Battle of Newtownbutler
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| Williamite war in Ireland |
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| Derry – Newtownbutler – Boyne – Limerick – Athlone – Aughrim – Limerick |
The Battle of Newtownbutler took place near Enniskillen in County Fermanagh in northern Ireland in 1689 and was part of the Williamite war in Ireland.
In Enniskillen, armed Williamite civilians drawn from the local Protestant population organised a formidable irregular military force. The armed civilians of Enniskillen ignored an order from Robert Lundy that they should fall back to Derry city and instead launched guerrilla attacks against the Jacobites. Operating with Enniskillen as a base, they carried out raids against the Jacobite forces in Connacht and Ulster plundering Trillick, burning Augher Castle and raiding Clones.
A poorly trained Jacobite army of about 3000 men, led by Justin McCarthy, Viscount Mountcashel, advanced on them from Dublin. McCarthy's men were mostly raw recruits, raised from in and around his own lands in south Munster. On 28 July 1689, McCarthy's force encamped near Enniskillen and bombarded the Williamite outpost of Crom castle to the south east of Enniskillen.
Two days later, they were confonted by about 2000 Williamite 'Inniskillingers' under Colonel William Wolseley. Many of the Jacobite troops fled as the first shots were fired and up to 1500 of them were hacked down or drowned in Upper Lough Erne when pursued by the Williamite cavalry. Of 500 men who tried to swim across the Lough only one survived. McCarthy, the Jacobite commander, along with about 400 Jacobite officers were captured and later exchanged for Williamite prisoners. McCarthy went on to command the Irish Brigade in the French army.
The Williamite victory at Newtownbutler ensured that a landing by the Duke of Schomberg in County Down in August 1689 was unopposed.
The battle is celebrated as a great victory by the modern adherents of the Orange Order and is mentioned in the loyalist anthem, "The Sash".
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