page_title: Battle of Carrickfergus (1597)
section_title: The battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Carrickfergus (1597) / The battle
caption_attribution_description: English: no rights reserved.
context_page_description: The Battle of Carrickfergus took place in November 1597, in the province of Ulster in what is now County Antrim, Northern Ireland, during the Nine Years War. It was fought between the crown forces of Queen Elizabeth I and the Gaelic clan of MacDonnell, with military support from Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, and resulted in a defeat for the English.
context_section_description: On the appointed day MacDonnell was sighted by the English on his approach to Carrickfergus Castle at the head of 700 troops. Not wishing to be outdone, the governor came out with the bulk of his men, just five companies of foot - who were wearied from a recent expedition - and one of horse. He led them out four miles, until the Scots were encountered, and then halted to allow his troops to close up on the advanced guard. In the interval the officers debated, one veteran urging the governor to proceed with the parley. But when his troops drew up, the governor turned to his commander, Captain Merriman (correctly Marmion), and said, "Now, Captain, yonder be your old friends. What say you? Shall we charge them?" Merriman (Marmion) assented, and was supported by the commander of the horse, Moses Hill. 
  The order to charge was given, and the Scots fell back over the hilly terrain. But the English riders were not sure of their lead, and the governor was quickly isolated with a small party, which had managed to keep pace with him. Moreover, MacDonnell had drawn the English into a trap. MacDonnell had hidden 800 troops to his rear, which included Scots bowmen, swordsmen and Irish pike but more significantly 500 Irish shot. Without warning, volleys of shot poured into the English ranks from Tyrone's shot hidden on rough ground.  On a counter-charge, the Scots and Irish surged around and broke the formation of the crown troops. The governor was wounded in the leg but tried to rally his men by remounting and charging down the slope. He was shot through the head and killed outright. Another officer was hit in the head and captured, another had his horse shot out from under him, and another was shot through the shoulder. 
  The crown forces were dismayed, and although reinforcements - including the sick, so depleted was the garrison - sallied out from the castle and prevented a massacre, the death toll on the English side reached 180, with 30-40 wounded. Some managed to survive by swimming away in Larne Lough, with or without their horses, and fetched up on the shore of the peninsula of Island Magee. After the battle James MacSorley had Chichester's head cut off, packed in a barrel and sent to the earl of Tyrone in Dungannon.
caption: East wall and keep of Carrickfergus Castle
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