Battle of The Boyne
Impatient with Schomberg's slow progress, William decided to take charge. He arrived with a fleet of 300 ships at Belfast Lough on 14 June 1690. He landed at Carrickfergus, having mustered an army of 36,000 soldiers (including English, German, Dutch, Danish, and French Huguenot troops), which then marched south towards Dublin. After some resistance near Newry the Jacobites withdrew to the south bank of the River Boyne, where they took up a defensive position at the village of Oldbridge, near Drogheda. On 1 July, William attacked their position, fording the Boyne at several places, forcing the Jacobites to retreat to avoid being surrounded. (As a consequence of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1753, the battle is now commemorated on 12 July).
The Battle of the Boyne was not militarily decisive and casualties on both sides were not high—around 1500 Jacobites and 500 Williamites were killed. However, it proved enough to collapse James's confidence in victory in Ireland. He rode ahead of his army to Duncannon, and from there returned to exile in France. Because he deserted his Irish supporters, James became known in Ireland as Séamus an Chaca or James the Shit. The Jacobite army retreated to Dublin, little damaged, but demoralised and badly hit by desertion. The next day, they abandoned the city and marched to Limerick. The Williamites marched into Ireland's capital on the same day, and occupied the city without a fight. News of the defeat at the Boyne contributed to the Scottish Jacobites abandoning their struggle.
William's victory at the Boyne, taken together with James' flight, might have been the end of the war in Ireland. However, William published very harsh peace terms in Dublin, excluding the Jacobite officers and the Irish Catholic landed class from the pardon he offered to Jacobite foot-soldiers. As a result, Irish Jacobite leaders felt they had no choice but to fight until they received guarantees their lives, property, and civil and religious rights would be respected in a peace settlement.
Read more about this topic: Williamite War In Ireland
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