120 



IRELAND (HISTORY.; 



rivi-r protecting the oilier side. The force of the 

 insurgents amounted to more than 20,000, but only 

 about 4000 or 5000 of these had guns. They ad- 

 vanced with great impetuosity to the cannons' 

 mouths, but they were in every assault driven back 

 with immense slaughter. The battle lasted four 

 hours; and though, during the whole of that, time, 

 tin- Durham fencibles bore the brunt of it, yet they 

 stood firm and undaunted. The pikemen of the in- 

 surgents had not, however, yet come into action, and 

 general Needham, apprehensive that the fendhU's, 

 wearied out with repeated attacks, would not be able 

 to withstand these formidable assailants, sent direc- 

 tions to colonel Skerret, who commanded the fenci- 

 bles, to retreat. This, however, he refused to do; 

 and though it was now dark, and the insurgents 

 might have profited by this circumstance, they dis- 

 continued the attack, and retreated. 



The insurgents of whom we have been hitherto 

 speaking, consisted almost exclusively of Catholics. 

 They hoped to be assisted in their plans by the Pro- 

 testants of the north of Ireland ; but in this they 

 were disappointed. There were, indeed, insurrec- 

 tions in Antrim and Down; but the Protestants who 

 engaged in them, after a few skirmishes with the 

 royal troops, gave up the enterprise, chiefly in con- 

 sequence of being assured that the rest of the Pro- 

 testants in the north, though in general well disposed, 

 would not co-operate with them, having learned that 

 the insurrection in Wexford was totally of a religious 

 character, and that the Catholics engaged in it had 

 repeatedly behaved with great cruelty to the Pro- 

 testants. The. insurgents in Wexford were thus left 

 to themselves, and measures were taken by govern- 

 ment to crush them effectually and speedily. On the 

 20th of June, their whole force was assembled on 

 Vinegar-hill, near Enniscorthy. General Lake im- 

 mediately formed his plan, which was, to surround 

 this post; and for this purpose, all the divisions of 

 the royal army were put in motion. In the mean 

 time, the insurgents were guilty of the most atrocious 

 acts of cruelty, not merely against those who had 

 opposed their plans, but even against those who were 

 known to be favourable to them, in case they were 

 Protestants. These were dragged to Vinegar-hill, 

 where, without trial, they were either shot or trans- 

 fixed with pikes, or, in some cases, put to death in a 

 still more barbarous manner. At Kilan, the Protes- 

 tants of both sexes were collected, with an intention 

 of burning them alive in their parish church, when 

 fortunately their design was prevented by the arrival 

 of a body of yeomen. 



General Lake had collected nearly 13,000 troops, 

 with a train of artillery proportionate to that number, 

 for the attack on Vinegar-hill. This attack took 

 place on the 2 1st of June. The town of Knniscorthy 

 was the first object of attack, and the insurgents were 

 driven from their post. They fled through a space 

 of ground which was to have been occupied by the 

 troops of general Needham. These had not come 

 up, whether from missing the road, or some other 

 accidental cause, or, as was supposed, because gener- 

 al Lake wished to leave the insurgents some outlet, 

 is not ascertained. Wexford was taken by the royal 

 troops the same day as Enniscorthy: previously, how- 

 ever, a battle had taken place at Horetown, between 

 the troops of general Moore and the insurgents 

 under Roche. The combat was long doubtful, but 

 at length terminated in the defeat of the rebels. 

 General Moore immediately encamped near Wex- 

 ford, in order to secure the Protestants in that town 

 from massacre. Before his arrival, however, the 

 rebels in it had committed great outrages. These 

 were principally directed and encouraged by a man 

 of the name of Dixon. While the rebel force con- 



tinued in Wexford, this man had not been able to 

 carry his designs into execution; but soon after they 

 marched out against general Moore, Dixon, at the 

 head of a mob, which he had previously inflamed with 

 whisky, murdered the Protestants in a manner, to 

 which, for wanton cruelty, not even the atrocities of 

 the French revolution can produce a parallel. In 

 the mean time, the battle at Vinegar-hill, though 

 strenuously contended by the insurgents, ended in 

 their complete defeat. They were completely 

 broken, and fled ; and their loss in the battle and 

 pursuit was so considerable, Uiat the whole party 

 was completely disheartened. 



The movements and proceedings of the insurgents, 

 after the battle of Vinegar-hill, were desultory, with- 

 out union or plan. One body of them marched to 

 Arklow, and, finding no royal troops there, mas- 

 sacred many of the inhabitants. Another body, under 

 Murphy, who had originally raised the insurrection 

 in Wexford, directed their march towards the county 

 of Carlow, with the design of stirring up the inhabi- 

 tants there and in Kilkenny; but in this they were 

 disappointed, partly by the measures of the royal 

 forces, and partly by the indisposition of the inhabi- 

 tants. They now determined to return to Wexford, 

 and on the 26th of June arrived at Kilcommy. Here 

 they again changed their route, and moved towards 

 the Wicklow mountains; but they soon found that 

 they had no other chance of safety but by dispersing 

 into small bodies, being no longer capable of with- 

 standing the forces that were sent against them. 

 After various movements and skirmishes, therefore, 

 they finally dispersed. 



Soon after these events, lord Camden, who had 

 been viceroy during the rebellion, was recalled, and 

 earl Cornwallis was appointed his successor. This 

 appointment gave great and general satisfaction : 

 the character of few noblemen, for political honour 

 and humanity, was higher than that of lord Corn- 

 wallis, and his appointment seemed a pledge on the 

 part of government, that they meant to pursue a 

 different system in Ireland. He carried with him a 

 general pardon for all who would submit, with very 

 few exceptions; but his arrival could not immediately 

 put a stop to the system which had been hitherto 

 pursued. On the 3d of July, the pardon which lord 

 Cornwallis brought with him was published in the 

 Dublin gazette. His majesty's generals were thereby 

 authorized to give protection to such insurgents as, 

 being simply guilty of rebellion, should surrender 

 their arms, abjure all unlawful engagements, and 

 take the oath of allegiance. In order that this mea- 

 sure might receive the fullest authority and sanction, 

 an act of amnesty was passed in favour of all who 

 had been engaged in the rebellion, except the lead- 

 ers, those who had been guilty of murder, and 

 those who should not comply with the conditions 

 above specified. From this amnesty were excluded 

 Napper Tandy, and about thirty others who had fled 

 to the continent. Afterwards the chief leaders of 

 the rebellion were allowed to make their terms 

 with government. Seventy-three of them bound 

 themselves to give all the information in their pov/er 

 respecting the transactions of the United Irishmen, 

 so far as it could be done without naming any iiuli 

 vidual ; to emigrate into some country agreed upon, 

 from which they were not to pass into any other 

 country at war with Britain, or to return to Ireland. 



The Irish insurgents had been long anxiously 

 expecting assistance from France; at last, when it 

 was too late, a force of about 900 regular troops, 

 commanded by general Humbert, landed at Killala, 

 on the 22d of August, and, being joined by some of 

 the Catholic inhabitants, immediately marched to 

 Castlebor. As soon as lord Cornwallis learned their 





