XXXII. The army of Schomberg received fresh reinforce- CHAP. ments of English and Dutch troops, of Brandenburghers from Germany, and was at last rejoiced by the arrival of king William himself, who landed at Carrickfergus on the fourteenth of June in the year 1690. K 2 СНАР. XXXIII. Progress of William. 1690. Progress of king William-Proceedings of king James -Reconnoitering at the Boyne-William wounded -Battle of the Boyne-Flight of James-State of Dublin-Proceedings of William-Foreign transactions-Proceedings of the catholics-Progress of William-Reduction of the south eastern towns -Repulse of Douglas at Athlone-Description of Limerick-Attack of Limerick-Artillery destroyed by Sarsfield-Storming of Limerick-RepulseReturn of William from Ireland-His character. CHAP. HAVING received by Walker an address from the northern clergy, and published a proclamation to suppress lawless violence, king William advanced without delay from Belfast, by Lisburne, to Hillsborough. Here a yearly pension of twelve hundred pounds, which was afterwards inserted in the civil list, and made payable from the exchequer, was granted, by his warrant, out of the customs of Belfast, to the dissenting clergy of Ulster, of whom not a few had exerted a zeal and courage against the jacobites, and all had suffered by the calamity of war. XXXIII. war. "I came not to Ireland to let grass grow un- CHAP. der my feet," was the reply of this wise and martial monarch to some officers who advised caution; and, sensible of the importance of dispatch, he reviewed his assembled forces at Loughbrickland, whence he advanced southward without loss of time. In this review, to the surprize of the officers and the delight of the soldiers, instead of contenting himself with a general survey from some convenient point, as had been expected, he rode through the midst of the troops, examining with eagerness and close attention the state of every regiment, notwithstanding a storm and clouds of dust with which he was incommoded. In his march he lived as a soldier, riding all the day with an advanced party, and taking his quarters in the camp at night, with less attention to his own accommodation than to that of his men, insomuch that, when he was requested to sign an order for wine for his own table, he exclaimed with emotion," let them not want; I shall drink water." The forces of James retired before him from Dundalk and Ardee, and took post on the southern side of the Boyne, near Drogheda, to the northern side of which river the army of William arrived on the thirtieth of June, while his fleet coasted slowly in view, ready to supply him with provisions and other necessaries. 1650. James, who had imagined William to be de-Proceedings tained in England by violent factions, surprised at of James. the news of his arrival, not until six days after his landing at Carrickfergus, marched with six thou CHAP sand French infantry to the main body of his troops XXXIII. at the Boyne, leaving Dublin under a guard of militia commanded by Lutterel, the governor. As the French monarch had promised to send, as soon as the squadron attending William should have returned, a fleet of frigates into the Irish channel, to destroy the transports of that prince, and thereby to detain him in Ireland, until domestic insurrection, aided by invasion, might operate in Britain to the restoration of its former sovereign, James was advised by his council of officers to decline an engagement, to retire to the Shannon with his cavalry and some foot, to strengthen his garrisons, to protract the war by a defensive plan, and thus to await the result of machinations in Britain, and the probable wasting of William's army in a country of experienced insalubrity to English constitutions. On the other hand the king declared his resolution of maintaining his post, and his satisfaction in the opportunity of a decisive battle; alledging that his abandoning of the capital would operate, as an acknowledgement of his inferiority, to the desertion of the Irish, who were apt to judge merely from appearances, and, which would be worse, to the discouragement of the schemes formed by his friends in Britain for his restoration. From the force of his expressions his officers conceived the expectation of his taking an active and determined part in the approaching battle: yet he betrayed his diffidence by his precaution in sending Sir Patrick Trant, one of his commissioners of revenue, to en gage gage a ship at Waterford for his conveyance to France CHA P. in case of his discomfiture. XXXIII. Reconnoi William, intent on dispatch and decision, advanc-tering at ed toward the Boyne, at the dawn, on the thirtieth the Boyne of June, with his army in three columns, and arrived at nine o'clock, at the head of his vanguard, within two miles of Drogheda, seated on both sides of that river. From a hill to the west of this town. he reconnoitered the position of James's army; and, as the view was partly intercepted by some hills on the opposite side of the river, he proceeded with some officers, for more distinct observation, within musket shot of a ford opposite to the village of Oldbridge, thence to some distance westward, and, at length alighting for refreshment, seated himself on a rising ground with his attendants. As Berwick, Tyrconnel, and other leaders of the Jacobites, were reconnoitering on their side, they discovered the situation of William, and formed a plan for his destruction. About forty horsemen, appearing in a ploughed field opposite to his ground, in a short time retired, leaving two field-pieces, which they had concealed in their center, planted, and masked under a hedge. At the instant of his remounting, a man and two horses, on a line with the king, at some distance, were slain by one bullet; and another immediately succeeding, grazed the river's banks, rose, and slanted on his right shoulder with a superficial wound. As, from the appearance of his attendants, who crowded round him in conf sion, a belief of his death was entertained by the enemy, a universal K 4 |