1. Background context of the battle

2. The battle

3. Sources and references

4. External links

5. See also

It was fought between the Gaelic native Irish army under Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone and Hugh O'Donnell and a Crown expeditionary force from Dublin under Sir Henry Bagenal, the commander of the Royal Irish Army.

The Crown forces were marching from Armagh town to re-supply a besieged fort on the Blackwater when they were attacked on the march and were routed with heavy losses.

Background context of the battle

In 1597, Lord Deputy Thomas Burgh 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, Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, 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 six and a half miles from the O'Neill headquarters at Dungannon. Sir Henry 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 4,000 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." Although historians don't have good records about the number of troops O'Neill had on battle day, an estimate of roughly 5,000 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 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 with drums beating, he expected the troops would be able to handle the hit-and-run tactics they would be subjected to. With the road impassable, Bagenal marched along a series of low hills to the right of the River Callan.

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^[1] 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. Bagenal'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. Bagenal also had 350 cavalry and several pieces of artillery. The cavalry were commanded by Sir Calithenese Brooke. A troop of cavalry was commanded by Maelmora O'Reilly, who was deemed to be lord of East Breifne by Queen Elizabeth I. This was not recognised within the kingdom and Maelmora had no authority there as it had risen up in rebellion. Maelmora was the eldest son of Sir John O'Reilly, Lord of East Breifne, who had died fighting against the English in 1596. Maelmora was slain at Yellow Ford.^[2]

O'Neill's troops were nothing like previous Irish armies, as possibly 80 percent of his men were armed with calivers, which were a lighter and more portable version of the standard musket. These were supported by light pike and targeteers provided close protection to Tyrone's skirmishers. O'Neill had several English and Spanish military advisors in his pay, as well as many Irish officers with continental experience, who trained his troops in the use of modern weaponry. However, this was not a slavish copy of pike and shot deployed by the English. O'Neill developed a hybrid army which maximised his infantry's firepower while maintaining the key Irish advantage of mobility.^[3] The earl had less success modernising his cavalry, who carried their spears over-arm, either thrusting or throwing them at close quarters in the traditional manner.

The battle

The English Crown forces were organised in six regiments—two forward, two centre, and two rear, and with cavalry at centre. As soon as they left Armagh, they were all harassed with gunfire from Irish forces concealed in scrub woods on both flanks of the column. While fire poured in from the sides no resistance was met at the head of the column as it pushed across the River Callan. As the lead regiment, led by Sir Richard Percy, pressed on dangerous gaps began to separate the units of English infantry. The impetuosity of the leading English troops was later remarked upon as they marched 'as if win the goal in a match at football'.^[4] As Percy pushed ever further he crossed a bog ford, the 'Yellow Ford' from which the battle takes its name. It was nothing more than an area of raised ground allowing access across the bog to the following hills. Bagenal's following regiment lagged behind. Burdened with the stores and artillery, one of which, a saker (a field piece weighing 2,500-3,000 pounds) drawn by oxen. It was getting bogged down 'every ten score end'^[5] and eventually got stuck in the bog ford, causing Bagenal to abandon it.

Percy's regiment crossed onto a second hill (modern-day Drumcullen), where he discovered a long earthwork bank and trench cutting across their line of advance. The five-foot high bank was crested with thorns and sat behind a five-foot deep trench, the whole thing running a mile through the landscape. Pestered with fire from his flanks, Percy took his regiment across the barrier, led by the forlorn hope under Captains Turner and Leigh. The trench was not defended and O'Neill made no effort to stop them. Reaching the top of the third hill (modern-day Mullyleggan) Percy could see the Blackwater Fort. The beleaguered garrison could see their relief and threw their caps in the air 'hoping to have a better supper than the dinner they had that day'.^[6] But their hopes were stillborn. The rear regiments under Captains Cuney and Billing had been checked crossing the River Callan and the rest of the army had stalled on the hill overlooking O'Neill's trench. O'Neill committed more troops to attack Percy's men, forcing the English shot in to their pike stand. This allowed O'Neill's shot to rake the compact body of troops with close-range gunfire, ,and his horse and swordsmen started to open gaps in the pike defence. Under sever pressure Bagenal ordered Percy to retreat back across the trench but this was impossible to so in any order and the lead regiment was routed. The trench cut off Percy's men from their supporting cavalry. Moreover, it impeded the English infantry's retreat as 'falling over one another they filled the dyke and were trodden down where they fell'.^[7] Marshal Bagenal led his men to second the broken infantry, but as he descended the hill towards the trench he was shot through the head, killing him instantly. The counter-attack continued but it was badly mauled by O'Neill, sending them spilling back across the trench.

Command of the army was taken over by Thomas Maria Wingfield. Matters went from bad to worse, as an English soldier attempted to replenish his supply of gunpowder directly from the powder store in the supply train. Thrusting his hand into the powder he still had his lit match from his firearm. Two to four hundred pounds of powder exploded in the English central position, killing and wounding scores and enveloping the hill in a shroud of cloying smoke^[8]. This disaster within the English ranks only encouraged the Irish to redouble their attacks. With little option, Wingfield ordered a retreat to Armagh. But the commander of the rear (formerly the van) either didn't get the command or refused to obey it, or was unable to execute an orderly retreat and decided to launch a foolhardy second counterattack across the trench. O'Neill quickly countered and crushed Cosby's attack. Only quick action by Wingfield and the English horse saved 500 men from the ensuing slaughter, but Cosby was taken prisoner by O'Neill's men.

The rest of the crown forces had to struggle their way back to the Armagh garrison. The Irish moved to cut off the English retreat at the River Callan, but point-blank fire from the columns remaining cannon checked the Irish advance. Finally, the shattered English force caught a break, as Irish fire slackened. The Irish shot had exhausted their immediate supply of gunpowder. Captain Cuney later noted that if O'Neill's pike had come on as his shot none of his men would have survived.^[9] After recrossing the River Callan, the English army returned to Armagh.

Crown forces lost about 1,500 killed at the battle.^[10] This included 18 "captains" or officers dead. Three hundred soldiers deserted to the rebels including two English recruits. Out of 4,000 soldiers who had set out from Armagh, just over 2,000 reached the town after the battle. Those who did reach Armagh were virtual prisoners inside. The cavalry broke out and dashed south escaping the Irish. After three days negotiations, it was agreed that the crown troops could leave Armagh as long as they left their arms and ammunition behind them and that the garrison of the Blackwater Fort capitulated. The most severely wounded English soldiers were left in Armagh cathedral, many with severe burns suffered in the powder explosion, but O'Neill agreed to tend to them and have them transported to Newry when they were fit to travel.^[11]According to the English, O'Neill's forces lost perhaps 200 to 300 killed in the battle, though that is likely to be an overestimate to mitigate the extent of the disaster.^[12] In light of the battle's result, the court at London undertook to greatly and rapidly increase its military forces in Ireland; and simultaneously many in Ireland who had been neutral on the sidelines undertook to support O'Neill's confederation of Irish lords. Thus the ultimate outcome of the battle was an escalation of the war.

Sources and references

• G.A. Hayes McCoy, Irish Battles, Belfast 1990.
• James O'Neill, 'The cockpit of Ulster: war along the River Blackwater, 15693-1603', Ulster Journal of Archaeology, vol. 72 (2013-14), pp 184-99.
• James O'Neill, The Nine Years War, 1593-1603: O'Neill, Mountjoy and the military revolution, Dublin, 2017
• James O'Neill, 'Like sheep to the shambles? Slaughter and surrender during Tyrone's Rebellion 1593-1603', Irish Sword, vol. 31, no. 126 (2018), pp 366-80.
• John McCavitt, The Flight of the Earls, Dublin 2002.
• John McGurk, 'The Battle of the Yellow Ford, August 1598', Dúiche Néill: Journal of the O'Neill Country Historical Society, no. 11 (1997), pp 34-55.

External links

• {{cite web | title=Bad result for the away side: The Battle of the Yellow Ford, 14 August 1598 | website= academia.edu | date=14 August 2016 | url=https://www.academia.edu/27765193/Bad_result_for_the_away_side_The_Battle_of_the_Yellow_Ford_14_August_1598 }}

See also

• Nine Years War (Ireland)
• Tudor conquest of Ireland
• Irish battles
• Early Modern Ireland 1536-1691

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