AHC/WI : Bataille of Aughrim won by Jacobit-French forces.

Let's assume St Ruth is not beheaded by a canon ball, and that he managed to lead the counter-charge against williamits. Is the battle could have been won as this moment, as he seemed to think?

What would have been the consequences on Ireland?
 

Falkenburg

Monthly Donor
It's possible the Jacobite forces could have held out if their Commander had ducked.
They would then have taken a terrible toll on the Williamites who would have been pinned before them.

Whether that would have led to a Jacobite 'Victory' or not would still be in the balance.
IIRC the Jacobites were running low on ammunition and their Cavalry were on the opposite flank from where the action in question was taking place.

So even if St. Ruth lived he may only have been able to hold his position and continue to attrit the Williamite force before him.

The other Jacobite forces were well-placed to command the field, so if the left flank holds the Williamites are out of options.

By that point in the battle it is plausible that the Williamites would have given it up as an impossible task and withdrawn.

Sarsfield (with the Cavalry) may have been able to harry them, turning the withdrawal into a rout.
Disengaging under fire is probably the hardest thing for any force to achieve while maintaining good order.

If the Williamite forces can be shattered before they reach the safety of Athlone then things get really interesting.

That re-establishes the Shannon Cordon as a defensible frontier for the Jacobites.
The victory itself might encourage the French to commit more forces and resources to Ireland.

A Jacobite victory at Aughrim gives them a chance but only a chance.
Many hard and costly battles would still lie ahead before a 'Jacobite Ireland' would be more than a pipe-dream.

Whatever occurred, Ireland would remain a pawn in the power of French startegy. To be advanced or sacrificed accordingly.

Falkenburg
 
Weren't the Jacobite forces rather poorly armed, on the whole? I've read that at the Battle of the Boyne many of them at the had only various farming tools for weaponry...
 
Weren't the Jacobite forces rather poorly armed, on the whole? I've read that at the Battle of the Boyne many of them at the had only various farming tools for weaponry...

To be fair, every army raised outside professionals had only that. Many weapons evolved from farming tools (whatever in western or eastern world).
 
To be fair, every army raised outside professionals had only that. Many weapons evolved from farming tools (whatever in western or eastern world).
True, but the army that William took over to Ireland was a professional one whose members had "proper" weapons including a reasonable (for that time) ratio of muskets... and in open battle, rather than guerilla warfare or at least ambush, professionals equipped with proper weapons are generally likely to beat amateurs equipped with farm tools...
 
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