numerous, but two at least stand out with prominence. The first was the arrival at the end of July of five competent French generals. They were intended to take the places of the unfortunate Maumont and Pusignan, and their names were Count de Gace, M. d'Escots, M. d'Amanze, M. Saint Pater, and M. d'Hocquincourt. All these officers held the rank either of Marechal de Camp, or of Brigadier in the French army, and in Ireland they were promoted by King James to that of Lieutenant-General or Major- General. At the same time five of James's own officers (one Irish, two English, and two Scottish) were promoted Lieutenant-Generals, and three, including Sarsfield, became Major-Generals. The placing in command of a con- siderable number of superior officers, many of whom had served in war, was undoubtedly a beneficial step. It may be doubted whether it would, by itself, have produced any great result but for the second cause. Another French officer, who did more by himself, if the test of results is applied, than all the other French officers together to help James's cause, had just at this very critical juncture brought to a completion his efforts for the formation of a new Irish army. Boisseleau was left, when James landed at Kingsale, to perform what seemed the thankless and unpromising task of drilling Irish recruits, 120 THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 121 and Boisseleau's zeal had been somewhat chilled in the first place hy being left a simple Brigadier when others of his own rank got a step. Besides, Boisseleau had no control over the arms which de Pointis held in his hands and would not part with. It was not until the arrival of the Chateau Renaud squadron that matters improved for him, and that he found himself able to dispose of the nucleus of a regular military force furnished by the soldiers who had fled to France from England. About the time that the regiments from the force before Derry were reaching Drogheda and Dublin, Boisseleau's new army had begun to collect from the south in the camp specially prepared near Dublin not far from the Curragh in Kildare. One of the French officers last arrived, M. d'Escots, was ordered to visit all the Irish regiments in their garrisons and to prepare a muster roll. The following is its exact text : Positions and strength of Irish Regiments (according to M. d'Escots' report of August 29, 1689). At Drogheda Regiment Strength The Grand Prior's 200 (of whom 120 armed) Nugent 400 (of whom 168 armed) Gormanstovvn 200 Slane 300 Moore 400 Louth 400 Purcell (Dragoons ) 360 Westmeath (Cava Iry) 200 Sutherland „ 105 At Dublin Guards \ 1200 Bellew 350 Clancarty 200 Barrett 400 Thomas Butler 300 Galway I In fantry 400 Mountcashell ( 200 Oxburgh 300 Grace 150 Kilmallock 500 Kavanagh / 300 122 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE Regiment Dungan Simon Luttrell Cotter Guards Horse Grenadiers Tyrconnell Galmoye Luttrell Sarsfield Abercorn Parker At Dublin Strength Dragoons 150 240 ) Cavalry 200 50 250 250 180 250 120 400 John Hamilton Richard Butler Edward Butler Eustace Fitzgerald Creagh Bagenal Boisseleau Antrim Bophin Dillon Farrell Clanrickarde Dominic Browne MacElligott Charles O'Brien Sutherland (Cavalry) Nicholas Browne O'Donovan Macmahon Kenmare (All the Dragoons and Cavalry not mounted) At Camp near Dublin 247 321 368 454 193 547 458 1178 634 At Athlone 215 500 350 350 At Galway 400 At Limerick 450 400 30 At Kingsale 450 At Cork 400 500 200 THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 123 At Waterford Regiment Strength Tyrone 400 At Wexford Westmeath (Cavalry) 80 At Castle Dermot Dungan (Dragoons) 60 At Ross AND Kilkenny Kenmare 250 At Car low Eustace 53 At Carrickfergus McCarty Mor 200 Cormac O'Neil 300 At Newry Cormac O'Neil 250 Gordon O'Neil 100 Maxwell (Dragoons) 360 Chevalier O'Neil (Dragoons) 150 (all unarmed) At Charlemont Gordon O'Neil 100 These items give a grand total of 16,468 infantry, 1680 dragoons, and 21 15 cavalry, or a little over 20,000 men altogether. About 14,000 of them were stationed between the line of the Boyne and Dublin. This army was not fully equipped, and many of the cavalry and dragoon regiments had an inadequate supply of horses, but it was none the less an immense improvement on the force that had carried on the siege of Derry. There was more cohesion in it, the commanding officers knew their v/ork, and for the first time the Irish regiments presented some- thing like a trained appearance. D'Avaux himself went to see the troops and was filled with astonishment. Whereas all his previous letters had been full of dismal forebodings, he began from the middle of September to report " great improvement and more hope generally," and at the commencement of October he declared that " the im- provement in the Irish army is almost inconceivable." 124 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE The Irish pubhc were also described as being quite pleased at their men being brought to the front, and especially at the command in Dublin being given to Simon Luttrell, an Irishman. The improvement had not been effected a moment too soon, for a new and formidable danger confronted King James. An army of over 10,000 men, under the command of Marshal Schomberg, had landed at Bangor, in County Down, on August 23, 1689, and this force was joined by the Ulster corps from Derry and Enniskillen, raising its total strength to 16,000 men. This army was also strong in artillery, the arm in which the Jacobite side was weak and sometimes totally deficient throughout the whole of the three years' war. Schomberg's first act was to attack Carrickf ergus, where Colonel McCarty Mor was in command of a garrison of 600 men. The place was well defended for ten days, and then the powder gave out ; but the garrison was allowed to leave on honourable terms and to rejoin the main army. The terms of the surrender, how- ever, were not strictly kept, and many of the men's arms were taken away from them. Macpherson also alleges that the Ulstermen drove the women through the streets stark naked. Schomberg then moved south by the coast road and came to Dundalk. One of the opinions prevalent in James's camp was that a large portion of Schomberg's army might be induced to desert, and a proclamation was issued from Drogheda offering every soldier who deserted forty shillings and employment, and every officer a commission of equal rank. The proclamation does not seem to have been directly successful, but on the other hand 500 of the French troops (Huguenots) mutinied, and were shut up in Carlingford. A scheme was formed to rescue them, and entrusted to Colonel Stapylton and Captain Hugh Macnamara. Its failure is explained by the excessive loyalty of the Irish troops, for when on his approach being challenged Mac- namara declared that he was for King William, his men THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 125 angrily protested that they were for King James, thus spoiling the expedition's chances o£ success. When called upon to explain their conduct, they declared that they thought that their leader had turned traitor and was leading them to an ambuscade. It was an instance of the peril of not taking one's men into one's counsels. When James heard of Schomberg's advance, he ordered his army to cross the Boyne and move northwards. At the same time he left Dublin for the front, declaring with some proper pride that " he was not going to be walked out of Ireland without having a blow for it." By calling in all the surrounding garrisons he seems to have succeeded in con- centrating 20,000 men at Ardee by September 25, and the following Order of Battle shows the names of his commanders and the list of the regiments present : — KING James's order of battle (sept., 1689) Right Centre Left Roze The King Tyrconnell Marquis de Girardin R. Hamilton Count de Gace Galmoye Buchan, Boisseleau Sheldon Wachop, D'Amanze, Dorington Infantry Cavalry The Duke of Berwick Cavalry ] M. d'Escots M. Carney, Saint Pater, Maxwell, Sarsfield Hugh Sutherland Cavalry Regimei Cotter Its of 3 squadrons each Infantry Regiments Mountcashell Infantry Regiments Dillon Tyrconnell Parker Sarsfield Bellew Nugent .Slane Kavanagh Galway Antrim Edward Butler Kilmallock Luttrell Richard Butler Grace Galmoye Boisseleau Eustace Body Guard Purcell Dungan Abercorn of I ■ squadron each Clancarty Oxburgh Creagh Gormanstown Hamilton Bagenalj Louth Cormac O'Neil Sutherland Guards Clanrickarde After a few days the King, finding that Schomberg would not leave his entrenched camp, marched towards him 126 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE in full array and offered battle. But the Prince of Orange's general was too cautious and would not accept the challenge. On the other hand, James, having made a good show, was too cautious to attack him, and this led to a hot dispute among his Generals, some of whom declared that the loss in carrying the entrenchments would not be very great. It would be idle to attempt to decide between the two opinions. James seems to have distrusted his army, most of which, although admirably drilled, had never taken part in a regular action. He expressed the opinion that " if we only had five or six French battalions we would drive Schomberg out of Ireland," and the inference is that as he had not those battalions he could not do so. At the same time there can be no doubt, looking at the situation by the light of after events, that he had a far better chance of defeating Schomberg on October i, 1689, than he had of vanquishing that Marshal's master in the following July, when he fought against far superior odds ; nor can there be any doubt that if he had fought and won, William himself would never have ventured to cross the Irish Sea. In James's own memoir he enters into close detail as to his movements and intentions during this brief campaign, and he attributes to Roze the caution and timidity which the friends of the French general attributed to the King. Schomberg was able to give a better justification for his inaction. He wrote to William : " So far as I can judge from the state of the Enemy, and King James's having collected here all the force that he could in this kingdom, he wants to come to a battle before the Troops separate on account of the bad season which will soon begin ; for this reason it appears to me that we should he here upon the defensive. ... If Your Majesty was well informed of the state of our army, and that of our enemy, the nature of the country, and the situation of the two camps, I do not believe you would incline to risk an attack. If we did not succeed Your Majesty's army would be lost without resource. I make use of that term for I do not believe THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 127 if it was once put into disorder that it could be re- established." No doubt Schomberg's own admissions strengthen the case of those who declare that James lost the game by his fatal hesitation in October, 1689. The elaborate defence left in the King's own memoirs and used verbatim in the official Life is strong evidence that James, thinking the matter over carefully in after years, concluded that a mistake had been made in not attacking Schomberg, and then threw the blame incontinently on Roze. There is good reason to believe that James owed Roze a grudge, for when D'Avaux suggested a month or so earlier that he should obtain Roze's advice, the King had answered testily that he " did not wish for the Marshal's advice." Having decided not to attack, the King thought there was no use in further watching his cautious opponent, and broke up his camp, placing his troops in winter quarters along the Boyne and near Dublin. As advanced posts the Jacobites held Cavan, Belturbet, and Charlemont, and James established himself in Dublin Castle for the winter. While inaction prevailed in county Louth, Sarsfield, having got the horses which Melfort had refused him, made a daring raid into Sligo, and recovered the town of that name and also Jamestown. Schomberg, having waited some days to ascertain whether the Jacobite army had really withdrawn, also broke up his camp and retired on the line from Newry to the sea. His army had suffered greatly from the ravages of typhus and influenza. Bad food, bad water, and the heavy rains had affected the English recruits very adversely, and the total loss of Schomberg's army during the winter of 1689-90 was placed as high as 8000 men. It is well to remember that Schomberg's army was mainly English — seventeen battalions out of a total of twenty-two being English — whereas William's army in the following year contained a majority of continental soldiers, and indeed very few English troops at all. It is a point of permanent interest 128 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE and significance that there was really no standing army in England of any importance in 1688. The House of Commons had prevented the creation of a regular army. This fact no doubt enabled it to oust the Stuarts, but it also admitted a foreign army. There was another con- sequence. At least 15,000 raw English recruits died in Ireland of the diseases inseparable from camps in those days, 8000 under Schombergand 7000 under Ginkel, in 1691. When James returned to Dublin, he took two steps of a more uncompromising character than any he had yet sanctioned. He ordered the complete disarming of the Protestants in Dublin, which had been up to that point very partially carried out, and he wrote a letter with his own hand to Louis begging him to send five or six veteran regiments of foot, and promising to return as many from among the best in L-eland. Up to this point he had been haggling about the exchange, but now, moved by necessity, he passed his royal word to do his part in the transaction. It was also arranged that Roze and D'Avaux should return with the Irish regiments, and that Lauzun should come over with the French to assume the supreme command. The meritorious Dangeau notes the completion of this transaction in an entry of October 29, which may be quoted : " The King has decided to send M. de Lauzun to Ireland with 7000 infantry including 15 or 1600 English, Scottish, and Irish troops now at Lille. Roze is to come back, and Lauzun is to hold the rank of Captain-General." On the following day King Louis goes to St. Germains to tell Queen Mary the news, at which she is very pleased. Although James was at last induced to adopt some severe measures against the Protestants as a general body, he could never bring himself to be severe with individuals. His oflBcial printer was a Protestant, and a notice calling upon the Protestants to surrender arms and horses under severe penalties (this was the last of several similar notices, but it ordained harsher penalties) was sent to him to print. But somehow he forgot to print it, and the omission was THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 129 not discovered for several weeks. James was urged to make an example of him ; instead he accepted his excuses. Another instance was when he allowed a resident in Dublin, detected in corresponding with William's Government, to escape so that he should not be obliged to have him executed. It was not thus that William dealt with in- formers. When Mark Bagot was caught some months later disguised in woman's clothes in Dublin, he was hanged without mercy. From the humane point of view there is not the smallest reproach to be cast at James II. The winter months of 1689-90, pending the arrival of the French reinforcements, were passed in absolute stag- nation. The process of hibernation was not enlivened by even the quarrels of D'Avaux and Melfort, and perhaps the most exciting incident was Lord Mountcashell's escape from Enniskillen after the proposal to exchange him for Lord Mountjoy had been discussed. The Dublin Court, despite the gay spirits of the Duchess of Tyrconnell and her daughters, for three of whom she had succeeded, during her husband's Viceroyalty, in finding husbands among the Jacobite peers (Viscount Rosse, Viscount Kingsland, and Henry, afterwards Viscount Dillon), was dull, poor, and without distinction. The available resources were so meagre that even at the King's table wine had to be measured out in small glasses. All the efforts made to improve the financial situation had failed. The white metal money had fallen into even worse repute than the brass. D'Avaux's hoards, secret and avowed, had been exhausted. The only course left to support existence was to sleep through as much as possible of the winter in the hope that the spring would bring French troops and victory. James, having made his request to the French King, seems to have thought that there was nothing more for him to do than to await Lauzun's arrival, and sank into moody inactivity. The same lethargy fell over all the Irish camps, and the improvidence that neglected to 130 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE prepare everything for the decisive campaign, which every one saw was to mark the year 1690, may have been the principal cause of the defeat that happened when victory seemed to be reasonably assured. As Plunkett wrote : — " During this winter, 1689, the King and his Catholic people of Ireland were cheerful enough as having not received so great a loss from the army of Marshal Schom- berg as they at first apprehended. But with all this His Majesty had little or no intelligence of Vv'hat preparations were a-making in England against Ireland for the next campaign, and therefore he and his loyalists improved not their condition. There was no augmentation of troops made, as there should be, and that considerably ; no care taken in exercising the army in their respective quarters ; in providing arms and apparel, in fortifying towns and filling them with ammunition and victuals. This was not the way to secure Ireland and conquer England. Great undertakings require great wisdom, great care, great diligence. Alas, it is no children's play ! " At the same time that it is impossible to acquit James of apathy in regard to preparations for the future, it must be noted that he passed some acts that were intended to benefit his soldiers. In December, 1689, he restored the infantry soldier his full two shillings a week, and the dragoon his six shillings, while the cavalry man was to get eight shillings. Of course it had to be paid largely in base money, but the King was not to be blamed for that, and if his promises could raise the value of a currency it would not long have been base. But what he could do in other ways to secure for the men their money's worth he did. He caused sutling houses to be opened throughout Ireland wherein good ale had to be sold by measure at two pence a pint, and he caused a notice to that effect to be placed in their windows written in English and French (Pan-Gaelics must learn with regret that there was no reference to Irish). When meat became so dear in Dublin that the price was prohibitive, although there was plenty of meat in THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 131 the country, he sent the Lord Mayor an order that he was neither to tax it nor hinder its admission into the city. D'Avaux alone was busy and attentive to the work he had in hand. He dropped the role of James's adviser or critic. The responsibility for his success or failure was no longer his affair ; it was passing into other hands. But he was responsible for his master's getting the pick of the Irish regiments and of the Irish officers, and this kept him busy when others were idle. As that episode forms the true birth of the Irish Brigade, we shall leave it for detailed description in a later chapter devoted to the Mountcashell Brigade. As the Irish troops had nothing to do, it is not very surprising that quarrelling was somewhat common among them. Among the French officers more than one duel was fought, and although duelling does not seem to have been fashionable in the Irish army at this period there were several murders. One of these was the case of a non- attached French officer named Coverent (a volunteer, in fact), who was killed by an Irish dragoon named John Wall. Wall was acquitted on the ground that Coverent was not attached to his regiment and that there was nothing to show him that he was an officer. The French were very much surprised and not over-pleased at discovering that one of their officers might be killed by a private soldier, who would escape scot-free on the decision of a native court martial. The most sensational incident, however, was the quarrel between Henry Fitzjames, the titular Lord Grand Prior, and Lord Dungan, which might have had serious conse- quences but for the latter's great self-control and for- bearance. Lord Dungan, who was one of the best of the Irish officers and who had raised his dragoons to a high state of efficiency, was at a merry soldiers' party in Dublin with other Irish officers when the Duke of Berwick and his brother Henry Fitzjames entered the room. A toast was being given, and Lord Dungan, filling up a glass, handed 132 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE it to Fitz fames with a request to join in it. He had, perhaps, not reflected on its character, or was ignorant of the true Stuart feeling ; but when he gave it as " Con- fusion to Mclfort and all bad counsellors," Fitzjames not merely refused to drink it, but declared that he regarded Melfort as a friend. High words began to pass, and before those present could intervene Fitzjames had flung his glass, wine and all, in Dungan's face, spoiling his cravat and cutting his nose. Of such an incident it was only too easy for those present to imagine the grave consequences, and while Berwick and others intervened to prevent an immediate collision on the spot a duel seemed inevitable, and this, between two such notable persons, could scarcely fail to have the effect of increasing the dissatisfaction of the Irish officers with the Court. Lord Dungan, too, had the reputation of being rather a fire-eater, and in the opinion of the most competent persons present the hours of Henry Fitzjames might be counted. But Lord Dungan was not blind to all the wide and far- reaching possibilities of the occasion, and he showed an unexpected magnanimity. He refused to regard Mr. Fitzjames's act as one that called for serious treatment. It was the unreflecting step of a boy who. Lord Dungan could not forget, was also the son of his King. As far as he was concerned then, he would treat the incident as if it had never occurred. D'Avaux, who records the incident, gives the Grand Prior a very bad character, stating that he was " a very debauched young man, drinking brandy all the day, and unable for a long time at a stretch to mount his horse through intoxication." In this case perhaps D'Avaux was a little too severe, as we may have better means of judging when we meet the younger Fitzjames later on at St. Germains. But attention may be called to the curious coincidence that the widow of the young Lord Grand Prior, who championed the first Duke of Melfort, was to marry the second Duke of Melfort, and that Lord Dungan THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 133 and Fitzjames may have ridden in some of those cavalry charges at the Boyne from which the elder did not return. The King of France having decided at last to send troops to Ireland, it might have been thought that he would spare no pains to see that they left in such a state as should ensure the best results for himself. Under ordinary circumstances the commanding officer would have seen to this himself in conjunction with the Ministers Louvois and the young Colbert, and all would have gone off satisfactorily. In the wars of the first half of Louis's long reign, only generals of proved merit were given commands. We have now reached the period when the Great Monarch, satiated with success, seemed to think that victory would always come at his command, and that a courtier might be just as useful in the field as a trained general. Lauzun was the first of these later strategists of the boudoir who between them were to destroy the talisman of success so long in Louis's possession, and his personal triumph was the more remarkable because to a certain extent he had forced Louis to give him the command. Circumstances had aided him, Queen Mary had aided him, so had Madame de Maintenon, and le triste -personnage of Louvois, " that Lauzun little in mind and little in body " of Count Rabutin, was entrusted with the command of the first French expedition sent across the English Channel since Louis VI besieged Dover. Every one marvelled by what dexterity he had got himself into the post ; no one presumed on the expedition succeeding because he had got it. But while Court circles marvelled and speculated, there was one personage, the Minister Louvois, who bitterly resented the appointment of Lauzun. He had the greatest contempt for the adventurer, and he was never at any pains to conceal it. The success of the expedition depended on the way in which it was equipped as much as on the manner in which it was led. There is no reason to believe that Louvois went so far as to withhold what was asked for, but Lauzun did not know what to ask for, and Louvois 134 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE did not trouble himself to supply what the ignorance of the applicant did not comprehend. Besides, James had asked for a great deal more than the French troops. He wanted arms, supplies of all kinds, and money. The following list of his requests cannot be said to err on the side of lack of comprehensiveness. KING James's requests of the French government (OCTOBER, 1689) 6000 French infantry armed and with their tents. A sum of money (unspecified). 1000 barrels of powder containing lOO lbs. each, ball, tinder, etc., in a corresponding quantity. 10,000 grenades. 12,000 muskets. 3000 firelocks. 13,000 bandoliers. Train of artillery with officers. Some Surgeons and Armourers. Bridges and material. Harness. It is difficult to state what part of the stores and arms requested ever left France or reached Ireland, for at least one ship laden with muskets and powder was captured by an English cruiser ; but certainly there were many gaps in the list. The Irish acknowledgment of the stores that came with Lauzun's expedition reads somewhat indefinitely, as " twenty-two pieces of cannon for the field, three hundred bombs of different sizes, six thousand grenades, a great quantity of ball of all sorts, and of arms and other neces- saries for the troops, Irish as well as French." But there was certainly a great deficiency of powder, for the French authorities could not believe the fact that there was no saltpetre in Ireland ; and with regard to the muskets only a small number was sent, because deduction was made from James's request of the 7000 supposed to be possessed by the Mountcashell brigade, which was dispensed from bringing arms into France. It never entered the heads of the French magnates that that brigade was an unarmed force, THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 135 and that if it had been made a condition that it should come " arms in hand " it would never have sailed from Ireland. But the main request of all was complied with in its entirety. The 6000 French infantry were detached from the army in Flanders, where the withdrawal of William's best Dutch troops to England had undoubtedly weakened the forces of the Allies, and, indeed, it is proof that France then possessed no transcendent military genius, or he would have overwhelmed the enemy in the Netherlands. They were excellent and veteran battalions too, not the ordinary French line regiment. Louis himself had once drawn up a standard of comparison in his own army, and he had valued a Swiss battalion as equal to four, and an Italian, English, or Scottish to two battalions of the French line. The troops he sent to Ireland were of this higher category. They were mainly Swiss, Flemish and Walloon, the French element was practically non-represented ; but on the other hand there were no better troops for stern fighting and the hard work of a campaign to be found in France. The seven battalions, each of which ought to have numbered no less than 1000 men, were those of Famechon, Zurlauben (2), Forest, Courtassier, Lamarche and Merode. Name of Regiment Officers Men Lamarche 47 1050 Tournaisis (Courtassier) 47 1050 Famechon 55 1000 Forest 47 1050 Merode 55 800 Zurlauben (2) 90 2000 341 6950 There were also six artillery officers and sixty-one super- numeraries, including medical staff, and intendants of stores. The totals quoted give the paper strength of the respec- tive regiments ; but the returns of the number of troops who sailed from Brest with Lauzun show a total of officers and men for the seven battalions of 6547. Nor did the French King fail to send some good general 136 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE officers. The Marquis Lery de Girardin, one of the best cavalry leaders in the French army, was appointed second in command under Lauzun with the rank of Lieutenant- General, and the Marquis de la Hoguette, reputed to be one of the bravest generals of junior rank in the French service, accompanied them as Marechal de Camp. The French troops, however, were accompanied not, as Dangeau expected, " by 1700 Irish soldiers," but " by three or four hundred Irish and a few English." Finally, a strong pro- tecting squadron of forty-one warships was got together at Brest, and placed under the command of Cabaret and Amfreville. While the French battalions were being got ready for their voyage from Brest, we must describe some occurrences in Ireland which were symptomatic of what was to follow. The autumn campaign of 1689, for no better reason perhaps than that it had been free of distinct reverse, had left the impression that James's chances were far from hopeless. The events of the winter were to modify this impression and to revive despondency. The first incident occurred at Newry, an open town held by a few of Schom- berg's troops. Boisseleau sent Captain Christopher Plunkett with a party of grenadiers to seize it, which was not very difficult. But for some unknown reason Boisseleau became alarmed for either the safety of this detachment or his own security, and sent a message peremptorily recalling Plunkett at once. This was particularly annoying for the Irish captain, as he had located a good deal of spoil in Newry, all of which he had to leave behind. An extraordinarily magnified report of this affair reached Paris, from which it appeared that " Boisseleau had beaten an English force, captured the Lord who commanded it and killed six English captains." The Paris world needed something definite to substantiate Sir George Porter's fairy tales that *' James had 28,000 good troops and would be ready to invade England in the spring " ; and the Newry bulletin was one of the encouraging incidents put in circulation. THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 137 A few weeks after the Newry affair a small force was sent, under Brigadier Patrick Nugent, to attack Nenagh Castle in County Longford. It belonged to Sir Thomas New- comen, who had raised a regiment for William of Orange, which was in Schomberg's camp. The castle was held in his absence by his wife and a small garrison. Nugent made some demonstration before Nenagh, and the garrison marched out with the honours of war, Lady Newcomen riding at the head of her men. There was not the smallest good to be gained from this sort of demonstration, and it had not even the excuse of the MacMahon " criaghts " (irregulars or rapparees), who indulged in raids and forays for the purpose of acquiring arms. Lady Newcomen's garrison carried off theirs in glory. The provocations at Newry and Nenagh stirred Schom- berg to action, and it was to be to some effect. In February he moved a strong party composed of the Enniskilleners and some English troops to Cavan with orders to seize and hold that place at all costs. The command was given to Brigadier William Wolseley, whose views about the Irish problem were summed up in his favourite sentence, " An Irishman is only to be taught his duty by the stick." As an officer he was very alert and his troops were excellent. D'Avaux knew perfectly well what he was writing about when he said, " Ulstermen are beyond question the best of the Irish troops," and they were the substance of Wolseley's force. The Jacobite commander at Cavan was Major-General John Wauchope, a Scot who had been an officer in the Guards in London, and who owed his advance to his friends and kinsmen the Drummonds and Lord Middleton. He was in favour with the Duke of Berwick, who had given him the command at Cavan because he trusted his judgment. At the same time the Duke says in his Memoirs that he charged him to be on the look-out and to keep parties out lest an attempt should be made to surprise him. Wauchope replied, " All right," and for a time there seemed no reason 138 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE to apprehend attack in this quarter. But in February Wolseley moved rapidly from Belturbet, and after some close fighting captured the town of Cavan and destroyed a large quantity of stores and powder in the place. The success was the greater because the Duke of Berwick, getting wind of the enemy's march, made a dash with cavalry and dragoons to help Wauchope. He arrived in time to take part in the fight, and had a horse killed under him ; but the result of the skirmish was distinctly a reverse to the royal arms, which was rendered all the greater by the loss of several good officers. Wolseley was not able to retain the town because the castle remained in Wauchope's possession, but he destroyed the magazine which had been carefully prepared in the town itself as a base for future operations. The Irish lost over 200 killed, including Brigadier Patrick Nugent, and ten of their officers besides were taken prisoners. Wolseley lost fifty killed and sixty wounded, besides three officers killed, Major Trahern, Captains Armstrong and Mayo. It was soon after this incident that Lauzun landed, but while he was still endeavouring to get his troops conveyed with their impedimenta to Dublin, Schomberg opened the campaign by attacking Charlemont. This place was called a royal fortress, but in reality it was no more than a mediaeval castle surrounded by a ditch. It was scantily provided with provisions, and the garrison numbered about 1000 men, commanded by Sir Thady O'Regan. The explanation of there being insufficient food in the place was given by some as an instance of Melfort's neglect, which was rather far- fetched, seeing that he had left Ireland six months before. A more plausible theory assigned it to there being no salt in Ireland, so that meat could not be cured. But perhaps the truth lay in the circumstance that the garrison was much too large for the dimensions of the place, and after an honourable defence of three weeks, during which every living thing, including rats and mice, was eaten up. Sir Thady O'Regan surrendered on honourable terms. THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 139 Having had his farewell audience of Louis at Marly on February 15, Lauzun posted to Brest. A favourable wind did not arise till March 17, the first anniversary of James's own departure, and it was noticed as a curious coincidence that the fleet reached Cork on the 22nd of the same month, exactly one year after the King's landing at Kingsale. The situation was reproduced in another and unfavourable sense. Lauzun, like the King, found no measures taken for his reception. There were no carriages or carts, no horses or oxen, and the roads were like the tracks of a farm-yard. James in his after apology throws the blame on Lord Dover, whom he had appointed Intendant-General at Cork, and excuses himself by saying that he had only poor tools for his service. Lord Dover and Lauzun had been friends, but the Frenchman was so angry with his reception that he quarrelled with him, and thus the situation became worse. The French army that was to turn the day against the enemy was fairly hung up half on shipboard because it could not be fed on land, and half on land clamouring to get back to the ships in order to be fed. It was a bad start. The end of Lord Dover's connection with the Stuarts may be described. James had created him Earl of Dover, but this title was one of those never recognised in England. On arriving in Dublin Lauzun made a formal complaint against Lord Dover for his neglect at Cork. James sought the easiest way out of his troubles by giving Dover a pass to go to England, where he made his peace with William, and a few years later succeeded his elder brother as Baron Jermyn. The French were very much disgusted at this way of dealing with a man who had shown inexcusable incompetence and neglect of duty. The Marquis Sourches expressed the general opinion that Lord Dover should have been executed as a traitor. The Stuarts owed much of their troubles to ill-placed lenity. Admiral Cabaret had also his orders to adhere to. They were to land the troops and the stores, to take the Irish regi- ment on board, to provide accommodation for Count I40 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE D'Avaux, General Roze (whose Marshalship expired with his leaving Ireland), Count de Gace and a few others, and to return at once to Brest. " At once " meant by the next favourable wind for France. With a considerable English fleet at anchor off Torbay it was perilous to leave the French coast unguarded for any length of time, and Gabaret was anxious to be gone. At this juncture pressing letters came from King James urging Gabaret to defer his departure and undertake a separate adventure, for which James pro- mised him much honour and glory. The adventure was to sail up the Irish Sea, and to prevent the departure of, or cut up, William's squadron and fleet of transports, which, by all accounts, were about to convey the host that William had levied with the intention of conquering Ireland. In October, 1689, James asked for 6000 French troops to drive Schomberg into the sea ; in March, 1690, they have come, but he then sees that they will not be enough to deal with William of Orange. Then, regardless of Louis's own needs, of Gabaret's duty, he proposes that the French fleet shall sail up a dangerous and little known sea possessing no harbours or arsenals, and risk its existence in carrying out his paper plan of preventing William landing at Carrick- fcrgus. And because James's appeal was not so much as listened to, and only served to hurry Gabaret's departure, it was alleged that the generous help of the French King, which was ample if properly utilised to effect the pacifica- tion of Ireland and never intended for chimerical adven- tures in England, was niggardly and begrudged. James's plans on the map were lauded to the skies by his courtiers as masterstrokes of strategy, whereas they were, in truth, simply impracticable. The Royal apologia for the failure in Ireland is not the least typical instance of the ingratitude of the Stuarts to those who devoted themselves to their interests, for of all the loyal champions of their cause Louis XIV is entitled to the first place. There were others anxious to be gone besides Gabaret. D'Avaux had succeeded after many difficulties and dis- THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 141 appointments, still to be described, in getting his Irish regiments together. All he thought of was hurrying them on board before they turned home-sick. Perhaps he had a vague apprehension that James might countermand their departure on the plea of the increased danger arising from the approach of William of Orange. From the French ambassador, then, Gabaret got no encouragement to linger. If D'Avaux could have controlled the winds there would have been but little delay, for he had the five regiments on board for the first time on April i, ten days only after Gabaret entered Cork harbour. Between that and the i8th of the month there were frequent embarcations and dis- embarcations, but at last, on the latter date, the wind served and the French fleet sailed away with what was destined to become the first detachment of the Irish Brigade in the service of France. Meanwhile, Lauzun had reached Dublin, and the French regiments followed as rapidly as they could over bad roads to pitch the tents, with which they had come provided, on the Curragh of Kildare. If Lauzun had been a great commander he would still have found it difiicult, on the spur of the moment, to form any plan that would be at all likely to meet the many perils of the situation. The Irish army was scattered in a number of small garrisons, and although orders were issued at the end of April for a great part of it to assemble at Dundalk, it was certain that that could not be carried out for several weeks. In the meantime Schomberg had captured Charlemont, got his troops out of their winter lethargy and was fairly on the move. James, instead of getting everything ready, had been simply waiting for the French. The whole of May and the greater part of June were absorbed in the task of gradually getting together an Irish army of 20,000 men at Dundalk. De Gace assured King Louis, when received at Versailles on May 10, that " James had 30,000 good troops, although there was a deficiency in the supply of horses for the cavalry." Porter put them at 142 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 28,000, and the lowest estimate was that 25,000 good troops would be found north of the Boyne. When James rode into his camp on June 26 (N.S.) to inspect his army he found no more than 20,000. As an instance of the delay in assemWing the Irish army it may be mentioned that Sarslield only reached the Boyne on July 4. Two days before James's arrival at Dundalk, WilHam of Orange landed at Carrickfergus, bringing with him at least 20,000 regular troops and a large train of artillery. The Protestant army united mustered not less than 36,000 men, as William, resolved not to throw a chance away, called in all the outlying garrisons at Derry, Enniskillen, Newry, and elsewhere. The French reports written prior to the battle give William a total force of 9030 cavalry, 3080 dragoons, and 42,154 infantry, or over 54,000 altogether. It seems probable that the French reporters did not allow for the diminution in Schomberg's force during the winter. North of Dundalk the road is carried through a marshy region over a long causeway, and at the southern extremity is a pass, known as " the four-mile pass," that presents many advantages for defence to the holder. If James's army had occupied this position in force it would have been in a very advantageous situation to defend itself, and the probability is that William would have been compelled to abandon the coast road and to advance by one of the inner roads from Armagh, which would necessarily be a slower and riskier proceeding. The advantages of this position were not unknown because it had been occupied during the previous campaign with Schomberg, and on the present occasion James sent a small party to seize the pass, or rather the southern end of it ; and everybody in the army under- stood that they were to move forward to occupy it in force on the following day. The Marquis Girardin, reporting on the battle of the Boyne, affirmed that the campaign was lost through the fatal decision not to hold this strong position. The advance party consisted of the grenadier companies THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 143 of four regiments, commanded by Colonel Fitzgerald, of Lord Bellew's regiment, and of sixty mounted dragoons under Colonel Lawrence Dempsey. On arrival they found that the other end of the pass was held by a part}* of about 300 English infantr)' and dragoons, which had been sent to reconnoitre James's camp and obtain some information as to the number of troops in it. The two parties were not long in coming into collision, and after a fierce Httle encounter the English were driven back with a loss of thirt}- killed and two officers prisoners. On the Irish side ten men were killed and Colonel Dempsey was mortally wounded. He died at Oldbridge, on the Boyne, a few days later, and his loss was not inconsiderable, for he was an experienced officer who had gained much distinction in the Portuguese army. But the really calami- tous part of the affair was the capture of Captain Farlow, who had been known to James in the old days at \\liitehall. James sent for him and had a long talk with him, and Farlow suppHed the King with as much information as he asked for. According to this shrewd officer, who had reason to remember the peril of the narrow way, William had 50,000 troops, all highly discipHned and many of them veterans. Among them were 15,000 cavalr^^, and the artiller)- numbered thirty field-pieces. The fleet, he added, had orders to coast down to Drogheda and lend the land forces a helping hand. As James heard these details his courage sank, and he at once gave orders to break up the camp and retreat for the Boyne. Captain Farlow must have felt some consolation for his bad luck in Four Mile Pass in the consequences of the picture he drew before the mind of the timid King. James was quite justified in his decision to retreat by a fair comparison between his army and that of William of Orange, and if he had really retreated no one could have thrown a stone at him, and the result of the war might have been verj- different. But to run away from a good position only to fight a few days later in a bad one is not to be ex- 144 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE plained by common sense or any of the canons of the art of war. James at Farlow's story works himself into a state of funk and runs away. Then, thinking it over, he reflects on the line of march that thrones are not recovered without risking something, and he decides to stand his ground and to fight. Throughout all these changes of view in the crisis of his struggle he could not find a definite plan, and there was no one to supply him with one. Certainly it was not Lauzun who, as Berwick said of him, " has quite forgotten all his military knowledge if he ever possessed any." From Dundalk James moved to Ardee and then to the Boyne. His army crossed that river on July 9 (N.S.), his infantry passing through Drogheda and his cavalry by the ford at Oldbridge. Having reached the southern side of the river James's courage returned, and it was given out that the King would there await the onset of his enemy. In all these matters James decided for himself. Lauzun was apathetic and indifferent. Tyrconnell was in favour of making a fight of it, Sarsfield and the other Irish leaders had wished to make the stand at Dundalk, but they were not unwilling that it should be made on the Boyne. Even the cautious Berwick was not averse to the attempt to defend the passage of the river. James's own version is contained in his Memoir : " What induced the King to hazard a battle on this inequality was that if he did it not there he must lose all without a stroke, and be obliged to quit Dublin and all Munster and retire behind the Shannon and so be reduced to the Province of Connaught, where having no magazines he could not subsist very long, it being the worst corn country in Ireland. Besides, his men seemed desirous to fight, and being new raised would have been disheartened still to retire before the enemy and see all their country taken from them without one blow for it, and by consequence be apt to disperse and give all for lost." James had got himself into such a position that he must either fight a battle or evacuate Dublin, and it was his THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 145 realisation of what life in Ireland would be out of Dublin that drove him to the desperate course of lighting an army immeasurably superior to his own. But of course that does not justify his conduct. Under the circumstances there was no other prudent course open to him than to leave Dublin to its fate, and to retire without light- ing into the interior of the country. If he had fallen back on Athlone and secured the line of the Shannon, all the strategical advantages would have been on his side and not with the Prince of Orange. Besides, William could not remain long in Ireland. A short, decisive campaign was essential to him. Whereas James, if he had cared to do so, might have passed the rest of his life in Ireland, William could be absent for only a few weeks, or at the longest a few months, from England ; and with the Irish army that fought at the Boyne preserved intact James might have prolonged the struggle, which continued as it was for eighteen months after his flight, for a very long period indeed. When James gives as a reason for fighting the small resources of Western Ireland he overlooks the fact that that would have been a further obstacle in William's path. The Prince of Orange, thanks to the Boyne, got to the walls of Limerick, but his experience there was not of a nature to make us hesitate in saying that he would never have got there at all if Fabian tactics had been resorted to at the beginning of July, 1690. But it would have been un- reasonable to expect in the King's apologia the true reason for his decision. The list contains many reasons, but the true one is left out. We have seen from the first that James's heart was not in the Irish adventure. He was ever regretting that he had come to Ireland at all, and the latest letters from the Queen were full of forebodings that he might be detained there for ever. Any decent excuse, then, to leave it would seem preferable in such a frame of mind to taking a firm resolu- tion for the prudent conduct of the war which would entail his remaining indefinitely in an unattractive country. K 146 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE But the prospect became even worse, when for the com- parative civilisation of Dublin there had to be substituted the wild region of Western Ireland. James found the out- look exceedingly uninviting. He had made no friends among the Irish nobles. He took none of them into his counsels. Even Tyrconnell, who knew Whitehall and was a courtier, represented a waning influence. The only men in whom he really confided were Powis, Thomas Howard, the Chief Justice Herbert, Gosforth, the Chan- cellor, all Englishmen, who knew nothing about Ireland, and thought solely of a royal restoration in London. Not to fight, then, meant an indefinitely long stay in Ireland ; while to fight would end the matter one way or the other. Personal comfort, the desire to have an end put to an uncongenial task, had far more to do with James's pro- ceedings at this juncture than prudence, military knowledge or even common sense. There was another explanation of James being left to have his own way with regard to the fatal decision to make a stand at the Boyne. Among the generals on his Council of War, there was not one competent or qualified to give him advice. Lauzun was already treated with contempt as a mere cypher, and the French generals who had come with him had not yet measured the situation. D'Escots, a man of promise, had died suddenly. Girardin, or Lery, as he was sometimes called, was only a cavalry leader. La Hoguette had no local knowledge. When James expressed an opinion, therefore, it was repeated by all. None of the Irish leaders had any influence. Sarsfield, the ablest of them, was already at loggerheads with the Stuarts. " A very brave man, no doubt," said James, " but with no headpiece." Berwick repeats or perhaps inspired this view, and says later on in his Memoirs that " Sarsfield imagined himself to be a great general." Per- haps it would have been well if Berwick had known in turn what D'Avaux had written about him, " a very brave man, but a bad officer, and with no common sense." Certainly THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1689-90 147 there was nothing in Berwick's conduct in Ireland to reveal the future victor of Almanza, and the general who was said never to have lost a battle. But the great defect of Sarsfield in the eyes of the Stuarts was that he was a leader of the Irish. " He has more influence in this countr)^ than all the others put together," D'Avaux had written some months earlier. Now whatever else James had failed to learn during his stay in Ireland he had at least got some first-hand information about the Irish problem, and he knew beyond possibility of self- deception that the uppermost wish of every Irishman was to be independent of and separated from England. That was a project with which James had no sympathy. He was essentially a Unionist who believed in the inviolable unity of the Empire. Whether their schemes were feasible under any circum- stances may be left to the reader's independent judgment, but that they should find an opponent in King James was certainly not the way to make the Stuarts popular in Ireland. Long before the Boyne enthusiasm for James had waned. More and more clearly did it stand revealed that the Irish were fighting for their own ends, and not for the recovery of his throne. Even Tyrconnell had declared during the crisis of the Melfort dispute that it would be better " for King James to go back to France and leave us to fight our battles in our own way and for our own ends." Sarsfield went even farther. He was openly in favour of a national Government in Ireland with a regular alliance with France. The feelings of the leaders in the Jacobite camp on the Boyne were therefore very mixed, and the ends of some of them would be served just as much by defeat as by victory. Defeat would, at least, convert a war in the Stuart interests into one for national objects. Chapter VI THE BATTLE OF THE BOTNE A WITTY French writer has observed that the fight on the Boyne would have only passed in history for a skirmish if it had not been the nearest approach to a pitched battle that William of Orange ever won. Without going so far as to style it with him an " echauffouree suivie dhme deroute^''^ we need not hesitate in asserting that its significance as a trial of strength between two armed forces has been ridiculously exaggerated for party purposes. Neither side displayed any generalship to be proud of, and it was no glorious achieve- ment for 36,000 completely armed troops with a very considerable artillery of thirty field-pieces to oust from an open position 25,000 incompletely armed troops with only six small cannon. There can be no question that James had no business to have fought at all. His fatal hesitation in postponing a decision to retreat to the west, left him no alternative save the hopeless course of trying to defend a river fordable at all points against overwhelming odds. It gave his adversary the opportunity of scoring a success without risks, and of earning a cheap renown. It provided the excuse for the celebration of an anniversary even to the present age of a so-called triumph of one Irish party over another Irish party, for which the facts of the battle supply no justification. Considering that the battle, such as it was, was won by Danes and Dutchmen, French Huguenots and Prussian Brandenburghers, it is almost ludicrous to any one who has the smallest respect for historical accuracy to see Orangemen celebrating the anniversary of the Boyne as their victory. 148 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 149 No visitor to the valley of the Boyne from Drogheda to Slane Bridge can have failed to notice that the left bank completely commands the right. This is especially notice- able above the ford of Oldbridge, where there are now the fine stone bridge and the William Memorial. It was on this plateau that William pitched his main camp on July ID (N.S.) (June 30, O.S.), 1690, with his left wing stretching to the vicinity of Drogheda, held for James by a garrison of 1300 men under Lord Iveagh. It was from this spot that William surveyed the position of James's army on the opposite bank late in the afternoon of the day of his arrival, and it was here that he received the abrasion on the shoulder from a cannon shot which led to the circulation of a false rumour that he had been killed. This report reached Paris before the news of the battle, and gave rise to some premature rejoicing, including the lighting of bonfires. William's comment at the time was : " It should have come nearer," but the next day he wore a plaster on his shoulder and carried the right arm in a sling. The Jacobite gunner was not many inches off solving a grave political problem. The River Boyne, which ran at the foot of the plateau, was easily f ordable when the tide was out, and even when it was high water several fords remained passable. That of Rossnaree, five miles above Oldbridge and two miles short of Slane Bridge, which had been broken, was one available at all states of the tide. The several fords at Oldbridge were quite easy at half flood, that lower down at Donore was only available at low water. William had, in Schomberg's opinion, the choice of two courses : he might either attack and capture Drogheda, making his crossing at that place, or he might march up the river to Slane, repairing the bridge there arid crossing by it and the ford at Rossnaree. William did not adopt either of his veteran lieutenant's proposals. He decided that his army should cross the river at three separate points, and that he would take advantage of his superior numbers to turn James's flanks both up and 150 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE down the river. He assigned the command of the centre to the Duke of Schomberg, he took that of the left in person, and the right he entrusted to Count Meinhardt Schomberg, the Duke's son, to whom he gave as Lieutenant-Generals the services of Portland, Albuquerque and the Fleming D'Espinguen. The last force was the first to move. " Before daybreak on July II " (N.S.), according to Dumont, the right wing began its march up the river. As it marched across fields it was assumed that it would reach Rossnaree about six in the morning. It was probably a little later, as the valley of the Boyne was enveloped in a dense mist which did not disperse till eight o'clock (Dumont). Opposite Rossnaree, watching the ford, was Sir Neil O'Neil at the head of the dragoon regiment bearing his name. In order to distinguish the men of the two armies from each other — neither side having a distinct national colour — William's troops were ordered to place a green bough or sprig in their hats, and as evidence of the necessity of this precaution in an army composed of so many different races and languages it may be mentioned that Dumont, in the press of the battle when the Enniskilleners were driven back, was on the point of running his sword through one of them when he observed the green spray in his hat. James's troops, on the other hand, wore pieces of white paper in their hats to assimilate them to their French alhes, whose distinguishing mark was the white cockade. This practice was not introduced for employment at the Boyne. It was in general use in the Netherlands by a tacit understanding between the belligerents, where the Dutch and Spanish troops always wore green sprigs in their hats on the day of battle, and the French pieces of white paper. We may now turn to describe the position of James's army. The principal camp, including the King's own head- quarters, was at RamuUin on the top of the elevated ground to the right of Oldbridge. Here the hill Ues back some distance from the river bank, and beyond the reach of THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 151 cannon shot in the age with which we are dealing. In the Httle village of Oldbridge were placed two infantry regi- ments — Antrim's and Clanrickarde's — and on the extreme left was merely the O'Neil dragoon regiment opposite Rossnaree. The bulk of the army was drawn up along the elevated ground at a distance from the river varying from half to a full mile. The position was absolutely unfortified, and the only defences that could be said to exist were the few cottages and garden walls in the miserable little village of Old- bridge. With regard to numbers, it is impossible to place James's army at a greater total strength than 25,000 men, including the French contingent of about 5500 strong. Neither in arms, nor in discipline, nor in experience of war could there be any comparison between the two armies. The majority of the Irish infantry had never heard a shot fired in action. The French regiments formed a corps d'elite, but at their head was Lauzun, of whom Berwick said : '' If he ever possessed any knowledge of the military art he had completely forgotten it." Finally, James had only eighteen small pieces of artillery (six-pounders), and of them only six took part in the battle. With regard to the supreme command, while William possessed the experience of twenty years' campaigning, and the assistance of one of the best European generals in Schomberg, the command of the Jacobite army rested with the King, who, whatever his knowledge of naval war might have been, knew nothing of land war, and whose own lack of experience and skill was not compensated for by the military ability of his lieutenants Lauzun, Tyrconnell, and Richard Hamilton. During the evening of July 10 (June 30, O.S.), James held a Council of War, and it was decided, after the army had been assured that a stand would be made, not to fight, but to retreat. Unfortunately, this intention was not put into immediate practice. It was assumed, with that habitual procrastination which had so often proved fatal to the 152 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE cause of the Stuarts, that there would be time enough in the morning. When the morning arrived the baggage was packed up and sent off to Dubhn, and with it were sent twelve of James's total of eighteen pieces of artillery. The six retained were those with the French contingent, and thus on the day of the Boyne the Irish army had not a single cannon. Dumont tells us that when the sun first appeared at eight o'clock they saw that James's army had broken up their camp and were in full retreat. The effect of this spectacle on William was to make him hasten his movements. He had intended deferring his attack until he had heard that his right wing had got over the river at Rossnaree, and more particularly until the ebbing tide had reached a point to make the ford at Donore easily practicable. But the spectacle of James's retreating army, and the thought that it might escape and draw him into the wilds of Ireland, were too much for his equanimity, and he ordered Schom- berg to attack Oldbridge, while he led off his cavalry to the left with the intention of getting it over the river at some point or other below that place. It was at this stage of the day's operations that the second mistake, which decided the course of the battle, was made by the Jacobite commanders. Sir Neil O'Neil had reported the appearance of the enemy across the river ; on the opposite bank the same sun which disclosed to William the retirement of the Jacobite army revealed to James and Lauzun the movement of young Schomberg's infantry towards the right of William's battle. The nervous commanders at once jumped to the conclusion that their left would be outflanked and their line of retreat menaced. Lauzun was particularly anxious about his retreat being kept open, and, as every one knows, the general who is always looking behind him instead of in front of him never wins a battle. As soon, then, as he saw the movement of part of William's army up the river, he moved off to the left with the whole of the French contingent, which naturally took with it its six field-pieces, and as he had no THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 153 cavalry, Lauzun appropriated Sarsfield's regiment of horse, and Maxwell's regiment of mounted dragoons, two of the best corps in the Irish army. The Irish army left to oppose the main attack, then, was without the French veterans, without artillery, and without three of its best regiments (Sarsfield, Maxwell, and O'Neil). At this point not a shot had been fired, and we will reserve our own description of the encounter to quote that of Macaulay, which is the one taught to every English schoolboy, but which we hope will be relegated to the department of fiction when all the facts set forth in this chapter have been weighed and considered. Macaulay begins : — " The first of July dawned, a day which has never since returned without exciting strong emotions of very different kinds in the two populations which divide Ireland. The sun rose bright and cloudless. Soon after four both armies were in motion. William ordered his right wing under the command of Meinhart Schom- berg, one of the Duke's sons, to march to the Bridge of Slane some miles up the river, to cross there and to turn the left flank of the Irish army. Meinhart Schomberg was assisted by Portland and Douglas. James anticipating some such design had already sent to the bridge a regiment of dragoons commanded by Sir Neil O'Neil. O'Neil behaved himself like a brave gentleman, but he soon received a mortal wound, his men fled, and the English right wing passed the river. " This move made Lauzun uneasy. What if the English right wing should get into the rear of the army of James ? About four miles south of the Boyne was a place called Duleek, where the road to Dublin was so narrow that two cars could not pass each other, and where on both sides of the road lay a morass which afforded no firm footing. If Meinhart Schomberg should occupy this post, it would be impossible for the Irish to retreat. They must either conquer or be cut off to a man. Disturbed by this apprehension the French general marched with his countrymen and with Sarsiield's horse in the direction of Slane Bridge. Thus the fords near Oldbridge were left to be defended by the Irish alone. " It was now near ten o'clock. William put himself at the head of his left wing, which was composed exclusively of cavalry, and prepared to pass the river not far above Drogheda. The centre of his army, which consisted almost exclusively of foot, was en- 154 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE trusted to the command of Schomberg, and was marshalled opposite to Oldbridge. At Oldbridge had been collected the whole Irish army, foot, dragoons and horse, Sarsfield's regiment alone excepted. The Meath bank bristled with pikes and bayonets. A fortification had been made by French engineers out of the hedges and buildings, and a breastwork had been thrown up close to the outer side, Tyr- connell was there, and under him were Richard Hamilton and Antrim. " Schomberg gave the word. Solmes's Blues were the first to move. They marched gallantly with drums beating to the brink of the Boyne. Then the drums stopped, and the men, ten abreast, descended into the water. Next plunged Londonderry and Enniskillen. A little to the left of Londonderry and Ennis- killen Caillemot crossed, at the head of a long column of French refugees. A little to the left of Caillemot and his refugees the main body of the English infantry struggled through the river up to their armpits in water. Still further down the stream the Danes found another ford. In a few minutes the Boyne for a quarter of a mile was alive with muskets and green boughs. '' It was not till the assailants had reached the middle of the channel that they became aware of the whole difficulty and danger of the service in which they were engaged. They had as yet seen little more than half the hostile army. Now whole regiments of foot and horse seemed to start out of the earth. A wild shout of defiance rose from the whole shore ; during one moment the event seemed doubtful ; but the Protestants pressed resolutely forward, and in another moment the whole Irish line gave way. Tyrconnell looked on in helpless despair. He did not want personal courage ; but his military skill was so small that he hardly ever reviewed his regiment in Phoenix Park without committing some blunder ; and to rally the ranks which were breaking all round him was no task for a general who had survived the energy of his body and of his mind, and yet had still the rudiments of his pro- fession to learn. Several of his best officers fell while vainly en- deavouring to prevail on their soldiers to look the Dutch Blues in the face. Richard Hamilton ordered a body of foot to fall on the French refugees, who were still deep in water. He led the way, and, accompanied by some courageous gentlemen, advanced sword in hand into the river. But neither his commands nor his example could infuse valour into that mob of cow-stealers. He was left almost alone and retired from the bank in despair. Further down the river bank Antrim's division ran like sheep at the approach of the English column. Whole regiments flung away arms, colours and cloaks, and scampered off to the hills without striking a blow or firing a shot." THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 155 This favourite Whig description of the Boyne from the pen of the Whig writer, who fought under the Orange banner of Protestant ascendancy, is as near historical truth as a fairy tale is to the hard realities of life. We shall subject it to close dissection later on, and it will be seen that hardly one of Macaulay's details is in accord with the testimony of the witnesses on both sides. But the careful reader, who has no local knowledge and who never read another account of the battle, must have been puzzled to try and conjure up the despairing figure of Richard Hamilton on the river bank while his men bolted in one direction and the Huguenot regiments came on by the ford, not fifty yards across, which they had already half traversed when Hamilton got there. If the incident had taken place as described, Hamilton would have had small chance of taking part in those cavalry charges about which Macaulay worked up a little cheap eloquence. As a matter of fact, Hamilton had nothing to do with the cavalry charges at all. He commanded the infantry division as Lieutenant-General. The cavalry charges occurred later in the day, and were led by the Duke of Berwick and Dominic Sheldon, while the Duke of Tyrcon- nell and Henry Fitzjames also took part in them. Richard Hamilton had been wounded and taken prisoner by the time that William's cavalry came down from Donore on the right flank of the Irish infantry commanded by him in and behind Oldbridge. The probability is that, having piled all the epithets of contumely and contempt on the Irish infantry as " cow- stealers," Macaulay began to reflect that there were some things about the Boyne which required a little explanation. There was the incident of Schomberg's death rallying a broken regiment, Caillcmotte also was mortally wounded doing something very similar ; then, again, the awkward fact that the victorious army failed to force the Pass of Duleek and attempted no pursuit hardly taUied with the picture just given of the broken and fugitive host. Finally, Macaulay 156 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE cannot have been blind to the fact that William's taking five days to cover the twenty odd miles from the Boyne to Dublin required a little elucidation, and seemed to show that the victorious William was not quite so sure as his panegyrist a hundred and fifty years later that he had smashed up the Irish army, and the later events of the campaign amply justified the Dutch Prince's view. Macaulay could not explain, because to do so would have been to cancel what he had written, but he felt the need of a corrective for his own exuberant criticism and he supplied it in an eulogium on the Irish cavalry. We resume the quotation of Macaulay's description from the point where we broke off : — " It required many years and many heroic exploits to take away the reproach which that ignominious rout left on the Irish name. Yet even before the day closed it was abundantly proved that the reproach was unjust. Richard Hamilton put himself at the head of the cavalry, and under his command they made a gallant though an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve the day. They maintained a desperate fight in the bed of the river with Solmes's Blues. They drove the Danish brigade back into the stream. They fell impetu- ously on the Huguenot regiments, which, not being provided with pikes, then ordinarily used by foot to repel horse, began to give ground. Caillemot, while encouraging his fellow-exiles, received a mortal wound in the thigh. Four of his men carried him back across the ford to his tent. As he passed he continued to urge forward the rear ranks, which were still up to the breast in the water. Schomberg, who had remained on the northern bank, and who had thence watched the progress of his troops with the eye of a general, now thought that the emergency required from him the personal exertion of a soldier. Those who stood about him besought him in vain to put on his cuirass. Without defensive armour he rode through the river and ralHed the refugees whom the fall of Caillemot had dismayed. ' Come on,' he cried in French, pointing to the Popish Squadrons, ' these are your persecutors ! ' Those were his last words. As he spoke a band of Irish horsemen rushed upon him and encircled him for a moment. When they retired he was on the ground. His friends raised him, but he was already a corpse. Two sabre wounds were on his head, and a bullet from a carbine was lodged in his neck. Almost at the same moment Walker, while exhorting the colonists of Ulster to play the man, was shot dead. During nearly half an hour the battle continued to THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 157 rage along the southern shore of the river. All was smoke, dust and din. Old soldiers were heard to say that they had seldom seen sharper work in the Low Countries. But just at this conjuncture William came up with the left wing. He had found much difficulty in crossing. The tide wms running fast. His charger had been forced to swim, and had been almost lost in the mud. As soon as the King was on firm ground he took his sword in his left hand — for his right arm was stiff with his wound and his bandage — and led his men to the place where the fight was the hottest. His arrival decided the fate of the day. . . . His troops, animated by his example, gained ground fast. The Irish cavalry made their last stand at a house called Plottin Castle, about one mile and a half south of Oldbridge. Then the Enniskilleners were repelled with the loss of fifty men, and were hotly pursued till William rallied them and turned the chase back. In this encounter Richard Hamilton, who had done all that could be done by valour to retrieve a reputation ruined by perfidy, was severely wounded, taken prisoner, and instantly brought through the smoke and over the carnage before the prince whom he had foully wronged. ' Is this business over,' he said, ' or will your horse make more fight ? ' ' On my honour, sir,' answered Hamilton, ' I believe that they will.' ' Your honour ! ' muttered William. ' Your honour ! ' That half-suppressed exclamation was the only revenge which he condescended to take for an injury for which many sovereigns would have exacted a terrible retribution. Then restraining himself he ordered his own surgeon to look to the hurts of the captive. And now the battle was over. Hamilton was mistaken in thinking that his horse would continue to fight. Whole troops had been cut to pieces. One fine regiment had only thirty unwounded men left. It was enough that these gallant soldiers had disputed the field till they were left without support, or hope, or guidance, till their bravest leader was a captive and till their King had fled." And this pretty piece of writing, with its compliments to Hamilton, who, it must be repeated, took no part in the cavalry charges, has no more applicability to the real facts of the encounter than the earlier passages in which contempt, instead of flattery, provides the key-note. The impression at the time among Irish and French witnesses of the battle was not at all favourable to Hamil- ton. He was accused of making a very poor defence at the head of the infantry in the village of Oldbridge. It was alleged that his heart was not in his work, and some of the 158 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE French went so far as to declare that he was paid to prove the traitor. We do not attach any importance to this story, but there is nothing whatever to induce us to say that he played the hero. His brothers Anthony and John beheved for a time that he was killed. A French officer declared a few days after the battle that he had seen him riding into Dubhn in the cortege of WilHam. With regard to Anthony Hamilton, whose name has just been mentioned, it may be stated that he did participate in the cavalry charges. For this garbled and misleading version we wish to sub- stitute a description of the encounter which is somewhat nearer to the literal truth, and which is based, not on the Protestant clergyman Story's version, blindly followed by Macaulay, but on the evidence of Berwick, James himself, la Hoguette, Dumont de Bostaquet, and Zurlauben. We left Lauzun moving off to the left and William to the left also on the opposite sides of the Boyne. Their re- spective movements required time, and neither came into action for some hours. That is a vitally material point to which it did not suit Macaulay to make any reference. James and his staff, now without a single French officer on it, have seen WilHam's movement down the river, and Lord Dungan, with his dragoon regiment, is deputed to move along the crest of RamuUin to keep the enemy in view and to hinder their crossing the river. It is hoped and believed that no crossing in the state of the tide will be found possible, and that in any case Lord Dungan, whose regiment is a good one, will be able to delay, if not prevent, the passage. The point desirable to be borne in mind by an impartial student is that in the first phase of the battle there is no peril on either flank for James's army. The whole fortune of the day depends on what happens at Oldbridge. If Schomberg is defeated there, it does not matter what William does lower down the river. Up- stream Meinhardt Schomberg's force and Lauzun's may be considered fairly equally matched and to neutralise each other. A skilful commander, then, would have concentrated THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 159 all his efforts on the repulse of Schomberg's main attack, the development of which was fully visible, and although James was hampered by the absence of artillery and of well-trained infantry, much more might have been done than was at- tempted to defeat it. James's own version of the battle shows clearly that he had nothing to do with the fight in the centre of the battle, that he was only nervous for the security of his line of re- treat, and that he was busily engaged in passing troops from his right to his left to reinforce Lauzun. He would have withdrawn all Tyrconnell's force from Oldbridge but for, as he says, " the cannon and baggage not being far enough ad- vanced on their way towards DubUn." No stronger evi- dence could be asked for to prove that flight and not fight was in the King's mind throughout the day, and no troops could fail to be affected by the timidity of their commander. At this critical juncture it was Tyrconnell who took upon himself the duty of arranging what should be done for the defence of Oldbridge, where, throughout the early hours of the morning, there were only the two regiments of Clan- rickarde and Antrim. When he saw the preparations for the attack developing he moved down five infantry regiments under Richard Hamilton to support the two in Oldbridge, but the position was somewhat cramped, and beyond the few cottages mentioned it was quite open. The French reports absolutely negative Macaulay's assertion as to a fortification having been made by French engineers. There was not a French engineer in the force. On the sloping ground behind Oldbridge leading gradually upwards to the Pass of Duleek, Tyrconnell drew up his cavalry regiments. These consisted of Tyrconnell's own regiment, two troops of the bodyguard commanded by Berwick, Parker's regi- ment and Sutherland's regiment, or a total of three and a half cavalry regiments. These troops were as good cavalry as existed anywhere, but it is putting them at a high figure to say they totalled fifteen hundred sabres. The seven in- fantry battaHons numbered four thousand, so that Tyr- i6o THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE conncll had five thousand five hundred men to oppose Schomberg, who had at least fifteen thousand men under his immediate orders. It is impossible to form any decided opinion as to the exact hour at which Schomberg ordered the regiments selected to lead the attack to march down from the table- land already mentioned to the river bank at Oldbridge, but it does not seem to have been much before midday. Macaulay, following Story, states ten o'clock ; an Irish writer places it as late as four. All that can be said is that so steep is the acclivity on the left bank that it would have taken the large body of troops employed in carrying the passage a considerable time to deploy on the river bank with the precision that would alone satisfy Schomberg. This central force comprised the pick of the infantry — the Dutch Blue Guards under Count Solmes, the Huguenot foot under Caillemotte, the Ulster regiments, and, finally, the Enghsh regiments. It would not be surprising if the raw Irish infantry without cannon were shaken and un- steady at the mere sight of this imposing array before they met in the shock of battle. The best account of what followed is that given in James's own narrative, which, as he did not see this part of the battle, was supplied him by one of the officers present, probably General Dorington, who commanded the battalion of Guards. It reads as follows in his own phraseology and spelling : — " As for what pass'd at Old Brig, it seems the enemie perceiveing the left wing and most of the foot had march'd after Lausun attacked the regiment which was at the village of Old Brig with a great body of foot all strangers, and soon possessed themselves of it ; upon which the seaven battal- lions of the first Hne, which were left there and drawn up a little behind the riseing ground which shelter'd them from the enemies cannon marched up to charge them, and went on bouldly til they came within a pike's length of the enemie notwithstanding their perpetual fire, so that Major Arthur who was at the head of the first battahon of the Guards run THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE i6i the officer through the body that commanded the battahon he march'd up too. But at the same time the enemies horse began to cross the river which the Kings foot perceiveing immediately gave way notwithstanding all that Dorington and the other officers could doe to stop them which cost several o£ the Captains their lives as Arundel, Ashton, Dungen, Fitzgerald and two or three more, besides the Marquis de Hoquincourt, who was kill'd with several others of his brip^ade. Barker Lieut. -Colonel of the Guards with Arthur the Major were both wounded of which the latter dy'd the same day." As all the officers named were in Dorington's regiment (the Guard of James's army), it is further proof of his having supplied the King with the material for his narrative. If we compare this description with that furnished by the Williamite reports we shall conclude that up to a certain stage in the encounter the infantry offered a good resistance, and that it was on seeing that his men were not making much headway that Schomberg rushed from the high ground to rally them. As Dumont states positively that his cavalry regiment was the first to get over the river, and that they then heard of Schomberg's death, it is perfectly clear that he was killed in the infantry encounter, and before the Orange cavalry came down on the right flank of the Irish infantry, as described in the further passage from James's narrative, which we shall quote further on. As a further piece of evidence to the same effect, Schom- berg was supposed to have been killed by Sir Charles O'Toole, a lieutenant in Dorington's regiment. It is sufficiently clear, then, that before William's horse crossed the river the Jacobite infantry fought very well, that during that period the Protestant troops wavered, that Schomberg felt bound to hasten to join in the fray, and that he was killed and the leader of the Huguenots, de la Caillemotte, received a mortal wound at the same juncture. It was only when the horse came charging down on the right flank that these half-trained Irish troops broke and got out of hand. 1 62 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE Let us now turn to the progress of William's left wing under his own immediate command. Owing to the tide being in there was great difficulty in finding the ford of Donore, and when found it was not fordable. Dumont's mounted regiment of French refugees led the van, and with it was the regiment of Danish foot guards. After waiting a long time Wilham could wait no longer. Dumont's regiment was ordered to swim across, the Danes to cross in single file. On the opposite bank was Lord Dungan and his dragoon regiment. Wilham covered the crossing with the fire of two cannon, and those of the Danes who had not entered the water were ordered to fire volleys from the bank. Lord Dungan was killed by one of the first cannon shots, several of his officers and men were also killed and wounded, and the rest of the regiment galloped off over the heights of Ramullin towards Duleek, and took no further part in the battle. The right of the Jacobite army was thus uncovered, but it took time for William to get his troops over the river, and then to traverse the several miles between the crossing- place and the position at Oldbridge. It was during this interval, as Dumont states, that news was received " of Schomberg's death, of there having been fierce fighting, and of many of our officers having been killed and wounded." We may now revert to the King's narrative : — " Notwithstanding the foot was thus beaten the right wing of horse and dragoons march'd up and charg'd such of the enemies hors and foot as passed the river, but my Lord Dungan being slaine at their first going on by a great shot his Dragoons could not be got to doe anything nor did Clare's do much better (Clare's regiment was infantry). Nevertheless the hors did their duty with great bravery, and tho' they did not break the enemies foot it was more by reason of the ground's not being favourable than for want of vigor, for after they had been repulsed by the foot they rally'd again and charged the enemies hors and beat them every charg. Tyrconnell's and Parker's troops suffer'd the THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 163 most on this occasion. Powel and Vaudrey both Lief- tenants of the Guards with most of the Exempts and Brigadiers of both troops were slaine as also the Earle of CarHngford, Mons d'Amandc, and several other volunteers that charged with them. Nugent and Casanone were wounded of Tyrconnell's ; Major Mara and Sir Charles Take killed and Bada wounded. Of Parker's the Colonel wounded, the Lieftenant Colonel Green with Dodington the major and many other officers killed, and of the two squadrons of that regiment there came but off about thirty sound men. Sunderland's [really Sutherland's] regiment — tho' wounded himself — suffer'd not much, haveing to do only with the enemies hors which he soon repulsed ; in fine they were so roughly handled and overpowered by numbers that at last they were quite broke. Lieftenant General Hamilton being wounded and taken prisoner at the last charge, and the Duke of Berwick having his hors shot under him was some time amongst the enemie, he was rid over and ill-brused ; however by the help of a trooper got off again. Sheldon who had command of the horse had two kill'd under him." Dumont's account of the cavalry encounter in which he and his regiment took a prominent part does a great deal more than corroborate this description. He describes the Irish cavalry as charging like madmen, and he honestly ad- mits that his own corps was driven back. He also refers to the Casaubon regiment (Huguenots) being repulsed with the loss of twenty killed and wounded. Finally he mentions the Enniskilleners being shaken, and the failure to induce them to charge again. This was the moment when he nearly killed one of them already referred to. Berwick states in his Memoirs that at the Boyne he and the cavalry " charged and charged again ten times, until the enemy amazed at our boldness halted." While these events had been happening in the centre and on the right, Lauzun with King James in person had taken up a position on the left opposite to the corps, 10,000 1 64 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE strong, under young Schomberg. Lauzun had 5500 French infantry, three excellent regiments of Irish cavalry and dragoons, and the only artillery with the whole army. Here then, if anywhere on the Boyne, the Jacobite army was on something like an equahty with its assailant. Here, too, it did least of all. Let James tell his own story of that part of the battle which passed under his eyes, and in reading it let us bear in mind what Macpherson said of him, that with all his faults James had a punctiHous regard for accuracy of fact, and that few of his literal statements have ever been controverted. " Sir Neale O'Neal's dragoons did their part very well, and disputed the passage with the enemie almost an hour till their cannon came up and then retired in good order with the loss only of five or six common men but their Collonel was shot through the thigh and an officer or two wounded. No sooner had the enemie passed there but they stretched out their line to the right as if they designed to take us in the flank or get between us and Dublin which Mons de Lausune seeing marched with the left to keep up with them and observe their motion ; while this was a-doing the King went to the right to hasten up the troops to follow Lausune believeing the main body of the enemie's army was following their right which had passed at Slane, but when the King came up he found the Duke of Tyrconnell with the right wing of hors and Dragoons, and the two first brigades of the first line drawn up before old bridg, from which post he did not think fit to draw them, the Cannon and baggage not being far enugh advanced on their way towards Dublin. However the rest of the foot marched by their flank towards Lausune, and the King took the reserve consisting of Purcel's hors and Brown's foot with which he marched till he came up to that rear of the foot that followed Lausune, and then ordering Sir Charles Carny, who commanded the reserve, to post himself at the right of the first line of those foot to make a sort of left wing there. Then (the King) rid along the line where he found Lausune and the enemie's right ^ia'^^< ^^€'-a^/7^. yfr>M/ Me , /n^/Aa/A/>, /i4e/ra»Jeyidffr-/ty^^^^4^yC^U^t^ye>^.''^a/fif-/