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Home A Period of Foreign Wars, 1689-1714 Part 3 |
Part 3The war which followed is known in Continental history as the War of the League of Augsburg (1689-97}. To us it is better known as the War of the English Succession, for Louis XIV was supporting James II, and therefore its issue decided whether William or James was to be king of England. For the first two years of the war (1689-90} English military operations were confined mainly to the British Isles and to the sea. In Scotland, John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, raised the High landers on behalf of James, and routed, in the space of two minutes, just beyond the Pass of Klliecrankie William's forces under the leadership of Mackay whilst the latter were trying to fix the lately invented bayonets into the muzzle of their muskets (June, 1689). In the battle, however, Dundee was mortally wounded, and with his death all the energy was taken out of the movement, which quickly subsided.Meantime, in Ireland, James II arrived with French money and troops. In Ireland the situation was far more serious than in Scotland, for, in addition to the bitter religious feeling, there was the racial hatred between the Irish inhabitants and the English and Scottish settlers. A war between Catholics and Protestants at once broke out. The Protestants in the North were attacked and the two Protestant strongholds, Londonderry and Enniskillen, besieged. But the Protestants in Londonderry held out heroically for one hundred and five days till they were relieved, whilst those in Enniskillen attacked their besiegers and won the Battle of New town Butler. Subsequently William himself came to Ireland, and won a victory at the River Boyne (July 1, 1690). The battle was notable for the variety of nations engaged in it. Of James's forces, over a third were French, and the commander-in-chief was a Frenchman. On William's side, about half were natives of England, and, of course, he had many Irish Protestants from the north of Ireland and some two thousand Dutchmen fighting for him; the rest of his force included Huguenots, Prussians, Danes, and Finlanders. William, contrary to the advice of his chief commanders, decided to cross a ford of the river on the other side of which was drawn up the army of James. He might have paid dearly for his rashness; but the French troops had been withdrawn to guard James's left flank, and the Irish infantry, untrained and ill-disciplined, were quickly repulsed, whole regiments in one part of the field flinging away "arms, colours, and cloaks, and scampering off to the hills without striking a blow or firing a shot." (See the description in Macaulay's History ). Only the bravery of the French troops and the Irish cavalry in the subsequent operations saved the retreat from being a disastrous one. James shortly afterwards fled back to France, and in 1691 the war in Ireland came to an end. John Churchill, the future Duke of Marlborough, had a brilliant campaign, and took Cork and Kinsale, whilst Ginckel, a Dutch general, won a desperate battle for William at Aughrim. A few months later Limerick, the last great Catholic fortress, surrendered, and with its capitulation William's position in Ireland was secure. |
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