| Battle of the Boyne 1690 After Prince William of Orange had defeated James II in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, James fled to the court of Louis XIV in France. He planned to attack King William through Ireland and landed in Kinsale in March of 1689 with French Officers and arms. He then formed a rebel parliament and started to persecute the Protestant settlers. In August 1689 King William dispatched Marshal Schomberg to Bangor with 20,000 troops to secure Ulster. Marshal Schomberg controlled the territory as for south as Dundalk. In March of 1689, James was reinforced with 7,000 French Regulars. King William landed in Carrickfergus on the 14th of June 1690 with reinforcements from England, Holland along with Danish mercenaries. By now the King had an army of 36,000 men. William and his army started the march to Dublin with slight resistance at Newry, and forced James and his army to cross to the south bank of the river Boyne. The battle of the Boyne took place on the 12th of July 4 miles west of the village of Oldbridge. King Williams main force secured the crossing at Oldbridge while a detachment of calvary and infantry were sent up stream to divide James and his army. By mid morning James was on the run and fled to Dublin to warn Catholic forces of King William's imminent victory at the Boyne. |