Battle of Rathmines
| date | August 2, 1649 |
|---|---|
| place | Rathmines (now suburb of Dublin ), Ireland |
| output | Victory of the parliamentary troops |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Alliance between the Irish Confederation and English Royalists |
English Parliamentary New Model Army |
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 11,000 | 5,000 |
| losses | |
|
3,000 dead, 2,500 prisoners |
unknown (low) |
The Battle of Rathmines took place in Rathmines , now a suburb of Dublin , in August 1649 between the English parliamentary troops under Michael Jones and the alliance of Irish Confederates and English royalists . The battle was part of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland by Oliver Cromwell and ended with the defeat of the alliance. The victory of the British parliamentary troops secured the landing of Oliver Cromwell and his troops in Dublin a few days later.
background
By 1649 Ireland had been at war for eight years, starting with the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion in 1641. During this time much of Ireland was ruled by the Confederation of Ireland , a Catholic government in Kilkenny . The Confederation formed an alliance with the English royalists who fought in the English Civil War against the parliamentarians, whose plan was to re-conquer Ireland after their victory, to suppress the Catholic faith and to expropriate the Irish landowners. After the alliance with the royalists and the assumption of command of the alliance troops by James Butler , the English parliament only had two enclaves in Ireland: Dublin and Derry .
The battle
In July 1649 Butler marched with his 11,000-strong coalition troops in the direction of Dublin to take the city, which had been in the hands of a parliamentary garrison since 1647, and thus make an English landing on the east coast of Ireland much more difficult. Butler captured Rathfarnham Castle and camped in Palmerstown Park in Rathgar , about 3 miles south of Dublin. This area, now fully developed, was open area at the time. Butler dared to approach Dublin with his troops only cautiously and first conquered the villages on the outskirts of the city, and in the course of this he also dispatched a group to occupy the ruins of Baggotrath Castle (near today's Baggot Street Bridge).
But Butler didn't expect Michael Jones to take the initiative, and his troops were unprepared for combat as a result. On August 2nd, Jones started his surprise attack from the direction of the Irishtown district in order to attack with 5,000 men butler's group at Baggotsrath, which withdrew completely surprised in the direction of Rathmines.
Butler recognized the situation too late and dispatched various troops one after the other to stop the advance of the parliamentary troops. But Jones cavalry simply bypassed the waves of storming troops, surprised them from the side, and thus forced them to retreat to Rathmines. The battle was more like a hunt for fleeing royalists and confederates by parliamentary troops. The fighting finally ended when a royalist force managed to get into the rear of the parliamentary soldiers, allowing their own soldiers to escape.
Butler claimed to have lost less than 1,000 men. In contrast, Jones spoke of more than 3,000 dead and 2,500 prisoners and hardly any losses of his own. Historians tend to prefer Jones' numbers, since even in today's battles in which a fleeing army is pursued, it often has to accept heavy losses, while the pursuers usually complain few losses. In addition to killing people, Butler also lost all of his artillery and supplies.
After the battle, Butler withdrew his remaining troops from the Dublin area, allowing Oliver Cromwell to safely land his 15,000-strong force in Dublin. For Cromwell, victory in this battle was a sign from God for the conquest of Ireland.
Butler's incompetence in leading this battle disaffected many Irish Confederates and made the alliance with the English royalists difficult. Butlers were removed from command the following year.
useful information
The battle gave names to several local landmarks. The Tavern The Bleeding Horse ( Bleeding Horse ) located at what is now Upper Camden Street is, received its name when after the battle a wounded horse in a local tavern ran - a fact that prompted the former owner of this naming. Furthermore, it was an area in the district of Rathgar , which is, however, built over today as "Bloody Fields" ( bloody fields ) known since fleeing there royalists of the parliamentary soldiers caught, killed and should be buried.