Out of Ireland have we come, great hatred, little room, maimed us at the start. I car
Battle of Rathmines the beginning.
Coalition
Earl of Castlehaven: 2000 cavalry, 3000 infantry
Marquis of Ormond: 500 cavalry, 6000 infantry
Major-General Purcell: 500 cavalry, 2000 infantry
Parliamentarian
Colonel Michael Jones: 4000 infantry 1200 cavalry
9:00 am: The Parliamentarians engaged with Major-General Purcell’s forces and with numbers and surprise pushed them back as the round head cavalry assaulted their flanks it looked as if all was lost for the coalition however disaster was averted when Marquis of Ormond’s cavalry arrived and stopped the flanks from crumbling when his infantry arrived 30 minuites later the lines stabilised.
12:00 noon: The Earls Infantry who had set of serval hours behind the cavalry due to confused orders arrived and began to push back the front mean while the guns of the artillery train was set up and began shelling the parliamentarian forces with little accuracy, realising that the battle was lost Jones began organising the retreat, it is a matter of great debate in some circles whether he could of pulled it off if it was not for the misfortune he suffered next.
12,15pm: A cannon ball strikes 4 meters away from Jones ( who was alongside his men encouraging inspiring his men thanks largely to his efforts the rout didn’t happen sooner) literally blowing apart a sergeant who was in the wrong place at the wrong time his arm knocked Jones of his horse one of his men who saw it cried that the colonel was dead, it was too much for some of the men who had been fighting for 2 hours they began to run a handful at first followed by a dozen than a hundred. Jones leapt to his feet and yelled at them to get back in line one of the greatest points of debate later on was if the rout could have been prevented there and then, however such debate is purely academic as it was at that moment that the Earls 2000 cavalry hit the crumbling parliamentarian army in the flank hard.
1:22 pm: The coalition officers over look the battle field the only living roundheads were the 1750 prisoners being herded away into captivity some 2472 of their comrades were amongst the fallen, of the 5200 parliamentarian soldiers engaged only 978 made it back to Dublin.
Marquis of Ormond: “we press on to Dublin tomorrow we will demand they surrender and tell them if they do not we will kill them to a man”.
Earl of Castlehaven: “That would be ungodly!”
Marquis of Ormond: “Look around , If we do not take Dublin the Roundheads will land unopposed and this land will see a dozen such battles and then the Roundheads will fight a hundred more in England itself before they allow the rightful king to return, War is the most Godless scourge in existence if we must Kill 10,000 more of ironsides bastards to hasten the end of such Evil as this I will do so, if we must kill 100,000 more of ironsides bastards to do so then we will do so if you are not willing than get out of my sight or you can join them.”
Earl of Castlehaven: “ No I see the need but Cromwell has a lot to answer for and I fear this land will see many more such ungodly Evils”
As much as it pains me to write it, the earl was right....