A deserter
brought in news of the exact position of his tent, and our artillery have
been giving him such a peppering that, from the church tower, we see that
he has been obliged to move his camp."
As soon as it was night, four hundred cavalry were in the saddle.
Sarsfield placed himself at their head, and rode twelve miles up the
Shannon to Killaloe. Crossing the river there, he made a wide sweep with
his cavalry, until he was in the heart of the Tipperary mountains, in
rear of William's camp.
Quietly as the expedition had been carried out, it was impossible that so
large a body of horse should ride through the country unperceived, and a
gentleman of county Clare, named O'Brian, thinking that he would gain
honour and advantage by reporting their passage to William, set out for
the British camp. Being unknown there, he was a long time before he could
get access to the king. The officers to whom he spoke paid little
attention to his story about a body of Irish horse passing through the
country, and were much more interested in gaining information from him as
to the state of the stock of cattle, sheep, and pigs in his part of the
county; for, owing to the terror excited by the conduct of William's
soldiers, the people for many miles round had driven off their stock and
left the villages, and provisions were already becoming scarce in the
camp.
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