The Battle of the Boyne

July 1, 1690
By Cecil Kilpatrick

Then proudly flow till time is o'er,
And sacred by thy water;
For freedom gilds they favoured shore,
And dearly have we bought her;
And while her bright and glorious ray
Shall beam on us for ever,
The hearts that she has linked this day,
No fate of time shall sever. - The New Boyne Water

In terms of purely military significance, the Battle of Aughrim was the decisive action of the 1688-91 war, yet the romance of two "Kings in Conflict" in the "Valley of the Kings" by an Irish river has made the Boyne the one that has left an indelible impression, like no other, on the folk memory of all the people of Ireland.

King William knew, as the Normans and Cromwellians knew before him, that Dublin and The Pale, stretching from Dundalk to Naas, held the key to Ireland. Duke Schomberg in the previous year had reached the edge of the Pale but no further and now King William was here on the last day of June to put the issue to the test.

James might have made his stand at the Gap of the North or the Moyry Pass, where by tradition Cuchulain defended Ulster from her enemies. However, a parallel Williamite advance by way of Newry and Newtownhamilton to Dundalk, west of Slieve Gullion, made James decide to withdraw to the Boyne.

Historians claim that William was urged to attack on June 30 to catch James unprepared but that he declined because "the day was a Monday and he never undertook important projects on a Monday. That is disproved by the fact that he landed at Torbay on Monday, November 5, 1689. In any case his artillery did not arrive at his camp till 3.00 p.m. and William needed time for a reconnaissance which nearly proved fatal, and time to hold a Council of War at his headquarters in the ruined Mellifont Abbey.

William's two senior generals were Marshall Schomberg, Commander of the English Forces, and Court Solms, Commander of the Dutch. The latter favoured a direct frontal attack at Oldbridge while the Old Duke preferred the main attack to be on the right flank towards Slane.

Militarily there was much to support the flanking attack as the bend in the river opened the possibility of getting behinf the Jacobites and cutting them off. Perhaps William preferred to allow his father-in-law and uncle to escape as he had done twice before in England. In any case he combined the two plans in masterly fashion.

Count Meinhard Schomberg, the Duke's younger sonm and St. Gen. James Douglas, Commander of the 2,000 Scots with about 10,000 men, comprising about one third of the Williamite forces, would move off at about 4.00 a.m. and cross at the upstream fords between Rossnaree and Slane. When they were successfully across and the water level had fallen sufficiently , for the river is tidal as far as Oldbridge, the main force would commence crossing at Oldbridge with successive crossings at all five ford as the tide ebbed further.

The first troops were roused at 2.00 a.m. and moved off about 4.00 a.m. Between 5.00 a.m. and 6.00 a.m. they reached the fords of Rossnaree and made a difficult crossing contested by Sir Neil O'Neil, of Killyleagh, Co. Down, who was mortally wounded and forced to retire. As had been expected James, who had spent the night in the old Church of Dunore on the hillcrest to the S.E. of Oldbridge, took fright and sent half his army to resist this threat to his rear including all his French Regiments under Count Lauzun, Patrick Sarsfield's Cavalry, and most of his artillery. The advance of Count Schomberg and Douglas was held and for most of the day stalemate resulted in the western sector of the battle.

It was now 10.00 a.m. and in Lord Macauley's words, "Schomberg gave the word." Solmes Blues were the first to move. They marched gallantly, with drums beating, to the brink of the Boyne. Then the drums stopped; and the men, 10 abreast, descended into the water. Next plunged Londonderry and Enniskillen. Caillemot and his refugees, the main body of the English infantry struggled through the river, up to their armpits in water. Stil further down the stream the Danes found another ford. But the Danes were pushed back by cavalry led by Richard Hamilton.

DefianceThey fell impetuously on the Huguenot regiments, which not being protected with pikes, then ordinarily used by foot to repel horse, began to give ground.

Caillemot, while encouraging his fellow exiles, received a mortal wound in the thigh. Schomberg, who had remained on the norther bank and who had watched the progress of his troops with the eye of a general, now thought that the emergency required from him the personal exertion of a soldier.

Without defensive armour he rode through the river, and rallied the refugees whom the fall of Caillemot had dismayed. "Come on," he cried in French pointing to the enemy squadrons, "come on, gentlemen; these are your persecutors." Those were his last words. As he spokem a band of Irish horsemen rushed upon him and encircled him for a moment. When they retired, he was on the ground. His friends raised him; but he was already a corpse.

Almost at the same moment George Walker, the hero of the Siege of Derry the year before, was shot dead while exhorting the colonists of Ulster to play the man.

During near half an hour the battle continued to rage along the southern shore of the river. But at this conjuncture, William came up with the left wing. He had found difficulty in crossing. The tide was running fast. His charger had been forced to swim, and had been almost lost in the mud. As soon as the King was on firm ground he took his sword in his left hand - for his right hand was stiff with his wound and his bandage, and led his men to the place where the fight was nottest. His arrival decided the fate of the day. Yet the Irish horse retired fighting obstinately.

It was long remembered among the Protestants of Ulster that, in the midst of the tumult, William rode to the head of the Enniskilleners. "What will you do for me?" he cried. He was not immediately recognised; and one trooper, taking him for an enemy, was about to fire. William gently put aside the carbine. "What," said he. "Do you not know your friends?" "It is his Majesty," said the Colonel.

The ranks of the sturdy Protestant yeomen set up a shout of joy! "Gentlemen," said William, "you shall be my guards today. I have heard much of you. Let me see something of you." One of the most remarkable pecularities of this man, ordinarily so saturine and reserved, was that danger acted on him like wine, opened his heart, loosened his tongue and took away all appearance of constraint from his manner. On this memorable day he was seen wherever the peril was greatest. One ball struck the cap of his pistol, another carried off the heel of his jackboot; but his Lieutenants in vain implored him to retire to some station from which he could give his orders without exposing a life so valuable to Europe."

Meantime, the Jacobites were streaming back through Duleek from all sides, causing such confusion that the French had to fire on their allies to restore order. The French placed a battery of guns just south of the bridge over the Nanny at Duleek to hold up the advancing Williamites till the Jacobites had passed the river.

James was already far down the road to Dublin escorted by Patrick Sarsfield's regiment of horse and some dragoons. He reached the Castle by sunset and spent the night there. The Privy Council were summoned at 6.00 a.m. when James took his leave of them, blamed the Irish for his misfortunes and departed for Wexford.

William entered Dublin on Sunday July 6, where he attended St. Patrick's Cathedral for a "Te Deum" in thanksgiving for his victory.

The losses on both sides were less than might have been estimated at 1,000 Jacobites and 500 Williamites.

There were eight Ulster regiments on William's side that memorable day, making a total of about 6,000 men. Enniskillen Horse (Wolseleys); Inniskilling Dragoons (Wynns); Inniskillen Foot (Tiffins) later 27th; Enniskillen Foot (Floyds); Enniskillen Foot (Hamiltons); Londonderry Foot (St. Johns); Londonderry Foot (Mitchelburns).

We are indebted to Eason and Sons for publishing in the the Irish Heritage Series a booklet entitled William III and Ireland by Professor Rex Cathcart.

He draws attention to the three public monuments erected to commemorate William's victory. The Boyne Obelisk, the statue in College Green, Dublin, outside the old Irish Houses of Parliament, and one in Boyle, Co. Roscommon. All have been destroyed.

According to Professor Cathcart: "In 1923 a freelance party from the Irish Army garrison in Drogheda drove out along the Boyne and destroyed the Obelisk with landmines."

The next day the "Irish Times" was led to remark:- "In its essence the outrage at Oldbridge is not less foolish and wicked than if the landmines had been exploded among the guarded pillars of Mellifont or Cong. Every Irishman is the poorer by any deed which weakens Ireland's links with her past."

Sadly that hope for a civilised Ireland has not yet been fulfilled but meantime :-

"In our hearts we will cherish their memory.
And in one common Brotherhhod will join.
And praise God who sent us King William.
To the Green Grassy slopes of the Boyne."
"God of our fathers, know of old.
Lord of our far-flung battle-line,
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine -
Lord God of Hosts be with us yet.
Lest we forget-lest we forget!"
--Kipling

Seek ye first the kingdom which is at the very centre of the faith we proclaim.

If we fail to do our duty as Protestants then the glorious work done by our forefathers has been vain.

Despite Roman Catholic persection, contempt and propaganda Protestantism is a beacon of light in a world of darkness.

The Orange Order is stamped with the lifeblood of ' the world's one supreme master and needs no other witness.

The Green Grassy Slopes

Some folks sing of mountains and valleys,
Where the wild flowers abundantly grow,
And some of the wavecrested billows,
That dash 'neath the waters below.
But I'm going to sing of a river,
And I hope in the chorus you'll join -
Of the deeds that were done by King William,
On the greeh grassy slopes of the Boyne.

Chorus
On the green, grassy slopes of the Boyne,
Where the Orangemen with William did join,
And fought for our glorious deliv'rance
On the green grassy slopes of the Boyne.

On the banks of that beautiful river,
There the bones of our forefathers lie,
Awaiting the sound of the trumpet,
To call them to glory on high.
In our hearts we will cherish their memories,
And we all like true brethren will join,
And praise God for sending us King William,
To green grassy slopes of the Boyne.
Chorus

Orangemen will be loyal and steady,
For no matter whate'er may betide,
We will still mind our war-cry "No Surrender"
So long as we've God on our side,
And if ever our service is needed,
Then we all like true brethren will join,
And fight, like valiant King William,
On the green, grassy slopes of the Boyne.
Chorus