Advancing before his own regiment, he called upon the soldiers to
stand firm, for retreat would be destruction, and the only hope was to
maintain their position till assistance arrived.
When the Irish saw that the enemy had halted, and could not be tempted to
advance further, they poured down to the attack through the passages in
the hedges. The British might have defended these hedges, as the Irish
had done, but the soldiers saw that they would be taken in the flank and
rear, and, observing a large body of cavalry ascending the hill, they
were seized with a panic.
On the first shock of the Irish infantry, the four regiments broke and
fled. They were hotly pursued, and slaughtered in great numbers, the
Irish cavalry pouring through the openings in the hedges which had been
prepared for them. At length, the fugitives reached the edge of the bog,
where they gathered in a confused mass; which the officers, in vain,
attempted to form into order. The cavalry charged down upon them, broke
and scattered them, and drove them into the morass, followed by the Irish
infantry, who were better acquainted with the ground, and more accustomed
to traversing bogs. The soldiers were driven into the deepest and most
difficult portion of the morass, and a great slaughter took place.
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