1961 Magazine Fall 2016

HISTORY & TRAVEL
McAdam’s force began to drive the Confederates
uphill in retreat. Filled with a renewed confidence
McAdam’s force forged on inflicting damage along
the way. It wasn’t long before McAdam realized that
the Confederate Cannons were nowhere to be found.
Cunningly, the Confederates had moved them back
over the hill at the first sign of trouble. McAdam
realized his troops were becoming scattered with the
over-confidence of the initial success. His troops began
to break rank and chase the Confederates who were
fleeing to their camp. Realizing that the Confederates
may not have been as ill prepared as first suspected,
he called for his troops to fall in.
His efforts were too late. From over the hill the
Confederate Cavalry charged out at full speed. The
thunder of hooves filled the ears of the English forces.
McAdam’s men began to fall back in desperate retreat.
The Confederate Cavalry rode in tight formation into the
battlefield like a wave of panic to the Parliamentarian
forces. McAdam’s troops scattered as blood began to
fall. Those who could, made their way back to the castle,
others fled into the forests never to be seen again.
Many died on the battlefield that day. The operation
was a complete disaster for the Parliamentarian force
and McAdam personally.
On the May 29th Penn finally decided to attempt a bid
to remove the women and children from the castle,
including his own wife and son. They would spend two
days waiting for a break in the cannons to have the
opportunity to smuggle them out. Two ships had been
arranged to move the women and children to safety.
One ship was named “Roebuck” and the other was
“Ann Percy”. Due to low supplies, the captain of the
Ann Percy refused to allow those passengers on board.
In the end many of the women and the children were
forced to stay behind despite the peril of the situation.
Disaster struck Penn yet again on the 4th of June.
Penn relocated his cattle to Low Island in order to
keep them out of the hands of the Confederacy. In the
heat of battle Penn’s forces weren’t able to properly
guard the provisions; nor were Penn’s men at liberty
to raid the countryside for cattle as before. There
were a number Parliamentarian ships located in the
vicinity, which should have been able to help guard
cattle provisions. Regrettably for Penn extra cannons
sent from Limerick to the Confederate stronghold
allowed targeting the nearby ships continually. This
served to drive Penn’s ships further away and open
the opportunity for Confederates to raid the cattle.
Keep in mind there were around 4000 plus mouths
to feed - both sides considered – not an easy task in
those days, let alone during a continuous 2 month
battle siege.
With over 700 mouths to feed, Penn was forced to
anchor a small 30 ton frigate named “Green” near the
west corcasse to keep supply lines open and defend
his force’s passage in the event of a retreat. Green
was a very small frigate comparatively speaking and
lacked the same fire power as the much larger 100
ton plus ships. However, Green was faster and more
maneuverable than the larger ships and served the
situation well. Penn also took the decision to move his
remaining cattle supply even farther away from the
castle to Feenish Island where they could be better
protected by the English ships. His decision naturally
made it more difficult for Penn to bring supplies to the
castle and created a logistical nightmare.
EAST CORCASSE, BUNRATTY CASTLE
June 9th saw the Confederates close in around the
castle and gain control of the corcasse. The situation
was not looking good for Penn at all when a bout of pure
luck came his way. In the heat of battle Confederate
soldiers thought they heard the stampede of large
cavalry force charging at them. In a shear panic the
young undisciplined soldiers abandoned the corcasse
51
1961 Magazine Fall 2016