Siege of Kinsale - Definition and Overview

The siege of Kinsale was one of the more decisive battles in England's effort to conquer Ireland. It took place during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and during the far larger conflict of Protestant England against Catholic Spain.

Ireland had been something of vassal state to England for some time, until King Henry VIII claimed kingship over it in 1541. The English spent the next 50 years trying to exert their control over the Irish population, but it was not until the 1570s that they moved their forces beyond a coastal area called the Pale. In the 1590s they first experienced significant resistance, largely coming from guerilla forces under Hugh O'Neill. By 1600, the Irish rebels decided to seek aid from abroad.

King Philip III of Spain, still sore from the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588, offered to help, hoping that fighting the English in Ireland might draw English attention and forces away from the Netherlands, which were obstensibly under Spanish control, but were allied with England due to their Protestantism. He sent Don Juan Aguila and Don Diego Brochero to Ireland with 6,000 men, and a significant amount of arms and ammunition. One of the ships, carrying the majority of veteran soldiers and gunpowder, failed to make it to Ireland. The remaining 3,400 men disembarked at Kinsale, just south of Cork on October 2 1601. Meanwhile, Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, the assigned lord deputy of Ireland, weakened the garrisons around the Pale, taking as many men as he could to Kinsale. Upon hearing that the English had laid siege to the Spanish at Kinsale, Hugh O'Neill and his ally O'Donnell marched south with a total of 5,000 infantry and 700 cavalry.

The Siege

Lord Mountjoy's forces did not fully surround the city of Kinsale, but they did seize some higher ground, and subjected the Spanish forces to regular artillery fire. The English cavalry rode through the surrounding countryside destroying livestock and crops, while both sides called for allegiance from the population. O'Neill & O'Donnell were hesistant about leaving Ulster open to attack by leaving to defend Kinsale, especially given the lack of training & supplies of their troops. Nevertheless, they marched south, and successfully cut English supply lines across the island. By December, the shortage of supplies, and winter weather began to take a toll on the English soldiers.

Meanwhile, a small group of reinforcements arrived from Spain to aid the Irish. Overall, the degree of coordination between Spanish & Irish forces remains a matter of debate. That said, on January 3 of 1602, the Irish and Spanish soldiers together organized into three columns, led by Richard Tyrell, Hugh O'Neill, and O'Donnell. They marched toward a night attack, but due to a lack of coordination and possible arguments between the commanders, they failed to reach their destination by dawn. Mountjoy's scouts were made aware of the march and, after leaving a number of regiments behind to guard the camp & cover Kinsale, Mountjoy led his forces to meet the enemy at a ridge northwest of the city.

O'Neill controlled the ridge, and intended to fight for it, with support from Aguila, O'Donnell, and Tyrell on multiple sides. When neither of his allies showed signs of movement, he ordered a retreat into the marshes, hoping to mire the English cavalry in the soft land. In the end, the Irish were simply outnumbered and overpowered by the English cavalry, who charged through O'Neill's men, and prevented a flanking maneuver by O'Donnell. Aguila mistook the sounds of battle for an English ruse to draw him out, and only took action when he mistook the approaching English forces for returning Irish. He ordered his men out of the city, intending to return it to the victorious Irish; when he saw the English banners and realized his mistake, it was too late, and so he simply retreated to the ships.

Results

The English resumed their attacks upon the city proper of Kinsale, eventually breaching the defenses, taking the city, and agreeing to a peace settlement with Aguila. This loss put an end to the Spanish alliance with Ireland, and to much of the Irish resistance.

References

• Davis, Paul K. (2001). "Besieged: 100 Great Sieges from Jericho to Sarajevo." Oxford: Oxford University Press.