Upon these
opening fire, William's army halted and encamped before the Irish town.
Here, as at the Boyne, the king had a narrow escape, a cannonball from
the walls striking the ground at his foot as he was passing through a gap
in a hedge.
The king had learned that great dissensions existed between the Irish and
French, and relied upon this, as much as upon the strength of his arms,
to obtain possession of the city. His information was, indeed, correct.
King James, in his flight, had left no orders as to who should assume the
supreme command. The Duke of Berwick had considerable claims. Lauzun and
the French officers declined altogether to receive orders from
Tyrconnell, and the Irish officers equally objected to act under the
command of a Frenchman. Consequently, during the whole siege, the main
Irish army, which, by acting upon William's rear, could speedily have
made his position untenable, remained inactive. Monsieur Boileau, a
French officer, was governor of the town, but Lauzun, having examined the
fortifications, pronounced the place wholly incapable of defence,
declaring that the walls could be knocked down with roasted apples, and
so ordered the entire French division to march to Galway, and there await
an opportunity for embarking for France, leaving the Irish to defend the
city if they chose.
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