Talk:Gustav Hamilton

Defense of Enniskillen, some excerpts
James II's Viceroy in Ireland, Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell, had purged the Royal army in Ireland of many of its Protestant officers and soldiers (in an age when religious affiliation was equivalent to ideological affiliation in the Cold War) Ulster Protestants found themselves lacking the protection of a regular army. So after declaring for William III they organised themselves into County Associations, co-ordinated by a Council of the North. Volunteers were recruited, but arms and training were both in short supply and the appointed commander, the Earl of Mount Alexander, lacked the necessary military experience. In March 1689, Ulster was invaded by the Irish army under Lt.-Gen. Richard Hamilton. Ulster volunteers, seeking to oppose them were routed at the 'Break of Dromore'. Again, the population split into those that panicked and fled to England and Scotland - these including the Earl of Mount Alexander - and those who determined on further resistance. Even for the latter, retreat to relatively better positions was a military necessity. The surviving Protestant forces, some 4,000 strong, fell back on Coleraine. They were accompanied by civilian refugees and a scorched earth policy was adopted. Richard Hamilton's army of 7,000 (one-third regulars) followed up. But when the Irish attacked Coleraine on 28 March 1689, they were unpleasantly surprised by the stubborn and effective resistance of the Ulstermen. About 60 Irishmen were killed; 3 Ulstermen fell. There followed a short campaign-in-miniature as the Ulstermen tried to prevent the Irish from crossing the River Bann. But there were too few defenders for the task and by 7 April, the Irish were over the river. Lacking the resources to withstand a siege and with his communications with Londonderry threatened, another Gustavus Hamilton, the commander in Coleraine, abandoned the town and fell back on Londonderry. Richard Hamilton followed and marched his army down the eastern bank of the River Foyle so as to be able to cross the narrower and shallower tributaries, the Mourne and the Finn and then advance north on Londonderry City. The garrison of Londonderry attempted to block the fords but, despite having a substantial numerical superiority, were defeated and driven back to the city. The reasons are not hard to find: the Ulsterman had hardly any ammunition (one troop was issued with three rounds per man) and they were sketchily trained citizens, while the enemy vanguard troops were experienced regulars. So the siege of Londonderry began. Londonderry was not the only centre of Ulster resistance.

There was also Enniskillen and if Londonderry's walls were weak, Enniskillen had no walls at all. The town could only be defended by keeping the enemy at a safe distance; this in turn required an aggressive and mobile defence by the town's citizen soldiers. Fortunately, their commander Gustavus Hamilton was a former professional soldier and highly skilled in that profession. In early May 1689, the Enniskilleners routed an Irish force at Ballyshannon and relieved Belleek. They then launched a series of raids against the lines-of-communication of the Irish army besieging Londonderry, significantly aiding the besieged garrison. According to contemporary accounts, the Enniskilleners tied down half the Irish army in Ulster. But their greatest triumph was undoubtedly the Battle of Newtownbutler (30 July 1689) where 2,000 Enniskilleners, led by Colonel Wolseley, a professional English officer, attacked and routed an Irish army twice as large. The news of this defeat caused the main Irish army, already with-drawing from Londonderry, to abandon all its heavy equipment and retreat at top speed. Dromore had been avenged.

Sir Gerard Irvine and Captain Corry appealed to the North East Association in the hope that this body could persuade the Enniskilleners to accept them as their leaders. However, the people of Enniskillen placed the fullest confidence in colonel Gustav Hamilton and the five gentlemen who had resolved to hold the town in the name of King William.

During the remaining part of 1688 little was done at Enniskillen except to break the ice around the town, which during that winter was so thick as to permit men on horseback to cross Lough Erne in safety and which to some extend imperilled the safety of the little garrison that was protected by no walls save walls of water.

Early in 1689 Hamilton, now the Governor of Enniskillen, formed his men into regiments and fortified the town as best he could, laying in stores of food, forage and ammunition. Letters were sent to Derry and England requesting aid as soon as possible. Lundy, in reply to this request, urged the Enniskilleners to abandon the town and fall back to Derry. Fortunately they used their own discretion, resolved to defend the town, and on 11 March 1689, William and Mary were proclaimed King and Queen. All the defenders took the following oath:

"I DH, do hereby testify and declare, and upon the Holy Evangelists swear, that I will own and acknowledge Gustavus Hamilton, Esq, Chief Governor of this town of Enniskillen, and shall give due obedience to him and my superior officers in all his and their commands, and shall to the uttermost of my power and ability, defend him. Them, and this place, with the country adjacent, together with the Protestant religion and interest, with my life and fortune, against all that shall endeavour to subvert the same. So help me God, and the holy contents of this book".

The Enniskilleners also resolved "To stand upon our guard and by the blessing of God, rather to meet our danger than to expect it".

During this period Enniskillen was strengthened by an influx of Protestants from the counties of Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo. Some of the men tried to leave their families at Enniskillen and march on to Derry following the orders issued by Lundy; but Hamilton ordered that any marching to Derry would have to take his family with him. However, if any would stay and fight to keep the town from falling into the hands of the Jacobites, food and shelter would be provided. One man who arrived at Enniskillen at that time was Thomas Lloyd who was to become known as 'little Cromwell' because of his exploits as a Colonel of Foot.

Crom Castle was an outpost of Enniskillen on the Dublin Road which was besieged by a force of Jacobites under the command of Lord Galmoy who had a reputation for cruelty. First he tried to summons the Enniskillen men to surrender. Hamilton replied that the town was held in the name of King William who was now King of Great Britain and Ireland. Crom Castle was under the command of Colonel Chrichton, and a considerable number of Protestants from the surrounding area were quartered there to defend it. But the position of the castle made it difficult to defend. One saving grace was the marshy ground, which meant that no heavy siege guns could be brought near enough to bombard the str6nghold. Galmoy thought to deceive the defenders by having two large mock cannons drawn into position before the castle.

Colonel Crighton sent a dispatch for help to Governor Hamilton requesting immediate action so that this outpost of Enniskillen could be saved. In the night Hamilton sent a detachment of 200 of his best armed men, some by land, some by water, hoping they might enter Crom Castle unperceived, under cover of darkness. It was daylight before they reached their destination; but they succeeded in landing at the castle despite the heavy fire opened on them. In the event only a boatman was killed. The reinforcement having joined those within the walls, they sallied out together, drove the besiegers from their trenches, and killed about forty of them. They also captured the two mock cannon; one was left at Crom, the other brought to the Castle of Enniskillen. Galmoy at once raised the siege, and retreated to Belturbet.

Acts like this exasperated the Protestants, and many a brave man was slain without mercy at Newtown-Butler who would have received quarter but for this and similar atrocities perpetrated previously by Lord Galmoy and his men. The news spread far and wide that no Protestant who fell into the hands of the Irish was to be spared. To the credit of Captain McGuire, he complained bitterly of the breach of faith, resigned his commission, returned to Crom and refused to serve in the Jacobite army. Flushed with their success at Crom Castle, Hamilton and Lloyd decided to act as they had resolved to, and went on the offensive.

Intelligence reached Enniskillen that the Irish had placed a garrison at Trillick, nine miles distant on the Derry road. On the 24th of April, Colonel Lloyd marched against that place. Early intimation, however, of his approach had been received at Trillick, and the post was evacuated. Lloyd followed in rapid pursuit and after a disorderly retreat of six hours the party dispersed and took to the bogs. Their baggage and a large number of cattle were captured. The Castle of Augher, eighteen miles distant from Enniskillen on the Charlemont road, had been recently occupied by James' party.

Early on the morning of the 28th of April, Lloyd tried to surprise it, but again timely intimation of his movements had been received. The garrison abandoned the post taking away with them everything portable. The Enniskilleners burned the castle, levelled the fortifications, and seized all the provisions in the neighbourhood. They afterwards crossed the mountains to the house of Daniel Eccles of Clones. The garrison in it fired the mansion and fled. Lloyd, having swept part of Monaghan and Cavan, returned on the 2nd of May to Enniskillen with great abundance of sheep, cattle and provisions.

On the 4th of May, Ffolliott, the Governor of Ballyshannon, sent a despatch to Enniskillen, informing Hamilton that a large body of Jacobites had advanced from Connaught to besiege his post. Anticipating this movement, Ffolliott's force (mainly men from County Sligo) had materially added to the strength of the place by the erection of a fort on the Common Hill, which commanded the passage of the River Erne. Ffolliott enclosed the summons to surrender which he had received, and begged to be speedily relieved. Orders were issued, calling into Enniskillen all the men that could be spared from the surrounding detachments; and on the 7th of May, Lloyd proceeded towards Ballyshannon. The besiegers, leaving a small force to watch the town, advanced three miles to Beleek to met him.

Hamilton captured the horses belonging to the garrison at Omagh, which had retired into its fortified position and watched as its mounts were driven away to become mounts of the Enhiskillen Horse. Hamilton tried to send help to Derry, but the Jacobites were now marching from three directions to bring Enniskillen to submission.

Brigadier Sutherland was the first to appear in the region of Belturbet. On the 16th of June, Colonel Crighton sent word of a force in the area of Belturbet which had large supplies and provisions. This force under the command of Sutherland was to besiege and take Enniskillen.

Battle of Newtownbutler: On the night of 28 July, a few hours after Colonel William Wolseley and other officers sent by Major-General Kirke, had arrived in Enniskillen. 500 were carried prisoners to Enniskillen, and with them the General Lord Mountcashel.

On the 20th of September Lloyd and his Enniskilleners won a great victory at the town of Boyle, when they defeated a superior force of Jacobites.

In February 1690 the Enniskilleners under the command of Wolseley defeated a force of Jacobites at Cavan under the command of Berwick

With the arrival of substantial regular forces from England, initially under the Duke of Schomberg and later under King William III himself, Ulster's volunteer soldiers were no longer needed and most were demobilized, to rebuild their shattered homes. However, the dragoons from Enniskillen were retained and attached to William's army, distinguishing themselves at the Battle of the Boyne and subsequently being incorporated into the regular army.

Gustavus Hamiltons in Australia
"The suburb of Hamilton, Brisbane, apparently takes its name from a hotel (inn) built in the middle of the 19th century there by Gustavus Hamilton, a solicitor from Toowoomba. Marrtel 17:00, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

revd James Achibald Hamilton, astronomer at Armagh observatory
Archibald Hamilton assumed duties of Director at Armagh observatory in 1790. High ability and enthusiasm as astronomer. Actually, our knowledge of Hamilton is limited mainly to his official posts and the brief outline of his life. He was born in 1748, son of Colonel Gustavus Hamilton of Summerseat in County Meath. He entered Trinity College on 1 November 1764, graduating in 1769; for some years following 1776 he lived at Cookstown, where he Set up a private observatory. On 1 March 1784 he became Treasurer of Armagh Cathedral, an office which he held until he went to the Observatory, and on July 13 of the same year he graduated B.D. and D.D. at the University of Dublin. By now he had been transferred to the living of Mullabrack, about six miles from Armagh, but he naturally went to live at the Observatory when he became astronomer there. He was Archdeacon of Ross from 1790 to 1804, when he became Dean of Cloyne; By the standards of his time he was well off financially; it is said that he travelled around in the comfort of a coach and four, and that he subsequently adopted the practice of spending the summers at Mullabrack (where he had installed two curates to attend to local church duties) and the winters at Armagh. His home life appears to have been happy. In addition to his daughter Julia he had two wards, Catherine and Juliana Tisdall, who, it is said, frequently entertained their young suitors in the Observatory dome!

Primate Robinson was anything but niggardly. The dwelling-house which he provided was both large and pleasant; lying in attractive surroundings, and made of the famed "Armagh marble", it still retains its dignity and comfort to-day (though naturally it has been extended and modernized). A dome was erected, and a transit-room to the east. The outlook for the Observatory was bright, but the situation changed suddenly for the worse when the Primate died, on 10 October 1794. His successor seems to have been profoundly uninterested in astronomy, and Primate Robinson's heirs were clearly un-cooperative, since they countermanded the orders which had been placed for the Observatory instruments. Fortunately they were unable to stop the main piece of equipment, an equatorial by the celebrated instrument-maker Troughton, and three clocks were also obtained - two of them by Thomas Earnshaw of London. One of these (incidentally, the first that Earnshaw ever made) was particularly good. Earnshaw, a famous watchmaker, had claimed a share, with Harrison, of the prize of �25,000 offered by the Admiralty for the construction of a chronometer which would keep accurate time at sea. The Admiralty had acted very badly over the whole matter, and even Harrison had to fight hard for his proper reward; Earnshaw's claim was rejected out of hand, and this rebuff caused him great mental distress. He issued an Appeal to the Public for Justice, and later he did receive some compensation. In any case, there was certainly no doubt about his skill.

The Primate had also ordered a Ramsden transit instrument and a meridian circle, but these were blocked by his unhelpful heirs; the transit instrument ended up in Moscow, and the meridian circle in Palermo.. A transit instrument was later made for the Observatory by a local watchmaker, but, needless to say, it could not be compared with what Ramsden would have produced. Evidently the whole affair led to considerable bitterness. and it is worth noting a comment made much later, in December 1825, by the third Director of the Observatory, Romney Robinson. Writing of Ramsden's transit instrument, he says: "The princely-minded founder of the Observatory died before it was completed, and, from circumstances which need not be detailed, those which he had ordered were not obtained by the Observatory. It has at present a transit of 2 in. aperture. . . but no instrument for polar distances except Troughton's equatorial, which, though excellent, is by no means capable of entering into the field with large meridian circles."

The Troughton equatorial arrived in December 1795, and was mounted under the dome on two stone piers which rested on a massive pillar. The mounting was itself extremely massive, and of what is termed the English type; for its period it was extremely efficient - and yet the object-glass of the telescope had an aperture of only 2.5 inches and a focal length of three feet. By modern standards this is puny indeed, but for a long time it represented Armagh's main equipment. It was used for general observations, and with it Hamilton and his assistants determined the declinations of 37 standard stars; the results were published by Pond, afterwards Astronomer Royal, in 1806.

So far as the watchmaker's transit instrument was concerned, Hamilton put it to what use he could, and observations of the Sun, Moon and standard stars were begun; they were in fact continued until the instrument was finally dismounted in 1827, but not many of them were ever published. A few came out in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, and Hamilton also made a series of measurements of the Sun's apparent diameter between 1794 and 17958, in order to test the accuracy of some micrometers by Dollond. And that, so far as can be ascertained, was the sum total of the observational work done at Armagh under its first two Directors. No wonder that Romney Robinson commented much later that "under such circumstances, no work of any real value to Astronomy could be done".

The fact that there were no immediate financial troubles was due partly to the precautions taken by the Primate when he endowed the Observatory (and which his heirs had been unable to upset), and partly to Hamilton's own personal wealth. He even maintained an assistant; in succession, a Mr. Palmer (1793), Mr. Gimingham of Caius College, Cambridge (1793-6), Mr. Bradyn (1797-9) and then the Rev. Robert Hogg, a Presbyterian minister, who held office for more than thirty years. During the latter part of Hamilton's regime it seems that Hogg carried out most of the observations with the transit instrument. Hamilton published a few papers here and there; one in 1797, for instance, dealing with longitude determination and another describing uncertainties in the value of the solar parallax. Yet all things considered, the achievements during the first few decades of the Observatory's existence fell far short of what its Founder must have hoped.

On 31 November 1815, Hamilton died at the Observatory, and was buried at Mullabrack. He was succeeded by the Rev. William Davenport, who held office for almost eight years. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Marrtel (talk • contribs) 17:19, 4 January 2007 (UTC).