The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-08-21
A GREAT VICTORY At
THE YELLOW FORD"
D Description of the Battle
Won by Hugh O'Neill in
18th Century Over the
Army of Sir Henry Bagnal
the English General, as
Told by the Late A. M. Sui
livan--Though the English
Lost, They Fought Nobly.

Lost, They Fought Nobly.
| One of the Irish victories that Irish
! men love to remember was that of
/ "Beal- atha-buidhe," or THE Yellow
Ford" won by Hugh O'Neill over the
English army Of Sir Henry Bagnal
August 10th, 1898. The following ac-
count of the battle is told by A. M.
Sullivan in his "Story of Ireland"
"Ormond now perceived that pow
erful effort must be made by the Eng
1 lish to hold their ground in the north,
or Ulster might at once be abandoned
| to the Irish. Strong reinforcements
were sent from England, and O'Neill's
spies soon brought him intelligence Of
/ large masses of troops moving north
ward, led by Marshal Sir Henry Bag
nal, and composed of the choicest
forces in the Queens service. Newry
was their place of rendezvous, and
early in August Bagnal found himself
at the head of the largest and best
appointed army of veteran English
men that had ever fought in Ireland.
He succeeded in relieving Armagh, and
dislodging O'Neill from his encamp-
ment at Mulaghbane, where the chief
himself narrowly escaped being taken,
and then prepared to advance with his
whole army to the Blackwater, and
raise the siege Of Portmore. Williams
1tthe commnnasr1" and his men Wsr4e
by this. time. nearly famished with
hunger; they had eaten all their
horses, and had come to- feeding or
the herbs and grass that grew upon
the walls Of the fortress.. Andr eyer,
morning they gazed ahxioualy over thu
southern hills, and strained their eggs
to see the waving Of a red-cross flag,
or the glance Of English spears in the
rising sun. @r+ :" 3
"o'Nein hastily summoned, .o'Donnell
and. Macmillan to his aid, and deter
mined to cross the Marshal's path and
give him battle before he reached tile
Blackwater. His entire force on the
day of the battle, including the Scots
and the. troops of Connaught, and Tyr
connell, consisted Of ;4,500. foot and
600 horse, and BagnaEs army amount
ed to an equal number1of infantry. and
500 veteran horsemen, sheathed in
corslets and headpfeces, together with
some field artillery: in. which ,Q'Neil!
was wholly Wanting: -. -,t-..
Hugh Roe o'Donnell; had snuffed
the coming battle from .afar, and on
the 9th of August Joined o'Neill with
the clans of .Connaught and Tyrcon-
NELL They drew up their main body
about a mile from 'Portmore, on the
way to Armagh, where. the plain was
narrowed. to a pass, inclosed on one
side by thick wood, and on the
other by a bog. To arrive at that plain
from. Armagh the enemy would have
to penetrate through wooded hills, di-
vided by winding and marshy ho.-
lows, in which flowed "a sluggish and
discolored stream from the bogs, and
hence the pass was called Beal-an-
atha -buidhe-"the mouth of the yell
low ford" Fearfasa O'clery, learn
ed poet Of O'Donnells. asked the name
of that place, and when he had heard
1T remembered (and proclaimed aloud
to the army that st. Bercan had fore
told terrible battle to be- fought at
yellow ford, and glorious victory
to be won by the ancient Irish.
Even so, Moran, son Of Maoin! and
for thee, .wisest poet .o'Clery, thou
hast this day served thy country well,
for, to an Irish army, auguries of good
were more needful than commissari-
at; and those bards' songs. like the
Dorian flute Of Greece. breathed a
passionate valor that no blare of Eng
ish trumpets could ever kindle.
.Bagnals army rested that night IN
Armagh. and tine Irish biyouacked in
the woods. each warrior covered by his
shaggy. cloak under the stars of a sum-
ner night. for to an irish REBEL says
Edmund Spenser, the wood Is his
house against all weathers, and MS
smantle is his couch to sleep in But
| O,Ne,l, we NAV we'll believe slept not
that night away; the morrow was, to,
put to proof what valor and discipline
was in that Irish army which he had
been so long organizing and training