Everything about The Battle Of Castlebar totally explained
The
Battle of Castlebar occurred on 27th August during the
Irish Rebellion of 1798 when a combined force of 2,000
French troops and
Irish rebels routed a force of 6,000
British troops in what would later became known as the
Races of Castlebar.
Background
The long-awaited French landing to assist the Irish rebellion had taken place five days previously on 22 August, when almost 1,100 troops under the command of
General Humbert landed at Cill Chuimín Strand,
County Mayo. Although the force was small, the remote location ensured an unopposed landing away from the tens of thousands of British soldiers concentrated in the east in
Leinster, engaged in mopping up operations against remaining pockets of rebels. The nearby town of
Killala was quickly captured after a brief resistance by local
yeomen and
Ballina also taken two days later following the rout of a force of
cavalry sent from the town to oppose their march. Irish volunteers began to trickle into the French camp from all over Mayo following the news of the French landing.
The
Lord Lieutenant,
Lord Cornwallis, requested urgent reinforcements from
England but in the interim all available forces were concentrated at
Castlebar under the command of
General Lake, the victor of the
battle of Vinegar Hill. The build-up of the British forces at Castlebar had reached 6,000 soldiers with dozens of
artillery pieces and huge supplies by dawn of the
27th August.
Preparations
Leaving about 200 French regulars behind in
Killala to cover his rear and line of withdrawal, Humbert took a combined force of about 2,000 French and Irish on 26th August to march on and take
Castlebar. The obvious nature of his objective presented the reinforced British there with the apparent advantage of being able to deploy their forces to face a head-on attack from the Ballina road and their forces and
artillery were accordingly arranged. However, local rebels advised the French of an alternative route to Castlebar through the wilds along the west of
Lough Conn, which the British thought impassable for a modern army with attendant artillery train. This route was successfully taken and when Lake’s scouts spotted the approaching enemy, the surprised British had to hurriedly change the deployment of their entire force to face the threat from this unanticipated direction.
Attack
The British had barely completed their new deployment when the Franco-Irish army appeared outside the town at about 6.00 a.m. The newly sited British artillery opened up on the advancing French and Irish and cut them down in droves. French officers, however, quickly identified an area of
scrub and undergrowth in a
defile facing the centre of the artillery line which interfered with, and provided some cover from, the British line of fire. The French launched a
bayonet charge, the ferocity and determination of which unnerved units of the
militia stationed behind the artillery. The militia units began to waver before the French reached their lines and eventually turned in panic and fled the battlefield, abandoning the gunners and artillery. Some soldiers of the
Longford and
Kilkenny militias ran to join the rebels and even joined in the fighting against their former comrades. A unit of
cavalry and British regular infantry attempted to stand and stem the tide of panic but were quickly overwhelmed.
The "Races of Castlebar"
In the headlong flight of thousands of British soldiers, massive quantities of guns and equipment were abandoned, among which was General Lakes personal luggage. Although not pursued a mile or two beyond Castlebar, the British didn't stop until reaching
Tuam, with some units fleeing as far as
Athlone in the panic. The panic was such that only the arrival of
Cornwallis at Athlone prevented further flight across the
Shannon.
Although achieving a spectacular victory, the losses of the French and Irish were high, losing about 150 men, mostly to the cannonade at the start of the battle. The British suffered over 350 casualties of which about 80 were killed, the rest either wounded or captured, including perhaps 150 who joined the rebels. Following the victory, thousands of volunteers flocked to join the French who also sent a request to
France for reinforcements and formally declared a
Republic of Connaught.
Sources
- T. Packenham; "The Year of Liberty" (London 1969) ISBN 0812930886 & ISBN 0812930887
- J.B Gordon "History of the Rebellion in Ireland in the year 1798" (1801)
- Richard Musgrave "Memoirs of the different rebellions in Ireland" (1801) ISBN 096439250X & ISBN 9780964392502
Further Information
Get more info on 'Battle Of Castlebar'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://battle_of_castlebar.totallyexplained.com">Battle of Castlebar Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
