5. The Jacobites were crushed in Ireland at the Battle of Aughrim
In 1691 the Irish Jacobite cause was defended by an army which was established behind the Shannon, using the river and strategically placed fortresses in the province of Connacht as a protective barrier. The Irish troops were deployed in a manner to protect the province from invasion by William’s forces while awaiting the intervention of the French. Once military support from France was in hand they planned on going over to an offensive to drive William’s army from Ireland. The Williamites thwarted the Jacobite plans by capturing the town of Athlione in June of 1691. After laying siege to the town early in the month, the Williamite troops assaulted the garrison in late June after prolonged bombardment, and the order of battle for both sides was to grant no quarter on enemies attempting to surrender. Once Athlione was in Williamite hands, the road to Limerick lay open.
The Williamites advanced towards Limerick until they encountered the Jacobite army under the command of French general Charles Chalmont, Marquis de Sainte Ruth. Chalmont deployed his troops in a line anchored by the village of Aughrim, with his infantry deployed among hedgerows. The ensuing battle of Aughrim was among the most violent and bloody ever fought on Irish soil, and again both sides exhibited a disdain for taking prisoners. The Williamite army was mostly comprised of English and Scottish troops, supported by Dutch cavalry, and with the Jacobites running low on ammunition (some say the French supplied bullets did not fit their muskets) the positions were quickly overrun. Jacobite troops fleeing the battlefield were cut down mercilessly by pursuing cavalry. The crushing defeat of the Jacobite army in a battle in which more than 7,000 were killed for all intents and purposes ended the rebellion in Ireland.