The Battle of the Boyne was about to become a Protestant legend.

Dawn rose on the 1st July on a golden summer's day.
Both Armies were stood to at 0400 hrs.

The seasoned Dutch Regiments were drawn up facing the ford at Oldbridge.
The first line of battle was composed of well seasoned experienced troops, with the younger formations behind them in the second line.
Thus the XX found itself Brigaded with 2 others at about the centre of this second line.

Because of the similarity between the uniforms of the 2 sides, the Jacobites wore white flashes (the colour of the Stuart cockade)in their hats.
The Orangemen wore green twigs in theirs.

After an hour of pounding by the cannons, William gave orders for the advance, to the sound of fife and drum, with William himself leading the cavalry on the left flank.
(He had been slightly wounded in the Recce)

The Dutch entered the river at the ford at Oldbridge and were soon up to their waist in water.

From this difficult position, they gave and received fire, being only temporarily halted by the cavalry charges of the Jacobites.

The whole Orange line then pushed forward and began to gain a foothold on the far bank.

The Jacobites made one last determined charge against the centre, which was beaten off, at which the Jacobites wavered and then began to fall back.

The Jacobite cavalry and in particular the French Infantry fighting with them, made valiant efforts, and probably saved the Jacobites from a rout and massacre.

Once James realized that the Orange forces had established themselves on his side of the river, he probably knew that the game was up, and he quit the field.

It was good for the XX to begin it's career in a triumph.

The significance of the Boyne was so profound that when, in later life, Hamilton was raised to the Peerage, he took the title Viscount Boyne.

1691 saw the XX drawn up before Athlone, on the Leinster side of the Shannon.

The town straddled both banks of the Shannon, connected by a stone bridge.

The struggle for this bridge would be stern and prolonged, and the XX were chosen to be the Regiment to capture it by fording the river and outflanking the bridge defenders.

Having tasted their first battle, 1691 would prove to be a much sterner test for the XX.

Williams army arrived outside Athlone on the 19th June 1691.

Then town straddled the river Shannon, and each side of the river was known by a different name, the "English" side of the town being in Leinster and the "Irish" side of the town across the river.

A substantial stone bridge connected the two.

It is not know why, but for some reason the English side of the town had not been fortified, therefore the fortifications of this side were soon breached by William's army and the Irish defenders driven out by a swift assault.

A much more formidable task now lay ahead, how to cross the river?

The bridge became the focus of the struggle and was stern and prolonged.

An old Millhouse on the bridge was set alight and sixty Irish soldiers burned alive inside.
All attempts to get over the bridge failed, arch by arch the English troops fought their way onto the bridge, but the defenders were constantly being reinforced by fresh Jacobite soldiers and the defenders fought very fiercely to prevent William crossing.

Something different had to be tried.

The XX were chosen to lead a force of some 2,000 Grenadiers and other picked men to try and ford the river and to assault the bridge from the far side.

This was in the full face of the enemy artillery and musketry.

They donned the green twigs in their hats as before and waited for the signal, which was the tolling of a church bell.

Colonel Hamilton was the first to enter the water and the XX led the force across the ford where the XX led a fierce single charge with a withering volley of fire.

The Irish were taken by surprise and although they made repeated counter attacks they were unable to prevent the English Grenadiers from laying planks across the broken arches of the bridge, across which the main army poured across and into the town.

This was an amazing feat of arms, with the loss of just 12 English lives; the town of Athlone was now in English hands.

July 12th would see the XX outside Aghrim Hill, but now, with their growing reputation, they would be in the front line, and indeed in the place of honour on the right of the line.
(Much later, in our time you will recall that the company chosen to be the Honour Guard to the Colours always paraded on the right of the Battalion when drawn up)

So far, Hamilton's XX had enjoyed a sequence of successes at a fairly low cost, having lost far more men to disease and hardship than to the enemy actions.

It was now to learn what a ding dong battle was like and to face an uncertain outcome.

The village of Aghrim was garrisoned by a French Commander who ,realizing that the English would soon be arriving, managed to whip up a great deal of enthusiasm for fighting amongst his Irish soldiers by appeals to their religious fervor.

He awaited the arrival of the Orange forces by positioning the Irish on top of Aghrim hill, fortifying the old castle on top and almost completely surrounded by bogs.

The Orange army arrived before this hill early in the morning of 12 July, but the mist rising from the bog was so thick that it prevented the opposing forces from seeing each other.

It was indicative of the growing reputation of the XX that they were given the place of honour in the line of battle, in the front and right of the line.

At 1630 hrs, the English left flank began the advance and fought bitterly for over 2 hours without too much to show for it.

The centre of the Orange line was then sent forward, consisting of six infantry regiments, wading through the deep bog.

Despite the bog, they were so successful that when they emerged onto solid ground, they pushed on, without being given an order to do so, and without support.

This proved very costly, and they were exposed to a merciless fire and to masses of Irish cavalry.

Fighting desperately, they were forced back into the bog, leaving their dead piled behind them.

This area is still known today as "Bloody Hollow"

On the left, the attack had ground to a halt,exhausted,the infantry on the right had been checked and were at a standstill, the centre was in dire danger of being over run.

It seemed that victory this time must go to the Irish, with every chance of a disaster for the Orange army.

In this crisis, the Dutch General commanding the Orange army showed himself to be a cool commander.

He hurried forward cavalry to support the hard pressed right and ordered Hamilton's XX and the Queens Regiment of Foot to return to the attack and to regain the lost ground.

The English horse with great daring swung out towards the Irish rear, crossing a stream only 2 abreast.

The defending French General watching this unlikely formation ,asked in amazement what they could be doing.

He soon got his answer.
The cavalry charged the defending Irish in the flank whilst at the same time the XX obtained a lodgment in the castle and poured a deadly fire into it.

This eased the pressure on the English centre, and they seized the opportunity to counter attack also.

At about this time, ammunition began to run low in the Irish Army.

First their centre began to fall back,then the castle defenders surrendered, and defeat became a rout.

The Jacobites fled from the field under cover of night and rain.

The victory had been hard earned.
The Irish had lost 7,000 men.

The English lost 1,000 killed and 1,200 wounded.

Hamilton's XX had lost one Officer and 9 men killed and 45 wounded.

It was not in the tally of dead and wounded where the special ordeal and triumph of the XX may be found however, it was in the quality discerned by the Reverend Mr. Story, a chaplain with the Orange army.

He wrote the best account of the battle and in his account said the following:-

The XX and the 19th of Foot marched boldly up to their old ground again, from which they had been lately beat.
It is observable that it is natural for the English to be commonly fiercer and bolder after being repulsed than before, and that what blunts the courage of other nations, only seems to sharpen theirs, especially the killing of their fellow soldiers before their faces.

The Regiment had faced a stern test in Ireland and had come through it proudly.

They remained on duty in Ireland until 1702, when they were detailed off for what was known as "Sea Duty"

What an adventure; the duty comprised a combination of the functions of Royal Marines aboard ship and colonial garrisons ashore, plus dealing with any awkward enterprise which might crop up en route.

As usual, the XX made news again.

On the eve of the 609 men of the XX sailing, the numbers had to be reduced to 608, as one of the men was discovered to be a woman in disguise.

A good try by one (or more) of our lads!

Summerised by
Joe Eastwood
22 August 2012