The Siege of Derry 1689
Page 27
This counsel of despair came on a day when the garrison could hear ‘the great guns at or near Inch’ but the wind was from the south-west, which would have prevented ships coming up the river to the city. And it was on this day also that Walker records the infamous price list of food in the city. This was taken from an account made ‘by a gentleman in the garrison’ and is in marked contrast to Mackenzie’s note on food on 9 April (see Chapter Four).48 It makes unpleasant reading.
1. s. d.
Horse flesh sold for
0–1–8 per pound
A Quarter of a Dog
0–5–6 fatned by eating the bodies of the slain Irish
A Dog’s Head
0–2–6
A Cat
0–4–6
A Rat
0–1–0
A Mouse
0–0–6
A small Flook taken in the River, not to be bought for Mon, or purchased under the rate of a quantity of Meal.
A pound of Greaves
0–1–0
A poundof Tallow
0–1–0
A pound of salted Hides
0–1–0
A quart4 of Horse blood
0–1–0
A Horse-pudding
0–0–6
An handful of Sea wreck of Chick-weed
0–0–2
0–0–1
A quart of meal when found
0–1–0
Walker emphasizes that the garrison was suffering so much for want of food ‘that we had nothing left unless we could prey upon one another’. This suggestion of an imminent resort to cannibalism is strengthened by the anecdote he then includes of a ‘certain fat gentleman’ who considered himself to be in danger because of the amount of flesh on his body. Thinking that some of the soldiery were looking at him ‘with a greedy eye’, this individual thought it best to hide himself from the public gaze for three days.49
To drink, the garrison and inhabitants of the city had only water; but potable water could be obtained only at great risk, since the wells outside the walls were dominated by the Jacobites. It seems that even this most basic of necessities for life had to be paid for when it was brought into the city. There is no doubt that some of the water for human consumption was contaminated or discoloured, for Walker wrote that ginger and aniseed, ‘of which we had great plenty’, were mixed with it. However, he confirms that eating the concoction of tallow and starch was not only a source of nourishment but ‘was an infallible cure of the looseness’, providing a cure for many who were suffering from dysentery and preventing it in others.50
To add to the other miseries, two soldiers of the garrison at Butcher’s Gate were killed by musket fire from the orchard. It was time, considered Walker, for a sermon intended to maintain the resolve of the garrison. And so, ‘finding in himself still that confidence, that God would not (after so long and miraculous a preservation) suffer them to be a prey to their enemies, he went to the cathedral to preach. He spoke of the many instances of providence that they had witnessed since the beginning of the siege and urged them to be constant in their defence of the city and in their belief in the Protestant religion ‘and that they need not doubt, but that God would at last deliver them from the difficulty they were under’.51
That difficulty seemed to be increasing, and Mackenzie notes that Walker’s sermon was a discouraging one’ rather than one that boosted the morale of soldiers and citizens. He notes that Captain Charleton chose this time, 28 July, to abandon the city and go over to the Jacobites. There is an implication here that Charleton had listened to Walker preach and had not been impressed. Mackenzie’s analysis of the morale within the city is probably much closer to the truth than Walker’s. The Presbyterian minister commented that ‘the desperate necessities that were growing upon us had almost sunk us all into a despair of relief.52
Notes
1: Mackenzie, op cit, p. 51
2: Ibid, pp. 51–2
3: Ibid, p. 52
4: Walker, op cit, 59
5: Ibid
6: Ibid, p. 52; Mackenzie, op cit, p. 52; Simpson, op cit, p. 141; Ash, op cit, p. 90
7: Ash, op cit, pp. 90–1; Mackenzie, op cit, pp. 52–3; Simpson, op cit, pp. 141–3
8: Mackenzie, p. 52
9: Ibid
10: Ibid; Ash, op cit, pp. 90–1; Simpson, op cit, pp. 141–2
11: Mackenzie, op cit, pp. 52–3
12: Ibid, p. 52
13: Ibid, pp. 52–3; Simpson, op cit, pp. 143–4
14: Mackenzie, op cit, p. 53; Ash, op cit, p. 91; Simpson, op cit, p. 144
15: Mackenzie, op cit, p. 53
16: Ash, op cit, p. 91
17: Ibid
18: Ibid; Mackenzie, op cit, p. 53
19: Ash, op cit, p. 92; Mackenzie, op cit, p. 53; Simpson, op cit, p. 144
20: Ash, op cit, p. 92
21: Mackenzie, op cit, p. 53
22: Ibid; Ash, op cit, p. 92; Simpson, op cit, pp. 144–5
23: Ash, op cit, pp. 92–4; Simpson, op cit, p. 145; Mackenzie, op cit, p. 53
24: Ash, op cit, p. 93
25: Mackenzie, op cit, pp. 53–4; Ash, op cit, p. 93
26: Ash, op cit, p. 93
27: Walker, op cit, p. 59
28: Ash, op cit, p. 95; Walker, op cit, pp. 59–60; Mackenzie, op cit, p. 53; Simpson, op cit, p. 146
29: Walker, op cit, p. 59; Ash, op cit, p. 95; Simpson, op cit, p. 146
30: Mackenzie, op cit, p. 53; Walker, op cit, pp. 59–60; Ash, op cit, pp. 95–7; Simpson, op cit, p. 146
31: Ash, op cit, pp. 95–7
32: Walker, op cit, p. 60; Ash, op cit, pp. 95–7
33: Ash, op cit, p. 97
34: Ibid, p. 96
35: Ibid; Mackenzie, op cit, p. 53. Mackenzie lists Fisher as the defenders’ sole fatality.
36: Ash, op cit, pp. 96–7
37: Franco-Irish Correspondence, p. 160
38: Ash, op cit, p. 95
39: Mackenzie, op cit, p. 53; Ash, op cit, p. 94; Simpson, op cit, pp. 145–6
40: Ash, op cit, pp. 94–5
41: Simpson, op cit, pp. 145–6; Ash, op cit, p. 95
42: Ash, op cit, p. 97
43: Ibid
44: Ibid
45: Ibid, p. 98; Mackenzie, op cit, p. 53; Walker, op cit, p. 60
46: Ash, op cit, p. 98
47: Walker, op cit, p. 60; Ash, op cit, p. 98
48: Ash, op cit, p. 98; Walker, op cit, p. 60
49: Walker, op cit, pp. 60–1
50: Ibid, p. 61
51: Ash, op cit, p. 98; Walker, op cit, pp. 61–2
52: Mackenzie, op cit, p. 54
__________
1 The dates given by Ash conflict frequently with those from Mackenzie and Walker.
2 A peck was a measure for dry goods and was the equivalent of two gallons, or 9.19 litres. A container of this size was also known as a peck.
3 Ash describes the court-martial board as having thirteen members but then goes on to name only twelve men. It seems that his thirteen includes Johnston who replaced Ross when the latter was killed.
4 quarter of a gallon, about 1.1 litres.
CHAPTER TEN
The Mountjoy Knew Her Own Way Home
Mackenzie’s comment that the city was despairing of being relieved made all the more wondrous the sighting that evening, at about 7 o’clock, of three ships in Lough Foyle approaching Culmore. Walker wrote that this sighting was made ‘in the midst of our extremity’ while Ash described the day as one ‘to be remembered with thanksgiving by the besieged as long as they live’. Ash and Mackenzie date this day of thanksgiving as 28 July, whereas Walker places it two days later on the 30th. And while Walker and Mackenzie number the ships at three, Ash observed four vessels that ‘came swiftly to Culmore without harm’. One other source, the account by Joshua Gillespie, names the fourth ship as being the cutter Jerusalem; this vessel was about the same size as the Phoenix.1
Irrespective of the date, or of the ex
act number of ships, relief now appeared close at hand. HMS Dartmouth, Captain Leake’s frigate, was escorting three merchant vessels, the Mountjoy of Derry, under Captain Michael Browning, a Derryman, the Phoenix of Coleraine, whose master was Captain Andrew Douglas, also of Coleraine but a Scot by birth, and the cutter Jerusalem, commanded by Captain Pepwell.2 We have seen how Richards observed three ships in Lough Swilly being loaded with provisions and setting sail for Lough Foyle on 20 July: these are the same vessels on the final leg of their journey. According to Richards, Kirke accompanied the little convoy in HMS Swallow, which does not feature in the accounts from Ash, Mackenzie or Walker, suggesting that Swallow left the others at some point and that only HMS Dartmouth, the cutter and the two merchant ships made the run up Lough Foyle as far as Culmore.3 It seems that Swallow1 drew too much draught to allow the ship to sail up to the city; although the water was quite deep at Culmore where the river enters the lough it became shallower on the approach to the city. With Kirke on board, Swallow anchored in the lough where she dropped her longboat which was to play a significant part in the breaking of the boom; from the ship’s maintop, Kirke was able to watch what was happening, although he was too far away to see in detail the events at the boom.
The choice of the Mountjoy and Phoenix seems to have been deliberate on Kirke’s part since it permitted two local vessels to play the central role in the concluding act of the drama at Derry. According to Mackenzie, Browning had volunteered to make the run for the city before, while both Ash and Mackenzie agree that Kirke chose him to lead the relief because he was a Derryman. Ash wrote that Browning ‘had that honour conferred upon him by Major-General Kirke, to be the man who should bring relief to Derry.’ Honour it may have been, but it also placed Browning at great risk and he was to pay, with his life, the full price for accepting that risk.4 Of course, there might have been a more pragmatic reason for Kirke’s choice of Browning and Douglas: their familiarity with the waters of the Foyle. As a native of the city, Browning would have known the Foyle better than any of the other captains, and Douglas of Coleraine must also have been very familiar with its waters. One eminent naval historian has commented that ‘to Captain Browning the soundings and tidal sets in the River all the way to Londonderry would be thoroughly familiar and Mountjoy as it were, knew her own way home!’5 Whatever the circumstances, Kirke had now heeded the appeal from the city for immediate help;2 to its inhabitants the appearance of the relief vessels seemed to be a miracle.
As the ships approached Culmore Fort, HMS Dartmouth hove to, ‘drew in her sails and cast anchor’.6 An artillery combat between the ships and the gunners in Culmore Fort then began as Dartmouth’s role was to attempt to draw the fire of the fort from the two merchant ships while trying to suppress that fire with her own guns; Leake’s frigate, a fifth-rater, carried twenty-eight guns, about half of which could be brought to bear on Culmore.3 Rather than firing broadsides the frigate would have ripple-fired her guns at the fort, increasing the pressure on the latter’s gunners by maintaining a constant fire which would not have been possible with broadsides. Leake had also placed his ship between the fort and the channel that the merchant ships would use. The latter were not helpless since they also carried cannon (Douglas of the Phoenix had earlier in the year been issued with letters of marque as a privateer by the Scottish government) and each had forty soldiers on board. Now, as Leake’s ship hammered at the fort, Browning, Douglas and Pepwell prepared to take their ships through the narrow channel at Culmore and upriver towards the boom. Leake’s orders were that Mountjoy would sail with Dartmouth, Phoenix would not weigh anchor until Dartmouth was engaged with the fort and Jerusalem would await a signal from Leake that one of the other ships had passed the boom before weighing anchor. It was a well-conceived plan but one still fraught with danger for all the ships.
In a subsequent despatch to London, Kirke noted that
Captain Leake, commander of the Dartmouth, behaved himself very bravely and prudently in this action, neither firing great or small shot (though he was plied very hard with both) till he came on the wind of the Castle, and there began to batter that the victuallers might pass under the shelter of his guns; then lay between the Castle and them within musket-shot and came to an anchor.8
Covered at Culmore by the guns of Leake’s warship, Mountjoy led the way and Browning sailed his ship into the boom in the hope that the force of the vessel striking it would break the structure, thereby clearing the way for the other vessels. But he was unsuccessful. His ship struck the boom, rebounded and ran aground on the east bank. Mackenzie’s interpretation of events is slightly different, with the wind dying as the Mountjoy reached the boom, the ship failing to strike it in the ‘dead calm succeeding’ and then running aground.9 From this version it would seem that it was the tide that pushed Browning’s ship aground; other sources indicate that Mackenzie was correct. Whatever the circumstances of the grounding, the result was the same: Mountjoy was at the mercy of the Jacobites. And it was then that the ship’s redoubtable captain perished. Within sight of his home town, and with his mission almost accomplished, Browning was struck in the head by a musket ball and fell dead on Mountjoy’s deck.10 William R Young, who, in 1932, produced a gazetteer of the principal characters of the siege, wrote this highly imaginative paean on the breaking of the boom:
Nothing perhaps in the story of the siege is more thrilling than the rush of the Mountjoy on the terrible Boom. We can picture the captain, sword in hand, standing on by the wheel and commanding operations until killed by the fatal shot.11
It may be noted that Ash wrote that Browning ‘stood upon the deck with his sword drawn, encouraging his men with great cheerfulness’ and this is, presumably, Young’s source.12
With loud cheers large numbers of Jacobite soldiers raced towards the water’s edge where some prepared to take to boats from which they might board the stricken Mountjoy. Farther along the river, closer to the city, other Jacobites took up the exuberant cheering of their comrades and called to the garrison that their ships had been taken.
We perceived them both firing their guns at them, and preparing boats to board them, [and] this struck such a sudden terror into our hearts, as appeared in the very blackness of our countenances. Our spirits sunk, and our hopes were expiring.13
But once again circumstances conspired against the Jacobites. The Mountjoy discharged a broadside, obviously from the port side, and this, with the rising tide, freed the ship from the grip of the mud to set her afloat again.14 According to Ash, it was the inrushing tide that floated the Mountjoy.15 All the while, both HMS Dartmouth and the Phoenix had been firing at the Jacobites. Restored to her natural element, Browning’s ship began to engage the Jacobite batteries and steered once more for the boom. This was to be the crucial test of de Pointis’ creation. It will be remembered that the French engineer’s first effort had been an abject failure, sinking below the water due to the weight of the oak used in its construction. The boom that now stretched across the Foyle was constructed of fir beams held together with metal clamps, chains and rope and with both ends anchored firmly on dry land.
Walker believed that the Mountjoy had broken the boom when first it struck and this version is also included in Gillespie’s narrative, but the boom was actually broken by sailors in HMS Swallow’s longboat.16 These men do not feature in any of the indigenous siege narratives, and it appears that, if the writers of those narratives were told the detail of the breaking of the boom, they decided not to tell the full story. The longboat had been lowered from Swallow to accompany the ships that would make the run upriver and it was the ten-man crew of that boat who finally broke the boom. Since their part in this episode is so important, it is pleasant to record that the names of these seamen have been preserved in Admiralty records. Boatswain’s Mate John Shelley commanded the longboat and his crew were Robert Kells, Jeremy Vincent, James Jamieson, Jonathan Young, Alexander Hunter, Henry Breman,4 William Welcome, Jonathan Field and Miles Tonge. And it was She
lley who used the axe, leaping on to the boom to do so and receiving a splinter wound in the thigh in the process.17 This involvement of the longboat crew is supported by a Jacobite report that indicates that both the Mountjoy and Phoenix were towed by longboats.18
The principal Jacobite account of events suggested that it was actually HMS Dartmouth that made the run upriver:
The ship then aforesaid [Dartmouth] took the opportunity on this day of the tide and a fair gale of wind, and so came up to the fort of Culmore, and at all hazards ventured to sail by. The fort made some shots at her, but to no purpose. She, being got clear of that fort, arrived before the next battery, which fired also at her, but the ball flew too high. She came to the last battery; this did her no damage. She struck at the boom, which she forced presently, and so went cleverly up to the quay of Londonderry. What shouts of joy the town gave hereat you may easily imagine.19
It should be remembered that A Jacobite Narrative of the War in Ireland was written some years after the siege and the author’s information came from other individuals. Thus it is not so surprising that he believed Dartmouth to have been the vessel that ran the gauntlet of the Jacobite batteries along the Foyle, broke the boom and took relief to the beleaguered city.
Richards also includes an account of how the boom was broken which was delivered to the camp at Inch on 30 July by ‘several people . . . from the Irish camp’ who had seen the ships pass up the Foyle ‘with provisions to Derry quay on Sunday night last past’. These witnesses had seen the man of war lie within Culmore and batter ‘all the upper part of the wall down, so that there is now no shelter for men’. But they differed in telling how the ships got up to the city. Two versions of the breaking of the boom were offered, one of which told of Shelley and his fellow seamen in the longboat. This was, however, an exaggerated version which included a ‘boat with a house on it’ that came to the boom where it stopped ‘and of a sudden a man (a witch they say) struck three strokes with a hatchet upon the Boom, and cut [it] asunder, and so passed on’ with the ships following.20 The ‘house’ might have been a form of protection against musket fire, as Kirke indicated by describing the longboat as being ‘well barricado’d’.21 The second version held that the two ships made the run together and struck the boom simultaneously, breaking it so that both were then able to pass on to the city.22 Kirke’s despatch to London noted that it was the weight of the Mountjoy that broke the boom after Shelley had wielded his axe. That report also contains the information that there were about four Jacobite guns at the boom ‘and 2,000 small shot upon the river’; it also notes that five or six Williamite soldiers were killed, that Lieutenant Leys of Sir John Hanmer’s Regiment was wounded and that Shelley was also injured.23