Wogan had originally been a Covenanting soldier who served under Cromwell but later defected to the Royalist cause of King Charles II.
Wogan is famed for successfully defending a fort at Duncannon during the Irish Confederate Wars, from a siege by Oliver Cromwell.
The Duke of Ormonde then sent Edward Wogan, himself a defector from Ireton's ranks under Cromwell, along with 120 cavalry to replace Roche.
In November 1653 Colonel Edward Wogan, an Irishman sailed from France into England where he recruited twenty-one men in London and rode off with them to join the Earl of Glencairn.
It is possible that, on the way, Wogan and his men carried out a coup against the English Parliamentarians at Carlisle Castle, releasing a number of Royalist prisoners.
When Wogan advanced into the Earl of Glencairn’s headquarters at Loch Tay, he had according to Captain John Gwynne - around one hundred supporters.