[The History of England from the Accession of James II. by Thomas Babington Macaulay]@TWC D-Link bookThe History of England from the Accession of James II. CHAPTER XII 148/243
Hard by is the well from which the besiegers drank.
A little further off is the burial ground where they laid their slain, and where even in our own time the spade of the gardener has struck upon many sculls and thighbones at a short distance beneath the turf and flowers. While these things were passing in the North, James was holding his court at Dublin.
On his return thither from Londonderry he received intelligence that the French fleet, commanded by the Count of Chateau Renaud, had anchored in Bantry Bay, and had put on shore a large quantity of military stores and a supply of money.
Herbert, who had just been sent to those seas with an English squadron for the purpose of intercepting the communications between Britanny and Ireland, learned where the enemy lay, and sailed into the bay with the intention of giving battle.
But the wind was unfavourable to him: his force was greatly inferior to that which was opposed to him; and after some firing, which caused no serious loss to either side, he thought it prudent to stand out to sea, while the French retired into the recesses of the harbour.
<<Back Index Next>> D-Link book Top TWC mobile books
|