y provided, and transports prepared, the duke of Sehomberg, on
whom king William had conferred the chief command of this armament,
set out for Chester, after he had in person thanked the commons for the
uncommon regard they had paid to his services, and received assurances
from the house, that they would pay particular attention to him and his
army. On the thirteenth day of August he landed in the neighbourhood
of Carrickfergus with about ten thousand foot and dragoons, and took
possession of Belfast, from whence the enemy retired at his approach
to Carrickfergus, where they resolved to make a stand. The duke having
refreshed his men, marched thither, and invested the place; the siege
was carried on till the twenty-sixth clay of the month, when the
breaches being practicable, the besieged capitulated, on condition of
marching out with their arms, and as much baggage as they could carry on
their backs; and of their being conducted to the next Irish garrison,
which was at Newry. During this siege the duke was joined by the rest of
his army from England; but he had left orders for conveying the greater
part of the artillery and stores from Chester directly to Carlingford.
He now began his march through Lisburne and Hillsborough, and encamped
at Drummore, where the protestants of the north had been lately routed
by Hamilton; thence he proceeded to Loughbrillane, where he was joined
by the horse and dragoons of Inniskilling. Then the enemy abandoned
Newry and Dundalk, in the neighbourhood of which Sehomberg encamped on a
low damp ground, having the town and river on the south, and surrounded
on every other part by hills, bogs, and mountains.

THE INNISKILLINERS OBTAIN A VICTORY.

His army, consisting chiefly of new-raised men little inured to
hardship, began to flag under the fatigue of marching, the inclemency of
the weather, and scarcity of provisions. Here he was reinforced by the
regiments of Kirke, Hanmer, and Stuart; and would have continued his
march to Drogheda, where he understood Rosene lay with about twenty
thousand men, had he not been obliged to wait for the artillery, which
was not yet arrived at Carlingford. King James, having assembled all
his forces, advanced towards Schomberg, and appeared before his
intrenchments in order of battle; but the duke, knowing they were
greatly superior in number of horse, and that his own army was
undisciplined, and weakened by death and sickness, restrained his men
with