The Battle of the Yellow Ford

Portmore was now-1597-occupied by captain Williams and his garrison of three hundred. No sooner had lord deputy Bo-rough turned southward after his defeat at Drumflugh, than O’Neill laid siege to it; and watching it night and day, tried every stratagem; but the vigilance and determination of Williams completely baffled him. At last he attempted a storm by means of scaling ladders; but the ladders turned out too short, and the storming party were met by such a fierce onslaught that they had to retire discomfited, leaving thirty-four of their men dead in the fosse. After this O’Neill tried no more active operations, but sat down, determined to starve the garrison into surrender.

When this had continued for sometime, Williams and his men began to suffer sorely; and they would have been driven to surrender by mere starvation but for the good fortune of having seized and brought into the fort a number of O’Neill’s horses, on which they now chiefly subsisted. Even with this supply they were so pressed by hunger that they ate every weed and every blade of grass they could pick up in the enclosure; but still the brave captain resolutely held out.

When tidings of these events reached Dublin, the council sat in long and anxious deliberations, out at last Marshal Bagenal persuaded them to entrust him with the perilous task of relieving the fort.

The marshal arrived at Armagh with an army of 4,000 foot and 350 horse. The five miles highway between the city and Purtmore was a narrow strip of uneven ground, with bogs and woods at both sides; and right in the way, at Bellanaboy, or the Yellow Ford, on the little river Callan, two miles north of Armagh, O’Neill had marshalled his forces, and determined to dispute the passage. His army was, perhaps, a little more numerous than that of his adversary, well trained and disciplined, armed and equipped after the English fashion, though not so well as Bagenal’s army-they had no armour for instance, while many of the English had; and he had the advantage of an excellent position selected by himself. He had with him Hugh Roe O’Donnell, Maguire, and Mac Donnell of the Glens, all leaders of ability and experience. At intervals along the way he had dug deep holes and trenches, and had otherwise encumbered the line of march with felled trees and brush- wood ; and right in front of his main body extended a trench a mile long, five feet deep, and four feet across, with a thick hedge of thorns on top. Over these tremendous obstacles, in face of the whole strength of the Irish army, Bagenal must force his way if he is ever to reach the starving little band cooped up in Portmore.

But Bagenal was not a man easily daunted; and on the morning of the i4th August, 1598, he began his march with music and drum. The army advanced in six regiments forming three divisions. The first division -two regiments-was commanded by Colonel Percy, the marshal himself, as commander-in-chief, riding in the second regiment. The second division, consisting of the third and fourth regiments, was commanded by Colonel Cosby and Sir Thomas Wingfield, and the third division by Captains Coneys and Billings. The horse formed two divisions, one on each wing, under Sir Calisthenes Brooke, with Captains Montague and Fleming. The regiments marched one behind another at intervals of 600 or 700 paces.

On the night before, O’Neill had sent forward 500 light-armed kern, who concealed themselves till morning in the woods and thickets along the way, and the English had not advanced far when these opened fire from both sides, which they kept up during the whole march past. Through all obstacles-fire, bog, and pitfalls-the army struggled and fought resolutely, till the first regiment reached the great trench. A determined rush across, a brief and fierce hand to hand struggle, and in spite of all opposition they got to the other side. Instantly reforming, they pushed on, but had got only a little way when they were charged by a solid body of Irish and utterly overwhelmed.