t morning, in the hopes of taking the Irish by surprise.

It was accordingly given out that the army would retreat in the morning,
and the heavy guns were withdrawn from the batteries. Saint Ruth, who was
convinced that Athlone could not be taken, and who had spent the greater
portion of his time in entertaining the ladies and gentry of the
neighbourhood with balls and fetes, fell into the trap, and, contrary to
the opinion and advice of the Irish generals, recalled from the town the
regiments which had marched in that morning, and replaced them with only
three battalions of inferior troops. The Irish officers remonstrated
warmly, but Saint Ruth, to show his disdain for their opinions, invited a
large party of ladies and gentlemen to an entertainment in the evening.

In the night, the British army prepared for the attack. The commanders of
the respective divisions all led their troops in person.

The garrison of the town were all asleep. In Saint Ruth's camp the
festivities were over, and the general and his officers had retired. The
Irish sentinels, who noted the movement in the British camp, supposed
that they were mustering to retreat, and thus the three British columns
drew up inside the town wall, in readiness to advance, without a notion
of their purpose being entertained on the opposite side of the river.

One column, headed by sixty chosen men in complete armour, was to cross
the bridge and throw a platform over the arch; another to cross by the
ford: the third by a pontoon bridge. When the church bell tolled six, the
three columns advanced simultaneously, and, before the Irish were
thoroughly awake, the leading battalions had forded the river, the
platform was in its place, and the troops pouring into the town.

A few guns were hastily discharged, and then the men of the three Irish
regiments in the town fled in haste, to avoid capture by the columns
pouring across the river by the ford and pontoon bridge. Many, indeed,
were captured whilst asleep. Saint Ruth, roused from sleep by the sound
of cannon, ordered the troops to arms, but it was too late. The town, or
rather its ruins, were in the possession of the British, and the
brilliant success, which had been won by the valour and determination of
the Irish troops, was forfeited by the carelessness, folly, and
self-confidence of the French general.

Had he listened to the advice of the Irish officers, the attempt, like
those which had preceded it, must have