Battle of the Yellow Ford

From Wikipedia

The Battle of the Yellow Ford was fought in south Armagh, Ulster, in Ireland, near the river Blackwater in August 1598, during the Nine Years War (Ireland). It was fought between the Gaelic Irish rebel army under Hugh O'Neill and Hugh Roe O'Donnell and an English expeditionary force under Harvey Bagenal. The English were attempting to march from Armagh town to relieve a fort on the Blackwater, but fell into a well prepared ambush and were routed with heavy losses. Armagh is a city in Northern Ireland, the capital of County Armagh. ... For other places and things named Ulster, see Ulster (disambiguation). ... A true colour image of Ireland, captured by a NASA satellite on January 4, 2003. ... Events January 7 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia following the death of his brother-in-law, Tsar Feodor I April 13 - Edict of Nantes - Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics. ... Goidelic is one of two major divisions of modern-day Celtic languages (the other being Brythonic). ... Armagh is a city in Northern Ireland, the capital of County Armagh. ... An ambush is a long established military tactic in which an ambushing force uses concealment to attack an enemy that passes its position. ...

The opposing sides

Bagenal, who was an English settler from Newry, commanded 4000 English troops (many of whom were actually Irishmen), along with Irish auxiliaries and several pieces of artillery. O’Neill had the forces raised from the clans of O’Neill, O’Donnell and their dependent clans. He also had a substantial number of mercenaries in his pay, many of them from the Highlands of Scotland. The English troops were armed with the standard weapons of the day, pikes and muskets for the infantry, swords and pistols for the cavalry. The Irish carried their traditional arms of swords, axes and javelins but also pikes and muskets, especially calivers, which were a lighter and more portable version of the standard musket. O’Neill had several English and Spanish military advisors in his pay, who trained his troops in the use of modern weaponry. The Irish horsemen carried their spears over-arm, either thrusting or throwing them at close quarters. Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. ... Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... See also Clan (computer gaming) A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. ... Mercenary (disambiguation). ... Highland or Highlands has these meanings:- The term highland is used in geography for any elevated mountainous plateau. ... Scotland (Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is a country or nation and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. ... Pike can mean: A pole weapon, see pike (weapon) A carnivorous fish, see pike (fish) A programming language, see Pike programming language Stream cipher Pike (cryptography) A male elf character (skilled with his namesake weapon) in the comic book Elfquest Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, see Pi Kappa Alpha Pike is... A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth-bore long gun. ... Infantry in the First World War Infantry (or Infantrymen) are soldiers who fight primarily on foot, using personal weapons. ... The word English can mean: The people of England as an ethnic group. ... The Kingdom of Spain or Spain (Spanish and Galician: Reino de España or España; Catalan: Regne dEspanya; Basque: Espainiako Erresuma) is a country located in the southwest of Europe. ...

the battle

The country the English troops had to march over was hilly and wooded and interspersed with bogs, making it ideal for an ambush. O’Neill had also lined their line of march with obstacles such as trenches and breastworks across the road. As soon as they left Armagh, the English were harassed with musket fire and thrown spears from Irish forces concealed in the woods. As a result the different English companies became separated from one another as they paused to deal with the hit and run attacks. This was accentuated when one of their artillery pieces became stuck in the mud and part of the column got left behind trying to shift it. Bagenal was killed by a shot through the head, further demoralising his troops and to add to the chaos, the English gun-powder store exploded, apparently ignited by the fuse of a matchlock musket. Seeing their enemy in confusion, the Irish horsemen rushed the head of the column, followed by swordsmen on foot. The English troops in this part of the field (at the "yellow ford" from which the battle gets its name) were cut to pieces. The remnants of the English force managed to fight their way back to Armagh. Armagh is a city in Northern Ireland, the capital of County Armagh. ... The Matchlock was the first firearm to have a trigger mechanism for firing. ...

The English lost between1500 and 2000 killed at the battle, including 18 "captains" or officers, with more wounded. Several hundred soldiers also deserted to the rebels. Either way, just over 2000 English soldiers reached Armagh after the battle, of the 4000 who had set out. The survivors were evacuated by sea from Newry to Dublin. O’Neill’s force lost about 200 killed and 600 wounded. In the next two years, O’Neill managed to spread his rebellion all over Ireland, but was eventually defeated at the battle of Kinsale in 1601 and forced to surrender in 1603. Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. ... Dublins Hapenny Bridge. ... Siege of Kinsale - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... For other uses, see number 1601. ... Events March 24 - Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England April 28 – Funeral of Elizabeth I of England in Westminster Abbey July 17 or July 19 - Sir Walter Raleigh arrested for treason. ...

Sources

• G.A. Hayes McCoy, Irish Battles, Belfast 1990.

• John McCavitt, The Flight of the Earls, Dublin 2002.

See Also

• Nine Years War (Ireland)
• Hugh O'Neill
• Hugh Roe O'Donnell
• Irish battles
• History of Ireland