Battle of Knocknaclashy
| date | July 1651 |
|---|---|
| place | near the town of Banteer , County Cork |
| output | Victory of the parliamentary troops |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Irish Confederation Forces from Munster |
English New Model Army |
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 3,000 | 2,000 |
| losses | |
|
about 500 |
26 killed, 130 injured |
The Battle of Knocknaclashy (or Battle of Knockbrack ) took place in July 1651 during the reconquest of Ireland in the area of Knockbrack ( Irish Cnoc Breac ) near Banteer in County Cork in southern Ireland . The Confederate troops under Donagh MacCarthy met English parliamentary troops under Roger Boyle and were defeated.
background
Control of a large part of the province of Munster fell back into English hands with the reconquest of Ireland in 1649-1650. Oliver Cromwell led his campaign of conquest with the New Model Army from the southeast, while Roger Boyle brought the city of Cork back under the control of the parliamentarians through a mutiny in the English royalist garrison . This resulted in the Confederation-Royalist alliance with an enemy garrison at their back, forcing them to retreat across the River Shannon to Connacht to the cities of Limerick and Galway .
The only organized army in South Munster was the one under Donagh MacCarthy , who was in the hilly area west of Cork. In July 1651, MacCarthy of Ross Castle (in Killarney ) tried to come to the rescue from the besieged city of Limerick. He marched with 3,000 infantry (and a few cavalrymen ) towards Mallow (County Cork) to ally with groups of Irish guerrilla fighters. But Ireton had foreseen this train and stationed the army under Roger Boyle in this area. The two troops met at Knocknaclashy, near the town of Banteer .
The battle
The Irish army outnumbered them, but was less trained and equipped than the parliamentary army, which also had more cavalry, which was a great advantage in the open terrain. The battle began with a firefight that nearly eliminated the Irish cavalry. But the Irish infantry, mostly armed with pikes , fought valiantly and made use of their numerical superiority. But Boyle's riders attacked the pikemen across the flanks, opening one flank for the infantry. The Irish troops panicked and tried to escape. Hundreds of Irish soldiers were ridden down by the riders as they escaped. Boyle ordered no prisoners to be taken except in cases involving high-ranking Irish leaders. The parliamentarians lost only 26 soldiers - 130 were injured. The surviving Irish soldiers, including MacCarthy, fled back to Ross Castle , where they surrendered in 1652.
literature
- Pádraig Lenihan: Confederate Catholics at War, 1641-1649. Cork University Press, Cork et al. 2001, ISBN 1-85918-244-5 .
- James Scott Wheeler: Cromwell in Ireland. St. Martin's Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-312-22550-4 .