An Cosantóir

30 | Military History on your Doorstep by Wesley Bourke Photos Sgt Wayne Fitzgerald M any members of the Defence Forces are avid students of military history and its importance is recognised in its inclusion as a module on many of our courses, from recruit training to strategic leadership courses. Studying past wars, campaigns and military leaders gives us insights into leadership, strategy, tactics, politics, logistics, and weaponry. It helps us to peer through von Clausewitz's 'fog of war' to determine just how Napoleon lost the Battle of Waterloo or how the Viet Cong brought the fight to the largest military power in the world. Of course, Ireland is steeped in its own military history, which makes studying this subject even more accessible to our personnel. Over the last decade or so heritage sites and centres have popped up all over the country: the National 1798 Visitor Centre in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford; the Battle of Aughrim Interpretative Centre in Co Galway; Charles Fort outside Kinsale, Co Cork; and the Soldiers and Chiefs exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Bks, Dublin, just to name a few. With access to guided or self-guided tours, living history displays, original artefacts, documents, maps, uniforms and weapons, and the chance to stand on the ground where a battle took place and study the topography, the military student can be virtually transported back in time. One such site we visited was the Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre on the south bank of the River Boyne, 3km north of Donore Village, Co Meath. The venue has everything a student of military history would want; a video history of the battle, cannon, muskets and uniforms, and walks of the original battlefield. The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants to the English, Scottish, and Irish thrones: the Catholic King James and the Protestant King William. Its outcome had huge ramifications at the time, which have lasted to the present day. For the military history student this battle has it all; strategy, tactics, politics, weaponry, and even an international dimension. In February 1685 Charles II, the protestant king of England, died without leaving a legitimate heir. The line of succession therefore fell to his brother James. However, James was a Catholic, which was a problem for many of his potential subjects. Consequently, an alternative claimant was sought. William of Orange, the Protestant nephew of James, and also his son-in-law since his marriage to James's Protestant daughter, Mary, in 1677, was seen as an ideal candidate. After James took the crown war quickly ensued. In what became known as the Glorious Revolution, William invaded England in November 1688 and was pronounced William III of England, Ireland, and Scotland. James, with French assistance, regrouped in Ireland. There was a lot more at stake, however, than just the English crown. This was was actually part of a greater European struggle that was taking place between Louis XIV of France and the League of Augsburg (later the Grande Alliance, after England joined), which had been formed by the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I to stop French expansion. The League was also supported by Pope Alexander VIII and the Papal States. At the time of the Boyne the Grande Alliance and France were fighting the Nine Years war and the opposing armies in Ireland represented the opposing European factions, James allied to the French and William with the League. An Cosantóir July/August 2013 www.dfmagazine.ie For the Catholic Irish, however, they saw this as an opportunity to gain back land and entitlements they had lost. In effect, for them, the War of the English Succession would be a continuation of the Irish Confederate Wars of 50 years earlier. William's second-in-command, the Duke of Schomberg, a 75-year-old professional soldier, landed in Ulster in 1689 with 20,000 troops and secured the north. After William landed his forces at Carrickfergus on June 14th 1690, James manoeuvred his army to prevent a Williamite advance on Dublin. The battle of the Boyne took place on July 1st 1690 (by the Julian calendar; July 11th by the current Gregorian calendar). Taking up positions on the north and south banks, the Williamite army was roughly 36,000 strong, mainly consisting of European protestants; Dutch, Danes, French, Germans, English, Scots, Irish, Swiss, Italians, Norwegians and Poles. However, it also included the elite Dutch Blue Guards, who were Catholics. The Jacobite army consisted of approximately 25,000 Irish, French, English, Germans and Dutch troops. William's troops were not only stronger numerically, but were also generally far better trained and equipped than James's. The Danish and Dutch troops, for example, were professional soldiers equipped with the latest flintlock muskets. Although James had some good units, such as the Irish cavalry (who were recruited from among the dispossessed Irish gentry), the Irish were generally hastily mobilised, poorly trained and equipped with far less efficient matchlock muskets. The main armament on both sides was the musket, which in the hands of a trained soldier could generally fire three, 0.5" lead balls, per minute. Both sides also had cannon. (The Visitor Centre has a number of examples of these weapons, which are very different from our traditional image of a cannon.) The French 4lb cannon fired a solid iron cannonball or sometimes canisters of musket balls. Its maximum range was 2,500m with an effective range of 500m and a rate-of-fire of 20 shots an hour. On a bright cloudless July 1st William's forces (wearing sprigs of green to distinguish themselves from the Jacobites, who were wearing white pieces of paper resembling the White Cockade of France) commenced the battle. William launched a two-pronged attack: a direct frontal assault across the river following a feint by his right wing, under the command of one of Schomberg's sons, which marched upriver to Slane with the threat of turning the Jacobite left flank. The feint succeeded, and many of James's best troops were drawn away in an attempt to prevent being outflanked and having their line of retreat cut. Led by the Dutch Blue Guards, William's forces crossed the river in the face of cannonade and heavily defended fortifications. However, the Williamite forces were relentless and the Irish Jacobite infantry fell back. As the Irish foot began to rout the Irish and French cavalry threw themselves onto the riverbed and furiously drove into the Williamite lines. The Blue Guards faltered, and the Danish Brigade and Huguenot regiments also suffered under the Jacobite cavalry. In an attempt to rally the Huguenot's, Schomberg, with no armour, rode into the fray calling out in French: "Come on, gentlemen: there are your persecutors!" He was immediately surrounded by a number of the Irish cavalry and was cut down. William himself then led a contingent of

• Cover