Mountjoy's
nominal strength of 11,000 was steadily being reduced by sickness
and desertion, and his cavalry horses were near starvation. His
guns continued to batter Kinsale's wall, and he'd hoped that the
threat posed to the trapped Spanish might compell O'Neill and
O'Donnell to engae him in open battle. Camped four miles north
of Kinsale at Coolcarron, O'Neill wasn't willing to give up his
guerilla tactics in a direct confrontation, but O'Donnell eventually
convinced him this would be for the honor of Irish arms.
With
O'Neill was Brian MacHugh Oge MacMahon, who had run out of whiskey.
On December 22, he sent a boy to Captain William Taffe in Mountjoy's
service, begging him to ask Carew, whom his eldest son had served
under in England, to send him a bottle for old times sake. Carew
obliged and the following morning received a letter of thanks,
and a warning that a pre-dawn attack was planned. Naturally, Carew
shared this intelligence with Mountjoy.
An
hour before dawn, the Irish were approaching from the west. Mountjoy
sent a detachment to meet the invaders. About that time, O'Neill
had arrived on Ardmartin Hill overlooking the main English camp.
Seeing the size of Mountjoys forces and a complete lack of activity
by the Spanish at Kinsale, O'Neill decided to abandon the attack.
As daylight broke, the English saw the Irish withdraw behine the
Ballinomona.
Seeing
the Irish in disarray, Marshal Sir Richard Wingfield requested
Mountyjoy's permission to attack. Leaving Carew to guard the camp
against the Spanish, Mountjoy gave Wingfield the freedom to attack
and sent a detachment to support him. He also ordered his sergeant
major, Sir John Berkeely, with Captains Sir Henry Ffoliot and
Oliver St. John, to pursue O'Neill's soldiers north of the Millwater.
O'Neill's
1,800-man force outnumbered Wingfield's troops by six or seven
to one, and held Wingfield at the Millwater until the arrivial
of Mountjoy and Carew, whose additional cavalry raised the English
to 400 horsemen. The more disciplined English horsemen succeeded
in turning back the Irish cavalry, and the ensuing confusion created
disorder among the Irish pikemen already under assault.With the
pressure of a full frontal assault on the Irish forces, Wingfield's
cavalry took advantage of their freedom of movement to strike
at the Irish rear. As a result, O'Neill's formation broke with
his men fleeing in disorder.
Now
facing Tyrell's vangaurd, Mountjoy sent a company of St. John's
regiment to attack Tyrell's flank and force him to retreat to
a nearby hillock. At the same time, the Irish rear guard broke
and fled, leaving Tyrell's force of the best Irish troops, joined
with del Campo's Spanish contingent, to oppose Mountjoy. Tyrell's
force soon fell under the English advantage and the overwelming
odds, with the Spaniards making a fighting stand until three quarters
of them were dead. Only del Campo, two captains, and 47 soldiers
remained standing when they had finally surrendered.
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