Battle of Antrim - Attack Begins

Attack Begins

The attack finally began shortly before 3pm when the rebels began a cautious march through the town. As rebel front ranks arrived to face the garrisons defensive line, artillery opened fire on the rebels causing them to pull back out of range but large clouds of dust and smoke were thrown up which, together with the fires from the Scottish Quarter, obscured the garrisons view of events.

The rebel withdrawal was assumed to be a full retreat and the cavalry moved out to pursue and rout the fleeing rebels. The cavalry effectively ran into a gauntlet of rebels who were protected by a long churchyard wall and stationed in houses along the main street and suffered heavy losses to the gunfire and long pikes of the rebels.

After routing the cavalry, the rebels attacked the remainder of the garrison and the troops then began to pull back to the safety of the castle wall which was mistaken by a newly arrived rebel column as an attack on them, causing them to flee in panic. In the confusion, the county commander Lord O'Neill, trapped with his magistrates, was fatally wounded. A rebel attempt to seize the artillery was only narrowly beaten off by troops stationed behind the demense wall.

At this critical juncture, British reinforcements from Belfast arrived outside the town and assuming it to be held by the rebels, began to shell it with their artillery. This prompted more desertions and the rebel army began to disintegrate but their withdrawal was protected by a small band of rebels under James Hope whose men fought a successful rearguard action from the church grounds along the main street, which allowed the bulk of the rebels to withdraw safely.