Page 202 - Demo

202 Stephen Dunford: The Journey of The IrIsh
the outset ill-luck attended Del Aguila’s expedition and one writer of the time described it as being “a poor enough force, under a poor enough commander.”
O’Donnell hastened southwards to join the Spaniards making a long and arduous jour- ney in the depths of winter. Carew tried to intercept him at Tipperary, but by a remarkable night-march, across forty miles of ice-bound bog and mountain, O’Donnel smartly evaded him and arrived before Kinsale on 23 November. A fortnight later, on 6 December, after a slow and circuitous march, O’Neill arrived. The Irish camped at Belgooly, a few miles north of the town. Meanwhile, the Spaniards held out at Kinsale, even making some successful sorties against their besiegers, while their commander constanly despatched anguished mes- sages, reproaching his allies for their dilatory behaviour in not engaging quicker with the enemy. But as one commentator put it “in O’Neill’s case at least, the delay was probably quite deliberate. He was no longer looking for victory, but preparing for the consequence of defeat. In that scheme of things, an attempt to relieve Kinsale was not a consideration.”
Events moved on, and while Mountjoy’s English cannon battered away at the crumbling defences of Kinsale, his troops were suffering severely from exposure and being rapidly thinned by disease, lack of provisions and desertion, so much so that Mountjoy was think- ing of raising the siege. Furthermore, with the arrival of the two northern Earls, a curious situation had developed, as the besieging English found themselves besieged by the Irish. This situation suited O’Neill, who as we know was in favour of playing a waiting game, and for a full two weeks nothing of a major military nature happened save for the constant English bombardment of Kinsale. Del Aguila, however, in another of his many despatches urgently appealed to the Irish chiefs to make a night attack on the enemy’s camp as soon as possible, and as O’Donnell and others of the rebel command also favoured an engagement, in opposition to O’Neill, accordingly, arrangements were put in place for a combined assault by both Spanish and Irish. The plan proposed that the rebel army would secretly move to their positions on the night of the 23 December and then attack with surprise at daybreak on the 24th.
But the momentum of war imposes its own imperatives, and almost immediately Carew received particulars of the proposed attack from one of his Irish spies. As a result, the Eng- lish were presciently prepared and waiting, and as one historian acknowledged “Instead of surprising the enemy the Irish were themselves surprised.” The fates were in every way with the English on that fateful night, and owing to the darkness of the said night, the fact that their plan was already given away to the well deployed English by treachery, and moreover,