Bloody Aughrim July 12, 1691 - refought by the LoA Part 13 Heroes & Villians The Williamites

Overall, the Williamite Army performed creditably but not inspiringly. Many regiments saw action, took casualties but did nothing beyond the ordinary . There were however, some notable exceptions;

Erle's held this position for much of the afternoon.

Thomas Erle's Regiment
Erle's were in the first wave of the advance but were spooked at the hedgerows and broke. They had to be rallied by a posse of senior officers including Ginkel himself. They reformed and advanced quickly only to watch the rest of their brigade disintegrate at the foot of Kilcommodan Hill. They stood alone taking artillery fire until falling back beyond the hedges once more. Whilst mayhem surrounded them in the form of cavalry charges and routing friends they watched it all pass them by before advancing once more to take up roughly the same position under Kilcommodan Hill as they had occupied hours before. In the dying moments of the battle barely 100 of them tried to advance in support of Meath's charge but finally broke having taken an active part in almost the entire battle. Despite their early wobble they redeemed themselves purely on the value of their endurance of punishment! HARD MEN!

Langston's charge to glory!

Langston's Regiment of Horse
Langston's performed the only truly spectacular charge delivered by Ginkel's army. Having stood for hours watching their infantry get nowhere against the Jacobite centre left they were ordered forward after the remnants of the enemy cavalry evaporated late in the battle. Their primary target - the pike armed recruits of Dudley Bagnall fled as the charge began thus exposing Lord Gormanston's Regiment. Gormanston's delivered a ragged volley but could not stop the charge. The impact if Langston's broke the infantry and destroyed them. General St Ruhe stood less than 30 yards from the carnage. He was in no immediate danger and attached himself to the 2nd battalion of the Foot Guards. Their close range first volley at +15 decimated Langston's who took further fire from nearby Jacobite regiments. Langston's survivors did not rout but fell back in the face of overwhelming odds.GLORY CHARGE

The final charge of the Gard te Paard

Gard te Paard
The Dutch Horse Guards forced a crossing of the Attibrassil bridge in several charges which ultimately destroyed the regiment. They broke the 2nd Battalion of Dillon's Regiment before themselves being wiped out in a counter attack from O'Brien's Regiment of Horse.

The mighty guns on Urraghry Hill bark at the enemy!

Mention must be made of the Williamite artillery which pounded the Jacobite lines throughout the battle. More casualties were lost to the big guns that to musketry. Two of the positional pieces were blown up through misfires and accidents during the battle.

And the villains..............

No redemption for Killiecrankie. The brigade falters again.

The Scots-Dutch Brigade
This experienced brigade proved very disappointing. Held in a reserve position they panicked twice. Mackay's Regiment were saved from leaving the field by senior officer intervention. Ramsay's regiments ran without coming within 500 yards of the enemy. Disgraceful performance.