The Battle of The Boyne can only be properly understood by first looking at what happened at the Siege of Derry.
the siege of derry
King Jaime II replaced his brother and converted to Catholicism when he married Maria, the daughter of the Italian Duke of Modena. He had left England in 1679 and did not return for six years until he succeeded to the throne in England. He began the task of restoring the Catholic religion in both England and Ireland. He appointed Colonel Talbot as commander of his forces in Ireland and his brother-in-law, Lord Clarendon, as Lord Lieutenant. Talbot disarmed the mainly Protestant militia and appointed Catholic officers to the army and other important posts within the judiciary. In 1687, Talbot was also made Lord Lieutenant, as Clarendon had shown himself to be quite a weak person. Talbot, now known as the Earl of Tirconnell, was a strict Catholic and these actions caused a panic among Protestants, with many leaving their homes and moving to England.
In 1688, Lord Danby sent for Prince William of Orange. Prince William was a Dutch prince and was married to James’ Protestant daughter, also named Mary. The English establishment had panicked when James had a son and was able to become part of a Catholic dynasty. When James II learned of William’s arrival, he instantly fled to France and William took the throne of England without any opposition. William and Mary were declared joint rulers and James was at the court of Louis XIV of France for help. Tirconnell had stayed in Ireland and had armed the Catholics to help defend Ireland for James II.
the apprentice boys
Northern Ireland was populated mainly by English settlers and Protestant soldiers, who sided with Prince William of Orange. The town of Enniskillen refused to admit Talbot and this started the Revolutionary War. Lord Antrim marched to take Derry and the magistrates hesitated because they were not sure what to do. Several young apprentices took the keys and managed to close the gates that prevented Talbot’s Jacobite army from entering the city. These apprentices were actually in the city as part of a development scheme that had been organized by the City of London and its guilds. Richard Hamilton was then sent north to take Ulster as the Protestants had begun to fight back and he reached Derry in 1689. What is now known as the Siege of Derry ensued which lasted 105 days.
When James arrived at Kinsale he met Richard Talbot, who had called a Catholic parliament. He also brought with him some 100 French officers, more than 1,000 Irish refugees, weapons and ammunition. Patrick Sarsfield was one of the French officers he had brought with him. During the siege of Derry, James went to parliament and there he repealed Poyning’s Act, which now allowed full freedom of worship. He also repealed the Liquidation Law. The siege on Derry continued and Hamilton continued to try to take the city. From inside the city walls, many called for surrender and Colonel Lundy, who was the governor, was one of those people. So unpopular was this call that he was forced to escape over the walls at night and in disguise.
The only hope for those within Derry’s walls was help from troops arriving by sea, as the entire land was surrounded by Hamilton’s men. Eventually help came with ships reaching Lough Foyle under the control of General Kyle. However, seeing the forts lining the banks and seeing a defensive structure on the Lough, they did not continue and dropped anchor. For 46 days they waited as food grew less and less and many people simply began to starve. Eventually ships were dispatched and crashed into the boom bringing supplies and relief to the city of Derry. The siege was over and the next day, Hamilton marched with his army. The Jacobites were also defeated at Enniskillen and Sarsfield now returned to Athlone, leaving Ulster firmly in the hands of the Guilamites.
the battle of the boyne
The Battle of Derry had been only the beginning of the fighting. King William now dispatched an 80-year-old Dutch general named Schomberg who landed in the northern Irish city of Bangor. He had brought with him some 15,000 men who captured Carrickfergus and then established his base at Dundalk. He suffered heavy losses and was forced to seek reinforcements. His army was also severely affected by the disease. A year later, on June 14, 1690, Prince William landed at Carrickfergus with a motley group of troops from Germany, Denmark, and some French Huguenots. The key was that there were 35,000-40,000 in all, all well armed and very well equipped.
James had 25,000 which included some still loyal English regiments, some Irish and French troops sent by Louis XIV. James had advanced from Dublin to Dundalk and was now on the south bank of the River Boyne. Probably the most significant fact was that the Irish Army consisted mainly of conscripts who were poorly armed and trained and with a leader who was not as skilled or as determined. However, William was recognized as one of the greatest generals of all time and under his command he had a larger army that was well trained and armed.
William was wounded by a cannon shot and was believed dead by many on the Irish side. The two sides entered battle on the River Boyne in County Meath on July 1, 1690, as William’s army began to cross the river. William had sent 10,000 men under General Douglas to cross some five miles upriver, an area which, although James had been warned, he had chosen to leave unguarded. The rest of the army attacked in four different places.
Dutch Blue Guards under the leadership of General Schomberg attacked the center of James’s army and Schomberg was killed when he was shot in the neck by a bullet fired from a musket. The battle now raged up and down the river for about a mile with William fighting further downstream at Drogheda. Although the Irish army offered resistance, it was no match for William’s army and William won a decisive victory. The Irish army withdrew towards Dublin and James fled at the first signs of defeat. He had Sarsfield announce: “Change kings and we will fight you again.”
James retired when he reached Kinsale and returned to Brest in France, leaving Tirconnell to do what he could. This battle is still celebrated today, on July 12, by what are known as the Orangemen, named after Prince William. The reason for this last date is due to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in 1752.