The army of James was commanded by a German of the name of Rosen, a man whose experience in war was great, but who was equally distinguished for his ferocity. Enrag ed to madness at the defence of the town, he ordered all the Protestants in the neighbourhood to be driven under its walls, where they must have perished, had not James, with more humanity, or perhaps only more policy, direct ed that they should be released.
The town had been first assailed on the 17th of April. On the 30th of July, three ships were seen in Loch Foyle, part of those which had before appeared there. On these vessels the eyes both of the besiegers and besieged were anxiously fixed. The attempt to approach the town was extremely difficult and hazardous ; and the besiegers now did every thing in their power to increase the difficulty and danger. Where the lake narrowed, its shores were lined with batteries, and a boom formed as strong as it could be made, was stretched across this narrow part. This boom consequently must be broken, before the vessels could pos sibly approach. One of them came near it. All eyes were fixed on the event. Sailing with considerable velo city, she broke the boom. The besieged were almost in toxicated with joy, when the next moment their joy was changed into despair, on observing the vessel on shore, in consequence of the rebound given her in breaking the boom. The next moment, the recoil of her guns, which were fired on the besiegers as they attempted to take pos session of her, again set her afloat. The garrison were now relieved from famine ; and as on famine alone the be siegers had trusted for success, t hey immediately retired, having lost 8000 men. Of the 7360 of which the garrison consisted, 4300 survived ; but a large proportion of these were incapable nisi rvice.
As soon as the Protestants of Enniskillen learnt the issue of the siege, they went in pursuit of the enemy, and not only harassed them, but by their rapid excursions, struck terrror even to the capital. At length three different ar mies were sent against them. Two of these they defeated, and the third, tinder the Duke of Berwick, they obliged to retreat.
In the mean time, James in Dublin had assembled a par liament, composed almost entirely of Catholics. The acts of this parliament sere by no means calculated to repress the violence of James's adherents, from which indeed his cause suffered as much as from the opposition of the adhe rents of King William. Among the first acts of this par liament, were the repeal of the act of settlement, and the passing an act of attainder. The last was equally distin guished by its impoliey, injustice, and cruelty. But, in deed, the whole of the proceedings of James were marked by such blind folly as no man could have fallen into, whose intellect was not completely obscured by bigotry, and who had not given himself entirely up to the guidance of men of the most desperate character. It is not possible that he ever could have reflected on the possibility of such mea sures restoring him to the throne ; or how, if restored, he could hope to reign, except these measures were conti nued, to keep down the hatred which they excited.
The Protestants, exposed to every species of outrage, had long looked for effectual succours from England. At
length they arrived under Schomberg and Solmes. From Bangor, in the county of p own, where Schomberg landed, he advanced to Dundalk, taking possession of Belfast, An trim, Carrickfergus, &c. on his route. His encampment at Dundalk was very injudiciously chosen in a low and damp spot, by which sickness attacked his troops. Against him, thus encamped, the army of James marched, com manded by him in person. The situation of Schomberg, though unhealthy, was strong ; so that James, after mak ing a chew of immediate and general attack, retired to Ar dee. The people of England having indulged in great hopes from the operations of Schomberg's army, were loud in their expressions of disappointment and indignation, when they learnt that his plan seemed rather defensive than offensive , and "William resolved, in order to pacify the peo ple, to go himself into Ireland ; and he accordingly landed at Carrickfergus on the 14th of June, 1690.
Having put himself at the head of his forces, the army of James retired before him to the southern side of the Boyne, near Drogheda, where it halted ; James, who had joined it from Dublin, declaring his resolution to try the fate of a battle. The hostile armies were nearly equal, that of James consisting of 33,000 men, and that of Wil liam of 36.000 men. The army of the former was com posed of French and Irish ; that of William of Dutch, Danes, and other foreigners, among whom were some Huguenots, and English and Irish ; the last were princi pally Enniskillen Protestants. The position of James's army was strong ; but William, after having reconnoitred it, resolved to cross the Boyne and attack him. For this purpose, he formed his army into three divisions, with orders to pass the river in three different places. The right wing crossed early in the morning of the 1st of July without opposition, and, by their manoeuvres, soon put to flight those of the enemy with whom they had to contend. The passage of the centre division was not effected so easily ; and, after it was effected, the Huguenots were thrown into disorder. To retrieve which, Scnomberg put himself at their head, and being taken prisoner, he was ac cidentally killed by the fire of his own troops. at the same time fell George Walker, the heroic deTender of Londonderry. The object of the King himself, who head ed the third division, was, after crossing the river, to take the enemy in flank ; but the English cavalry under his im mediate command could not withstand the impetuous at tack of their opponents, and were forced to give way. In this dilemma, William rode up to the Enniskilleners, and asking them " What they would do for him ?" they im mediately advanced, charged the enemy in the most brave manner, and thus afforded time for the cavalry to rally. The infantry- of James now gave way ; and James himself, alarmed at his danger, put himself at the head of a regi ment of cavalry, and gained the pass of Duleck, three miles to the south of the field of battle. The rest of his forces having also passed through this defile, formed again, and effected their retreat in good order. The loss of the vanquished is said to have been 1500, and that of the victors 500.