Battle of Antrim

Coordinates: 54°43′19″N 6°13′52″W / 54.722°N 6.231°W / 54.722; -6.231
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Battle of Antrim
Part of the Irish Rebellion
Date7 June 1798
Location
Result British victory
Belligerents
United Irishmen
Defenders

Kingdom of Great Britain British Army

Commanders and leaders
Henry Joy McCracken
James Hope
John Storie
John Orr
Major Daniel Seddon
William Lumley
Col Durham
Col Cleavering
Strength

~4,000

1 Artillery Piece

~200 – later reinforced by 4000

8 Artillery Pieces
Casualties and losses
~400 killed ~150 killed and wounded

The Battle of Antrim was fought on 7 June 1798, in

Irish insurgents led by Henry Joy McCracken. The British won the battle, beating off a rebel attack on Antrim town following the arrival of reinforcements but the county governor, John O'Neill, 1st Viscount O'Neill, was fatally wounded.[1]

Background

The outbreak of the

French assistance
, which was expected daily.

After waiting for two weeks while the rebellion raged in the south, the grassroots United Irish membership in Antrim decided to hold a number of meetings independent of their leaders. The outcome was the election of Henry Joy McCracken as their adjutant general and the decision to rise immediately. McCracken, together with James Hope, quickly formulated a plan to attack and seize all government outposts in County Antrim and then for the main attack to fall on Antrim town. Then using artillery seized at Antrim, the rebels were to march on Belfast in conjunction with the United Irish rebels in County Down.

McCracken had high hopes that many members of the militia would desert and join him, as disaffection was believed to be widespread, evidenced by the execution of four of the Monaghan militia for treason in Belfast in May.

Rebellion in Antrim

On 6 June, McCracken and James Hope issued a proclamation calling for the United army of Ulster to rise. The initial plan met with success, as the towns of Larne (1st town in Ulster to fall at 3am on the 7th under the leadership of James O Rourke[2]), Ballymena, Portaferry and Randalstown (captured by James Dickey) were taken and the bridge at Toome damaged to prevent the government rushing reinforcements into Antrim from west of the Bann. The rebels then assembled at Donegore Hill in preparation for the march and attack on Antrim town, where an emergency meeting of the county's magistrates called by the county governor, Lord O'Neill, was due to take place.

Although almost 10,000 rebels assembled at

Presbyterian, but were joined with Catholic Defenders
and the tension between the two groups on the march may have caused some desertions. These difficulties led to a loss of momentum, and the attack was delayed. McCracken was forced to make adjustments to his plan of attack, which had envisaged a simultaneous overwhelming assault on the town from four separate points.

Garrison at Antrim

The town was garrisoned by a small force of about 200

Presbyterian
Meeting House. A part of the Scottish Quarter in the town was also burned by the garrison as it was perceived to be a stronghold of rebel sympathisers.

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 garrison's defensive line, artillery opened fire on the rebels, causing them to pull back out of range. Large clouds of dust and smoke were thrown up which, together with the fires from the Scottish Quarter, obscured the garrison's view of events.

The rebel withdrawal was mistaken for a full retreat and the cavalry moved out to pursue and rout the supposed 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, suffering heavy losses to the gunfire and pikes of the rebels.

After routing the cavalry, the rebels attacked the remainder of the garrison, which then began to pull back to the safety of the castle wall; this 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 by John Clements who avoided trial by joining the army.[2] A rebel attempt to seize the artillery was only narrowly beaten off by troops stationed behind the demesne 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 under James Hope which fought a successful rearguard action from the church grounds along the main street, which allowed the bulk of the rebels to withdraw safely.

Aftermath

When the military entered the town, they began a spree of looting, burning and murder, of which the most enthusiastic perpetrators were reported to be the Monaghan militiamen, who were anxious to prove their loyalty and expunge the shame of the recent executions of their comrades for sedition. The town of Templepatrick was burned to the ground and Old Stone Castle was razed to the ground.

yeomen on 7 July and was hanged in Belfast on 17 July, having refused an offer of clemency in return for informing on his comrades.[3]

Commemoration of the centenary of the battle, marked by a nationalist parade in Belfast on 6 June 1898, provoked loyalist riots.[4]

References

  1. ^ John Debrett (1816). The Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland. F.C. and J. Rivington. p. 876.
  2. ^ .
  3. .
  4. ^ Guy Beiner, Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular Historiography of a Rebellion in Ulster (Oxford University Press, 2018), pp. 384–386

54°43′19″N 6°13′52″W / 54.722°N 6.231°W / 54.722; -6.231