invader, best typified by the "vengeful hornet" of the poet, that 'Repuls'd in vain, and thirsty still of gore, (Bold son of air and heat!) on angry wings, Untam'd, untir'd, still turns, attacks, and stings!"'99 With such persevering bravery, though deserted if not actually betrayed by their French allies, did the Irish resist the great military and financial resources Ginckle's cavalry, under Brigadier Leveson and Major Wood. (Story, Cont. Hist. p. 61, 62, 69, 181 & 182. Harris, p. 297 & 334.) The present Major General Sir William Parker Carroll, of Tulla House, near Nenagh, so distinguished in the Spanish service during the Peninsular War, and now Military Governor of the Western District of Ireland, is, if I am not mistaken, one of the race of the brave Anthony Carroll Fada. 99 Story thus describes the judicious system of irregular warfare which the Irish carried on against the English quarters during the winter of 1690 and 1691. "As to any public action," says he, "little of moment hapned for some time after we returned to our winter quarters, tho' the Rapparees, being encouraged by our withdrawing, were very troublesome all the country over. doing much more mischief at this time o' th' year, than any thing that had the face of an Army could pretend to. When the Irish understood therefore how our men were posted all along the line, and what advantages might be hoped for at such and such places, they not only encouraged all the protected Irish to do us secretly all the mischief they could, either by concealed arms, or private intelligence... but they let loose a great part of their Army to manage the best for themselves, that time and opportunity would allow them to all these they gave passes, signifying to what Regiment they belonged, that in case they were taken, they might not be dealt withal as Rapparees but souldiers. These men knew the country, nay, all the secret corners, woods and bogs; keeping a constant correspondence with one another, and also with the [Irish] Army, who furnished them with all necessaries, especially ammunition. When they had any project on foot, their method was not to appear in a body, for then they would have been discovered; and not only so, but carriages and several other things had been wanting... Their way was therefore, to make a private appointment to meet at such of William's government, backed by a regular force alone of above 41,000 men, or an army larger in number than England ever displayed upon any one point of the continent of Europe, even during the period of her most vigorous exertions in the late war against Napoleon, till the memorable battle of Waterloo !" 100 And this resistance to Englandsupported under such disheartening circumstances to the Irish, and maintained, not, it should be remembered, by a hostile national confederacy of Irish a pass or wood, precisely at such a time o' th' night or day as it stood with their conveniency; and tho' you could not see a man over night, yet exactly at their hour you might find three or four hundred, more or less, as they had occasion, all well armed, and ready for what design they had formerly projected; but if they hapned to be discovered, or overpowered, they presently dispersed, having before-hand appointed another place of rendezous, 10 or 12 miles (it may be) from the place they then were at; by which means our men could never fix any close engagement upon them during the winter." Then, after mentioning, amongst other things, the prejudice done by the Rapparees to the English army in cutting off its provisions, and after relating some trifling advantages gained in different directions over those Irish irregulars by parties of William's forces, the English annalist adds "Yet, for all this, the enemy watched all opportunities of advantage, killing our men by surprize in a great many places; but especially, keeping correspondence with the protected Irish in all corners of the country, they stole away our horses sometimes in the night, and often in the noon day, when our men least expected it; by which means they recruited their own horse considerably and did us no small disservice; nor is it probable, unless they had made use of some such ways, they could have brought any body of horse into the field, worth taking notice of, the suc ceeding campaign, whereas we were sensible afterwards that their horse were once not contemptible!" (Cont. Hist. p. 50 & 55.) Such is the excellent character of the Rapparees as irregulars, given by the hostile testimony of Story. 100 England, according to Mr. Alison, never collected together above 40,000 upon any one point of the Continent, till the battle of Waterloo. In that engagement, the British men in general, but only by about three provinces of Ireland, against England, assisted by the fourth province, and by no inconsiderable party in the other three-this resistance, I say, took place at a time, when the entire population of Ireland was not, as at present, between 8 and 9,000,000 of souls, but, at the very highest computation, no more than 1,500,000 inhabitants! 101 Yet this is the nation which has been accused of having "always fought badly at home" by the superficial criticism of Voltaire ! While James's army, whose immediate territory was now confined to Limerick, Kerry, Clare, Connaught, and a few places to the east of the Shannon, were thus holding out against the enemy, though struggling with the greatest difficulties on account of the delay of pecuniary and military supplies from France, William's forces, in addition to what they derived from the "free quarters" upon which they lived as in an "enemy's country," and thereby drove numbers to turn Rapparees in self-defence, 102 were force, including the King's German Legion, was in all about 45,000 men. (Hist. of Europe, &c. vol. 1. p. 518, & vol. VII. p. 540.) How much those representatives of the " British heart and the British arm" would have been reduced by withdrawing the proportion that came from the ST. PATRICK'S side of St. George's Channel, has been already seen. Stripp'd of his borrow'd plumes, the crow, forlorn, 101 See Introduction to the Parliamentary Census Report for Ireland in 1821, p. vI. & VII. 102 Harrls, page 282, 283, 287, 290, 295, &c. Dalrymple, vol. 111. p. 49. The conduct of William's army towards the Rapparees and the Irish peasantry in general is sufficiently daily receiving reinforcements of horse and foot from England, and immense quantities of clothes, arms, provisions, ammunition, money, and, in short, of every thing that could enable them to open the campaign of 1691 with the fairest prospects of success,' 103 On ́the commencement of active operations in June, William's regular army in Ireland under Lieutenant General Ginckle amounted to 67 regiments of Bri illustrated by the following extracts from Dr. Lesley and King James. The Doctor says, that "many of the Protestants did loudly attest, and many of the country gentlemen, as likewise several officers of King William's army, who had more bowels or justice than the rest, did abhor to see what small evidence, or even presumption, was thought sufficient to condemn men for Rapparees; and what sport they made to hang up poor Irish people by dozens, almost without pains to examine them;" in fine, observes the Doctor, "they hardly thought them human kind." King James adds, with respect to the Prince of Orange's army, that "they cared not what load they laid upon the inhabitants of the country, . . and made no difficulty of treating them like slaves for the better relief of their troops; of which," continues the King, "there could not be a greater instance, than the contrivance they made use of to redeem 3,000 of those prisoners which the French had lately taken at Flerus (Fleurus) and other places, pretending they had so many in Ireland and would send them to be exchanged; whereas they had not in reality 1000, the rest were poor people of the country they gather'd togather and sent away by force, which the Irish complained of, as a piece of cruelty they would have made a scruple of doing to Indians, or the most barberous nation in the world." (Mem. vol. 11. p. 435 & 6.) This infamous kidnapping was almost if not quite as bad as the conduct of Colonel Stubbers, Cromwell's governor of Galway, and the detestable villains commanding under him in that county in 1652 & 3, who, at various times, took poor creatures out of their beds at night, to the number altogether of 1,000 persons, and sold them for slaves to the Indies. (Curry, vol. II. Appendix, p. 350 & 51.) For similar performances of the "British heart and the British arm," at the close of the LAST century, see Mr. Charles Hamilton Teeling's Personal Narrative of the Irish Rebellion, ch. 1. p. 6. 103 Story, Cont. Hist. p. 71-82. tish and Continental troops, in the very highest state of equipment and discipline, forming altogether a force of 37,549 men, or of 29,610 foot and 7,939 horse.104 Besides these, there were, in good order, either to defend the English towns or other posts, or to assist the regular army, when necessary, a powerful body of Irish militia, avowedly under 104 Of the 67 regiments, of which Ginckle's regular force consisted, 42 were foot, 20 horse, and 5 dragoons (Story, Cont. Hist. p. 316); the foot regiments averaging 705, the horse 286, and the dragoons 443-4 men, each. The grounds of this computation are the following. We find that the force which William commanded at the Boyne, stated at 36,000 complete, contained 38 regiments of foot, 23 of horse, 5 of dragoons, and 2 troops of guards. This army, when reviewed near Dublin after the Boyne, formed, without officers, sergeants, sick, absent, &c. a force of 30,330 soldiers. These officers, sergeants, &c. consequently amounted to about a fifth or 5670; this being the difference between 30,330 and 36,000. The same proportion that 30,330 bears to 36,000 will each separate force of foot, horse, and dragoons in 30,330 bear to its complete number in the 36,000. This is shown from Story's Table (Imp. Hist. p. 95, 6 & 7) and the rule of three, as follows: Foot. ARITHMETICAL PROOFS. Horse. Dragoons. 38) 22,579...26,800 23) 5,544...6,580 5) 1,870...2,219 594... 705 241... 286 374... 443-4 Ꮓ |