Battle of Oulart Hill 27th May 1798

The battle of Oulart Hill took place on 27th May 1798 when a rebel gathering of 1,000 annihilated a detachment of militia sent from Wexford town to stamp out the spread of 1798 rebellion in county Wexford. 1798 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... A militia is a group of citizens organized to provide paramilitary service. ... Wexford (Loch Garman in Irish) is a maritime county in the southeast of Ireland, in the province of Leinster. ...

Background

When news of the rising of the United Irishmen in the midlands reached county Wexford, it was already in an unsettled condition due to fears brought by the recently initiated anti-insurgent disarmament campaign which used measures such pitchcapping, half-hanging, and house burnings to uncover rebel conspirators. The recent arrival of the North Cork Militia in Wexford, 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 26th 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. Returning empty-handed, they burned the dwelling and 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 26th 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 Houses holding arms, killing more loyalists and yeomen. News of the skirmish and raids had by now reached Wexford town and the bulk of it's garrison, 110 of the North Cork militia with 20 yeomen cavalry were ordered north to crush the nascent rebellion. For the area of Sheffield, in England, see Manor, Sheffield. ... Yeoman is an antiquated term for farmers, tradesmen and other members of the early English middle class. ... An army unit consisting of mounted soldiers are commonly known as cavalry. ...

Battle of Oulart Hill

The militia reached Oulart in the afternoon of the 27th having refreshed themselves on the way by sacking a suspect’s public house and drinking the contents. They found a mass of 1,000 rebels occupying the high ground of the hill and proceeded to burn cabins at the foot of the hill 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 stemmed 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 with guns at the front of their positions. The militia advanced and fired a couple of loose volleys but the rebels held their position until they reached killing range when they poured 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 whom made it to the temporary safety of Wexford. The supporting yeomen cavalry had quickly fled after losing one of their number to rebel gunfire.