bly a tenth of the whole. James, on
the other hand, had from twenty to twenty-five thousand men, about a
tenth of them, probably, being mounted; he had, by his own fault, only
six guns against about fifty in William's batteries. William's line of
battle was formed, as usual, with the infantry in the center and the
cavalry on the wings. He gave the elder Schomberg command of the center,
while Schomberg's son, with the cavalry of the right wing, was sent four
or five miles up the river to Slane, to cross there and turn the left
flank of the opposing army. William himself led the cavalry on the left
wing, and later on in the battle, descending the river, crossed at a
lower ford. He could thus attack the right flank of his opponent; the
infantry composing the center of his army advancing, meanwhile, under
cover of a heavy artillery fire, and forcing the fords of the Boyne.

The river is shallow here, and in the middle of summer the water is
nowhere too deep for wading, so that it was a very slight protection to
the army of James. A better general would at least have chosen a
stronger position, and one which would have given him some manifest
advantage. Such positions were to be found all along the road by which
William had advanced from Carrickfergus. The country on both sides of
the Boyne is flat; rolling meadows with the shallow river dividing
them--a country giving every opportunity to cavalry.

William's right, under the younger Schomberg, made several unsuccessful
attempts to cross the river at Slane, being repeatedly beaten back by
Arthur O'Neill's horse. Finally, however, the way was cleared for him by
a vigorous cannonade, to which O'Neill, having no cannon, was unable to
reply, and William's right wing thus forced the passage of the Boyne.

William's center now advanced, and began the passage of the river, under
cover of a heavy artillery fire. Every foot of the advance was
stubbornly contested, and such headway was made by the Irish troops that
Schomberg's bodyguard was scattered or cut to pieces, and he himself was
slain. The center of William's army was undoubtedly being beaten back,
when, crossing lower down with eighteen squadrons of cavalry, he
fiercely attacked the right flank of the Irish army and thus turned the
possibility of defeat into certain victory. That the Irish troops,
although outnumbered two to one and led by a coward, fought valiantly,
is admitted on all sides. They charged and re-charged ten