Siege of Waterford
| date | November – December 1649 and June – August 1650 |
|---|---|
| place | Waterford , Ireland |
| output | Parliamentary troops conquer the city in 1650 |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Alliance between the Irish Confederation and English Royalists |
English Parliamentary New Model Army |
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 3,000 (soldiers and civilians) | 6,000-7,000 |
| losses | |
|
several thousand |
3,000-4,000 |
The city of Waterford in the south east of Ireland was besieged twice in 1649 and 1650 during the Reconquest of Ireland by Oliver Cromwell . The first siege had to be interrupted because of the onset of winter. Irish Confederate troops and their allies (English royalists ) under General Thomas Preston were in the city . The city was besieged by English parliamentary troops under Oliver Cromwell, Michael Jones and Henry Ireton .
prehistory
Like most cities in south-east Ireland, Waterford had been a sponsor of the Irish (Catholic) Confederation since the rebellion in 1641 . Later in 1641 Protestant refugees from Ulster reached the city, creating tension between the faiths. While the mayor was on the side of the refugees, the city council wanted to let the rebels who had arrived at the beginning of 1642 into the city, which also happened in March 1642. The Protestants in the city were ultimately exiled (often on ships to England) and their possessions in many cases looted. In 1646 , a synod of Roman Catholic bishops was held in Waterford , excommunicating all Catholics who supported the treaty between the Confederation and the English royalists as it did not allow the free practice of the Catholic faith.
Because of this Synoda there was great fear in Waterford when in October 1649 the English Parliamentary New Model Army (which was anti-Catholic by nature ) arrived in the area around Waterford; especially after the massacres that the army under Oliver Cromwell wreaked a short time beforehand in Drogheda .
Waterford was strategically very important to the war in Ireland. The city's port allowed weapons and food to be brought directly to the southeast of the island and the location paved the way for the Suir and Barrow rivers .
The first siege (November to December 1649)
Before the siege of Waterford, Cromwell first had to capture the surrounding garrisons, which were held by royalist or Confederate troops. Duncannon , whose port secured the sea passage to Waterford, was besieged under Henry Ireton from October 15th to November 5th. But thanks to their dogged defense under Edward Wogan, Ireton did not succeed in conquering the place and thus bringing his siege weapons by sea to Waterford.
New Ross , however, surrendered on October 19 and Carrick-on-Suir was captured exactly a month later. A counterattack on the site by Irish rebels from Ulster under Major Geoghegan was repulsed on November 24th, killing 500 rebels.
After Waterford was isolated from the east and north, Cromwell reached the city on November 24th, but Waterford was still able to receive supplies and reinforcements via the western sea route, allowing 3,000 Confederate soldiers under Richard Farrell to enter the city.
The extremely cold and wet weather also affected the besieging parliamentary troops, which led to diseases and epidemics. The conquest of a fort to the east finally allowed Cromwell to land his siege weapons by sea, but the sodden ground made it impossible to get them close enough to the city - Cromwell's efforts to conquer the city did not progress. When Cromwell lifted the siege on December 10th to retreat to winter quarters in Dungarven , only 3,000 of the approximately 6,500 English soldiers were still in good health. Commandant Michael Jones was among the many dead from disease and disease .
The second siege (June to August 1650)
It was not until June 1650 that Waterford was besieged again, but in the months before, Cromwell made every effort to isolate the city. When the parliamentary troops under Henry Ireton finally reached Waterford in June , the Irishman Thomas Preston was the leader of the troops within the city. In addition to the shortage of food, an epidemic broke out (one suspects bubonic plague ) that killed up to 400 people a week within the city. The fall of the town of Carlow , which previously supplied supplies to Waterford across the River Barrow, only made matters worse.
Ireton had trenches dug for the siege weapons in order to bring them close enough to the city wall, and a sea blockade now isolated the city from the sea. By the end of July the English artillery was close enough to the city wall and the authorities in the city urged Preston to surrender. The plague had reduced his men to a strength of just under 700 men and, due to a lack of supplies, he had just under 500 pounds of gunpowder left. In addition, Preston had become ill himself, and in view of the fact that he could not really counter a storm, he surrendered on August 10th and turned the city over to Ireton. As part of the surrender, his troops were allowed to leave the city for the cities of Galway or Athlone , which were still in Irish hands. All weapons, ammunition and ships remained in Waterford. The nearby Duncannon surrendered two days later on August 12th.
It is difficult to say how great the actual losses in the city due to the siege were, but it is believed that there must have been several thousand. Ireton also gave civilians in the city the security of their lives and possessions.
Waterford was the last Irish rebel base in the east of Ireland. After the fall of the city, Catholic forces only controlled a small area west of the River Shannon .
literature
- James Scott Wheeler: Cromwell in Ireland. St. Martin's Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-312-22550-4 .
- Ian Gentles: The New Model Army. The New Model Army in England, Ireland and Scotland, 1645–1653. Blackwell, Oxford et al. 1992, ISBN 0-631-15869-3 .