Essex in Ireland

In 1598, Queen Elizabeth I of England had been troubled over the choice of a military commander for Ireland, at a time when two factions dominated her court - one led by Essex, the other by her principal secretary, Sir Robert Cecil.

The Queen's principal secretary, Lord Burghley (father of Cecil and once guardian of Essex), strongly opposed this strategy, preferring peace and a steady hand in Ireland.

According to the chronicler William Camden, Essex denounced peace as dishonourable, but Burghley interrupted, saying, "he breathed forth nothing but war, slaughter and blood", and pointed to the text of his prayerbook: "Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days.

"[2][3] In the summer, during the Council debate over the appointment of the next military commander for Ireland, Essex turned his back on the Queen, and she lost her temper, striking him across the head.

The plan provided for reinforcements of 2,000 troops from England every three months to make up for expected losses, and a regular postal service was established between Dublin and London via Holyhead.

A week later he sailed from Beaumaris after impatiently riding over Penmaen Mawr - "the worst way and in the extremest wet that I have endured" - while bidding his ships to meet him.

In his first week in Ireland Essex mounted a lavish pageant of English chivalry during the Garter Feast at Dublin on St George's Day, April 23.

In London the Queen had chosen a muted version of the same ceremony, owing to the hardships of the war, and on hearing the reports from Dublin she granted the valuable mastership of wards to Cecil rather than the Earl.

Essex charged the parading troops with his mounted staff, but they chose not to see the joke and stood firm, forcing him to pull his horse back as he was pricked in the backside with a pike.

The grand strategy favoured at Dublin, of attacking by land and sea simultaneously, was probably impossible with English resources, given the rumours of a fresh Armada from Spain and the need to keep warships in southern waters.

The amphibious expedition to establish a northern base at Lough Foyle was abandoned, and the Dublin Council switched from an immediate attack on O'Neill and his confederate, Hugh Roe O'Donnell, when it became clear the strategy would fail through want of forage, cattle, and draught-horses.

To counter the White Knight he reinforced Cork on the south coast, and more troops were ordered into Munster for Sir Thomas Norris (acting president of that province) and into Kilkenny for the Earl of Ormond.

Upon the failure of a parley for the surrender of the castle the English took forceful action: in a cannonade lasting two days the curtain wall was breached and the garrison fled.

At this point the army was joined by a large train of baggage porters, which outnumbered the fighting men two-to-one and remained a drain on resources throughout the campaign.

Essex realised the Munster rebels would not allow themselves to be trapped between his army and the western seaboard and decided to march south in an effort to draw them into battle.

At Kilmallock he consulted the president, Thomas Norris, but conditions had begun to deteriorate, and it was reported that the soldiers "went so coldly on" that Essex had to reproach their baseness.

He rejoined his men with a MacCarthy ally, but by the time he entered the heart of Desmond country the Sugán Earl and the rest of the rebels had gone into the field and were beyond reach.

He marched unhindered eastward through Lord Power's country to Waterford City, where he was received with two Latin orations and a joyful concourse of people on June 21.

Essex marched over the river Slaney with 1,200 fighting men and a host of churls and horseboys, choosing to approach by the coast rather than risk the foothills.

The rebels skirmished on the left flank but would not close until they saw the baggage train was vulnerable: they swept into a hard fight and routed the English, killing almost the entire force: "Though the English horse twice drove the Irish back - enabling one of the cavalry captains to rescue the infantry's drums and colours - the small army's morale was beyond help, and it broke and fled in all directions once open country was reached.

A surprise attack on the O'Connors in the heart of their country was successful: their children were exposed to the might of the Crown army, their corn was burned, and 500 cows were seized in thick woods.

Others too had misgivings about the Queen's plan, since the rebels were secure on their western front, making an attack from the south deeply hazardous without a base in Lough Foyle.

A council of war declared against the plan, but a month later the Queen delivered a furious censure to Essex, complaining bitterly that only 5,000 fighting men were available, and not twice that number.

O'Neill's readiness to outflank him and attack the Pale restrained Essex from advancing further, and in a letter to the Queen ("weary with life") he explained that Kells should be the frontier garrison for the coming winter.

A week later he committed responsibility for his government to two lords justice, placing Ormond in command of the army under his old commission, and gave instruction that the cessation was to be maintained, with garrisons fully victualled for six months.

O'Neill issued a list of demands on religious freedom, withdrawal of English influence, and confirmation of lands in rebel possession - probably the bones of his private conference with Essex.

[25] In a report of November 18 the rebels were said to have, "made two Irish terms of scorn against the Earl of Essex; one that he never drew sword but to make knights; the other, that he came like a hasty messenger, that went away before he had done his errand.

Rumours of the earl's disloyalty abounded, and with the waning of his favour at court Essex chose to challenge the queen's authority by breaking house arrest and riding in force through London to gain an audience with her.

The Irish campaign proved far more difficult than anticipated - Essex was the last English commander of the age to underestimate rebel capability - and the situation at court deteriorated rapidly, with Cecil gaining an overwhelming influence over the queen.

Essex's flight from Ireland was a desperate attempt to interfere with those preparations, and once this had failed his subsequent treason was down to his refusal to accept that it was Cecil, and not he, who would determine the succession.