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mncxuck. 331
flower of their force? The siege was raised; and on the 30th of August, the
army of “lilliam commenced a retreat-sthe king himself embarking shortly
afterwards for England, at Duncannon Fort, and leaving the conduct of the war
to his generals Salmon and Ginckle, and the civil government to Lords Sidney
and Coningsbyif
So important, however, was Limerick considered, that Gincklc engaged in
active preparations for another attempt to take it;1 and having succeeded in
obtaining possession of Athlone, after a bloody contest, and beaten the Irish
forces at the memorable and eventful battle of Aughrim, where St. Ruth, the
brave but airogant general appointed by Louis to command the allied forces
of France and Ireland, was slain, the shrewd and hardy Dutchman again
concentrated his forces in the neighbourhood of the city, which had now become
' The historians of the period dwell in terms of enthusiastic praise upon the courage of the lrish forces;
and William himself, who witnessed the scene from an adjacent fort, is said to have mingled expressions of
disappointrnent with those of generous admiration of the bravery of his enemies. Within two minutes alter
the commencement of the attack, "the noise was so terrible,” writes an eye-witness, “that one would have
thought the very skies ready to be rent asunder.” “This was seconded by dust, smoke, and all the terror:
the art of man could invent to ruine and undo one another; and to make it the more uneasie, the day itself
‘"13 excessively hot to the by-standers, and much more, sure, in all respects to those in action.” “ The smoke
that went ‘from the town reached, in one continued cloud,” it is said, “to the top of a mountain at least six
miles 03;" an assertion that will not appear exaggerated, when it is known that a battery, which formed one
ofthe defences of the breach, and which contained a magazine, was blown up during the engageineunt Among
its ruins lay the blackened bodies of a whole regiment of Ilrandcnburghers, who had succeeded in taking it,
when an unknown hand-doubtless that of some self-devoted patriot-set tire to the powder, and hundreds of
brave men were blown into the air. I. 4
‘I Paul de Rapin, the author of the “History of England,” was a lieutenant in General Douglas's regiment,
at the siege in 1600; the day before the siege was raised, he was wounded in the shoulder, and his brother
was shot through the body the same day. Dean Story, also, the historian of the period, was actively engaged
on the occasion of the last, siege, in 1691, being chaplain to the army.
I Colonel Luttrell, an ollicer in the Irish army, was accused of betraying to the besicgers an important
“P333” of the Shannon, which greatly facilitated their attacks upon the city. The name has ever since been
‘Fnunymous with infamy in Ireland ;-he " sould the pass,” is a common saying with the pe:rsantry to denote
“'6 l“i‘l“l‘.l’ Of “informing;” and they believe, when :1 powerful storm disturbs the river Shannon, that “tho
:‘l‘Ill'it of the traitor Luttreil is abroad shrieking upon the waters.” This fact is singularly illustrative of the
Inyustice that may be wrought by tradition. There is no doubt that Luttrcll was entirely guiltless of the
”l""'Se Of treason to his party advanced against him. He was tried by a court-martial, the members of which
were selected by Tyrconncll, and acquitted. The following testimony of the Earl of Westmcath, in a letter to
Mr. Ilarris, the author of 1-. Life of King William, is unimpeachable. “I was in Limerick,” he wlitc-"v “3“‘l
i"'cS9“t at Colonel Luttrell’s trial; though neither I nor Sarsfield, nor Colonel Purcell, were on the court-
m“”l‘-‘l- My Lord Tyrconnell appointed those he thought he had an influence on to be on it! “']‘0a “'0“$ll
many of them were his nephews, and Mark Talbot his natural son, who being much wounded at Aughrim
came to the court-m:u'tial. Colonel Luttrell was acquitted, and it was impossible he could be f0U"d Elli”? bi’
men that had either honesty or honour.‘ Ircad in a printed book a false allegation against Colonel Luttrell, as if
1'9 hid given an opportunity to Ginckle to have a bridge laid over the Shannon. Colonel lnU1N“‘ll“'“3 the“
"’“5"9kl in the castle of Limerick, and brigadier Clifford commanded when the bridge was laid ovefy 51"‘! bl’ 9
'91’? great ncelvct he made no opposition to it. He was for that neglect confined in the castle; and I believe.
I‘. '-lie capitulutiou had not been made, he must of course be condemned by a court-martiaL"