Battles for the Three Kingdoms by John Barratt

Author:John Barratt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2013-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

APPROACH TO THE BOYNE

So it was that the Williamites arrived at the Moyry Pass on 22 June to find only a small Jacobite force led by Lieutenant-Colonel Dempsey. A brief action ended indecisively, each side claiming to have inflicted about thirty casualties on the other, Dempsey being mortally wounded. But the skirmish convinced James that the enemy was too strong to be held at this point, and, with the decision to abandon Dundalk, the only feasible defensive position this side of Dublin was along the line of the River Boyne, about 30 miles north of the capital.

The Williamites entered Dundalk without opposition on 25 June. The Duke of Württemberg-Neustadt prophesied to the Danish Secretary for War: ‘The army is assembled here. The enemy yield everywhere, if they go on like this, we shall soon be in Dublin!’ Possibly the least happy man in the army was William himself. The vast clouds of dust stirred up by his army as it marched in the hot, dry weather were aggravating his asthma.

On 27 June the Jacobites began to pull back towards Drogheda. By 30 June they were taking up position along the southern bank of the Boyne. The French still favoured a retreat across the Shannon, while Tyrconnel doubted both the ability of the Jacobite troops and the willingness of the French to support them. But James was adamant. He would not be pushed out of Ireland without fighting a battle, and the line of the Boyne, fighting in defence of the only British capital city in his hands, seemed as good a place as any.

For William, the growing evidence that the Jacobites were going to stand was excellent news. A decisive victory would give him Dublin and perhaps bring the war in Ireland to a swift conclusion. Throughout the morning of 30 June, columns of Williamite troops pressed on southwards towards the Jacobite positions on the Boyne.

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