Here they took post, but as the yeomen moved up the hill, the insurgents poured upon them with such impetuosity and vehemence, that they were in an instant utterly discomfited, with the loss of seventy privates and two officers, all infantry, for none of the cavalry fell. The officers were Captain Chamney of the Coolattin, and Captain Nixon of the Coolkenna corps; besides numbers were wounded. Sixty privates, under Captain Moreton of the Tinahely, and Lieutenant Chamney of the Coolattin yeomen, retreated into Captain Chamney's house at the foot of the hill, whither they were pursued by the insurgents, who continued to attack them all night, but they were resisted with the utmost bravery and coolness, and at length repulsed with considerable loss, to which it is probable the light afforded by a house adjoining, that of Mr. Henry Moreton, (which had been set on fire by the insurgents in their phrensy,) contributed not a little, as it enabled those within to aim with precision at the assailants. It was several times attempted to fire the house, by approaching the door under the cover of feather-beds, which proved unsuccessful.

The Wexford insurgents next fixed their station near the White-heaps, at the foot of Croghan-mountain; from whence they moved during the night of the 4th, towards Wicklow-gap, but were met on the morning of the 5th by the army under Sir James Duff from Carnew; and after some salutes from the artillery, they were obliged to take another direction, and turned towards Gorey. But the fact is, that they were surrounded by four powerful detachments, before they could perceive the approach of any, in consequence of a fog so dense that it was impossible to distinguish objects at the distance of twenty yards; and finding themselves unable to withstand a battle,

they broke through the pursuing cavalry of Sir James Duff's army, of whom they slew about eighty; and moved with great celerity in the direction of Carnew. But upon their arrival at a place called Craneford, by others Ballygullen, they resolved to make resistance and await the approach of the troops, however numerous, although their own force was by this time considerably diminished. They however maintained the contest for an hour and a half, displaying the greatest valor, and most intrepid resolution; having repulsed the cavalry, and driven the artillerymen three times from their cannon, all performed by their gunsmen; for the pikemen, as on former occasions, never came into action; but fresh reinforcements of the army pouring in on all sides, they were obliged to give way, quitting the field of battle with little loss to themselves, and notwithstanding all their fatigue, retreating, with their usual agility and swiftness, in different directions; but agreed among themselves to assemble again at Carrigrew. A party of these refugees were met by the Rev. Peter Browne, dean of Ferns, who was suffered to pass, and he instantly posted to Ferns, to inform the King's County militia, quartered there, of the route of the flying insurgents. The military accordingly set out, with all speed, on the pursuit, and killed such of the straggling peasantry as they met or came up to without mercy. The insurgents thus harassed and hunted, thought it advisable, upon meeting at Carrigrew, to disperse, and thus put an end to the warfare in the county of Wexford.

A party of insurgents in the county of Kildare, under the command of Mr. William Aylmer, still held out in arms, and thither the remaining body of the Wexford men, commanded by Mr. Fitzgerald, accompanied by Mr. Garret Byrne, and some Wick

low men, directed their course to form a junction, which they accordingly effected. This associated force moved from Prosperous to Clonard, where they met a most determined and successful resistance from Lieutenant Tyrrel, a yeoman officer, who, with his corps, had occupied a fortified house in the town. These delayed the assailants until reinforcements arrived from Kinnegad and Mullingar, when they were forced to give up the enterprise.

After this repulse, the few remaining Wexford men separated from their Wicklow associates, whom they deemed less warlike than themselves, and made different incursions into the counties of Kildare, Meath, Louth, and Dublin, eluding, as well as they could, the pursuit of the army, with different parties of which they had frequent skirmishes. The night of the repulse at Donard, they committed some depredations in the village of Carbery, in the county of Kildare. On the next day, pursued by different parties of military, they marched into the county of Meath, where they were overtaken and put to flight by Colonel Gough, commanding a detachment of the county of Limerick militia from Edenderry. After this, two of their leaders, Mr. Perry and the Rev. Mr. Kearns, endeavoring to make their escape by themselves, were taken, tried, and condemned by court-martial, and executed at Edenderry. Unable to effect any thing in the county of Meath, the Wexford men crossed the Boyne, near Duleek, into the county of Louth, where, being pursued from place to place, they made a most gallant resistance to the cavalry of Major-general Wemys and Brigadier-general Meyrick, who overtook them between the town of Ardee and the Boyne; but the infantry and artillery coming up, they were defeated with some loss, and fled into an adjoining bog, where they were se

cure from pursuit. In the night, a small party set off towards Ardee, and dispersed, each as he best could, making way by devious and circuitous routes homeward. The remaining body repassed the Boyne, and, with their usual celerity, were on the direct road towards Dublin, when intercepted by Captain Gordon, of the Dumfries light dragoons, at the head of a strong party of horse and foot, at Ballyboghill, near Swords, where they werefinally put to the rout, and were never more collected.

Some Wexford insurgents, however, remained with Mr. Fitzgerald, along with Mr. Aylmer, who as outstanding chiefs negotiated with General Dundas, to whom they surrendered on the 12th of July, on condition that all the other leaders who had adventured with them, should be at liberty to retire whither they pleased out of the British dominions. The same terms were afterwards secured by General Moore to Mr. Garret Byrne, who was sent into confinement in the castle of Dublin, together with Messrs. Fitzgerald and Aylmer. Here they continued until the beginning of 1799, when Lord Cornwallis permitted them to retire to England, where they remained until the 25th of March following, when Messrs. Fitzgerald and Byrne were arrested at Bristol, (where they were for the recovery of their health,) at the instance of persons connected with a strong Irish party for the union, whom it was thought at that time advisable to indulge. These gentlemen afterwards retired to Hamburgh.

Messrs. Aylmer, Fitzgerald, and other outstanding chiefs surrendered, conditioning for themselves and others, by which they fared much better than those who laid down their arms in Wexford, depending on the faithful fulfilment of the terms entered into with Lord Kingsborough.

General Lake, previous to his departure from Wexford, appointed a committee to superintend prosecutions, and to grant passes to leave the country, consisting of the principal gentlemen then resident there. The appropriate duty of this body was, to inquire specially into the cases of such prisoners as they should hand over to be tried by court-martial, to procure the evidence for prosecution, and to commit different persons to jail. It was not, however, deemed necessary to send a committal to the jailer, as the word of any of them was considered sufficient for the detention of any of those given in custody; and they were also to act as a kind of council to General Hunter, whose benevolent disposition they thwarted on several occasions; and this was so well known, that many upon being put into confinement, were induced by their apprehensions to petition for transportation, rather than abide a trial under their direction. The tyrannical, unjust, and inhuman disposition of this body is strongly exemplified in their unwarrantable treatment of many besides myself, which I have endeavored to detail in my preliminary discourse.

Different court-martials were instituted in Ross, Enniscorthy, Gorey, and Newtownbarry, and several persons were condemned and executed, and others were sentenced to transportation. Among those who were condemned to be executed, I cannot avoid noticing the case of the Rev. John Redmond, a Catholic priest, who it seems, during the insurrection, had done all in his power to save the house of Lord Mountnorris from being plundered, which he in some degree effected, but not at all to the extent of his wishes. Lord Mountnorris, however, to prevent the possibility of his being supposed by any one in future a friend to Catholics, sent for Mr. Redmond,