or the
large fleet and the additional forces promised by Louis XIV. But James
resolved to maintain his position, and thought that he might have one
fair battle for his crown. "But," says Rapin, "notwithstanding all his
advantages--the deep river in front, the morass on his right, and the
rising ground behind him--he ordered a ship to be prepared for him at
Waterford, that in case of a defeat he might secure his retreat to
France."

On the morning of the 30th of June, William ordered his whole army to
move by break of day by three lines towards the river, about three
miles distant. The King marched in front. By nine o'clock they were
within two miles of Drogheda. Observing a hill east of the enemy, the
King rode up to view the enemy's camp. He found it to lie all along
the river in two lines. Here he had a long consultation with his
leading officers. He then rode to the pass at Old Bridge, within
musket-shot of the ford; next he rode westward, so as to take a full
view of the enemy's camp. He fixed the place where his batteries were
to be planted, and decided upon the spot where his army was to cross
the river on the following day.

The Irish on the other side of the river had not been unobservant of
the King's movements. They could see him riding up and down the banks,
for they were not sixty yards apart. The Duke of Berwick, the Viceroy
Tyrconnel, General Sarsfield, and other officers were carefully
watching his movements. While the army was marching up the river-side,
William dismounted and sat down upon a rising ground to partake of
some refreshments, for he had been on horseback since early dawn.
During this time a party of Irish horse on the other side brought
forward two field-pieces through a ploughed field, and planted them
behind a hedge. They took their sight and fired. The first shot killed
a man and two horses close by the King. William immediately mounted
his horse. The second gun was not so well aimed. The shot struck the
water, but rising _en ricochet_, it slanted on the King's right
shoulder, took a piece out of his coat, and tore the skin and the
flesh. William rode away stooping in his saddle. The Earl of Coningsby
put a handkerchief over the wound, but William said "there was no
necessity, the bullet should have come nearer."

The enemy, seeing the discomfiture of the King's party, and that he
rode away wounded, spread abroad the news that he was killed. "They
immediately," says Rapin, "set up a s