By this time the waggons, with the exception of those under John Whitefoot’s charge, had been collected in a mass, and fire had been applied to them.  They were now a pile of flame.  A few of the best and fastest looking of the horses were set aside to be carried off by the troop.  The rest were shot, as the great object of the raids was to deprive the English army of its means of transport.

The troop then mounted.  Captain Davenant and Walter took a hearty farewell of John, and intrusted him with hastily-written letters for home; and as the smoke of the burning train would soon bring down any parties of the enemy who happened to be in the neighbourhood, the troop then rode off at full speed, and arrived safely at Athlone without meeting with any further adventures.

After the fall of the city, Ginckle remained inactive some time, but, finding that his proclamation had no effect in inducing the Irish to lay down their arms, he reluctantly prepared to advance against them.  In the interval, he occupied himself in repairing the western wall of the city, and, as he had been joined by several regiments sent out to reinforce him, he resumed his advance with a force larger than that with which he had commenced the siege of Athlone.  Before starting, he issued the most peremptory orders against a repetition of the acts which had so disgraced his army, and had done so much harm to the cause by banding the whole peasantry against them.

Saint Ruth chose his position with great skill.  His camp extended more than two miles, along a range of hills called the heights of Kilcomeden.  His right was protected by a rivulet, and by hills and marshes.  On his left was a deep glen.  Beyond this, along his whole front, a vast bog extended, in most places impassable for horse or foot.  On the borders of the bog, on the left, stood the ruins of the little castle of Aughrim, occupying the only spot of firm ground which led to the camp.

To pass the bog at this point, it was necessary to go close by the castle wall, where there was a broken path only wide enough for two men to pass abreast.  The passage on the right of the bog was more open, but it was marshy and unsafe.

This position was much stronger than that which the Irish had held at the battle of the Boyne, and whereas, on that occasion, they had been very inferior in numbers to their assailants, they were now superior by some regiments in number.  In the point of artillery the English had here, as at the Boyne, an overwhelming superiority.

Ginckle moved forward slowly and with caution, halting on the river Suck until he had been joined by every available soldier in Ireland.

On the morning of the 12th of July, the British army halted on the edge of the bog, that, like a great belt, encircled the Irish within it.  The morning was foggy, and the mist did not clear off until towards noon.  The Irish prepared for battle by having divine service performed at the head of their regiments, and Dr. Stafford, chaplain to the royal regiment of foot, and some other priests, passed through the ranks, urging upon the men their duty and obligation, as soldiers and Irishmen, to make every effort they could to rescue their country from the oppression of the Prince of Orange, and his army of foreigners.