CHAPTER V DROGHEDA AND WEXFORD THE first news which met Cromwell on his landing was that Ormond, whose constancy in adversity was as great as his Aug. Jones fails to take Drogheda. helplessness in action, had reinforced the garrison of; Drogheda, and that Jones had been repulsed in an attempt to surprise the town. Whatever might be Cromwell's ultimate design, it was imperative on him to begin by mastering Drogheda, and thus to gain command of the road along which the Ulster Scots would advance if they came to Ormond's relief. Import ance of the place. Aug. O'Neill's Overtures By this time, indeed, Cromwell had to guard himself against a new foe in the North of Ireland. O'Neill had already discovered that his convention with Monk had gained him nothing. That convention expired on the last day of July, and early in August the Ulster chieftain proposed to Ormond through Sir Luke Fitzgerald to renew the to Ormond. dropped negotiations with the Royalist party,1 and about the same time he dispatched a certain Fitzmorris to urge Rupert to support his request. O'Neill, therefore, did not wait to hear that his convention with Monk had been disavowed at Westminster. It was enough for him that it had not been renewed at the date of its expiry.2 1 See p. 76. 2 Ormond to Clanricarde, Aug. 8; Rupert to Ormond, Aug. 12; Carte MSS. xxv. 193, 240. The first of these letters, written from Kilkenny, mentions that O'Neill's overtures had reached Fitzgerald, which implies that they had been sent off by O'Neill at least four or five days before the 8th, whilst O'Neill's convention was not denounced at Westminster till the 10th. Letters purporting to be Ormond's were about Whatever might be the course of this negotiation, O'Neill had no intention of neglecting any opportunity of possessing himself of ammunition, whether it was to be had from Ormond O'Neill's dealings with Coote. 1 or from Ormond's enemies. Even before he sent messages to Ormond and Rupert he had come to an understanding with Coote, the Parliamentary governor of Londonderry, to break up the siege, on condition of receiving three hundred oxen and thirty barrels of powder.2 Little as O'Neill cared for either of the parties contending for the soil of his country, he never forgot to perform punctually what he had promised on the word of a soldier. On August 7 he appeared within sight of Londonderry, and on He relieves the 9th the Royalist army under Montgomery and Monro marched away. For some days O'Neill loyally co-operated with Coote, capturing the fortresses which girdled Londonderry with Scottish garrisons. Aug. 7-9. London derry. He resolves to join Ormond. Whatever may have been O'Neill's real feelings before, there can be little doubt that the reception of the news of Ormond's defeat at Rathmines settled his determination to ally himself with Ormond rather than with Coote. "Gentlemen," he is reported to have said to his officers, "to demonstrate to the world that I value the service of my King and the welfare of my nation, as I always did, I now forget and forgive the Supreme Council and my enemies their ill practices, and all the wrongs they did me from time to time, and will now embrace that peace which I formerly denied out of a good intent." 3 There was doubtless something of impetuous generosity in the words in which O'Neill announced this time printed in London, but they were mere forgeries. Ormond had lost his cipher at Rathmines, and did not dare to write secrets when there was danger of their being disclosed. 1 See p. 78. 2 Col. Henry O'Neill's relation, Gilbert's Cont. Hist. of Irish Affairs, vol. iii. 211. This seems the most trustworthy statement. Sir R. Stewart, writing to Charles on Nov. 4 says that O'Neill had 5,000. and some oxen, Carte MSS. cxxx. fol. 94. Oct. 25 3 Henry O'Neill (Gilbert, iii. 211) is mistaken in thinking that Daniel O'Neill was with Owen when these words were spoken, but this does not militate against the general truthfulness of his narrative. 1649 CROMWELL LANDS IN IRELAND 109 his intention of restoring the fortunes of his King; but there was probably also the shrewd calculation that his country was more in danger from Cromwell than from Ormond, and that he would serve her best by throwing all his weight into the scale of the weaker party. Aug. 12. Ormond Ormond had gathered from O'Neill's overtures that he might look to him for aid in his dire necessity. On August 12 he entreated him to bring those seasonable and, we hope, real inclinations which we hear you have lately expressed to his Majesty's service to a due and wished-for perfection.' On the same day he urged from Mont Montgomery to bring up his Scots at once. asks help from O'Neill, as well as gomery, Aug. 13. and Clanricarde. In a letter to Clanricarde on the 13th his sanguine nature once more asserted itself; when the troops he now expected had come up, he would, he said, be able 'to attempt the reduction of Dublin.' 1 Cromwell's message to Munster. 2 Such was the position of affairs when Cromwell landed. Until this cloud in the North had been dispersed, his Munster scheme must be postponed. He knew, however, that there was scarcely one of Inchiquin's officers who was not eager to change sides, and he therefore released some of them who had been taken at Rathmines, sending them to Munster, with assurances that his coming would be as little delayed as possible. For the present he must strain every nerve to break up Ormond's new combination, and the first blow must be aimed at Drogheda that it might not serve as a screen behind which Ormond could collect the scattered forces on which he counted for the renewal of the campaign. He could not, however, move at once. His men required rest after their voyage, and Jones's regiments had to be re-organised to fit them to take part in the coming campaign.3 He aims at Jones's regi ments reorganised. 1 Ormond to O'Neill, Aug. 12; Ormond to Montgomery, Aug. 12; Gilbert's Cont. Hist. of Aff. in Irel. vol. ii. 227, 229; Ormond to Clanricarde, Aug. 13, Carte MSS. xxv. fol. 252. 2 Phayre's Deposition, Caulfield's Council Book of the Corporation of Cork, 1164. 3 The Moderate (E, 573, 7) says they were dissolute and debauched,' |