fficulty of
passing was great, for the men were frequently up to their waists in mud,
too soft to afford any firm footing, but solid enough to render it
extremely difficult for the feet to be disengaged from it. At length, as
they approached firmer ground, the Irish infantry advanced towards the
edge of the bog, and received them with a steady fire. The English,
although suffering heavily, pressed forward without firing a shot, till
the ground became solid under their feet, when the Irish withdrew, and,
as upon the right, took post behind the hedges which everywhere
intersected the slopes.

The English, seeing the Irish retire, pressed forward, and another fierce
contest raged in the inclosures; the Irish, according to their
preconceived plan, falling gradually back. The British, in their ardour,
forgot their orders to halt at the first hedge, and continued to press
forward, until the constantly increasing numbers of the enemy recalled to
their leaders the danger of the position.

Before them were the heights of Kilcomeden, with a strong force drawn up
to receive them, while on both flanks the enemy were crowding down, to
intercept their retreat. Colonel Earl, who was the senior officer, looked
anxiously towards the right, from which quarter he expected the British
cavalry to arrive to his assistance; but no sound reached him from that
quarter; while on the left the sound of the conflict, instead of
advancing, appeared to recede, as if the British column was being forced
back. Advancing before his own regiment, he called upon the soldiers to
stand firm, for retreat would be destruction, and the only hope was to
maintain their position till assistance arrived.

When the Irish saw that the enemy had halted, and could not be tempted to
advance further, they poured down to the attack through the passages in
the hedges. The British might have defended these hedges, as the Irish
had done, but the soldiers saw that they would be taken in the flank and
rear, and, observing a large body of cavalry ascending the hill, they
were seized with a panic.

On the first shock of the Irish infantry, the four regiments broke and
fled. They were hotly pursued, and slaughtered in great numbers, the
Irish cavalry pouring through the openings in the hedges which had been
prepared for them. At length, the fugitives reached the edge of the bog,
where they gathered in a confused mass; which the officers, in vain,
attempted to form into order.