Introduction
In the late autumn of 1647,
Murrough O'Brien, Baron Inchiquin, commander of the Parliamentary Forces in
Munster, raided and burned several Confederate garrison towns in the province,
leaving them short of food. These actions saw Inchiquin bestowed with the gaelic
nickname of Murchadh na dóiteáin (Murrough the Burner).
On September 20 1647,
Inchiquin stormed the iconic Rock of Cashel where a Confederate garrison were
quartered. During the taking of the Rock Inchiquin's troops massacred the
garrison together with all the Catholic clergy they found there.
The Confederate Munster army
was in no position to stop Inchiquin due to deep political divisions amongst their
officers who supported a deal to co-operate with the Irish Royalists, and those
who were against it. However, in reaction to the looting of the Rock of Cashel
and the approaching winter threating famine conditions caused by Inchiquin’s
plundering, the Supreme Council of the Confederation finally acted. In a
controversial move they replaced Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry as commander
of their Munster army with Viscount Taaffe, an English Catholic with little
military experience.
Taaffe was ordered to engage Inchiquin
in the field, despite the fact that it was very late in the campaigning season.
He set up a base of operations in Kanturk, some 25 miles NNW of Cork. Taaffe’s
slender standing force was reinforced by three provincial regiments sent by the
Confederate’s Supreme Council from other parts of the country, along with some
1500 experienced Highland “redshanks” under the command of his newly appointed Lieutenant
General, Sir Alastair MacColla.
After some manouvering the
opposing armies went into camp near Mallow on November 12 1647, with both
parties expecting battle to commence the next day.
The Confederate Army
To the south Taaffe chose to
deploy defensively on the high ground of the hill of Knocknannus, overlooking
the small meandering River Owenbeg, which flowed along the base of the hill. As
well as the advantage of the higher ground, some sources suggest that Taaffe may
have chosen to deploy there in response to a traditional Irish prophecy which predicted
an Anglo-Irish defeat. Taaffe’s deployment would prove disastrous in the actual
battle as the steep topography of the hill meant that the two wings of his army
were operating completely separately.
Estimates to the size of the
Confederate army vary somewhat, but it consisted of some 7000 foot and 1200 horse,
but no artillery. With some Irish officers serving in the Spanish Army prior to
the outbreak of war in Ireland the Confederate foot was broadly organised along
the lines of the pike-heavy Spanish tercios, with 2 (or more) pikemen to each
musketeer. The Irish cavalry was, by 1647, usually conventional troops of horse
armed with sword and pistols which fought broadly in the “Swedish” style of charging
home. Some native Irish cavalry still fought in looser order armed with lances
and/or javelins, but these were a dying breed by the time of the Battle of Knocknannus.
Inchiquin’s Anglo-Irish
Inchiquin’s army advanced from
the north, deploying on a mainly east-west line conforming to the course of the
Owenbeg. During the hours leading up to the battle there was an exchange of
notes between the two commanders, with Inchiquin inviting Taaffe to come off
the hill to fight on more even ground. Unsurprisingly Taaffe declined to do so.
Estimates on the size of Inchiquin’s
force vary, but he had considerably less infantry than Taaffe (a maximum of 6000
foot) but a significant advantage in numbers of horse (around 2000) as well as a
small artillery park consisting of 2 sakers which had been captured from the rebelling
Irish at the Battle of Liscarroll in 1642.
The Parliamentary army in
Ireland was recruited from two main sources. Firstly, from amongst the English
and Irish living in the various English “plantations” in Ireland which were mostly
established during the 16th Century in eastern and southern Ireland.
To make up sufficient strength
to defend their Irish territories Parliament also had to raise regiments in
England to serve in Ireland. These were often made up of ex-soldiers whose
service in England had ended with the cessation of the English Civil War in
1645-46. The foot was organised quite differently from their Confederate counterparts,
with firepower being much more prominent. While pikes were still necessary for
defence against horse and opposing pikemen, the ratio of musketeers to pikemen
in Anglo-Irish regiments was at least 2 to 1, and in some cases even higher.
Their cavalry, like their opponents,
were armed with sword and a number of pistols and fought largely in the conventional
“Swedish” style. Units of horse units raised in England for service in Ireland often bemoaned the smaller sized and generally poorer Irish remounts they had to obtain once they had lost the use of their English horsestock.
The Refight
Saturday November 13 1647 dawned a clear but cold day,
with snow threating. It took till 2pm for the armies to form up and adjust their
formations to their commander’s satisfaction. We recently refought the battle over a couple of weekends using my collection of Pendraken 10mm Scots and Irish forces using our favoured rules for this period, which are of course For King and Parliament. We used some of our house rules covering the Celtic Fringe to help run MacColla's command.
A picture from the northwest corner of the battlefield, with the two separate Confederate wings on Knocknannus hill to the right, facing Inchiquin's troops which are organised into five brigades, all deployed roughly along the axis of the River Owenbeg. The Anglo-Irish camp is sited in the centre, behind a small wood.
The two Confedrate wings are treated as entirely separate commands in this scenario MacColla commands all his redshanks and the Munster regiments along with Grady's cavalry while Viscount Taaffe commands the remaining Confederate pike heavy infantry battalia and Castleconnell's horse. Some parts of the hill are exteme slopes and are accordingly impassible. On the Anglo-Irish right Castleconnell's Confederate cavalry brigade stays on the hill rather than rashly charge downhill to their destruction as they did in the actual battle. Lord Broghill does not hesitate to advance his horse up the hill in an effort to outflank his opponent. On the Anglo-Irish left flank the two cavalry brigades stare steely eyed at one another, but do not move, while MacColla's Infantry attempt to manuvere round the steepest slopes of Knocknannus hill in order to close with the waiting Parliamentary regiments below. The Anglo-Irish are content to remain behind the natural defences offered by the river in front of them and to engage the Confederates with their artillery and superior numbers of musketeers once they come into range.
Despite the heavy volume of fire from the Anglo-Irish line one of the MacDonnell Redshanks units and two Battalia from the Munster regiment charge home. The highlanders score 3 hits on Grey's hapless battalia, destroying it. Note the number of chits numbering 1 or 2 drawn by the Anglo-Irish commander in these fights! The victorious highlanders have opened the way to the Anglo-Irish camp, they can taste the waiting barrels of booze already!
On the Anglo-Irish right Taaffe's infantry manages to manuvere to their left to cover their cavalry as it clashes with Broghill's brigade, with both sides suffering losses. Meanwhile Roe's experienced infantry brigade advances to engage part of Taaffe's force. They fire furiously as they advance, but without much result on this occassion.
Back on the Anglo-Irish left Bridges's cavalry starts to advance, while Grey's second battalia blocks MacColla's highlanders from advancing further for now. After heavy fighting one of the Confederate's Munster Regiment battalia's succumbs to repeated volleys.
That marks the end of the first session of the game. I will post the concluding session shortly. Thanks for looking if you read this far :)
