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The Government Forces Engaged at Castlebar in 1798
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2016
Extract
Statements as to the number of (and the elements composing) the government force which faced the French at Castlebar on Monday morning, 27 August 1798, differ widely and some of them are surprising. A history of the Irish rebellion published in 1898 by F. W. Palliser puts the number of the government troops at 16,000 or 17,000. Dr Richard Hayes gives the number as 5,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry. Fortescue speaks of Lake arriving at Castlebar ‘ where Hutchinson had already assembled four thousand men chiefly militia and fencibles ‘, but he also speaks of his having been next morning at the time of the attack ‘ in a strong position with some 1,700 men ‘. The aggregate strength is by many writers stated as relatively ‘ more than thrice ‘ that of the French; a contemporary example of this is in the Annual Register for 1798.
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References
page 316 note 1 The last invasion of Ireland (2nd ed., 1939), p. 41.
page 316 note 2 History of the British army, vol. iv, i, p. 591.
page 316 note 3 P 165.
page 316 note 4 Limerick, its history and antiquities (1866), p. 410.
page 316 note 5 Nuala Costello (ed.), Two diaries of the French expedition, 1798 (Anal. Hib., no. 11, July 1941).
page 317 note 1 Desbriere, Edouard, Projets et tentatives de debarquement aux ties britanniques, vol. ii, ch. v.Google Scholar
page 317 note 2 Rev.Gordon, James, History of the rebellion in Ireland (London, 1801).Google Scholar
page 318 note 1 1803. In this edition Gordon replied to ‘ observations ‘ made by Musgrave.
page 318 note 2 SirMusgrave, Richard, Memoirs of the different rebellions in Ireland (2nd ed., Dublin, 1801).Google Scholar
page 318 note 3 Plowden, Francis, An historical review of the state of Ireland (London, 1803), vol. ii, pt 2.Google Scholar
page 318 note 4 Gribayédoff, Valerian, The French invasion of Ireland in ‘98 (New York, 1890).Google Scholar
page 319 note 1 Diary of Sir John Moore, ed. Sir J. F Maurice (London, 1904), i. 270.
page 319 note 2 Ibid., p. 314.
page 319 note 3 Correspondence of Marquis Cornwallis (London, 1859), ii.
page 320 note 1 P.R.O., H.O. 100/78.
page 320 note 2 Ibid., 100/381.
page 320 note 3 B.M., Add. MS 34,454.
page 321 note 1 H.M.C., Dropmore papers, iv. 297.
page 321 note 2 Ibid.
page 321 note 3 London, 1799; Dublin, 1798. Attributed to Captain Herbert Taylor, Cornwallis's military secretary. He became Lieut. General Sir Herbert Taylor and private secretary to William IV Correspondence of his has been published (The Taylor papers, 1913), but contains little about his service in Ireland. I have ascertained from the editor, and present owner, of these papers that nothing remains unpublished in his possession belonging to the period of Taylor's service with Lord Cornwallis.
page 321 note 4 This is referred to under differing titles: Lord Jocelin's [Jocelyn's] light horse; 1st fencible light dragoons; 1st fencible cavalry and fencible dragoons (Musgrave). These are all the same unit.
page 322 note 1 P.R.O., H.O. 100/81.
page 322 note 2 P.R.O., W.O. 13/3879.
page 322 note 3 Gribayèdoff wrongly associates Lord Roden with this unit.
page 322 note 4 Limerick, p. 409.
page 322 note 5 Emphasized in an official memorandum on the defence of Ireland, dated 1798, and not earlier than April 28 (N.L.I., Melville papers, vol. 54A, no. 135).
page 323 note 1 W.O., 31/2942.
page 323 note 2 W.O., 13/3059.
page 323 note 3 The standard establishment of companies of Irish militia was fixed by acts of 1793 and 1795, but the lord lieutenant had power of’ augmentation ‘ of company strength; the colonels could, and some did, opt against augmentation. The Longford were augmented ; the Kilkenny were not. But the Longford were a six-company unit whereas the Kilkenny had eight companies.
page 323 note 4 Richey, H. A., A short history of the Royal Longford militia (Dublin, 1894), p. 24.Google Scholar The best history of any individual unit of the Irish militia.
page 323 note 5 Dublin Evening Post, 23 Feb. 1799.
page 323 note 6 H.M.C., Dropmore papers, iv. 290.
page 324 note 1 P.R.O., W.O. 12/2383.
page 324 note 2 P.R.O., W.O. 13/3854.
page 324 note 3 P.R.O., W.O. 13/3879.
page 324 note 4 These may have been the same part that was at Sligo.
page 324 note 5 See article ‘ detachment’ in Charles James, A new and enlarged military dictionary (3rd ed., 1810). The size of a detachment commanded by a lieutenant or ensign is there given as 40 men.
page 325 note 1 P.R.O., W.O. 13/3752.
page 325 note 2 P.R.O., W.O. 12/1350.
page 325 note 3 P.R.O., W.O. 13/3774.
page 325 note 4 In the Boyle force of General Taylor according to the Impartial relation there were, on September 1, 2436 men ; these belonged to 25 different units. Cornwallis's force on 2 September 1798 consisted of infantry 7413 and cavalry 411 ; these 78 24 belonged to 18 different units. (There were besides 4 groups of artillery.) See Impartial relation (tables between p. 32 and p. 33).
page 326 note 1 P.R.O., W.O. 12/1480.
page 326 note 2 Cornwallis's force before Tuam on 2 September 1798 had no more than 411 cavalry out of a total force of 7824 (see the Impartial relation). Requests for reinforcements sent to England by Camden in 1798 expressed preference for infantry, Ireland being recognized as for the most part terrain unsuited to cavalry.
page 327 note 1 The Irish yeomanry established in 1796, consisted of infantry and cavalry.
page 327 note 2 A history of Ireland (3rd ed., London, 1937), p. 344.
page 327 note 3 Hardiman, Galway (Dublin, 1820), p. 10, says that the Galway yeomanry on departing left the town ‘ without military protection ‘ and that the ‘ town yeomanry ‘ joined Hutchinson and Lake ; and he gives a list of the town units— cavalry troops and infantry companies.
page 328 note 1 Impartial relation, pp. 51-2.
page 328 note 2 Notice historique (Paris, 1801). I have not had access to this.
page 328 note 3 Printed in extenso in Anal. Hib., no. 11 (July 1941).
page 328 note 4 Henri de Jomini, Le baron, Histoire critique et militaire des guerres de la révolution (Paris, 1822), x. 437.Google Scholar
page 328 note 5 Guillon, Edouard, La France et I'Irlande pendant la Révolution : Roche et Humbert (Paris, 1888), p. 379.Google Scholar
page 328 note 6 Legras, Charles, Terre d'Irlande (Paris, 1898).Google Scholar
page 329 note 1 Limerick, p. 410.
page 329 note 2 French invasion of Ireland, pp. 82. 85.
page 329 note 3 The last invasion of Ireland, p. 42.
page 329 note 4 N.L.I. MSS.
page 329 note 5 P.R.O.N.I.
page 330 note 1 Richey, Royal Longford militia.
page 330 note 2 The authority for this statement is C. Litton Falkiner, Studies in Irish history (1902), p. 284. Cornwallis also stigmatized Abercromby as ‘ wrongheaded ‘, and General Johnson as a ‘ blockhead ‘ and the lieutenant of carabineers as ‘ sometimes deranged ‘
page 331 note 1 Historic memoirs of his own times (London, 1833), ii. 180.