CHAPTER XV.

ON the twenty-fourth of August, Lord Cornwallis received intelligence of the landing of the French troops, and immediately ordered a force, which was thought to be more than sufficient for the purpose, to proceed to that quarter. Majorgeneral Hutchinson arrived at Castlebar on the twenty-fifth, from Galway, and was joined the following night by lieutenantgeneral Lake, who had been ordered by lord Cornwallis to take the command of the forces assembled in Connaught, to oppose the French army. The forces then collected amounted to between three and four thousand men; yet the generals did not wish to attack the enemy until more forces arrived; therefore intended to remain at Castlebar a few days. General Humbert wisely chose the offensive rather than the defensive part in the attack; and accordingly marched with the utmost diligence to attack the forces at Castlebar, and would have surprised the king's army before day-light, had it not been for the extreme ruggedness of the roads by which he advanced.

Very few of the inhabitants joined the French on their landing at Killalla; but when the latter gained possession of Ballina, great numbers flocked to their standard, and received the arms and clothing which had been sent for them by the French government.

In order to excite rebellion before too powerful an army could possibly be collected to overwhelm him, general Humbert

determined to attack the forces at Castlebar; he therefore commenced his march early in the morning of the twenty-sixth, with about eight hundred French troops, and near two thousand of the Irish peasantry. Instead of the common road which goes through the town of Foxford, where general Taylor with a body of troops, had been stationed, to watch the movements of the enemy, Humbert advanced over mountains which had hitherto been deemed impassable to an army, and where his further progress might have been stopped by a single company, with two pieces of artillery, at a place called the gap of Barnageehy, six miles from Castlebar, had our army been apprised of his approach in that direction. The artillery of the invaders consisted of only two small curricle guns, the carriage of one of which had broke down, owing to the ruggedness of the road, and caused a considerable delay in their march, which was very fortunate for our army.

At two o'clock in the morning of the twenty-seventh, information was received at Castlebar, of the approach of the enemy through the mountains. At seven they were within three miles of the town. Our army was immediately drawn up in an advantageous position, with fourteen pieces of artillery, between the town and the assailants. The royal army was greatly superior to that of the French, both in numbers and freshness of the men, who were free from fatigue, while the enemy were almost exhausted with scrambling over the mountains, near twenty hours, without repose, from which circumstance our troops promised themselves an easy victory. In the beginning of the action, appearances were favourable to their expectations, as the enemy were three times driven back by the fire of our artillery, which was well managed under the directions of captain Shortall. These veterans, however, were determined not to retreat; "though from the appearance and excellent disposition of our army, they expected nothing but to be obliged to surrender themselves prisoners of war, and as the Irish insurgents were as yet of little or no use to them in an engagement. The enemy then filed away in small parties, both to the right and left, as if they intended to attack our troops in flank, and some of them advanced to the left, so as al

most to touch the points of the Frazer fencibles. The French had lost many of their number, principally by the fire of our artillery, and had fired very few shots, when the royal army, seized with an unaccountable panic, broke on all sides, notwithstanding the utmost exertions of the officers, and retreated in the greatest confusion into the town, and when the enemy advanced they fled on the road to Tuam.

A amall party of French soldiers pursued the flying army upwards of a mile from the town, when a party of lord Roden's cavalry wheeled and cut them down.

Still our army seemed panic struck, and retreated so precipitately as to reach the town of Tuam, thirty miles from Castlebar, in the evening of the same day, and after a short refreshment, retired still farther towards Athlone, where an officer of cavalry, with sixty of his men, arrived at one o'clock on Tuesday the twenty-ninth; having performed a march of sixtythree miles in twenty-seven hours!

Our army lost fourteen pieces of artillery in this unexpected defeat; four of which were curricle guns. The loss of men was stated at fifty-three killed, thirty-four wounded, and two hundred and seventy-nine missing. Among the wounded were two lieutenants and three serjeants; and among the missing were two staff-officers, two majors, three captains, six lieutenants, three ensigns, ten serjeants, and two drummers.

"A melancholy proof, that treason had a hand in the success of the French at Castlebar, was soon exhibited in the bishop's court-yard. Fifty-three deserters from the Longford militia marched in, amidst the shouts of the multitude, with their coats turned, and there exchanged the uniforms given them by their sovereign, for the blue coats of France! It was a strange sight, and to protestant spectators, most provoking. To comfort the bishop, the commissary made him a present of the deserters' uniforms. He took the gift, foreseeing that he should ere long find naked bodies in plenty to cover with them. Report said, that in a few days the rebel camp at Killalla was joined by fourscore more deserters from the Longford and Kilkenny militia. Not a man of these infamous betrayers of their king and country returned alive to his home.

"From the day that succeeded the battle of Castlebar, August twenty-eight, suspence was kept alive at Killalla, by the report of cannon on the inland side, and by the appearance of a squadron of frigates in the offing, which were called French or English according to the wishes of the spectators. These ships varied in number, from one or two to five, appearing irresolute what course to take, till at length three* went off towards Sligo; a fourth, of thirty-two guns, with a cutter of sixteen, continuing hovering in the bay, and was at one time near losing her cutter on the bar. The French cherished hopes that it might be the squadron they expected from Brest, till on the thirtieth they saw the single frigate send out her boats to destroy two trading vessels, of which the French had taken possession, one to transport their ammunition, just landed, the other to supply the town with forty ton of oatmeal. The crew of this last, seven Frenchmen, were carried to the frigate. The two sloops continued burning all night, and part of the next day. Some of the poor town's-people, venturing to board the oatmeal sloop, to save what they could of so tempting a provision, narrowly escaped death by an eighteen-pounder from the frigate.

"As long as the two hundred French soldiers were suffered to remain for the defence of Killalla, the protestant inhabitants felt themselves perfectly secure, the number of insurgents, that poured in from the country to a camp they formed in the bishop's demesne, increased every hour. The case was sadly altered from the first of September. On that day the commandant showed the bishop an order he had received from general Humbert to send away immediately to Castlebar the whole French garrison of Killalla, none excepted, but M. Charost himself, and another officer of the name of Ponson. These

«These were, as we learned afterwards, the Doris, of thirtysix guns, Lord Ranelagh; the Melampus, ditto, capt. Moore; and the Fox cutter of twelve guns, lieutenant Walsh. The ves sels that stayed were the Cerberus, thirty-two guns, 18 pounders, captain McNamara, and the Hurler cutter, captain J. Norway, carrying sixtcen carronades, 18-pounders."

two were to keep the town with about two hundred of the Irish recruits.

"All the horrors, that had been acted at Wexford, now stared the loyalists in the face. 'Famished wolves are closing ' us on every side,' said they to Charost, and what can two 'men effect, though ever so brave and vigilant?' The commandant desired them to be quiet, assuring them that he would part with his own life sooner than abandon them; but he told the bishop, that as, by staying here to protect the protestants, he ran the hazard of losing his own liberty, he thought it but reasonable that one of the bishop's sons should go with the troops to Castlebar, to be an hostage for his person, in case of the English becoming again masters of Killalla. To this the bishop could not object. His second and third sons, therefore, drew lots, and the chance falling on Arthur, the third son, a lad just sixteen, he was sent away about seven in the evening, on a poor jade ill accoutred, to travel all night with the French. From that day till the engagement at Killalla, about three weeks after, his parents could hear nothing from him, nor he from them; so strictly were the passes guarded.

"Immediately after the departure of the foreigners, the commandant applied himself to make provision for the security of the district entrused to him. A strong patrole, in different bodies, was ordered to parade through the town and its environs, to the distance of three miles, every night. But as reports of robberies and midnight assaults came in continually, M. Charost thought it advisable to issue a proclamation, inviting all the inhabitants, without distinction of religion or party, to come to him, and receive arms and ammunition for their own defence, under no other condition than a promise of restoring them to him when he should call for them. The offer was presently embraced by the towns' people, especially by the protestant part of them, who were most exposed to danger, and had been forced, at the beginning of the invasion, to deliver up their arms to the French. A distribution accordingly began to be made in the castle-yard, on the evening of September first.

"The commandant had now an opportunity of judging,