Battle of Oulart Hill The Battle of Oulart Hill took place on 27 May 1798 when a rebel gathering of 1 , 000 annihilated a detachment of militia sent from Wexford town to stamp out the spreading rebellion in county Wexford . Background . When news of the long expected rising on May 23 of the United Irishmen in the midlands reached county Wexford , it was already in an unsettled condition due to fears brought by the recently instituted anti - insurgent disarmament campaign in the county . The measures used included pitchcapping , half - hanging , and house burnings to uncover rebel conspirators . The recent arrival in Wexford of the North Cork Militia who were notorious for their brutality in the " pacification " of Ulster , terror raids by local yeomen and finally news of the massacres at Dunlavin Green , Carlow and Carnew , had the effect of drawing people together in large groups for security , especially at night . One such group of one hundred or so had gathered on the evening of the 26 May at The Harrow , near the parish of Boolavogue under the tutelage of Fr . John Murphy when they encountered a patrol of about 20 yeomen on their way to the house of a suspected rebel . They burned the suspect ' s dwelling but returning empty - handed , they encountered Fr . Murphy ’ s band again . The patrol were pushing their way through when a skirmish began in which they lost two of their number , the rest fleeing with news of the killings . Night of 26 May . The reaction on both sides was rapid , vengeful yeomanry patrols roaming , burning and killing indiscriminately while the rebels roused the countryside and made several raids on manors and other houses holding arms , killing more loyalists and yeomen . News of the skirmish and raids had by now reached Wexford town and the bulk of its garrison , 110 of the North Cork militia with 20 yeomen cavalry were ordered north to crush the nascent rebellion . The Battle of Oulart Hill . The militia reached the village of Oulart on the afternoon of the 27th having refreshed themselves on the way by sacking a suspect ’ s public house and drinking the contents . Finding a mass of 1 , 000 rebels occupying the high ground of Oulart hill , they proceeded to burn cabins at the foot of the hill in an attempt to lure down the rebels . The ruse failed but the nervousness of the poorly armed rebels , among whom there were many women and children , was clearly visible with numbers of them slipping away from the impending confrontation . The rebel leaders desperately tried to stem the tide but had little success until the yeomen cavalry were seen moving to positions to cut off this escape route , which had the effect of stemming the tide of desertions . The militia then confidently advanced up the hill without waiting for artillery support , contrary to orders according to one of the few survivors , the militia leader , Colonel Foote . Unknown to the militia , the rebels had prepared an ambush line at right angles to their position on the hill and placed those of their number with guns at the front of their positions . The militia advanced and fired a couple of loose volleys but the rebels held their positions until the soldiers reached killing range , then pouring concentrated gunfire upon the soldiers . The rebels then unleashed a ferocious charge on the surviving militiamen who were quickly overwhelmed and pursued for miles across the surrounding countryside , only four of them escaping to the temporary safety of Wexford . The supporting yeomen cavalry fled after losing one of their number to rebel gunfire . Following this victory , in which the rebels lost only six of their number , almost all of North Wexford joined the rebellion and Crown forces and loyalists civilians ceded control of the countryside , withdrawing to towns such as Enniscorthy , Gorey and Wexford .