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Battle of Vinegar Hill
Part of 1798 Rebellion
"Charge of the 5th Dragoon Guards on the insurgents – a recreant yeoman having deserted to them in uniform is being cut down" (William Sadler II) Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Combatants United Irishmen French First Republic Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Commanders Local leaders, General Humbert Cornwallis Lake Strength  ? Various, at peak mid-June c. ... Image File history File links Vinhill. ...
Date June 21, 1798 Location Enniscorthy, Wexford Result British Victory, regain control of county Wexford
Belligerents
Irish Rebels	British Army, Hessian Mercenaries
Commanders
Rebel Council	Gerard Lake
Strength
c. 20,000	c. 10,000
Casualties and losses
1,000 (inc. c. 400 women & children)	100

The Battle of Vinegar Hill was an engagement on 21 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. Wexford, the the largest rebel camp and headquarters of the Wexford rebels. It marked a turning point in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 as it was the last attempt by the Wexford rebels to hold and defend ground against the British military and forced rebels to rely on tactics of mobile warfare for the remainder of the Wexford rebellion. The battle was actually fought in two locations, on Vinegar Hill itself and in the streets of nearby rebel-held Enniscorthy. is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1798 (MDCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... The castle in Enniscorthy, Co. ... This article is about the Irish town. ... The term Hessian refers to the inhabitants of the German state of Hesse. ... Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake (July 27, 1744 - February 20, 1808), was a British general. ... Combatants United Irishmen French First Republic Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Commanders Local leaders, General Humbert Cornwallis Lake Strength  ? Various, at peak mid-June c. ... The Battle of Ballymore-Eustace was one of the events in the United Irish rebellion of 1798. ... In one of the first engagements of the 1798 rebellion, a force of over 1,000 rebels attacked Naas, the strongest Crown garrison in county Kildare, following the successful mobilisation of United Irishmen, Defenders and rebels throughout county Kildare on the night of 23rd May. ... United Irish taking of Prosperous, Co. ... // Battles of Kilcullen 24th May 1798 The battle of Kilcullen was one of the first engagements in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 consisting of two seperate clashes between a force of United Irish rebels and British military. ... Battle of Carlow, 25th May 1798 Following the outbreak of the 1798 Rebellion on 24th May in county Kildare, Carlow rebels assembled on the night of the 24th and set off at dawn to attack the County town and picked up more volunteers along the way. ... The Battle of Tara Hill was fought on 26 May 1798 between British forces and Irish rebels involved in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, resulting in a heavy defeat for the rebels and the end of the rebellion in County Meath. ... 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. ... Gibbet Rath massacre, Curragh, Co. ... Battle of Three Rocks, Wexford 30th May 1798 The battle of Three Rocks was a United Irish victory during the 1798 rebellion against a British artillery column marching to reinforce Wexford town against anticipated rebel attack. ... The battle of Bunclody or Newtownbarry as it was then called, was a battle in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which took place on 1st June 1798 when a force of some 5,000 rebels led by Catholic priest Fr. ... The Battle of Tuberneering was fought on June 4, 1798, between Great Britian and Ireland. ... The Battle of New Ross took place in county Wexford in south-eastern Ireland, during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. ... The Battle of Antrim was fought on June 7, 1798, between Great Britain and Ireland. ... The Battle of Arklow took place during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 on June 9th when a rebel force from Wexford, estimated at 10,000 strong, launched an assault into County Wicklow, on the British-held town of Arklow, in an attempt to spread the rebellion into Wicklow and to... The battle of Ovidstown, Co. ... The battle of Foulksmills (also known as the battle of Goffs Bridge) was a battle on 20th June 1798 between advancing British forces seeking to stamp out the rebellion in Wexford during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and a rebel army assembled to oppose them. ... 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. ... Combatants French Army & Irish Rebels British Army Commanders Jean Humbert Gerard Lake Strength 2,000 6,000 Casualties 150 80 killed, 270 wounded, captured and missing The Battle of Castlebar occurred on 27th August during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 when a combined force of 2,000 French troops and... Combatants French Army & Irish Rebels British Army Commanders Jean Humbert Col. ... Combatants French Army United Irishmen British Army Commanders Jean Humbert Gerard Lake Strength 2,350 5,000 Casualties 500 30 The Battle of Ballinamuck marked the defeat of the main force of the French incursion during the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland. ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1798 (MDCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... The castle in Enniscorthy, Co. ... Statistics Province: Leinster County Town: Wexford Code: WX Area: 2,352 km² Population (2006) 131,615 Website: www. ... Combatants United Irishmen French First Republic Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Commanders Local leaders, General Humbert Cornwallis Lake Strength  ? Various, at peak mid-June c. ...

Bombardment of Vinegar Hill

Vinegar Hill - view from Enniscorthy

The battle began shortly before dawn with an artillery bombardment of rebel positions on the hill. Advance units quickly moved against rebel outposts under cover of the shelling and moved artillery closer as forward positions were secured. The rebel strength was estimated at 20,000 but they were accompanied by thousands of women and children. The tightening ring forced the thousands of rebels into an ever-shrinking area and increased exposure to the constant shelling, including new experimental delayed fuse explosives resulting in hundreds of dead and maimed. At least two mass charges by the rebels on Vinegar Hill brought temporary relief and heavy casualties but failed to break the advancing lines of military. The rebel position on Vinegar Hill was becoming desperate and when the British troops crested its eastern summit, the rebels began a withdrawal through a gap in the British lines later known as “Needham's Gap” after Francis Needham, whose late arrival allowed the bulk of the rebels to reach safety.

Rebel Leaders

Fr. Murphy, a Catholic priest, was a hero of the Rebellion of 1798. He was viewed by his followers like Genghis Khan. He was put in charge of some forces in County Wexford by his bishop. He started as a reluctant leader. Fr. Murphy was not a United Irishman. After winning the battle at Oulart he went on to Enniscorthy. He swept aside the city’s defenses by stampeding cattle into them. This is referenced in the poem “Requiem for the Croppy Boys.” His victories greatly bolstered the morale of the troops and incited rebellion in the area surrounding Dublin. His forces of both Catholic and Protestant peasants grew to 15,000 strong. He then destroyed the capital of County Wexford. This was the climax of the rebellion in the south-east. Fr. Murphy then was defeated several times and was forced to retreat to Vinegar Hill outside Enniscorthy. By this time his men had taken thousands of casualties and were demoralized. 20,000 British troops surrounded them there. Armed only with pikes and scythes they were shelled for two hours. Few escaped including Fr. Murphy. He was later caught in County Carlow. He was beaten and beheaded. His body was burned and his head put on a pike across the street from a Catholic church in the town of tullow,where he was caught.

Attack on Enniscorthy

The bridge at Enniscorthy
(Vinegar Hill visible in background)

The British simultaneously launched an attack on Enniscorthy town to cut off the bridge linking Vinegar Hill to the town; they were met with fierce resistance from the rebels there led by William Barker. British progress in the town was also slow and they suffered heavy casualties as the town saw heavy street fighting for the second time in one month. The rebels were eventually driven across the bridge but were reinforced by a large contingent of newly arrived rebels, who managed to prevent the military from breaking through until most of the surviving rebel army had escaped along the eastern side of the river Slaney. Note:This article is about the WWI pilot. ... The Slaney is a river in the southeast of Ireland. ...

Atrocities

When it became clear that the bulk of the rebels were retreating from Vinegar Hill, the British cavalry were unleashed and quickly followed by the infantry. A massacre of hundreds of stragglers ensued, mainly women and children, from a combination of the cavalry and infantry attack but also from the field guns which were switched to grape shot to maximise casualties among the fleeing masses. In addition, the military were guilty of multiple instances of gang rape of females amongst the rebel camp^[1]. In Enniscorthy meanwhile, troops set fire to a makeshift rebel hospital in the town, burning scores of trapped and helpless wounded rebels alive, their bodies were said to be still hissing in the embers the following day^[2]. Grapeshot was a kind of anti-personnel ammunition used in cannons, was similar to canister shot. ...

Aftermath

The bulk of the rebel forces streamed unmolested towards the Three Rocks camp outside Wexford town and, following the decision to abandon the town, split into two separate columns, one setting out to the west, the other northwards in a new campaign to spread the rebellion beyond Wexford. The defeat was therefore not the crushing blow to the rebels that it has traditionally been depicted, but it did alter the course of the rebellion. Continuing resistance now took the form of mobile warfare, raids, and large scale guerilla-type operations. This article is about the Irish town. ...

References

1. ^ p. 28, "The Mighty Wave: The 1798 Rebellion in Wexford" (Four Courts Press 1996) Daire Keogh (Editor), Nicholas Furlong (Editor) ISBN 1-85182-254-2
2. ^ p. 146 "Fr. John Murphy of Boolavogue, 1753-98" (Dublin, 1991) Nicholas Furlong ISBN 0 906602 18 1

Primary sources

• Miles Byrne (1780-1862) - Memoirs
• Luke Cullen - "Personal Recollections of Wexford and Wicklow Insurgents of 1798" (1938)

Secondary Sources

C. Dickson - "The Wexford Rising in 1798: its causes and course" (1955)

See also

• Battle of Vinegar Hill, Australia, 1804