The Battle of Vinegar Hill, Irish Chnoc Fíodh na gCaor was an engagement during the Irish
Rebellion of 1798 on 21 June 1798 when over 15,000 British soldiers launched an attack
on Vinegar Hill outside Enniscorthy, County Wexford, the largest camp and headquarters
of the Wexford United Irish rebels. It marked a turning point in the rebellion, as it was
the last attempt by the rebels to hold and defend ground against the British military.
The battle was actually fought in two locations: on Vinegar Hill itself and in the streets
of nearby Enniscorthy. Preparations
By 18 June, the British had surrounded county Wexford with an estimated 20,000 troops and
were ready to pour into Wexford to crush the insurgency. The rebel leadership issued a
call to all its fighters to gather at Vinegar Hill to meet the army in one great, decisive
battle. The number assembled was estimated at 20,000, but the majority lacked firearms
and had to rely on pikes as their main weapon. The camp also included many thousands of women
and children who were staying there for protection against the rampaging military.
The British plan, as formulated by Gerard Lake, envisaged the complete annihilation
of the rebels by encircling the hill and seizing the only escape route to the west, the bridge
over the Slaney. Lake divided his force into four columns to accomplish this; three columns,
under Generals Dundas, Duff and Needham were to assault Vinegar Hill, while the fourth
column, under General Johnson, was to storm Enniscorthy and its bridge.
Bombardment of Vinegar Hill The battle began shortly before dawn with
an artillery bombardment of Irish positions on the hill. Advance units quickly moved against
rebel outposts under cover of the bombardment and moved artillery closer as forward positions
were secured. The tightening ring forced the rebels into an ever-shrinking area and increased
exposure to the constant bombardment, including new experimental delayed-fuse shells resulting
in hundreds of dead and injured. At least two mass charges were launched by the rebels
which failed to break the lines of the military and the situation on Vinegar Hill soon became
desperate for the rebels.
Attack on Enniscorthy Meanwhile a detachment of light infantry under
the command of General Johnson attacked the town of Enniscorthy but met with fierce resistance.
Buildings in the town had been fortified, and the initial attack was driven back, with
the loss of munitions and men. A second attack commenced with reinforcements including cavalry,
which retook the lost cannon and ammunition while also incurring considerable casualties.
The Irish rebels were slowly driven out of the town but managed to hold the Slaney bridge
and prevent the British from crossing.
Rout and atrocities When British troops crested the eastern summit
of Vinegar Hill, the rebels began to slowly withdraw through a gap in the British lines
later known as "Needham's Gap", so-named because the late arrival of General Needham's troops
prevented a total encirclement of the hill. Although the bulk of the rebel army escaped,
many were left behind and killed in the rout phase of the battle, from both cavalry and
infantry attack, but also from the advanced field guns which were switched to grape shot
to maximise casualties.
In addition to conventional casualties, the military were guilty of instances of gang
rape of females amongst the rebel camp and in Enniscorthy, rebel wounded were burned
to death when soldiers set fire to a building used as a casualty station. The Irish rebels
abandoned much of the supplies they had taken from surrounding areas, and thirteen cannons
were captured by the British, a number of which had been taken from the British forces
previously. Archibald McLaren, an eyewitness, wrote that the Irish rebel casualties totalled
about 1200 men.
Aftermath Meanwhile, the bulk of the rebel force streamed
unmolested towards the Three Rocks camp outside Wexford town and, following the decision to
abandon the town, split into two separate columns in a new campaign to spread the rebellion
beyond Wexford. One immediately set out to the west, the other northwards towards the
Wicklow Mountains to link up with General Joseph Holt's forces.
The defeat was therefore not the immediate crushing blow to the Wexford rebels that it
has traditionally been depicted as, but it did alter the course of the fighting as continued
resistance now took the form of mobile warfare, raids, and large scale, guerilla-type operations.