tion the insurgents had occupied for three weeks. Four different armies now moved toward it. The rebel leaders called in their detachments. An express was sent off with all speed to Wexford for reinforcements. The encampment at the Three Rocks was commanded at this time by Rev. Philip Roche, a boisterous priest, a man of great stature and courage, and not destitute of military capacity. But Father Roche had his hands full. At the same time that four divisions of the royal army were drawing around Vinegar Hill, Sir John Moore was advancing upon Wexford. Father Roche marched resolutely to meet him. As they passed to the battle, old men, women, and children lined the roadside, who fell upon their knees, and prayed for their success. The battle was long and bloody. The rebels showed more discipline than in any previous action of the war. Their force was numerically superior, but from the broken nature of the ground but a part could be brought into action, so that the forces actually engaged on either side were about equal. Thus fairly matched, the battle was sustained with unflinching steadiness for four hours. The rebels at last gave way, but not until their ammunition was exhausted. They had fired their last shot, and night was closing around them, when they drew off from the field.

The same afternoon the divisions designed to attack Vinegar Hill, approached the scene of conflict. General Lakę, the commander-in-chief, encamped within two miles. From the plain below, it was easy to see that the Irish forces were in motion on the top of the hill. A priest of

BATTLE OF VINEGAR HILL.

253

giant stature was particularly noticed, as he was dressed with a cimeter and broad cross-belts, and was mounted on a large horse, and riding from one part of the camp to another, apparently to reconnoiter the enemy. A council of the chiefs was called, at which it was proposed to attack General Lake that night. Had this course been adopted, it would very probably have been successful. The insurgents would have had great advantages in a night attack. Rushing in with their pikes upon a sleeping camp, they might have taken the foe by surprise. In the confusion, discipline could be very imperfectly maintained, and the contest would be decided by hand-to-hand fighting, in which the Irish from their greater numbers would probably have been victorious. Then by rapid marches they might have fallen on the other detachments, and destroyed them in detail. But the Irish, brave to desperation by daylight, had a strange aversion to fighting in the dark. In this democratic army nothing could be done against the will of the people, and the leaders were thus reluctantly compelled to remain in their encampment, and await the attack of their enemies.

The following morning, Thursday, the 21st of June, the long scarlet lines of the British infantry were seen advancing in battle array. The different divisions embodied over thirteen thousand effective men, with a formidable train of artillery. The battle began with a cannonade, which was so heavy that it was heard distinctly at Wexford. Under cover of their batteries the several columns moved proudly up the hill. Some hedges ran across the slope, from behind which the rebels poured in a deadly fire.

General Lake's horse was shot under him, still the troops, strong in numbers and in discipline, bore up, the rebels retreating slowly as they advanced. That the insurgents by this time had acquired some discipline, is evident from the fact that they stood the assault of such an army so long. General Lake, in his account of the battle, says that "the rebels maintained their ground obstinately for an hour and a half." At length, feeling the columns pressing against them from opposite sides, and seeing that they were likely to be surrounded, they gave way.

The war might have terminated here with the surrender of the whole rebel army. But the division of General Needham failed to arrive in time for the battle. Thus a wide gap was left in the line which was to surround the mountain. Through this the insurgents now rushed like a torrent. The British troops marched to the top of the hill. But the enemy had disappeared. The battle was gained, but the prey had escaped. And while the victors occupied the heights which they had just left, the war-cries of the foe were dying away far to the south, like the distant roaring of a lion, that has cleared the hunters at a bound, and is retreating through the forest.

GUERILLA FIGHTING KEPT UP IN THE MOUNTAINS.-WARLIKE CHARACTER OF THE IRISH. THEIR GREAT WANT THAT OF ABLE OFFICERS.-DEATH OF FITZGERALD.-DESOLATIONS OF THE WAR.

BUT the battle was lost, and with that went down the cause of the Rebellion. From that day the rebels were no more able to meet the royal armies in the field. From the first rising in Wexford until the decisive battle of Vinegar Hill was less than four weeks, with such rapidity were executed the operations of this short but bloody campaign. The same day Sir John Moore marched triumphantly into Wexford. Thus the places so lately thronged with the forces of the Rebellion, now resounded with the drums of the victorious soldiers.

One hope only remained to retire into the mountains, and keep up a guerilla warfare until aid should arrive from France. One of the songs of the period ran

"Up the rocky mountain, and down the boggy glyn,
We'll keep them in agitation until the French come in."

With this purpose the rebels executed a rapid retreat into the county of Kilkenny. For weeks after the line of battle was broken, bands of savage warriors roamed upon the

mountains, eluding the enemy by the swiftness of their marches, and carrying terror through the land. At a late day Lord Cornwallis came to Ireland with an offer of general amnesty, and the main battalions of the insurrection laid down their arms.*

*

Such were the principal events of this memorable civil war. But much of what was most heroic and wild and brave, can not be told. The combats of peasant and yeoman hand to hand, the conflicts of detached bands, were too numerous and desultory to be woven into a connected tale. Vain were it to recount the strifes by rock and glen. The mountainous character of the country afforded peculiar facilities for a guerilla warfare. Often straggling parties met in narrow defiles, and instantly rushed to the shock as those who would neither give nor take quarter. Sometimes peasants crouched in ambush beside the road along which poured a squadron of cavalry. On they came, their plumes dancing in the air, when suddenly uprose a thousand pikes. The bullets flew thick like hail. Away went the foeman and his steed. One shout, one rush, and all

was over:

"And silence settled, deep and still,
On the lone wood and mighty hill."

*For a still longer time small bands continued to ravage the country. One party lurking in the woods near Enniscorthy, called themselves Babes of the Wood. Another under Holt and Hacket concealed themselves in the Wicklow Mountains. Issuing from their fastnesses, they fell suddenly upon detached villages, firing dwellings, and cutting off Orangemen and loyalists. and retreating swiftly into their eagle's nest.