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Ireland 1649-52: Cromwell's Protestant Crusade (Campaign)

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Oliver Cromwell's expedition to Ireland in 1649-1650, amidst the English Civil War, is a highly controversial topic in the history of Ireland. Parliament dispatched Cromwell to fight a military campaign to subdue the Royalist forces in Ireland, but at least some members of the expedition viewed it as a `Protestant Crusade' (on the front cover sub-title, no less) against the Catholic Irish. The result was a particularly bloody 9-month phase of the Civil War, which is the subject for Michael Mcnally's Ireland 1649-52 in Osprey's Campaign series. Overall, the volume is one of the more interesting ones among the English Civil War titles. While the author initially attempts to strike some balance in the narrative, it tends to lean more and more toward burnishing the image of Cromwell as a great soldier and minimizing his role in the atrocities committed by his forces. By the end, the only thing that is missing is a line that says, "this message was approved by Oliver Cromwell."

The volume begins with a 6-page introduction that outlines the origins of the campaign in Ireland, before the arrival of Cromwell in August 1649. I found the author's discussion of the players on each side a bit confusing and a chart would have been helpful, particularly when some of the commanders switched sides. The 6-page section on opposing commanders is good, although the 3-page section on opposing armies is rather skimpy. The 2-page order of battle for August 1649 lists names of regiments, but with strengths only enumerated for the Royalist forces. One important item that was omitted here was the question of Cromwell's siege train, both in terms of the quantity and capabilities of its artillery. Clearly the main operations in Ireland were sieges and it would have been useful for the reader to know more about Cromwell's artillery. Since Cromwell's cavalry beat the Royalist cavalry repeatedly, it also would have been useful for the author to explain this a bit more, as well. The 4-page section on opposing plans is succinct, but makes its main points well.

The campaign narrative itself is 55-pages long and begins with the crushing Parliamentarian victory at Rathmines, just before Cromwell arrived. After this, the Duke of Ormond - the Royalist commander - could no longer fight field battles and had to rely on a strategy of defensive attrition. Once Cromwell arrives, the author notes that he issued an order forbidding looting and `seized the initiative.' Neither of this makes much sense. First, Parliament gave Cromwell only a few weeks' pay for his troops, so if he wanted to keep an army in the field he was going to have to allow a certain amount of pillage to keep his forces fed. Second, Ormond was an incredibly feeble opponent who had already fumbled the ball at Rathmines, so the Royalist forces had forfeited the initiative in Ireland before Cromwell arrived. That being said, the author moves into the siege of the town of Drogheda, which was stormed and sacked by Cromwell's troops on 11 September 1649. Now, the author admits that virtually the entire garrison, some 2,800 troops, were executed after they surrendered - at Cromwell's order (as noted in a letter by Cromwell). However, he skirts around the issue of civilian casualties, noting that some were `caught up in the fighting' but omits mentioning any numbers or details. This is a highly controversial issue even today, but most accounts conclude that somewhere between 400-700 civilians were killed in the sack. Flat out and even by the rules of the day, Drogheda was an atrocity and Cromwell was responsible.

The narrative then moves on to the siege of Wexford, where 2,000 more defenders were massacred (the author avoids that word). Afterwards, the author notes a letter from Cromwell citing his desire `to avoid an effusion of blood' as well as a letter from Cromwell to the surrounded Irish commander in Wexford. The Irish colonel asked that if he surrendered, the population be allowed `liberty of conscience.' Cromwell responded that "I meddle not with any man's conscience" but that did not include the practice of the Catholic mass. By the author's own exposition, it is clear that Cromwell was a hypocritical religious zealot and a liar, who glossed over his own atrocities as triumphs. In truth, the Royalist forces in Ireland were feeble opponents, with a divided and inept command structure, untrained levies and totally inadequate logistics to wage even a defensive campaign. What is lacking in this volume is recognition that Cromwell's campaign was not a "model" as the author mistakenly concludes, but more like poachers clubbing baby seals to death for their pelts. It's hard to see how the Parliamentarians could have lost this campaign, even if Cromwell were not present. The best part of this narrative was the botched attack on the town of Clonmel, where Cromwell lost nearly one-third of his army, but which was soon swept under the rug of history. There is little or no mention of harm done to civilians or property in this volume, which gives the impression of a pro-Cromwellian whitewash.

The volume has six 2-D maps (the coming of the Lord deputy, January-August 1649; the Rathmines campaign, June-August 1649; Cromwell seizes the initiative, September-December 1649; Operations, January-June 1650; operations in eastern Munster, February-April 1650; the fall of the Shannon, July 1650-November 1651) and two 3-D BEV maps (siege of Drogheda; the siege of Clonmel). Most of the maps are at strategic-level, showing all of Ireland, while the BEV maps depict very tight scale tactical actions. Graham Turner provides three battle scenes (Rathmines, 2 August 1649; the breach at Drogheda; defeat at Clonmel), which are almost entirely from the Parliamentarian point of view. Most of the photos in the volume fall into one of three categories: weapons in museums, modern shots of the terrain and colorful Irish battle flags. In addition, the author provides a 2-page bibliography.

I found Michael McNally's addition to the Osprey Campaign series to be quite informative and interesting reading. Given the difficulty of writing a four-year campaign in less then 100 pages, I thought the book did a pretty good job summarizing the events and people at hand. The book managed to packed a lot of information in relatively short amount of pages afford in this format. Most of it centered around Cromwell's campaign and a short shift given to Henry Ireton's effort that finished up the overall campaign after Cromwell's departure. The book gives Oliver Cromwell a pretty fair hand considering that from most Irish accounts I read on him, he is more or less regarded as some sort of anti-Christ by the Irish Catholics. The book also reflects how the English Civil War should be really called "British Civil War" as this conflict in reality, spread throughout the entire British Isles.

I found the support materials like photographs, Graham Turner's illustrations and their regular maps to be well presented and useful in understanding the written material. They proves to be a major assets to this book. However, the two "3-D" battle maps provided here, one on Siege of Drogheda and another on Siege on Clonmel proves to be prime example of how not to make a map. The one on Siege of Drogheda is worthless. The map is too small, detail are tiny and worst of all, there is a crease right in the middle of the crucial part of the action. Unless I break the back of the book, this map is an example of sheer incompetence in the world of military history publishing. Clonmel also suffered from the same effects although its more readable because the crease is bit more left of the main action. Osprey's own map design people should be flog for this mess. It should be clearly noted that none of this mess is the fault of the author. Responsibility of ill-designed maps lies with the Osprey.

Otherwise, I found the book highly recommendable and anyone looking for a good introductory material on the Irish Front of the "English Civil War" would be wise to give this book a chance.

The English Civil War was fought not just in England but also in Ireland and Scotland. During my trip in 2008 to Ireland we passed many Irish castles and ruins which our guide blamed Cromwell or had an associated Cromwell story. I was aware that Cromwell fought in Ireland but didn't know the specifics.

This book clarified much of what went on at this time. Cromwell, a sitting member of Parliament, led the Army dispatched to Ireland to put down the remaining Royalists and their Irish allies. The campaigns fought in Ireland were controversial and led to the attitude many Irish have towards Cromwell today. In several cases men who surrendered to Cromwell were executed and on at least one occasion civilians were murdered. It seems that Cromwell, like Sherman, believed in prosecuting war to the fullest in order to end it quickly.

Maps, battlefield illustrations, photos and artwork bring the subject to life. If you are interested in the English Civil War in general or the Irish campaign in particular this is the book for you. However, a background in the civil war would be helpful.

The Osprey Campaign series is notable for its illustrations, maps, and the visual detail that the publisher and illustrators provide. This volume deals with an incident about which I know really nothing, being aware only that Cromwell campaigned in Ireland. The author recounts the events in question with enough clarity and precision for the novice to follow the course of the campaign and its general results. It's also interesting to discover that though the campaign was billed as a "Protestant Crusade" apparently there were Irish Protestants who fought on the side of the Royalists, and also on the side of what were called the "Confederates". The campaign was rather bloody, and characterized by mass killing of even prisoners. One of the other reviewers notes that the author avoids the use of the word "massacre" in recounting the incident at Wexford. Frankly, I didn't notice this, and was appalled by the callousness of the murders anyway.

I generally like the Osprey series, and this is a valuable addition to the other books I have.

And this campaign is clearly one of them. The Irish haven't forgotten those terrible years.

The complex background for this military campaign is abridged in the beginning of the book, and the reader benefits from the explanation of the political and religious differences and events that lead to the campaign. Also the short summaries of parlamentarian and royalist commanders are very good.

It is clear that Rathmines changed the coming campaign and that Jones decisive victory facilitated Cromwell's work incomensurably; but we must not forget that Cromwell accepted the comission before Rathmine! And initially it looked like a really though nut to crack.

As it was, Cromwell made an almost unblemished mopping up campaign that is very well reported by the author who chooses some of the more important military actions to detail, leaving the maps to show the movement of troops and other less important events. But stains are unavoidable, and in "reporting" those stains the author has considered different approaches :

- The massacres of surrendered enemy troops are given detailed attention, but most of the blame are attributed to hot tempered officers (I partly agree with the author, but they probably wouldn't have happened if there were clear orders otherwise);
- The Civilian massacres are a theme somewhat avoided by the author;
- The Clonmel defense (the only big difficulty and, in several ways, defeat that Cromwell faced in the campaign) is very vivid and detailed.

Graham Turner plates are very good, with a "you are there" feeling; the line drawings are also quite good.

Good maps, photos and birds eye views (except the Drogheda siege; it's impossible to understand the map because it's in the center of the book!!!) complement this worthy work.

Interesting book... if you want to learn battle techiques from Cromwell etc... but if you want to do real research this book, it is a waste of paper. I made the mistake of spending my time reading this and it was pretty unvaluable. On the other hand it has some great images.

IRELAND 1649-52: CROMWELL'S PROTESTANT CRUSADE
MICHAEL MCNALLY
OSPREY PUBLISHING, 2009
QUALITY SOFTCOVER, $19.95, 96 PAGES, ILLUSTRATIONS, PHOTOGRAPHS, MAPS


There is one of three ways in which a publishing house may present their version of the invasion of a foreign land and the subsequent oppression and subjugation of the people of that land. The first and easiest is to present it from the standpoint of the invader. The second would be to present it from the standpoint of those invaded. The third would be to present a balanced view, most probably with two authors, one representing each side. Osprey chose to go with the first option. The author of IRELAND 1649-52: CROMWELL'S PROTESTANT CRUSADE is one of the so-called "London-Irish". Born and educated in London, he is British albeit with a claim to Irish heritage from his parents. One of whom was from the Republic of Ireland and the other from one of the six occupied counties of Northern Ireland. They choose to live in Great Britain, however, and if he had served in uniform it would have been the uniform of the British Army, not the Irish Army. He is a British expatriate. moreover, choosing Germany over Britain, or Ireland. Reading this book, one might be reminded of the plethora of books written about the invasion of Normandy in the 6th of June 1944 and the follow-on operations of the 11-month war in Europe. Authors such as Stephen Ambrose have written of the nobility of the Allied cause and the Allied crusaders in Europe. They have also airbrushed the story of the civilians living in those countries off the pages of history. The so-called "Greatest Generation" established the myth of their greatness by tossing the story of the hundreds of thousands of Europeans who were killed and wounded in the Allied invasion, their homes destroyed, their persons abused, and their personal property stolen, into the dustbin of history. Only more than a half-century later do we begin to learn of the 40,000 women raped by these members of the "Greatest Generation" or the 25,000 U.S. soldiers living in Paris at the time of the Battle of the Bulge, having deserted from the U.S. Army, and living as criminals. This book from Osprey demonstrates the truth of the old saying that "history is written by the victor."


Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida