nard Cavalry, by lieutenant Tyrell; and the Ballina Cavalry, by captain O'Ferrall.

The general disposed the cavalry so as to surround the bog, while the infantry attacked the camp on the island. The contest lasted some time, as there were but a small number of infantry; however they at last forced the camp and dispersed the rebels; of whom great numbers were slain in their flight by the cavalry.

A detachment of the Limerick, the Coolestown, the Canal Legion, and a party of Northumberland fencibles, attacked about six hundred rebels, who were posted on Foxes-hill; and whom they entirely routed with considerable slaughter.

No where did the rebels shew more fully their want of prudence, and their vain confidence, than in the attack which they made upon Hacketstown in the county of Carlow, fortyfour miles from Dublin. On their approach to the town, the garrison, which consisted of a detachment of the Antrim militia, under lieutenant Gardiner, and a body of yeomen under captain Hardy, marched out to meet them; but terrified by their numbers (about three thousand) they retreated and took shelter in the barrack. Exulting at their imaginary victory, the rebels raised a triumphant shout, and rushed forward with impetuosity, but in the utmost confusion. In this situation they were dexterously charged by captain Hume, who most fortunately arrived at that instant with thirty of his yeomen, completely routed and dispersed, with the loss of two hundred men. Lieutenant Gardiner received a violent blow on

the breast with a stone; and only one soldier was hurt.

On the morning of the twenty-fourth, the officers of the Navan cavalry, John Preston, Esq. captain, dispatched intelligence by letter to the officer commanding the garrison at Kells, to request he would send them such troops as he could spare for their protection; as they had been informed of the insurrections at Dunboyne and Dunshaugħlin, and that the rebels had planted the tree of liberty at the latter. Captain Molloy, immediately on receipt of this intelligence, marched the yeomen infantry and cavalry to their assistance; but on his arrival, finding that the town was not in immediate danger of an attack, he returned to Kells for the protection of its inhabi

A a

tants, and of a large depot of ammunition there, which was endangered by his absence. A detachment was then ordered to proceed towards Dunshaughlin, and to reconnoiter the enemy. As they returned with information that the mass of the people were in arms, Mr. Barry, lieutenant of the Navan troop, dispatched the following notice to captain Molloy at Kells :

"Sir,-Prepare your yeomanry immediately, as an insurrec“tion has appeared from Dublin to Dunshaughlin, and numbers "have been murdered. Communicate this to all the other "officers."

Of this intelligence captain Molloy apprized the different yeomen officers; and strenuously recommended to them to hold themselves in readiness for action. Captain Preston of the Navan cavalry, understanding that the Rea fencibles were to be in Navan on the night of the twenty-fifth of May, resolved to obtain their assistance in an attack upon the rebel station at Dunshaughlin. His demand of co-operation having been agreed to, and all the yeomanry in the adjacent country having joined them, they proceeded at day-break on the twenty-sixth to Dunshaughlin; which, however, the rebels had previously abandoned, and strongly posted themselves on the hill of Tarah in the county of Meath, eighteen miles northward of Dublin, an eminence well adapted for defence against an attacking foe; but so situated as to be extremely unfavourable to a retreating army, especially if pursued by cavalry. The hill is very steep, surrounded at the top by three circular Danish forts, with ramparts and fosses; and on the summit is the church-yard, enclosed by a high wall. The king's troops, consisting of two hundred and ten of the Rea fencibles, with a battalion gun, lord Fingall's troop of yeoman cavalry, those of captain Preston, lower Kells, and captain MolJoy's company of yeoman infantry, amounted in all to about four hundred men. The rebels, who were perhaps about three thousand in number, no sooner perceived the king's troops advancing, than they uttered loud shouts of exultation, and imme diately began the attack, firing briskly as they advanced. The royal infantry, with the cavalry on their flanks, retained their fire till within about fifty yards of the enemy, when a desperate conflict ensued. The rebels made three furious onsets, in the last of which, with daring resolution, they seized upon the can

non, but before they could completely surround her, the officer who commanded had applied the match, and the succeeding discharge destroyed ten or twelve of the assailants and dispersed the remainder. The whole body of rebels, by the steadiness and valour of the king's troops, were at length routed in all directions, with the loss of about four hundred in killed and wounded, and three hundred horses captured; together with all their arms, ammunition, baggage, and provisions. The victors lost about forty men, and had expended their whole ammunition before the rebels were put to flight. In the pockets of some of the killed were found popish prayer-books, beads, rosaries, crucifixes, pious ejaculations to Christ and to the Virgin Mary, and a variety of republican songs.

This signal victory laid open the communication betwixt the capital and the northern parts of the kingdom, as that at Rathangan did betwixt it and the western. Discouraged by these and other defeats, many of the rebels began to wish for leave to retire in safety to their houses, and to return to their peaceable occupations. General Dundas, on the twenty-eighth of May, received at his head-quarters at Naas, by Thomas Kelly, Esq. a magistrate, a message from a rebel chief named Perkins, who commanded a body of two thousand men at Knochawlin-hill, on the border of the Curragh of Kildare, a plain twenty-two miles south westward of Dublin, expressing a readiness to surrender their arms, provided they were allowed to retire unmolested to their respective houses, and that Perkins' brother, then in the jail of Naas, should be liberated. The general not considering himself authorised to conclude a treaty with the rebels, sent to Dublin for instructions; and having received permission, proceeded to Knockawlin on the thirty-first; where, after he had received the personal surrendry of Perkins and a few of his associates, he granted pardon to the rest, who immediately dispersed with shouts of joy, leaving behind them thirteen cartloads of pikes.

This peaceable disposition, however, was unfortunately blasted three days afterwards by military licentiousness and want of that strict attention to discipline, so indispensibly requisite when a country is in a state of insurrection. In order to open the communication betwixt Dublin and Limerick, major-general

Duff had made a rapid march from the latter with six hundred men, and received intelligence that a very considerable body of rebels had assembled at the Gibbit-rath, on the Currah, for the purpose of availing themselves of the permission to surrender which had been granted to them by general Dundas. Unfortunately general Dundas was not present to receive the submission of this body himself. General Duff's troops were accordingly ordered to approach them for this purpose. On the advance of the military, one of the rebels thoughtlessly swore he would not deliver up his piece loaded, and, presenting it with the muzzle upwards, discharged its contents in the air. The troops, with a thirst for carnage disgraceful to themselves, and two frequently displayed by the royal forces in the course of the rebellion, affecting to consider this innocent bravado as an act of hostility, instantly fired amongst the rebels. Panicstruck by this unexpected act of treacherous severity, the astonished multitude fled in all directions without offering to make the least resistance. Notwithstanding this, however, a company of fencible cavalry, denominated lord Jocelyn's Fox-hunters, eager to show their valour in the slaughter of an unresisting foe, pursued them with dreadful havoc, till a retreat was sounded, which general Dundas, who was apprehensive of such an accident, perhaps from his knowing well the disposition of the military, had sent an express from his quarters at Kilcullen to order. Upwards of two hundred rebels fell on this occasion; and perhaps a far greater number would have shared the same fate, had not general Dundas's wise measure put a stop to the fury of the troops. We cannot better shew our approbation of the conduct of that gentleman, than by inserting the following address from the corps of Athy loyal infantry, which reflects infinite credit not only on the general himself, but also on the corps by which it was presented:

"To Lieutenant-General Dundas, &c. "Sir,-The arrangements, which follow the termination of a glorious war, being likely to deprive us of the man whose wise and humane conduct saved the lives of thousands, we "cannot suffer the opportunity to pass, without expressing to

"our brave general the sentiments of gratitude with which our "hearts are filled.

"Placed at the head of our district, during, a period most "eventful and calamitous, your command has been distinguish"ed by the zeal of your conduct, and the humanity of your "counsel, surrounded by armed bands of our misguided countrymen. You first subdued them by your sword, and them "disarmed them by your clemency. In you, sir, we have "seen the brightest ornament of the soldier's character-humani"ty, united with true courage. And when the unprejudiced "historian shall write the events of the day, the name of Dun"das will be applauded by rising generations.

"Your kind partiality and attention to the Athy yeoman "infantry, raised on the spur of the moment, have induced "them to offer this (the only tribute in their power) to their "revered general. Wherever you go, you will carry with you "their invariable attachment, and the applauses of all true lovers "of their country and of humanity.

"For the corps of Athy loyal yeoman infantry, T. I. RAWSON, Captain."

Athy, 1st Jan. 1802.

Though the conduct of this general officer, especially in the affair at Old Kilcullen, where he injudiciously ordered the cavalry to attack the rebel pikemen, has been severely censured by many persons; yet it ought to be taken into consideration, that that error by no means attaches to him individually, and is no proof of his deficiency in military skill. It appears to have been an universal opinion, until fatal experience brought conviction to the contrary, that cavalry were of greater service in the attack. of men armed with pikes than infantry. Of this the formation of so many bodies of yeomen cavalry, and the paucity of infantry, is a convincing proof. The general's conduct appears to have been no less satisfactory to the loyal inhabitants of the district in which he commanded, than to the corps of Athy loyal infantry. This they gratefully acknowledged in an address, published in the Dublin Evening Post, accompanied with the presentation of a piece of plate, as a testimony of their respect and veneration.