The battle of Ballyellis on 30th June 1798 was a clash during the 1798 rebellion between a surviving column of the dispersed Wexford rebel army and pursuing British forces which resulted in a total victory for the rebels. The Irish Rebellion of 1798 or 1798 rebellion as it is known locally, was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against the British establishment in Ireland. ...

Background

The British victory at Vinegar Hill on 21st June had denied the rebels static bases of operation but had not finished the rebellion and at least three major columns of rebels were operating throughout the southeast, moving outwards from county Wexford in an effort to spread and revive the rebellion. The battle of Vinegar Hill was an engagement on 21st June 1798 between forces of the British Crown and Irish rebels when over 10,000 British soldiers launched an attack on Vinegar Hill outside Enniscorthy, Co. ... A rebellion is, in the most general sense, a refusal to accept authority. ... Wexford (Irish: Loch Garman) is the county town of County Wexford in the Republic of Ireland. ...

One such column, numbering about 1,000 but accompanied by a number of women and juveniles was mobile in north county Wexford, continually altering course to elude combined movements of pursuing British forces. The column was headed in the direction of Wicklow and the security offered by the mountain ranges when it was spotted by a force of Ancient Britons, dragoons, and three yeomanry corps, near the neighbourhood of Moneyseed who then began a pursuit of the rebels. Wicklow (Cill Mhantáin in Irish) is the county town of County Wicklow in the Republic of Ireland. ... A light dragoon from the American Revolution A dragoon is a soldier trained to fight on foot, but transport himself on horseback. ... In the 1790s, the threat of invasion of England was high, with the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. ...

Battle of Ballyellis

Rebel scouts at the rear spotted the approaching British and a force of rebels then moved ahead of the main force to prepare an ambush at the townland of Ballyellis. The spot chosen was behind a curve in the road flanked by high ditches and estate walls; wagons were then placed on the road and access points cut into the ditches. The main force arrived and deployed itself behind the wagons, on the wall and ditches with a small force left to stand on the road ahead of the barricades facing the approaching soldiers.

Upon spotting the small force standing on the road, the pursuing British quickened their pace and charged forwards, assuming that they were facing the rearguard of the fleeing column. Upon reaching the turn they were met by a barrage of gunfire followed by a pike charge from their front and left. As more mounted troops arrived they pressed their comrades further into the trap making effective manoeuvre impossible and many were easily picked off by the long pikes of the rebels. A pike is a pole weapon once used extensively by infantry principally as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. ...

The rear-ranks quickly fled with a few more soldiers escaping by jumping their mounts over the ditch but at the end of the action about 60 troops (including a French émigré) and two officers were killed for no rebel casualties. Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has migrated out, but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile. ...