Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1893-02-02


threatening to assemble in large num- |
bers, with the ultimate design. it was |
said, of joining the French and march
ing on Dublin. On receiving news of
the defeat ut Castlebar CORVALLIS |
fastened by forced marches in the di-
rection of that town. lie arrived on
the 4th of September at lIollymount,
fourteen miles from Castlcbar, and was
preparing to advance, when he received
information that The French had aban-
doned their position and had marched
in the direction of Foxford.
Humbert's position was critical; his
Irish auxiliarics, additional numbers of
whom had joined him since his victory,
could not be depended on-were, in
fact, utterly useless, some of them, In
deed, never having seen n gun before.
lie knew that at the slightest check
they would desert him; they had n too
lively recollection of the horrors of the
| late rebellion. llumbert had, in short,
expected to receive more substantial
aid from the Irish; he had also ex-
| pectcd rcinforccmcnts from France,
but now saw that they could not arrive
| in time to do him any good. Neverthe-
| less, he determined to do his duty, and
proloug tho campaign rs far rs possible.
| lie therefore abandoned Castelar, on
| the 4th of September and turned north
east towards Foxford, with the inten-
ton of reaching Sligo, where he had n
| faint hope his rcinforcements might
| vet land. lIumbert now found himself
| followed by two bodies of troops, one
| under Col Crawford and another under
| Gen. Lake, which hung upon and ha-
| raised his rear A third, under Gen.
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Sir John-watchcd
| him at n distance; while CORVALLIS,
| with the main army, marched parallel
| with him towards Carrick ON Shannon.
| AS if this were not enough, on reach
ing Colooncy on the 9Th, about forty
miles northeast from Castle bar, Hum
bert found himself confronted by a
fifth force, under Col. Vcrreller, of the
Limerick militia. with force of three
hundred and thirty men and two cur
ricle guns. A fierce and obstinate bat
| tie ensued-thiS was indeed the only
real battle of the campaign-but after
lasting about an hour, Nerreker. find
ing himself overrowered by numbers,
was compelled to retreat. with the loss
of his guns, to Sligo.
Although Humbcrt was victorious in
this encounter, it caused him to change
his plans. lie now marched towards
Manorh amiltou by Drumnahair,
abandoning eight Of his guns by the
way: but in approaching tho former
place suddenly turned to the right, in
u southeastcrly direction by Drunken
in, and attempted to reach Granard. in
Longford, where u rising had taken
place. His rear was now constantly
harnsscd by tho enemy, and on the
r,at IL ,t.l, y,
Crawford's advance guard, in which tho
French were victorious Uu1nbcrt now
crossed the Shannon at Ballintra, but
so closely followed that his rear guard
had no time to break the bridge. He
halted some hours ut Cloonc, to give
his wornout troops brief rest, and
arrived next day, on the sth, Mt Ball
inamuclt
Tho viceroy, crossing the Shannon
Mt CarriclI, was meanwhile marching
on St. Johnstown, in order to get In
front Of lIumbrrt on his why to
Granard Tho drama was now draw
ing to its close. Completely surrounded
by an overwhelming force, Humbc
saw that surrender was inevitable.
For the honor of Franco, however, he
determined to make at least formal
resistance; he therefore disposed his
forces in order of battle and awaited
the attack. His rear guard was at
tackled by Crawford, and, being over
powered, surrendered; and the remain
der. after resisting Gen. Lake for half
an hour, laid down their nrms-the
whole force amounting to about eight
hundred and fifty, the rest having been
| killed or wounded since the beginning
of the campaign. The entire british
/, | force which surrounded llumbcrt mum
, | bcrcd about thirty thousand, or five
, | thouSa nd more than were employed
| | ut Waterloo, or, in later days, at the
, battle of the Alma
= While the French received honorable
4 terms of surrender. the Irish auXil
: iarics, in number about fifteen hun
f drcd, were shot and hanged without
/ mercy, five hundred of them being
, killed in this way.
r The closing scene of tho drama wa.
= the recapturc of Killala, which had re
Z maincd in possession of the French, O
II rather of Irish insurgents under two o
/ three French officers. 1t was not unit
h the 22nd of September that the royn
IL forces, twelve hundred strong, arrived
Y in Ballina, the Irish garrison fleeing a
> its approach The English advance,
IL on killala in two columns, from tn
:, north and tho south. Tho garrison
It posted themselves on the Ballinu road
l. but were speedily overcome, and fle,
d through killala, pursued by the cav
Z airy. AT the other end of the tow
t. they were Intercepted by the sccon
=, column, and about four hundred of tn
ct unfortunates were killed.
II In this extraordinary campaign
which lasted from the 22nd of Angus
y to the Sth of September, the Frcnc
IS had marched one hundred and thirt
IF miles, penetrating So the very heart {
TT ireland, and distant only sixty mile
T. in n straight line from Dublin, and ha
S. fought five engagements, in all {
Is which they had been victorious. VII
Y n handful of French troops should hav
rt | achieved such success was not SO niue
III due, after all, to their own prowess, {
er to the nature of Che forces opposed I
c; them. These were mostly local militi
n quite unused to real war, and some