Battle of The Yellow Ford - Background Context of The Battle

Background Context of The Battle

In 1597, field commander Lord Burgh on behalf of the Dublin government had built a new fort on the river Blackwater five miles northwest of the government's garrisoned town Armagh. The river Blackwater defines the border between counties Armagh and Tyrone. The Blackwater fort was intended to facilitate later military excursions into county Tyrone. Soon after it was built the Earl of Tyrone (O'Neill) laid siege to it. In 1598, with the besieged garrison still intact but running precariously low on supplies, the Dublin government debated at length whether to abandon the fort, for the reason that its location was too far into O'Neill's home territory to be sustainable. It was located only a few miles from the O'Neill headquarters at Dungannon on the other side of the river. Commander Bagenal, who was very experienced at fighting Ulstermen, argued the fort should be re-supplied, and eventually won the argument in early August 1598, and was appointed to lead the expedition. About 4000 troops were assigned to the expedition, a large number in those days.

According to the Annals of the Four Masters: "When O'Neill had received intelligence that this great army was approaching him, he sent his messengers to O'Donnell, requesting of him to come to his assistance against this overwhelming force of foreigners who were coming to his country. O'Donnell proceeded immediately, with all his warriors, both infantry and cavalry, and a strong body of forces from Connacht, to assist his ally against those who were marching upon him. The Irish of all the province of Ulster also joined the same army, so that they were all prepared to meet the English before they arrived at Armagh." Besides the forces raised from the Ulster clans, O'Neill also had a substantial number of mercenaries in his pay, many of them from the Highlands of Scotland. Although historians don't have good records about the number of troops O'Neill had on battle day, an estimate of roughly 5000 troops is generally accepted; i.e., the number of O'Neill troops was about the same and modestly larger than the number on the opposing side.

Bagenal's troops marched from Dublin to the Armagh-town garrison without incident. But O'Neill's troops had not been idle. They had dug trenches along and across parts of the road and countryside between Armagh town and the Blackwater fort, and blocked the pathways with felled trees, and set up brushwood breastworks, etc. The countryside had some bog and woodland, and was hilly with drumlins, but some cornfields were also in the area. In Armagh town, Bagenal was aware that the five miles separating him from the besieged fort were laced with ambush-supporting works. But in common with most other crown commanders of the day, and based on his own experience, he was confident that he would be victorious in any pitched battle with O'Neill's forces. The main obstacle to true victory, in Bagenal's view, was that the enemy declined to engage in a decisive battle. As his troops set off down the road with drums beating, he expected the troops would be able to handle the hit-and-run tactics they would be subjected to. To sidestep some of the ambush works, the troops did not go down the main road; they partly used another road and also used unpathed countryside.

Bagenal, the son of Nicholas Bagenal, who had settled at Newry and later achieved high office, was army commander in chief (marshall) of Ulster for a decade (beginning in 1587 as his father's deputy), in which role he had acquired extensive experience fighting against the Maguires and other "traitors" before the O'Neill rebellion broke out. He had a bitter personal grudge against O"Neill, who some years earlier had eloped with his sister Mabel. He was intimately familiar with county Armagh territory. On this occasion he commanded 3500 footsoldiers, more than half of whom were Irishmen but also included a contingent of footsoldiers recently arrived in Dublin from England, and also a core group of footsoldiers from England that had more Irish experience. Begenal's footsoldiers were armed with the standard weapons of the day, pikes and muskets. Standard formation when marching through dangerous territory was musketeers in outside columns, able to fire out, and pikemen in the inside columns able to relieve the musketeers in the event of a sustained charge against the column. Begenal also had 350 cavalry and several pieces of artillery.

O'Neill's troops 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. Many Irish horsemen carried their spears over-arm, either thrusting or throwing them at close quarters in the traditional manner.