Friday 27 August 2010

Castlebar 1798


Today this victory over the British took place in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The victorious army was a mixture of French and Irish forces. The victor was General Humbert who incidentally finished up fighting the British again at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 - in his general's uniform but with the rank of private.

Infuriated by the Kentuckians' fleeing, Jackson directed a French General, Jean Humbert, to cross the River and retake the American position. Humbert, who had fought under Napoleon and always appeared in his old uniform was delighted to accept the assignment. But in the U.S. ranks, he was serving as a volunteer private. Since Jackson neglected to give him written authority, American officers on the west bank refused to take orders from a man who was not a citizen, and Humbert returned angrily to Jackson's Headquarters ( From Union 1812: The Americans who Fought the Second War of Independence by A.J. Langguth)

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