USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Derry > The history of Londonderry : comprising the towns of Derry and Londonderry, N.H. > Part 5
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Londonderry > The history of Londonderry : comprising the towns of Derry and Londonderry, N.H. > Part 5
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
As the defence of this city was so important in its results, and particularly as a number of the early settlers of the town of Londonderry were among the heroic defenders of the place, and partook largely of the sufferings endured within its walls, a brief account of it may not be uninteresting.
The American Protestant Society have recently repub- lished a narrative of the siege, drawn up by Rev. John Graham, a lineal descendant of one who was a distinguished actor in the scene. The sources from which Mr. Graham compiled his history, were the journals of the siege as kept by Captain Ash and Rev. George Walker, one of the gov-
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ernors of the city, and both of them active and influential in its defence. It is on this history, that Charlotte Elizabeth founds her attractive work, entitled " The Siege of Derry," in which the men, who then and there battled for Protestant freedom, and their deeds of might and long endurance, are so graphically described. And it is not undesirable that, at this day, when the true principle of religious toleration is coming to be understood and appreciated, the attention of those who are emerging from a state of religious intolerance should be directed to an event, in which are displayed, in striking contrast, the cruelty, perfidy, and oppression of Papacy, and the resolute, determined, unyielding spirit of Protestantism.
The city of Londonderry, is the capital of the county of Londonderry, in the province of Ulster. It is one hundred and fifty miles north-west from Dublin. It is situated on the river Foyle, and contains about ten thousand inhabitants. It was an ancient city, but, having been sacked and destroyed in one of the many revolutions which mark the early history of Ireland, it was rebuilt, during the reign of James the First, by a company of adventurers from London, and hence received the name of Londonderry, the original name being Derry. About forty-five miles south of it, is the town of Enniskillen, the only place, with the exception of London- derry, which offered an effectual resistance to the arms of James.
The Protestants in Ireland, who had generally acknowl- edged the Prince of Orange, being apprized that James intended an appeal to arms, and that Tyrconnel was raising new troops and issuing commissions, began to put themselves in a posture of defence. This they were also induced to do, by a report of an intended rising of the Catholics, throughout the Island, on Sunday, the ninth day of December, 1688, to massacre the Protestants, without respect to age or sex. This rumor was the more readily believed, inasmuch as it was
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HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY.
observed that the Papists were supplying themselves with a kind of knife called a skein, and other weapons, the priests suffering no man to come to mass who did not thus arm him- self. Many eye-witnesses of the horrible excesses committed in 1641, still survived, and everywhere the most intense excitement and alarm prevailed.
On the seventh day of December, the inhabitants of Ennis- killen were informed by a letter that two companies of soldiers were on their march to take possession of the town. Although their whole number did not exceed eighty, and they had but ten pounds of gunpowder, and twenty muskets, they boldly resolved not to admit the soldiers, and made active prepara- tion for defence. In a few days they received reinforcements of several hundred men, and on the sixteenth, they marched out, met the enemy a few miles from the town, and repulsed them without difficulty. From this time, until James was driven from the Island, the Enniskilleners not only bravely and successfully defended their town against every attempt to reduce it, but by their frequent sallies did much to annoy and distress the enemy.
Early on the morning of the seventh of December, informa- tion was received by the authorities of Londonderry, from George Philips, a veteran soldier, who had been once gov- ernor of the city, that a regiment of the newly-raised troops, under the command of Lord Antrim, were on their way to the town, and the Governor and council were advised not to admit them within the walls. The bearer of the letter also told them that some of the companies had then arrived within two miles of the place. This announcement produced the greatest alarm and confusion among all classes of the inhabit- ants, and the authorities were in much perplexity as to the best course to be pursued. The admission of the unwelcome regiment within their walls, seemed to them tantamount to a desertion of the cause of William and of Protestantism, and a delivery of themselves up to the mercy of their cruel and
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EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT.
bitter enemies. But, on the other hand, it seemed a bold and hazardous measure, to close the gates against them, scantily provided, as they then were, with the means to sustain a siege, and defend the city against the forces that might be brought against it.
While they were in this state of doubt and uncertainty, two companies of the regiment appeared on the side of the river opposite the city, and their officers immediately crossed over and demanded admission. The deputy Mayor, who was secretly a friend of James, was disposed to receive them, but objections were made by others.
Some time having been spent in consultation, the soldiers became impatient, and, fearing that they might be excluded from the city, without waiting for orders, crossed the river and appeared on the landing-place, near the Ferry-gate. A few young men of the city observing this, rushed to the main guard, seized the keys after a slight opposition, drew up the bridge and locked the gate just as the soldiers were about to enter. Others having come to their assistance, they imme- diately secured the three other gates.
The names of these resolute young men " deserve," says the historian, " to be preserved in letters of gold, namely, - Henry Campsie, William Crookshanks, Robert Sherard, Daniel Sherard, Alexander Irwin, James Stewart, Robert Morrison, Alexander Coningham, Samuel Hunt, James Spike, John Coningham, William Cairnes, and Samuel Harvey."
This decisive act had the effect of confirming the inhabi- tants of the city, and particularly the young men, in their determination to defend it at all hazards. Some few were heard to express their disapprobation of the measure, and to urge the opening of the gates. But their remonstrances were soon silenced.
Meanwhile, the companies who had been excluded, were waiting outside the gate in great wrath and indignation, and
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HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY.
though repeatedly warned to retire, they paid no heed to the admonition. At length, one James Morrison cried out, with a loud voice, " Bring about a great gun here, " when they were seized with a panic, and recrossed the river with the utmost despatch.
On the afternoon of this day, David Cairnes of Knockmany, in the county of Tyrone, a gentleman of high standing and respectability, came into the city, and offered his assistance. He highly approved of the course which had been taken, and commended the Prentice Boys, as they were called, for the courage and spirit which they had exhibited. His example was soon followed by other gentlemen from the surrounding country. Four days after, Mr. Cairnes set out for London to communicate to the government an account of the course adopted by the citizens of Londonderry, and of the imminent danger incurred by such vigorous and decisive measures, and to implore immediate assistance.
The events of this day are justly entitled to a conspicuous place in the annals of civil and religious freedom. For had this regiment been admitted into the city, it would have been hardly possible for the inhabitants to resist the tyrant, intent upon regaining his throne and frustrating the revolution so happily begun by William.
On the next day, the citizens were relieved of the imme- diate presence of Lord Antrim's regiment. Some welcome news of the success of prince William having that day been received in the city, the inhabitants, to testify their joy, dis- charged two of the largest guns upon the walls. This had the effect of striking terror into the soldiers upon the other side of the river, many of whom, being raw recruits, had never before heard the discharge of cannon. About the same time, one George Cooke drew up fifty or sixty boys in a line upon the bank of the river next the city. These, the cowards mistook for the advanced guard of a regiment, and their alarm now being complete, they fled with precipitation.
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EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT.
The means of defence which the city at this time possessed, was entirely inadequate to the emergency in which it was likely soon to be placed. Nearly fifty years previous to this time, the London companies had presented to the city a large number of guns for the walls, but of these, not twenty were now fit for service. There was in the magazine but six or seven barrels of gunpowder, and ten or twelve hundred muskets, of which the greater part were so much out of repair, as to be useless. There were, in the city, and in the suburbs, about six hundred men capable of bearing arms, to which, two days after, was added a reinforcement of two or three hundred horse and a company of infantry, who came into the city and offered their assistance. "The town," says Graham, " was weak in its fortifications, the wall being less than nine feet thick along the face of the ramparts, with a ditch, and eight bastions."
Tyrconnel, aware of the importance of the possession of Londonderry, in January, 1689, sent orders to Lord Mount- joy and Lieutenant-Colonel Lundy, to march from Dublin, with six companies of troops, and take possession of it. The citizens of Londonderry having received information of this movement, were at first disposed to refuse admission to the troops. So much confidence, however, was placed in the character of Lord Mountjoy, who was generally known and highly esteemed, that, on his appearance before the city, they entered into negotiations with him, and finally consented to receive him and Lundy, and two of the companies, which were composed of Protestants, within the walls. This, how- ever, was done upon the express condition that the garrison should consist entirely of Protestant soldiers, and that the citizens should retain their arms. The remaining four companies, about one half of the men being Papists, were ordered to retire to quarters, at some distance from the city.
Lord Mountjoy, to whom George Philips, who had been reinstated in the office of governor, resigned his authority,
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HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY.
did not disappoint the expectations which had been formed of him. He immediately gave directions for strengthening the fortifications, remounting the guns, repairing the muskets, and for placing the city in a suitable posture for defence. Considerable sums of money were raised among the citizens by subscription, and expended in the purchase of ammunition and arms, and in such other modes as would contribute to the safety of the place.
The course pursued by Lord Mountjoy being far from satisfactory to Tyrconnel, he was soon recalled to Dublin, and the chief authority devolved upon Colonel Lundy, who was then in high repute as an experienced soldier and a zealous Protestant.
About the first of March, Tyrconnel sent an army under the command of General Hamilton, into Ulster, who, after several skirmishes with armed bands of Protestants, appeared before the walls of Coleraine, a considerable town, about thirty miles north-west of Londonderry, on the twenty- seventh day of the same month.
On the twelfth day of March, king James landed at Kin- sale, with about five thousand French troops, and immedi- ately proceeded to Cork. On the twenty-fourth, he made a public and imposing entry into Dublin, where he remained until the eighth of April.
On the twenty-first of March, very welcome supplies were received in Londonderry, from England, consisting of four hundred and eighty barrels of gunpowder, and arms for two thousand men. They were brought by Captain James Hamilton, who was also the bearer of a considerable sum of money for the garrison, and of a commission from king William to Colonel Lundy.
When the government of the city was first intrusted to Lundy, all had the utmost confidence in his skill and fidelity. But his conduct had been such as to excite in many the suspicion that he was secretly in the interest of James : a
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suspicion which, as it afterwards appeared, was too well founded. But his treachery was not as yet sufficiently man- ifest to warrant an impeachment, and he still continued to hold his power, and to thwart, as far as he could with safety, the well-concerted plans of the Protestants.
About the tenth of April, information was received, by Rev. George Walker, that the Irish army were approaching Londonderry, and he immediately communicated this intelli- gence to Lundy. Mr. Walker was Rector of the parishes of Donoughmore and Erigal Keeroge, in the county of Tyrone, and, although at an advanced age, entered with true Christian zeal into the contest, and, girding on the sword, placed him- self at the head of a regiment which he had raised. Lundy affected to believe the news a false alarm, and took no measures to prevent the approach of the hostile army. On the thirteenth, the enemy, under General Hamilton, appeared upon the opposite side of the Foyle, but the river was then so swollen by recent rains, that they found it impossible to cross it at that place. Had proper arrangements been made to guard the passes of the river, the enemy might easily have been prevented from crossing it; but by the treacherous management of Lundy, they were not only suffered to cross it on the fifteenth, but his own troops were unnecessarily exposed to be cut in pieces.
On the fifteenth of April, Colonel Cunningham and Colonel Richards sent to Lundy, informing him that they had arrived in Lough Foyle with two well-disciplined regi- ments, and desired his orders in regard to their disembar- kation. The perfidious governor assembled a council of war, but such were his representations and such his influence in the council, that they came to the decision that the place was untenable, and that it could not long withstand the forces with which it would soon be invested. The commanders of the two regiments deemed it inexpedient to land them, or the ammunition sent by Parliament for the relief of the city.
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HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY.
They consequently withdrew to their ships, and returned with their regiments to England, where they were immedi- ately and deservedly cashiered.
Lundy continued to exert such an influence, and to adopt such measures, as to induce the council, on the seventeenth of April, to signify that they were willing to capitulate upon an assurance of indemnity for their past resistance. King James had just arrived from Dublin, with about fifteen thousand troops, and the proposal to surrender upon any terms was most acceptable to him, as the success of his whole plan of operations evidently depended upon his speedy pos- session of Londonderry. Accordingly, on the next day, he ad- vanced at the head of his entire army to a hill within cannon- shot of the city, for the purpose of receiving their submission.
At this crisis, Captain Murray, a brave and gallant country gentleman, arrived, at the head of a company of horse, and entered the city in spite of the efforts of Lundy to prevent him. Murray's expostulations and harangues had such an effect upon the soldiers on the walls, that they opened upon the enemy a terrible discharge of cannon and musketry, which was continued until night, a reception very different from that which James had been led to expect.
Notwithstanding the occurrences of the day, Lundy still proceeded in his attempt to surrender the city. Murray, " whose presence," says one, "struck a cold damp in the governor and council, but inspired the men on the walls with vigor and resolution," announced his determination, not only to prevent a surrender, but to suppress Lundy and his council. Others seconded Murray in this resolve, and all who were willing to unite with them, were requested to signify it by wearing a white cloth upon their left arm.
Several thousands adopted the badge, and no time was lost in deposing the perfidious governor. "He stole off," says one historian, " with a load upon his back, a disgraceful disguise, and suited to him who bore it."
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On the day after the departure of Lundy, the people united in the choice of Rev. George Walker, and of Colonel Henry Baker, as joint governors, who undertook their weighty trust with the determination to defend the place, to whatever extremity of suffering they might be reduced.
The total amount of men and officers at this time within the city, was upward of seven thousand; several regiments and companies which had been raised for the defence of other places having retired to Londonderry on the approach of the Irish army. The number of women, children, and men incapable of bearing arms, was about twenty thousand, and it seemed improbable that their provisions would be sufficient to sustain so large a number through a protracted siege.
Another difficulty with which they had to contend, was the want of harmony between the different religious sects or de- nominations of Protestants. So bitter were the feelings exist- ing between the members of the Established Church and the Dissenters, between the Conformists and the Non-Conform- ists, that, notwithstanding the common danger, they came, on one or two occasions, almost to an open rupture. The clergy and ministers, however, pursued a course most honorable and judicious. They exhorted their respective congregations to forget their distinctions, to dismiss their prejudices, and to unite for the defence of the Protestant religion, which was equally dear to all; and, by their admonitions and example, they so far succeeded in reconciling these differences, that no serious evils resulted from them.
The city was now invested on every side, except that next the water, by an army of twenty thousand men, under the command of General Richard Hamilton, a brave and skilful officer. The perfidy and cruelty with which James and his officers conducted this campaign was almost unprecedented. They seemed to act upon the maxim, ever a favorite one with the Catholics, " that no faith was to be kept with here- tics." The protections which were granted to Protestants,
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HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY.
on the condition of their remaining neutral, were often disre- garded, and those holding them were frequently robbed of their estates and imprisoned.
One or two instances, from several related by Mr. Gra- ham, will serve to show the character of the enemy with whom the Protestants had to contend. There was, in Crom Castle, a prisoner, Brian McGuire, who had been a captain in king James's army. Lord Galmoy wished for his release, and sent an express to Captain Creighton, proposing to ex- change for him Captain Dixy, whom they had taken prison- er ; pledging his honor that, if McGuire was sent to him, he would return Dixy without delay. McGuire was sent ; but, instead of fulfilling his promise, Lord Galmoy called a coun- cil of war, and put Captain Dixy, and his lieutenant, Charle- ton, on trial for high treason, and they were condemned to death, promises of life and preferment being made to them, if they would renounce the Protestant religion, and join king James's army. They were both young men, but they firmly rejected the base offer, and wisely prefered death to dishonorable life. McGuire, who had been given in ex- change for Dixy, warmly interposed in behalf of the prison- ers, and was so disgusted at being unable to save their lives, though at the expense of his own liberty, which he generous- ly offered to resign for them, that he resigned his commission, returned to Crom, and would serve king James no longer. Galmoy, in the mean time, deaf to every remonstrance made to him, caused the unfortunate young gentlemen to be hanged on a sign-post ; and when they were dead, commanded their bodies to be taken into the inn, had both their heads cut off, and thrown out to the soldiers, who kicked them through the streets, as foot-balls. When the ruffians had sufficiently gratified themselves and their brutal commander by this barbarous sport, the heads were set up on the market-house of Belturbet.
Galmoy marched in a few days afterwards towards London-
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derry, and passing through Tyrone, perpetrated another act of more than usual enormity. At Omagh, he took two men, father and son, on pretence of their having taken up arms for their own defence. He first caused the son to hang his father, and carry his head through the streets, crying, " This is the head of a traitor," and then the young man himself was hanged.
Nor were such acts perpetrated by subordinate officers without the approbation of the fallen monarch. He sanc- tioned them, not only by word, but by act. A man named Maxwell had taken up arms to defend his house against the Rapparees, and for this he was condemned to death. His wife, after much solicitation, prevailed upon the sheriff to grant him a short reprieve. Then, accompanied by four or five small children, she appeared before the king, at Dublin, and on her knees presented a petition, praying his Majesty to pardon, or at least to reprieve, her husband. Although her request was seconded by many of the Irish nobility who were present, and were moved by the tears of the woman and her children, the stern reply of the king was, " Woman, your husband shall die." The sheriff received a rebuke for his- humanity, and was commanded to hang the man immediately, which was accordingly done.
" This example," says Graham, " added a stimulus to the fury of the Romish soldiers against the Protestants, who were treated in the city, and under the immediate eye of the government, in the most barbarous manner. No Protestant could be out of his house after sunset without danger of his life ; several of them were assassinated; and among them a poor tapster of an alehouse on the Wood Quay, who was thrown into the Liffey and drowned, merely as a frolic, and no notice whatever taken of it."
The following extract from the journal of Rev. Mr. Walker, describes the circumstances of the besieged soon after he was appointed governor of the city.
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HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY.
"It did beget among us some disorder and confusion, when we looked about us and saw what we were doing ; our enemies all about us, and our friends running away from us ; a gar- rison we had, composed of a number of poor people, fright- ened from their own homes, and seemingly more fit to hide themselves than to face an enemy. When we considered that we had no persons of experience in war amongst us, and those very persons that were sent to assist us had so little confidence in the place, that they no sooner saw it than they thought fit to leave it; that we had but few horse to sally out with, and no forage ; no engineers to instruct us in our works, no fire works, not so much as a hand-grenade to annoy the enemy ; not a gun well mounted in the whole town; that we had so many mouths to feed, and not above ten days' provision for them, in the opinion of our former governors ; that every day several left us and gave constant intelligence to the enemy ; that they had so many opportuni- ties to divide us, and so often endeavored to do it, and betray the governors ; that they were so numerous, so powerful, and so well-appointed an army, that, in all human probability, we could not think ourselves in less danger than the Israelites at the Red Sea. When we considered all this, it was obvious enough what a dangerous undertaking we had ven- tured upon ; but the resolution and courage of our people, and the necessity we were under, and the great confidence and dependence among us on GOD ALMIGHTY, that HE would take care of us and preserve us, made us overlook all those difficulties."
A minute narration of all that transpired within and around the walls of Londonderry, from the middle of April to the middle of June, would be tedious and unprofitable. It would be a mere account of cannonadings by the besiegers, which were promptly returned by the besieged ; of assaults upon the city, of sallies from it, and of conflicts around the walls, in which the Protestants were almost without excep- tion the victors.
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The bomb-shells, however, which were almost daily thrown into the city, were productive of much injury and inconve- nience to the besieged. Bursting as they fell, they destroyed many lives ; many persons were wounded by them, and numerors buildings were overthrown. Great care was requi- site to protect the gunpowder from them, which was effected by placing it in deep cellars and dry wells. As there were numerous desertions from the city, it became necessary fre- quently to move the gunpowder, that the enemy might be kept in ignorance of the places where it was deposited.
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