Miii£KAY — The Diarij of Bonnivert, 1690. 339 



been a fine and strong borough, as one may see by the great towers still extant. 

 King James made there very strong works, as if he wonld have made it a place 

 to withstand our army ; and indeed it is a strong-seated town, being in a plain 

 having a river of one side, and boggy of the other. Monday, the last of June, 

 we marched towards Drogheda, where the enemy were, and we came within 

 sight of the town at nine in the morning. There we drew up our horse in 

 three lines, and came in order of battle upon the brow of a long hill. There 

 we saw the enemy, and were so near them we could hear one another speak, 

 there being nothing but the river between us. As we were drawn up we had 

 order to dismount, and every man stand by his horse's head. We had not been 

 there long ; but some of the King's Regiment of Dragoons were detached, and 

 sent to line the river side. So they began to shoot at the enemy, and those of 

 King James's army at 'em. They had not been long at that sport when the 

 king, passing by the first troop of Guards, the enemy fired two small guns at 

 him. One of the bullets greased the king's coat ;^ then they played on till 

 three of the clock upon us, and shot often men and horses. One Mr. William, 

 of the Third Troop of Guard, had his arm shot. Some of the Dutch troop were 

 killed and wounded. Indeed 'twas a madness to expose so many good men to 

 the slaughter without need, for we had no artillery yet come to answer theirs, 

 ours not commencing till three in the afternoon. We did retire confusedly 

 behind the hill at the sight of the enemy, when it might have been better 

 managed. King James made that day a review of his army. We had a great 

 mind to force a passage through the river to go to them, but we left it till 

 next morning. At three in the afternoon our artillery came up, and begun to 

 play upon theirs stoutly. Then the enemy showed they had many other 

 batteries besides the first. They played upon one another till night ; then 

 we retired about a mile sideways. 



Ne.\t morning we were up at two of the clock, and we marched to gain a 

 passage two miles of about five in the morning. The passage was a very 

 steep hill, and a shallow river at the bottom that leaded into a very fine 

 plain. ^ As we came there we found a party of the enemy with four or five 

 pieces of artillery ready to receive us f but that did not daunt our men ; they 

 went down briskly, notwithstanding their continual fire upon us. The 

 Grenadiers and Dragoons were first of the other side, and we soon followed 

 them ; but the enemy made haste away with their cannon. We drew up in 

 battle as we came in the plain, and marched directly towards the place 



' The first shot struck one of tlie holsters of Prince George of Hesse, vrliile the second tore 

 William's coat and grazed his shoulder. 

 ^ This was probably Rosnaree Ford. 

 ^ Sir Neill O'Neill coiiimanded the Jacobites. 

 K.I. A. PROC, VOL. XXX., SECT. C. [471 



