Battle of Ballynahinch
Who Fought
United Irishmen rebels: approximately 4,000, led by Henry Munro, equipped with artillery looted from Bangor harbour. Government forces: approximately 2,000, drawn from the Monaghan Militia, Fifeshire Fencibles, 22nd Dragoons, Argyll Fencibles and Downpatrick Yeomanry,; supported by six 6-pounder guns and two howitzers of the Royal Artillery, commanded by General George Nugent
History & Significance
The battle of Ballynahinch was a military engagement of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 between a force of roughly 4,000 United Irishmen rebels led by Henry Munro and approximately 2,000 government troops under the command of George Nugent. After rebel forces had occupied Newtownards on 9 June, they gathered the next day in the surrounding countryside and elected Munro as their leader, who occupied Ballyhinch on 11 June. Nugent led a column of government troops in 12 June which recaptured the town and bombarded rebel positions. On the next day, the rebels attacked Ballyhinch, but were driven back and defeated.
In County Down, the Irish Rebellion of 1798 by the Society of United Irishmen had faltered after the arrest of William Steel Dickson on 5 June 1798. Several rebel commanders, many of whom were Presbyterian, managed to briefly revive the rebellion's momentum. A rebel force led by David Bailie Warden attacked Newtownards on 9 June, which was garrisoned by a detachment of the York Fencibles. Fencibles stationed in the Market House managed to drive off Warden's rebels but subsequently withdrew, allowing rebel commanders to establish a revolutionary government modelled after the French Committee of Public Safety. On the same day, rebel forces managed to capture Saintfield after defeating its garrison.
In response, British commander George Nugent withdrew most of his forces from military outposts in the eastern region of the county, allowing rebels forces to amass in the centre of the county. Approximately 4,000 rebels from Newtownards, Saintfield and Ballynahinch, equipped with artillery looted from Bangor harbour, gathered in one spot on 10 June and listened to a sermon given by Thomas Ledlie Birch. On the next day, they elected a linen draper from Lisburn, Henry Munro, as their commander. Munro ordered his forces to occupy Ballynahinch on 11 June before establishing a camp at Montalto, the County Down estate of the Earl of Moira.
On the morning of 12 June, Nugent, with a column of roughly 2,000 government soldiers (drawn from the Monaghan Militia, Fifeshire Fencibles and the 22nd Dragoons) and six 6-pounder guns and two howitzers manned by the Royal Artillery, marched onto Saintfield, where it was discovered to have no rebel presence. Nugent's column, which was reinforced by detachments of the Argyll Fencibles and Downpatrick Yeomanry, moved onto Ballynahinch, where his men captured a rebel outpost before occupying the town. As the night began to set in, Nugent's artillery forces began to bombard Montalto and the nearby Ednavady Hill. Numerous rebels, many of them demoralised by the bombardment, slipped away under the cover of darkness.
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Ballynahinch lies on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.
At dawn on 13 June, Munro's rebels launched their assault on Ballynahinch, initially driving back the Monaghan Militia in fierce house-to-house combat, killing the militia's adjutant and seizing several artillery pieces. The tide turned when the rebels mistook government bugle calls signalling a retreat for the arrival of enemy reinforcements; they began to waver, a counter-attack was ordered by Nugent's officers, and the rebel force broke and fled in all directions. Nugent's dragoons and yeomanry rode down the fugitives, and despite Nugent's order to his cavalry to "be merciful", infuriated soldiers killed several noncombatants in the reprisals that followed.
- Government forces: approximately 40 killed. Rebels: Nugent reported 500 killed; local estimates put the figure closer to 100. Several noncombatants also killed in post-battle reprisals
Frequently Asked Questions
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- Battle of Ballynahinch · Wikipedia
- Irish Rebellion of 1798 · Wikipedia