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Sarsfield struck down by a cannon-ball and the effect was paralysing. The charge wavered; Mackay seeing his advantage pressed on, turned the Irish left, and the first that Sarsfield knew of what had happened was from the sight of the broken Irish foot streaming over the hill. All that he could do was to draw the fugitives together and conduct the retreat. A document in the French archives quoted by Dr. Todhunter, says: "Colonel Sarsfield who commanded the enemy in their retreat did wonders, and if he was not killed or taken it was not from any fault of his."

But is it not among the strangest things in history that this man, who stands to Ireland for the very ideal of the Irish soldier-patriot, should have been present at the two decisive battles in Ireland's last struggle, and struck a blow in neither, at least till the day was lost? Of his courage there is no question. His ability as a soldier is proved by the fact that within little more than a year after he had entered the French service, with no interest to back him but the shadowy prestige of the Stuarts, he received his baton as Marshal. But the tragic thing, for Irish readers at least, is that his courage and his ability were always denied the opportunity to be employed to their uttermost in the service of Ireland. 279