The delay of Kirk had cost the defenders of Londonderry more than half
their number. The fighting men had, either by disease, famine, or in the
field, lost some five thousand, while of the non-combatants seven
thousand had died. The joy and exultation in the city, as the two store
ships ranged up under its walls, were unbounded. Provisions were speedily
conveyed on shore, and abundance took the place of famine.
Five days later, General Rosen raised the siege and marched away with his
army, which had, in the various operations of the siege, and from the
effect of disease, lost upwards of three thousand men.
"This has been a bad beginning, Walter," Captain Davenant said, as they
rode away from the grounds on which they had been so long encamped. "If
the whole force of Ireland does not suffice to take a single town, the
prospect of our waging war successfully against England is not hopeful."
"It seems to me that it would have been much better to have left Derry
alone, father," Walter said.
"It would have been better, as it has turned out, Walter; but had the
king taken the place, as he expected, without difficulty, he would have
crossed with a portion of the army to Scotland, where a considerable part
of the population would at once have joined him.
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