which they brought from the battle of Hacketstown, in the road. Here they lay till the cavalry came up in full speed, on which the rebels opened a most tremendous fire of musketry on them; and being securely sheltered, the cavalry could do no execution, and were obliged to gallop, stooping under cover of the hedges; and not being cautious enough to avoid the carts in the road, rode against some of them and were overthrown: those behind pressing forward, and being also obliged to stoop, could not see them in time to stop, therefore tumbled one over another, horse over horse, whilst some of the horses feet got entangled in the carts, so that the road was strewed with men and horses plunging and tumbling about. The rebels, taking advantage of this confusion, rushed on them, piked and shot twenty-five of the Ancient Britons, eleven of the fifth dragoons, six Gorey cavalry, two Ballaghkeene cavalry, and two loyalists who went out with the patrole, and wounded many others. The remainder escaped and passed on through Carnew, took another rout and arrived safely at Gorey. During this transaction, the Wingfield dismounted cavalry and infantry, under captain Gowen, came up with the rebels, and being dressed in coloured clothes, they thought they were part of their own forces. The yeomanry seeing their opportunity, attacked them with great spirit, killed a number of them, and made their retreat without the loss of a man.

The rebels having acquired a strength of arms and ammunition by the defeat of the cavalry, and knowing that Carnew was only garrisoned by about fifty yeomen, resolved on attacking it; but the yeomanry being informed of their intentions, took post in a malt-house, and repulsed them with great slaughter. The rebels then retired to Ballyellis, and in their retreat plundered and destroyed a new house, the property of Sir John Jervis White.

They then repaired to Kilcaven, whence, after a short stay, they proceeded to Ballyraheen-hill. In their march they killed twelve loyalists, and burned several houses.

They were pursued by detachments of the Wingfield and Shillelah cavalry, the Tinahely infantry, the Coolatin and the

Kilkenna; the whole making near two hundred men. These troops endeavoured to get to Ballyraheen-hill before the rebels, but could not. They found them advantageously posted behind hedges, and notwithstanding that, and their great superiority in numbers, engaged them upwards of half an hour; but were at last obliged to retreat. Captain Chamney of the Coolatin, captain Nixon of the Kilkenna, and seventeen privates were killed, and a number wounded. The victors then attacked captain Chamney's house, but were repulsed with loss by lieutenant Chamney, who, with several yeomen, had taken post in it for its defence.

1

The rebel force now assembled on a large hill which separates the counties of Wexford and Wicklow, called the Whiteheaps, and remained there until the fifth of July, when two columns arrived, one under sir James Duff, the other under general Needham, with intention to surround the hill and make a general attack. The rebels having previously received information of the movement of the king's troops, moved off the hill very early in the morning; but were intercepted by the column under sir James Duff, and after a few rounds of grape shot were obliged to change the course of their retreat. They were closely pursued by sir James, and were soon after perceived by general Needham, who immediately joined in the pursuit, and finding that he was at too great a distance for his infantry to come up with them, he pushed on with his cavalry, ordering the infantry to follow, and in a short time joined sir James Duff. After a pursuit of twelve miles, during which many of them threw away their clothes, the rebels resolved to come to an engagement, being almost exhausted with hunger and fatigue. For this purpose they formed behind the hedges and waited the attack of the troops.

When sir James arrived he began the attack by a discharge of grape-shot from his curricle guns, and the contest continued for some time; but when the infantry came up, the rebels were routed with great slaughter. The loss of the army amounted to about twenty, that of the rebels to about a hundred.

We shall now return to view the operations of the principal body of rebels under general Perry, in which consisted the principal strength of the conspiracy, leaving the remnant of the force defeated by general Duff to carry on that desultory warfare which they for some time maintained in the Wicklow mountains.

CHAPTER XII.

GENERAL Perry finding it would be impossible to do any more execution in the county of Wexford, it being so full of troops, and the rebel forces at the same time considerably diminished, now proceeded to the county of Kildare, where he formed a junction with a large body of rebels commanded by Michael Aylmer, expecting to penetrate into the north of Ireland; but Aylmer prevailed on him to abandon that enterprise and attack Clonard, as there was but a small force to defend it; then march by Kilbeggen to the Shannon and surprise Athlone, where he expected great reinforcements. This plan being adopted, their united forces marched on the eleventh of July to put it into execution.

The military at Clonard were unapprised of the intention of the rebels until they were informed of their approach. Every preparation was immediately made. The yeomen assembled, and under the direction of lieutenant Tyrrel, were placed in the most advantageous positions. An old turret at the end of the lieutenant's garden, which commanded the road the rebels were advancing by, was occupied by six of the corps, one of whom was the lieutenant's son, only sixteen years old. The rebels advanced so rapidly that the gate leading to the court-yard was obliged to be closed before all the guard assembled; so that when lieutenant Tyrrel came to ascertain his strength, he had but twenty-seven men, including his own three sons, the eldest

of whom was only eighteen years of age. Such a critical situation required all the firmness, skill, and intrepidity of a veteran. Though the lieutenant had never served in any military capacity, his good sense supplied the want of experience, and his courage furnished resources adequate to the magnitude of the occasion. His men were equally zealous and determined to maintain their post. After sending a supply of ammunition to the advanced post at the turret, he retired into his dwelling house with the main body, of whom he selected the best marksmen, placed them at those windows from which they were most likely to annoy the enemy, and requested that they would not fire without taking good aim.

The advanced guard of the rebels, consisting of three hundred cavalry, commanded by Andrew Farrell, approached the turret, apprehending no danger. Young Tyrrel fired the first shot, which mortally wounded Farrell; and the rest immediately fired on the cavalry, which threw them into such confusion that they fled beyond the reach of their guns. The rebel infantry then coming up, passed the turret under cover of a wall, and taking post behind a hedge, on the other side of the road, maintained a constant fire on it, but without effect. The infantry which had passed the turret being joined by another party which had advanced by a different road, for they purposed surrounding the town, stationed a strong guard on the bridge, to prevent any reinforcements from arriving in that direction. The marksmen at the windows soon put to flight this guard, after killing ten or twelve of them, and not one of them appeared afterwards on the bridge, so that the communication with the western road was preserved, which we shall find to have been of considerable importance.

Being thus defeated in the first onset, the rebels became enraged, and determined on revenge. A large party contrived to get into the garden, and some of them rushed into the turret. The yeomen were upon the upper floor, and had dragged up the ladder by which they ascended. The rebels then endeavoured to climb up on each other and get into the upper story; but as fast as they appeared they were killed by the yeomen. Some ran pikes into the floor, and others fired through it, but