Battle of Prosperous
Battle of Prosperous | |||||||
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Part of the United Irishmen Rebellion | |||||||
Attack on Prosperous (George Cruikshank) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Irishmen | British Army | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Dr. John Esmonde[1] | Captain Richard Swayne + | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
200 | 150 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
none | 140 dead |
The Battle of Prosperous[2] is the name given to a military engagement between the forces of the British Crown and the United Irishmen during the 1798 rebellion. Prosperous, County Kildare, a recently founded (1780) cotton-manufacturing village, was attacked shortly after the outbreak of the 1798 rebellion at 2 a.m on 24 May 1798 by a rebel force about 200 strong under Dr. John Esmonde which targeted the British garrison consisting of Cork militia and a detachment of a Welsh fencible regiment, the "Ancient Britons" (or Ancient British Regiment of Fencible Cavalry Dragoons).[3]
The rebel entry into the village was preceded by the infiltration of a small vanguard who, possibly aided by female sympathizers within, scaled the walls of the militia barracks, killed the sentries and opened the gate. The barracks was quickly surrounded and attacked by hundreds of rebels who repulsed an attempt by the militia to break out, killing the militia commander, Captain Swayne.[4] The remainder of the garrison were trapped in the upper barracks which was then torched causing the desperate soldiers to leap from windows onto the waiting pikes. About 140 of the military were slain but the next day, members of the Ancient Britons participated in the retaliatory massacre of 34 suspected United Irishmen at Dunlavin Green, County Wicklow.[citation needed]
Esmonde was later caught and brought to Dublin for trial. As a Lieutenant in the Clane Yeomanry,[5] he was court-martialed on 13 June and deemed a deserter, and was executed by hanging (with his coat reversed to indicated he was a deserter)[6]: 124 on 14 June 1798 on Carlisle Bridge.[citation needed]
Prosperous remained under rebel control until 19 June when retaken by troops under the command of Colonel Stewart who boasted of destroying "this receptacle of rebellion".[citation needed]
References[]
- ^ Dr. John Esmonde Dictionary of Irish Biography
- ^ Battle of Prosperous www.prosperousheritage.com
- ^ "Mobilisation in 1797". Broad Arrow. 12 February 1876. p. 14.
- ^ Captain Swayne and the Battle of Prosperous, 24 May 1798 by Fergal Browne, History Ireland, Volume 26. Issue 3, May/June 2018..
- ^ Battle of Prosperous www.prosperousheritage.com
- ^ Pakenham, Thomas (1992). The year of liberty : the history of the Great Irish Rebellion of 1798. London: Orion. ISBN 1-85799-050-1. OCLC 59991661.
Coordinates: 53°17′16″N 6°45′21″W / 53.2878°N 6.7558°W
- Battles of the Irish Rebellion of 1798
- History of County Kildare
- British battle stubs
- Irish history stubs