In October, he received word from Castlehaven[3] that a column of English soldiers was preparing to march from Dublin to Wexford to reinforce Cromwell's troops in the south.

[citation needed] The Baron of Inchiquin and Theobald Taaffe (who had fought on opposite sides at the Battle of Knocknanuss only two years before) were given command of a force of 2,500.

This operation was of particular importance to the credibility of Inchiquin: he was distrusted by the majority Catholic population of Ireland due to a number of atrocities he had committed in the previous years of fighting, and in the autumn of 1649 many of the Protestant soldiers in Munster formerly loyal to him had mutinied and joined with the forces of Parliament.

Nelson, however, heard a rumour that an ambush was planned and moved his force using a more roundabout route, hoping to avoid Inchiquin's army.

As the Royalist and Irish forces ordered themselves in preparation for an attack, the Parliamentarian horse charged, hoping to catch the enemy by surprise, but were successfully repulsed on two occasions.

Inchiquin's charging cavalry now unexpectedly found that the retreating horse had disappeared, to be replaced by a mass of pike-heads and levelled musket barrels.