It was Mitchelburne who had the bloody flag of defiance, actually a naval ensign, flown from the cathedral and that colour, known as ‘Derry crimson’, has become the colour of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, one club of which is named in his honour. In his will Mitchelburne left a sum of money to allow the crimson flag to be flown from the Cathedral. Under the title Ireland Preserved he wrote an account of the siege. Following his death, on 1 October 1721, a well on his land at Prehen became a site of veneration for local people, both Catholic and Protestant. He is buried in Old Glendermott graveyard, near the city.
Mountjoy, Lord: William Stewart, of County Donegal, a professional soldier and a major landowner in Ulster, he purchased the position of Master-General of the Irish Ordnance in 1684 and also became the colonel of an infantry regiment, Mountjoy’s, which was the Londonderry garrison unit in 1688. Mountjoy had campaigned with the forces of imperial Austria in 1686–7 and was wounded severely during the siege of Buda (part of modern Budapest, which is two cities separated by a river.) Following his unsuccessful involvement in mediation between the opposing parties in Ulster he was sent to France by Tyrconnel and imprisoned on the latter’s orders. Following his release he returned to soldiering and was killed at the Battle of Steenkirk in 1692.
Murray, Colonel Adam: a local farmer from County Londonderry, Murray proved to be an inspiring leader and soldier. There are no records to suggest that he had ever been a soldier, although he might have served in the militia which had been disbanded by Tyrconnel. He led a Williamite cavalry unit with considerable distinction at the battle of the fords. Although offered the governorship by acclamation he preferred to remain with his soldiers and commanded the garrison’s cavalry regiment. His record during the siege was much better than that of many men who had been soldiers and he remains one of the outstanding figures of the conflict. He received no reward for his service. Although the date of his death is not known he rests beside Mitchelburne in Old Glendermott churchyard. His memory is also invoked by a club of the Apprentice Boys of Derry.
Noble, Captain Arthur: one of the most outstanding of the officers of the city’s garrison, Noble was involved prominently in a number of clashes, not least of which was the Jacobite attempt to enter the city at the end of June when he was one of those to lead troops out to attack the Jacobite soldiers in the flank. From Derryrea, near Lisnaskea in County Fermanagh, it was said of him that ‘no one has more frequent mention for daring venture and gallant achievement in the sorties of the garrison’. He returned to live in Fermanagh where he died on 29 August 1731 and was buried in Aghalurcher churchyard, near Lisnaskea.
Pointis, Jean Bernard Louis Desjean, Marquis de: a French naval officer with experience of active service in the bombardment of Algiers in 1688, he came to Ireland in early-1689 with an Irish officer called Roth to assess the situation for Louis XIV. As a result Louis decided to support a Jacobite expedition to Ireland. When this arrived, de Pointis was in command of the French artillery and engineers included in the force. As a naval officer he was reluctant to come under army command and therefore sought to be appointed as master-general of the ordnance in which position he would have been answerable only to King James. However, James appointed Justin McCarthy, Lord Mountcashel, to this post. Pointis finally accepted command of the gunners and engineers at Londonderry, where he was also responsible for building the boom, although his proposal for a second boom closer to the city was rejected by Hamilton. Wounded in one of the early engagements of the siege, de Pointis refused to be tended by Irish doctors and thus survived, although the London Gazette reported his death. In November 1689, de Pointis returned to France and later (1697) earned a considerable reputation as the commander of the French expedition that captured Cartagena, the Spanish-American port, adding a large store of treasure to the French exchequer.
Richards, Captain (later Colonel) Jacob: born in Ireland, Richards was an engineer and gunner with the Jacobite train of artillery in 1688 but changed his allegiance to William and was first engineer of the expedition to Ireland in 1689. Also during 1688 he had been sent by Lord Dartmouth to Hungary to study Habsburg strategy and tactics, including siege warfare and those aspects of the gunner’s and engineer’s arts related to such warfare. For this task he was paid £1 per day, a very generous payment for the time. (In 1697 he was sent to Corfu to observe the war against Turkey.) Richards kept a joumal of the events that he experienced at Londonderry and Inch which provides us with one of the eyewitness accounts of the siege and has the great advantage of having been written by a professional soldier. Jacob Richards’ writings continued after his service in his native Ireland and he is also a major source of information on Marlborough’s campaigns in mainland Europe. His younger brother, Michael, also served as both an engineer and gunner.
Rooke, Captain (later Admiral Sir) George: the commander of the Royal Navy’s squadron that patrolled Irish waters during the period of the siege, he later became an admiral and one of the most distinguished flag officers of the Royal Navy. It was Rooke who took Gibraltar for Britain in 1704. The presence of Rooke’s squadron off Ireland was a major deterrent to the French navy which might otherwise have provided direct support for the Jacobite army besieging Derry. Although his ships supported Kirke’s relief fleet, Rooke allowed their captains to take orders from Kirke and took no active part in the operations to relieve the city.
Rosen, Lieutenant-General (later Marshal) Conrad de: described as a Lithuanian while James II once called him a ‘bloody Muscovite’, de Rosen was almost sixty at the time of the siege. Born in the then-Swedish province of Livonia, he became a mercenary soldier in French service, enlisting as a soldier in 1646. He was commissioned as a cornet in Brinon’s Regiment in 1651 and, thereafter, rose steadily through the ranks. Although remembered as a ruthless commander, de Rosen was also a very brave man, which he demonstrated at Lifford during the battle of the fords when he led a small force of cavalry and dragoons across the flooded river against a much superior Williamite force that had the protection of a small fortification and support from some artillery.
Saint-Martin, le Sieur de: a French naval commissary officer who was included in the group of gunner and engineer officers that was sent to Londonderry. He was detached from the army besieging the city to be the artillery commander of the Jacobite army in Fermanagh, where he was killed at the battle of Newtownbutler.
Stewart, William: see Lord Mountjoy.
Talbot, Richard, Duke of Tyrconnel: from one of the most prominent of Irish Catholic families, Talbot became James’ Lord Deputy in Ireland and his attitude to the Protestants and Nonconformists of the country, especially in Ulster, was one of the crucial factors that led to war in Ireland and to the eventual defeat of his king and commander. He died of a stroke in 1691 and following his death the Irish army accepted terms for a surrender that became known as the treaty of Limerick.
Tiffin, Major (later Colonel) Zachariah: one of the officers who came to Derry with the first relief fleet in April 1689, Tiffin escaped the censure that brought the careers of the two commanding officers to an end. He returned with Kirke, who sent him to Enniskillen where he took command of one of the regiments raised for the defence of the town. This unit was taken into the Army as Zachariah Tiffin’s Inniskilling Regiment and later became the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers which is now part of the Royal Irish Regiment (27th Inniskilling, 83rd, 87th and UDR). His name also appears as Tiffan or Tiffany.
Walker, The Reverend George: a Church of Ireland rector from Donoughmore near Dungannon in County Tyrone, Walker raised a local regiment that he brought to Derry where he became one of the leaders of the besieged and was elected as deputy governor to Henry Baker at the beginning of the siege. Leaving the city only days after its relief he wrote an account of the siege that became a bestseller but, by failing to give due credit to the Presbyterians who had been in the city, also caused considerable offence. Walker was later appointed Bishop of Derry but never returned to the city as he was killed at the
Battle of the Boyne on 1 July 1690. At his widow’s request, his bones were brought back to County Tyrone in 1703 for interment in Castlecaulfield Parish Church. Although many accounts describe him as an aged clergyman these confuse him with his father as Walker was in his early forties at the time of the siege. There were many doubts about his loyalty and honesty during the siege and his iconic status as ‘Governor Walker’ owes more to his own efforts in self-promotion that it does to his real performance during the siege. He is also commemorated by a club of the Apprentice Boys of Derry.
__________
1 The Royal Regiment was one of the last to submit to William III; it was reformed in December 1688 with Fredriech, Duke of Schomberg as its colonel.
Appendix Two
Declaration of Union made by the Nobility and Gentry of the neighbouring counties, and of the Citizens and Garrison of Londonderry
Whereas, either by folly or weakness of friends, or craft and stratagem of enemies, some rumours and reflections are spread abroad among the vulgar, that the Right Honourable the Lord Blaney, Sir Arthur Rawdon, Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, and other gentlemen and officers of quality, are resolved to take protections from the Irish, and desert the general service for defence of the Protestant party in this kingdom, to the great discouragement of such who are so weak as to give credit to so false, scandalous, and malicious a report – For wiping off which aspersion, and clearing the minds of all Protestant friends wheresoever, from all suspicions and jealousies of that kind or otherwise, it is hereby unanimously declared, protested and published to all men, by Colonel Robert Lundy, Governor of Derry, the said Lord Blaney, Sir Arthur Rawdon, and other officers and gentlemen subscribing hereunto, that they, and their forces and soldiers, are entirely united among themselves, and fully and resolutely resolved to oppose the Irish enemy with their utmost force, and to continue the war against them to the last, for their own and all Protestants’ preservation in this kingdom. And the Committee of Londonderry, for themselves and for all the Citizens of the said City, do hereby declare and protest, and publish to all men, that they are heartily and sincerely united with the said Colonel Robert Lundy, Lord Blaney, Sir Arthur Rawdon, and all others that join in this common cause, and with all their force and utmost power will labour to carry on the said war. And if it should so happen that our party should be so oppressed by the Irish enemy, that they should be forced to retire into the City, for shelter against them (which God forbid,) the said Lord Blaney, Sir Arthur Rawdon, and their forces, and all other Protestant friends, shall be readily received into this City, and as much as in us lies, be cherished and supported by us.
Dated at Londonderry, the 21st of March, 1688
The declaration was signed by: Robert Lundy, [Lord] Blaney, William Stewart, Arthur Rawdon, George Maxwell, James Curry, John Forward, Hugh McGill, William Ponsonby, H. Baker, Chichester Fortescue, James Brabazon, John Hill, H. Kennedy, E. Brookes, Samuel Norman, Alex Tomkins, Matthew Cocken, Alexander Lecky, [Lord] Massereene, Francis Nevill, James Lenox, Frederick Conyngham, John Leslie, Henry Long, William Crookshanks, Clotworthy Skeffington, Arthur Upton, Samuel Morrison, Thomas Cole, Francis Forster, Edward Cary, John Cowan, Kilner Brasier, James Hamilton and John Sinclare. Against the names of H. Kennedy and E. Brookes was noted the fact that they were sheriffs.
Appendix Three
Articles at a Council of War, at Derry, 10th of April, 1689
Present
Colonels – Robert Lundy, Lord Blaney, James Hamilton, Sir Nicholas Atcheson, Hugh Montgomery;
Lieutenant-Colonels – Whitney, White, Johnston, Shaw, Ponsonby;
Majors – Barry, Crofton, Hill, Phillips, Tubman;
Captain – Hugh McGill.
1. Resolved – That a mutual engagement be made between all officers of this garrison and the forces adjoining, to be signed by every man. That none shall desert or forsake the service, or depart the kingdom without leave of a council of war; if any do so, he or they shall be looked upon as cowards, and disaffected to the service.
2. That a thousand men shall be chosen to be part of this garrison, and joined with the soldiers already herein, to defend the City; the officers of which thousand, and the garrison officers, are to enter into the engagement aforesaid.
3. That all officers and soldiers of any of our forces, in the neighbourhood not of this garrison, shall forthwith repair to their respective quarters and commands.
4. That all colonels and commanders of every regiment or independent troop or company, be now armed and fitted, that so we may take up resolutions for field-service accordingly: the lists to be sent hither by Saturday next.
5. That the several officers in their respective quarters, shall take care to send in provisions to the Magazines of this garrison, for supply thereof and take care that they leave with the owners thereof, some of their victuals and provisions for their own support, and to send in spades, shovels and pick-axes.
6. The thousand men to be taken into this garrison shall have the old houses about the walls and ditches without the gates divided among them to be levelled with all possible speed.
7. That the several battalions and companies in the City shall have their several stations and posts assigned them, to which they shall repair upon any sudden alarm.
8. That all persons of this garrison, upon beating of the retreat every night, shall repair to their several quarters and lodgings.
9. That a pair of gallows shall be erected in one of the bastions upon the south-west of the City, whereupon all mutinous or treacherous persons of this garrison shall be executed, who shall be condemned thereunto by a court-martial.
10. That the Articles of War shall be read at the head of every regiment, battalion, troop, or company: and that all soldiers shall be punished for transgressing them, according to the said Articles.
11. That every soldier of the garrison, and non-commissioned officer, shall be weekly allowed out of the magazines eight quarts of meal, four pounds of fish, and three pounds of flesh for his weekly subsistence.
12. That every soldier and non-commissioned officer shall be allowed a quart of small beer per day, as soon as the same can be provided until some money shall come to allow them pay.
Agreed upon at the said Council of War, and ordered to be copied.
Appendix Four
Richard Hamilton‘s letter to the governors with proposed terms of surrender; 27 June 1689.
1st – That Colonel O’Neill has a power to discourse with the Governors of Derry, from General Hamilton, as appears by his sending this.
2nd – That the general has full power, does appear by his commission.
3rd – That General Rosen has no power from the king to intermeddle with what Lieutenant-General Hamilton does, as to the Siege, being only sent to oppose the English succour; and that all conditions and parleys are left to the said Lieutenant-General Hamilton; that as to what articles shall be agreed on they may see, by the king’s warrant, he has full power to confirm them; notwithstanding, if they do not think this sufficient, he will give what other reasonable security they can demand. As to English landing, such as had commission from the Prince of Orange, there need not be apprehension, since it will be the king’s interest to take as much care of his Protestant subjects as of any other, he making no distinction of religion.
4th –As to what concerns the Inniskillen people, they shall have the same terms as those of Derry, on their submission, the king being willing to shew mercy to all his subjects, and quiet his kingdoms.
5th – That the Lieutenant-General desires no better than having it communicated to all the garrison, he being willing to employ such as will freely swear to serve his Majesty faithfully; and all such as have a desire to live in town, shall have protection, and free liberty of goods and religion. As to the last point, such as have a mind to return to their homes, shall have a necessary guard with them to their respective habitations, and victuals to supply them; where they shall be restored to all they possessed formerly, not only
by the sheriffs and justices of the peace, but also by the governors and officers of the army, who, from time to time, will do them right, and give them reprisals of cattle from such as have been taken from the mountains.
Appendix Five
The Siege of Derry 1689 Page 33