guerilla bands, or ‘rapparees.’ The rapparees were an active race and difficult to come at, while his own soldiers were ill-supplied, their pay was in arrear, they were growing mutinous and were pillaging the neighbourhood (Burnet, Hist. of his own Time, ii. 66). In the spring of 1691 large supplies of money and provisions arrived, and Ginkel prepared to open the campaign with vigour. Collecting his troops in the vicinity of Mullingar, he marched straight on Athlone, the strongest fortress in the hands of the enemy and the key to the west of Ireland. The Duke of Würtemberg at the same time marched northward from Clonmel to join him, although in the opinion of General Mackay the plan gave a dangerous opportunity to St. Ruth, commanding the enemy, to attack before the juncture had been effected (Life of Mackay, p. 110). Ginkel, after capturing and regarrisoning Ballymore, a fort erected by Sarsfield to cover Athlone and Lanesborough, successfully accomplished his object, and with his combined force marched westward, appearing before the walls of Athlone on 19 June 1691. So strongly fortified was that town both by nature and by art that St. Ruth exclaimed: ‘His master ought to hang him for trying to take Athlone, and mine ought to hang me if I lose it.’ Nevertheless, after a series of gallant assaults, Ginkel succeeded on 30 June, by a brilliantly conceived though extremely hazardous plan, in capturing the place (see MACAULAY'S graphic description in Hist. of England, ch. xvii.). He used his victory with moderation, leaving nothing ‘unattempted which might contribute to bringing the enemy over by fair means.’ A proclamation by the lords justices promising pardon and a restoration to their estates to all who submitted within a certain specified time, made, according to Story, ‘a great noise’ all over the kingdom, and was the precedent for the articles of Galway and Limerick. But though many sued for pardon, the proclamation came too late to have any general effect; St. Ruth especially exerted himself to prevent his soldiers taking advantage of it. On 11 July Ginkel, having repaired the fortifications of Athlone and left a garrison there, fixed his headquarters at Ballinasloe, on the borders of Roscommon and Galway, about four miles from Aughrim, where St. Ruth had taken up his position. At five in the afternoon of 12 July the battle began, and after two hours of equal fighting was decided by the death at a critical moment of St. Ruth. Fighting obstinately and only yielding inch by inch, the Irish at length broke and fled. A horrible carnage ensued, and one who was present tells us that from the top of a neighbouring hill he saw the country to the distance of near four miles white with the naked bodies of the slain. After a few days' rest Ginkel moved towards Galway. According to the ‘Memoirs of King James,’ he might have finished the war at one blow had he marched straight on Limerick; as it was, he gave the Irish time to rally their scattered forces and complete their fortifications. Passing through Loughrea and Athenry, and cutting off all chance of assistance from Baldearg O'Donnell, he sat down before Galway on 19 July. Two days after, D'Usson, the governor, consented to a capitulation on favourable terms, pleading as an excuse the bad state of the fortifications, the ill-will of the citizens, many of whom were protestants, but above all the discouragement of the soldiers (Ranke, Hist. of England, v. 29). On the 26th Ginkel entered the city and was received with profound respect by the mayor and aldermen; D'Usson departed the same day with about 2,300 men for Limerick, ‘the last asylum of the vanquished race.’ Ginkel followed without loss of time, for the season was well advanced and the lords justices were anxious for a settlement before the arrival of fresh supplies from France. Disappointed in the expectation that the dissensions of the besieged would lead to a surrender, Ginkel carefully invested Limerick on all sides. Then, having completed his arrangements, he crossed the Shannon on 22 Sept., directing his main attack against the fort commanding the Thomond Bridge. A few hours afterwards the fort was stormed, and the besieged, deeming further resistance futile, beat a parley. An English squadron had meanwhile appeared in the estuary of the Shannon. On 3 Oct. the town, with the exception of the castle and cathedral, which were for a time left in the keeping of the Irish, was delivered up to Ginkel on conditions which have since excited considerable controversy, but which, so far as Ginkel was concerned, were faithfully kept (Macaulay, Hist. of England, ch. xvii.; T. D. Ingram, Two Chapters of Irish History, pp. 91–154; Hist. MSS. Comm. 7th Rep. App. pp. 203, 207, 210). The capture of Limerick having practically put an end to the war, Ginkel, after a short delay, proceeded to Dublin, where he was greeted with public demonstrations of respect and gratitude. On 5 Dec. he sailed for England on board the Monmouth yacht, and two days afterwards arrived at Chester (Story, Continuation, p. 282). His journey to London resembled a triumphal progress, and on his arrival there he was publicly thanked by the speaker of the House of Commons for his services, to which he judiciously replied by ascribing his success to the bravery of his English soldiers.
