0:00:04 > 0:00:06Over 300 years ago,
0:00:06 > 0:00:09the city of Londonderry was the scene of one of the most brutal,
0:00:09 > 0:00:13dramatic and important episodes in Irish and British history.
0:00:16 > 0:00:23In 1689, James II, the deposed - and Catholic - King of England, Scotland and Ireland
0:00:23 > 0:00:27launched a military campaign to regain the throne he had lost
0:00:27 > 0:00:29to the Protestant William of Orange.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35James's plan was to take control of Ireland -
0:00:35 > 0:00:40and use it as a launch pad for his move against England and Scotland.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43But standing in his way were the Protestant settlers of Ulster -
0:00:43 > 0:00:46and, in particular, those behind the walls of Derry.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48These walls.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51As James knew, if he did not have control of Derry,
0:00:51 > 0:00:53he did not have control of Ireland.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01What followed was one of the last great sieges in British history.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06A remarkable 105 days during which the people within the walls of Derry -
0:01:06 > 0:01:10the majority of them Presbyterians - suffered bombardment,
0:01:10 > 0:01:15disease and starvation as they resisted James's Jacobite army.
0:01:19 > 0:01:25It's an event that has created a deep and lasting legacy in the mind-set of Ulster Protestants.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29People who, to this day, continue to identify with the men
0:01:29 > 0:01:32and women who defied King James
0:01:32 > 0:01:36and refused to surrender this city to his Catholic army.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41For them, the cry of "no surrender" is as meaningful now as it was
0:01:41 > 0:01:44when it was first shouted out from behind these walls
0:01:44 > 0:01:47over three centuries ago.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50This is the story of that remarkable siege.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53An event that was at the centre of an epic power struggle
0:01:53 > 0:01:56to decide not only who controlled Britain and Ireland,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00but also the balance of power in Europe.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05An event that has shaped the course of our history to the present day.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18It was here, at Westminster Abbey,
0:02:18 > 0:02:24that James Stuart, Duke of York, was crowned King James II in 1685.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28But there was a problem.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31Something that that did not sit well with some Protestants
0:02:31 > 0:02:36in England, Scotland and Ireland - James was a Roman Catholic.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44At first, James and his largely Protestant parliament
0:02:44 > 0:02:46enjoyed a cordial relationship.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50But over time, tensions mounted.
0:02:50 > 0:02:51Not least in Ireland,
0:02:51 > 0:02:53where Protestants were alarmed by the activities
0:02:53 > 0:02:57of the Lord Deputy, Richard Talbot the Earl of Tyrconnell,
0:02:57 > 0:02:59as he restored Catholics to positions of influence
0:02:59 > 0:03:02in the state and the army.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Positions they had lost
0:03:04 > 0:03:08following Oliver Cromwell's conquest of Ireland in the early 1650s.
0:03:13 > 0:03:18Placing such power in Catholic hands was particularly unwelcome
0:03:18 > 0:03:21amongst the Protestants of Ulster, many of whom had settled there
0:03:21 > 0:03:25during the Scottish and English plantations of the early 17th century.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34But then, something happened that dramatically intensified
0:03:34 > 0:03:35Protestant fears.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40In 1688 James's wife gave birth to their first son.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Now there was not only a Catholic on the throne -
0:03:43 > 0:03:45but a Catholic heir to replace him.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55They then have a situation where the Anglican nobility -
0:03:55 > 0:03:58the people who are really running the country -
0:03:58 > 0:04:02are concerned that the whole Protestant Ascendancy
0:04:02 > 0:04:06that has prevailed since the reign of Henry VIII is going to be overturned.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12A Catholic succession to the throne is the straw
0:04:12 > 0:04:14that breaks the camel's back.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18And it is after this that a prominent, if you like, cabal
0:04:18 > 0:04:24of leading political and military figures, and religious figures,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27petition William to effectively invade the King.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32The plan to replace James with William of Orange,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34the leader of the United Provinces -
0:04:34 > 0:04:36or the Dutch Republic, as it was also known -
0:04:36 > 0:04:39was nothing short of a coup d'etat.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Indeed it was to become known as the Glorious Revolution.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48But the fact that William was married to James's daughter Mary
0:04:48 > 0:04:51made the decision to invite him to become their king
0:04:51 > 0:04:55more palatable for some tender English consciences.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00For William, it was an appealing invitation.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04Already at war with Louis XIV of France, he believed that
0:05:04 > 0:05:08if he could become King of England - and turn England against France -
0:05:08 > 0:05:12he could force Louis to abandon his expansionist plans.
0:05:17 > 0:05:23And so, on the 5th November 1688, William and a force of 21,000 men
0:05:23 > 0:05:29sailed from their Dutch ports and landed at the small fishing town of Torbay in Devon.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32It was a momentous step in a European-wide struggle.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36One in which Ireland was about to play a central role.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39Ireland's strategic importance
0:05:39 > 0:05:43was that it was the back door to Great Britain.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48William III can't afford to take his glance off Ireland.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52He has got to solve the military problem
0:05:52 > 0:05:54before he can turn his full attention to England.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05In Ireland itself, tension was mounting.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Richard Talbot, the Earl of Tyrconnell,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11knew that Protestants - particularly those in Ulster -
0:06:11 > 0:06:13could not be trusted to support King James.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Likewise, the Protestants had become increasingly anxious over
0:06:23 > 0:06:26the preceding years because, as they saw it,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Talbot had been busily dismantling their power base.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37The situation deteriorated further on the 3rd December, 1688
0:06:37 > 0:06:42with the discovery, just down there in the County Down village of Comber,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45of a letter addressed to a Protestant nobleman.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49What became known as the Comber Letter
0:06:49 > 0:06:53warned of a massacre of Protestants by the native Irish,
0:06:53 > 0:06:55to take place in a few days time.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57On the 9th of December, it said:
0:07:10 > 0:07:13The Comber Letter is a bit like the smoking gun
0:07:13 > 0:07:15or the sexed-up dossier.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19This is a veiled threat that Protestants will be massacred.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23And, of course, Protestants had been massacred in large numbers
0:07:23 > 0:07:27in the lifetime of many people who were still living.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31And that massacre of the 1641 rebellion
0:07:31 > 0:07:35would seer itself into the psyche of Protestant Ireland.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37So a letter like that
0:07:37 > 0:07:41had an enormous propagandist, if you like, effect.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Each side in this struggle,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49uses whatever propaganda is available to them.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53And the Comber Letter is used to motivate the settlers.
0:07:53 > 0:07:58To remind them how precarious their situation is.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03The letter is now thought to be a fake.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07But, at the time, Ulster Protestants believed it to be genuine.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11And, not surprisingly, it spread panic and fear among them now.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17Meanwhile, Talbot was anxious to ensure
0:08:17 > 0:08:21that Ulster remained under the control of the Jacobite army -
0:08:21 > 0:08:25named from the Latin for James - Jacobus.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27Central to this was Derry.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29It was a city of great strategic importance
0:08:29 > 0:08:33and it was largely populated by Scots settlers.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Desperate to avoid any trouble from them, Talbot arranged
0:08:37 > 0:08:39for Derry's military garrison to be replaced
0:08:39 > 0:08:43by a regiment of Scottish highlanders and Antrim glensmen,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45known as the Redshanks.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49As Catholics, their loyalty to James was unquestionable.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53But news of the Comber Letter -
0:08:53 > 0:08:56with its apparent threat to Protestants - reached Derry
0:08:56 > 0:08:59before the Redshanks did.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06When the Redshanks arrived, they arrived too late.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08They arrived on the east bank of the Foyle -
0:09:08 > 0:09:10and remember if you think back to the Comber Letter,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14here might be the instrument of our slaughter.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18If you looked across and saw these soldiers here, no matter who you are,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21you'd have fears about should we let these people in to the city.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24What would happen when they were allowed into the city?
0:09:24 > 0:09:26Once they're in, you can't get them back out again.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33Arguments over what to do raged within the city.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36The Anglican Bishop, Ezekiel Hopkins,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38urged that the Redshanks be admitted,
0:09:38 > 0:09:43since they were James's soldiers and James was still their king.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46But the Presbyterian minister, James Gordon,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49insisted that the gates be locked immediately.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Eventually, 13 apprentices took decisive action -
0:09:57 > 0:09:59they rushed to Ferryquay Gate,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03and slammed shut the gates in the faces of the King's men.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13They're the youth of the city, in many ways.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18They're the people who take the lead in disturbances in the city,
0:10:18 > 0:10:22who don't agree with what's happening at a higher level,
0:10:22 > 0:10:23with what the elite are doing.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26They've seen some of the elite trying to leave.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28They feel that they're left on their own.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31And they take matters into their own hands.
0:10:31 > 0:10:32In terms of that period,
0:10:32 > 0:10:38this is a very, very major step for anybody to take.
0:10:38 > 0:10:43And it was a step from which most people at the time would have felt,
0:10:43 > 0:10:44there was no going back.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49This was open rebellion and it was inviting the King's anger
0:10:49 > 0:10:51and the King's vengeance.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55In Dublin, Talbot, the Earl of Tyrconnell,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58was infuriated by these events.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01And his mood did not improve.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04For within a week, the Williamite garrison of Enniskillen
0:11:04 > 0:11:09also resisted a Jacobite attempt to take over their town.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13For Talbot and James, it was all going horribly wrong.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Back in England, James realised that he had little chance
0:11:18 > 0:11:20of defeating the Williamite army
0:11:20 > 0:11:23that had landed in Devon in early November.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27He knew it would be better to live to fight another day.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34And so just seven weeks later, on the 23rd December 1688,
0:11:34 > 0:11:38he escaped to France and into the welcoming arms of his cousin
0:11:38 > 0:11:41and ally, the Sun King, Louis XIV.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48With Louis' support, James put together a plan to regain his throne.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51And it was not a complicated plan.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55He knew he could draw on support in Catholic Ireland,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58still under the control of Tyrconnell.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01And he also knew that if he could hold Ireland,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05he could use it as a launch pad to move against England and Scotland
0:12:05 > 0:12:06and march on London.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12William and Mary were about to be crowned King and Queen of England,
0:12:12 > 0:12:17but according to James's plan, theirs would be a short-lived reign.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27The fly in James's ointment was, of course, the Ulster Protestant.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32By now, the Presbyterians of Derry had declared their support for William,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36and under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Lundy,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40they prepared their defences against the looming Jacobite threat.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Lundy does his best. They know that this could break out into war.
0:12:49 > 0:12:54They begin building ravelins. Lundy does his job as a soldier.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59Lundy expends a tremendous amount of energy over the next few months
0:12:59 > 0:13:01preparing the city for the siege.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03One thing that must be said -
0:13:03 > 0:13:05it would never have survived the siege
0:13:05 > 0:13:07had it not been for Lundy's preparations.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15By now, the Jacobite campaign was gathering pace.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19On the 12th of March, James landed at Kinsale in County Cork,
0:13:19 > 0:13:24accompanied by several French generals and 5,000 of their men.
0:13:24 > 0:13:29They were to join a loyal Irish army of 50,000 soldiers and irregulars.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33In addition to these men, were the Jacobite soldiers under
0:13:33 > 0:13:36the command of Lieutenant General Richard Hamilton.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38They were already on their way north,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41determined to subdue Derry's rebels.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47Two days after James's landing at Kinsale,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50here in the village of Dromore, County Down,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53they secured a decisive victory...
0:13:55 > 0:13:59..the so-called Break, or rout, of Dromore -
0:13:59 > 0:14:03before going on to take Lisburn, Belfast
0:14:03 > 0:14:06and then sweeping across most of Ulster.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Worried at the speed of the Jacobite advance,
0:14:13 > 0:14:17Lundy ordered retreats from Monaghan, Cavan, Dungannon,
0:14:17 > 0:14:22and Coleraine and the roads to Derry filled with Protestant refugees.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31By the 14th of April, James's generals, Hamilton and Pusignan,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35had reached Strabane, just 15 miles from Derry.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38But to march on the city itself they had to cross to the west
0:14:38 > 0:14:40bank of the River Foyle.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43They planned to do that where the Foyle begins,
0:14:43 > 0:14:47through the joining of two other rivers - the Mourne and the Finn.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53Once across, they could march down the west bank of the Foyle
0:14:53 > 0:14:54and seize Derry.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04With 7,000 to 10,000 men under his command,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08Lundy decided to defend the fords here on the River Finn.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13But he made a series of catastrophic mistakes that enabled
0:15:13 > 0:15:16the Jacobites to push across the river at Lifford,
0:15:16 > 0:15:20and here at Clady, where Hamilton and his men -
0:15:20 > 0:15:22even though they were vastly outnumbered -
0:15:22 > 0:15:24met little resistance from the Williamites.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31The Williamites were now in flight pursued by a small number of Jacobites.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34Lundy ordered a general retreat to Derry.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37For the Jacobites, the way was now clear to the city.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50By now, James had joined his army in the north
0:15:50 > 0:15:55and on the 18th April he watched as his men encircled Derry.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58His hope was that such a massive show of strength
0:15:58 > 0:16:01was all it would take to persuade the people behind its walls
0:16:01 > 0:16:03to surrender.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08James didn't appreciate the amount of enmity
0:16:08 > 0:16:10that had been created in Ulster,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13particularly by the acts of Tyrconnell.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18He was still under the impression that people regarded him
0:16:18 > 0:16:21as the rightful monarch,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24and that because the King had taken the trouble to come here,
0:16:24 > 0:16:26that they would come to their senses
0:16:26 > 0:16:28and would all settle down to the business
0:16:28 > 0:16:32of being a good king and good subjects once again,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35while James carried on trying to regain control of Scotland,
0:16:35 > 0:16:36and of England, as well.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42James then rode up to the city, here at Bishop's Gate,
0:16:42 > 0:16:44to offer his terms of surrender.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47They included the defenders' lives, estates,
0:16:47 > 0:16:52religion and "a free pardon for all past offences."
0:16:53 > 0:16:57But in a remarkable act of treason, the guards on duty
0:16:57 > 0:16:59fired on James and his troops.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05It's almost inevitable that there was confusion.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08And part of the confusion was that James did not realise
0:17:08 > 0:17:11that an agreement had been made between the defenders of the city
0:17:11 > 0:17:15and the leader of the Jacobite army, Lieutenant General Richard Hamilton,
0:17:15 > 0:17:19that no Jacobite troops would approach the city.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27What the defenders saw was an act of treachery.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28They had this agreement
0:17:28 > 0:17:32and here was the King himself breaking the agreement.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35They couldn't conceive of a situation in which the King wasn't
0:17:35 > 0:17:37aware that the agreement had been made.
0:17:37 > 0:17:45And so James literally rides straight into a storm of anger.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Well, if closing the gates is treason,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55opening fire on him is definitely treason!
0:17:55 > 0:17:57But there was probably an expectation, too,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59that once the King arrived,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03his presence alone would induce them to change their minds.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06I would say it came as quite a big shock to James -
0:18:06 > 0:18:08this was not going to be as easy as he thought.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Inside the walls, however, Lundy and his council had agreed
0:18:14 > 0:18:18they had no alternative but to surrender to James.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22But not everyone accepted this, in particular a young
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Ulster-Scots officer Adam Murray.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26He and his men distrusted James
0:18:26 > 0:18:29and were in no mood for handing the city over to him.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36In a showdown, Murray accused Lundy of "gross neglect"
0:18:36 > 0:18:39for failing to secure the fords on the River Finn
0:18:39 > 0:18:44and urged him to fight on and defend Derry.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48Lundy declined, and in doing so lost the support of the people
0:18:48 > 0:18:50and his control of the city.
0:18:50 > 0:18:55He also secured his reputation in history as a traitor to the cause.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Lundy's reputation as a traitor is totally unfounded.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Lundy was the man who saved the city
0:19:03 > 0:19:05from being over-run by a Jacobite army.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09Lundy is the man who thwarted James's ambition to use the city
0:19:09 > 0:19:12to move off to Scotland, to move eventually down to London
0:19:12 > 0:19:14and to regain his three thrones.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18With Derry now in Murray's hands,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22his message to the people was a simple one - "no surrender".
0:19:24 > 0:19:28James had arrived that morning expecting Derry's surrender.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33Instead, he had been fired upon and humiliated.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Now, after a stand-off that had lasted four months -
0:19:37 > 0:19:40since the city's gates had been closed by the apprentice boys -
0:19:40 > 0:19:44the siege itself was about to begin.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51After the bravura of firing on James and their shouts of "no surrender",
0:19:51 > 0:19:53the Williamites now had to face reality.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57They were surrounded and they had to defend themselves against
0:19:57 > 0:19:59what they saw as the might of the Jacobite army.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06New governors were needed - and urgently.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Lundy was finished, threatened with hanging
0:20:08 > 0:20:11and left lurking in his chamber.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17Murray, the people's hero, was the popular choice for governor,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21but he refused, preferring to remain a soldier.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25Adam Murray comes into the picture
0:20:25 > 0:20:29and the citizens of the city want him to become the governor.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33But he refuses - he prefers to serve rather than to lead.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36And throughout the siege,
0:20:36 > 0:20:42Murray does come out as a man of tremendous leadership skills.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46A man who attracts people, a man who is a born leader.
0:20:46 > 0:20:47Because we don't really know
0:20:47 > 0:20:50if he had any military experience beforehand.
0:20:50 > 0:20:56But like a few others in history, he seems to have that innate ability
0:20:56 > 0:21:00to lead people and lead them successfully.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02After Murray stepped aside,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05Henry Baker, a professional soldier from County Louth,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09and George Walker, an Anglican clergyman from County Tyrone,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12were elected as joint governors of the city.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17They quickly agreed a defence plan,
0:21:17 > 0:21:22organised 7,000 soldiers and 340 officers into regiments,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25surveyed the stores, and set the weekly ration.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31The new governors were in a dire situation.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36But they were about to receive help from the most unlikely of sources.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38Encouraged by a Jacobite offer of protection,
0:21:38 > 0:21:42about 10,000 people fled the city over the next few days,
0:21:42 > 0:21:44leaving about 20,000 inside.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48The Jacobites, had hoped to gain intelligence from the refugees
0:21:48 > 0:21:50but they gained nothing.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54Instead they had aided the rebels, for with fewer mouths to feed,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58the garrison's food supplies would now stretch further.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06Outside the walls, James was in no mood to hang around for the fight.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10He departed for Dublin, leaving the French Lieutenant-Generals
0:22:10 > 0:22:15Maumont and Pusignan in charge and with clear orders - to take Derry.
0:22:19 > 0:22:24Maumont quickly surrounded the city with 16 infantry regiments
0:22:24 > 0:22:27and established a gun post in Stronge's Orchard
0:22:27 > 0:22:29on the east bank of the Foyle.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34With an army of 21,000 men,
0:22:34 > 0:22:38it seemed as if the Jacobites would be irresistible.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44In contrast, Governor Walker's account of the siege
0:22:44 > 0:22:50paints a depressing picture of the scene inside the city at this time.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54He laments the lack of food, horses, artillery expertise
0:22:54 > 0:22:59and the fact that there was "not a gun well-mounted in the whole town."
0:23:03 > 0:23:07But things were not as clear-cut as they seemed.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09The Jacobites may have had more men,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12but not all their regiments were up to full strength.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15Hundreds were deployed foraging for food,
0:23:15 > 0:23:20with others tied up defending the Jacobites' vulnerable southern flank
0:23:20 > 0:23:23against attack by Enniskillen's Williamites.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33This meant the actual Jacobite fighting force was more likely
0:23:33 > 0:23:3910,000 men, with 7,000 on the west bank and the rest on the east bank.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43At the same time, the Jacobite infantry were poorly trained,
0:23:43 > 0:23:47lacked discipline, and many were armed with pikes rather than muskets.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59But most crucially, the Jacobites lacked the heavy weaponry
0:23:59 > 0:24:03essential for besieging a walled town.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06They had only a few light cannon and some mortars.
0:24:06 > 0:24:12Artillery capable of inflicting considerable damage and fear within Derry,
0:24:12 > 0:24:16but incapable of making a breach in the city's walls.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21The Irish Jacobites certainly have enthusiasm,
0:24:21 > 0:24:26they are not particularly well led, they are poorly armed...
0:24:27 > 0:24:31That lack of armament, lack of discipline,
0:24:31 > 0:24:39is uncovered in the starkest way, in what is the debacle of Derry.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48The truth was, the Jacobites had come north believing the mere sight
0:24:48 > 0:24:52of their forces would shock and awe Derry into surrender.
0:24:53 > 0:24:59It had never occurred to them that this mightn't happen.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01And so to war.
0:25:02 > 0:25:09On Sunday 21st April, the Jacobites commenced bombardment of Derry.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Cannon balls crashed through the roofs of houses,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15and smashed through their walls.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29But while the Jacobite bombardment got underway,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33it was the Williamites who made the early and decisive military strikes.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42In the first, Adam Murray saw off a Jacobite attempt
0:25:42 > 0:25:46to take the strategic village of Pennyburn, a mile north of Derry.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54His men ambushed the Jacobite cavalry,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57inflicting heavy casualties on two troops of horse.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03And, as the fighting continued over several days,
0:26:03 > 0:26:07they claimed two of James's finest French generals -
0:26:07 > 0:26:09Maumont and Pusignan.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18Though Williamites scored some considerable successes early on,
0:26:18 > 0:26:23their success was largely due to the energy and leadership given
0:26:23 > 0:26:26by Adam Murray in particular.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31You have French senior officers being killed or fatally wounded
0:26:31 > 0:26:34by the Williamite soldiers.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37So what you've got is good defensive positions
0:26:37 > 0:26:41and, above all, good leadership.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45And a willingness to take risks, which is what Murray did.
0:26:49 > 0:26:54The action soon shifted to Windmill Hill, 500 yards from Bishop's Gate.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03Here Murray struck again, killing 200 Jacobites,
0:27:03 > 0:27:05and their Brigadier, Ramsey.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10The siege was only a fortnight old
0:27:10 > 0:27:14and already the Williamites had secured two major victories.
0:27:14 > 0:27:20And by the end of May, over 3,000 of James's men had lost their lives.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22The Jacobite wounded arrived in Dublin
0:27:22 > 0:27:25and told of the savage fighting in the north.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29Derry, they said, was James's slaughterhouse.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34Although Williamite morale was high,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38tensions and feuds flourished in the city's hothouse atmosphere,
0:27:38 > 0:27:43particularly between the Anglicans and the Presbyterians.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46There was even a sword fight between Governor Henry Baker
0:27:46 > 0:27:49and John Mitchelburne, the regimental commander -
0:27:49 > 0:27:52a fight which both men survived.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59By now, though, the Jacobites were strengthening their positions.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05After their failures at Pennyburn and Windmill Hill, they re-grouped,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08and moved their camps closer to Derry, establishing themselves
0:28:08 > 0:28:12at Balloughry Hill, Pennyburn village and Stronge's Orchard.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19Now the city was totally surrounded and under relentless cannon fire.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26John Mackenzie, a Presbyterian clergyman who was keeping a diary,
0:28:26 > 0:28:28recorded how this struck...
0:28:41 > 0:28:45While the Jacobite cannon induced terror in Derry,
0:28:45 > 0:28:47their soldiers were suffering badly.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52Indeed, conditions on the outside of the walls
0:28:52 > 0:28:56were no better than those on the inside.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58This was an extremely wet summer -
0:28:58 > 0:29:01some might say it was a fairly typical Derry summer.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05You've got these Jacobite soldiers who are in camps in sod huts
0:29:05 > 0:29:08on the hills overlooking the city.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12So what we've got over the period of the 105 days,
0:29:12 > 0:29:18is two armies gradually reducing in size, deteriorating,
0:29:18 > 0:29:23are suffering malnutrition, lack of ammunition and so forth.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26And probably feeling very, very sorry for themselves.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32The Jacobites also knew that time was not on their side
0:29:32 > 0:29:35and that a relief force was most likely en route
0:29:35 > 0:29:37to rescue the Derry garrison.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41To forestall this, the French engineer the Marquis de Pointis
0:29:41 > 0:29:46built a boom of logs and chains and strung it across the Foyle,
0:29:46 > 0:29:48here at Brookhall.
0:29:48 > 0:29:53De Pointis also built gun forts which he put at either end of the boom.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57Any ship attempting to sail to Derry would be caught on the boom
0:29:57 > 0:30:01and then pummelled mercilessly by guns firing from both sides of the river.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08The boom was a valuable aid to the Jacobites' cause.
0:30:08 > 0:30:09And by the end of May,
0:30:09 > 0:30:14their situation further improved with the arrival of new artillery.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18Now they could intensify their bombardment of the city.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22With cannonballs raining on the city by day,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25and bombs being lobbed over the walls by night,
0:30:25 > 0:30:28the defenders in Derry were coming under intense pressure.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31Shells of 270 pounds were typical.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35When the metal casing exploded, fragments scattered everywhere,
0:30:35 > 0:30:37mutilating everyone within range.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40A long, slow death by septicaemia followed.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47According to Governor Walker's account,
0:30:47 > 0:30:53between the 3rd and 9th of June, 159 bombs were thrown into the city.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00These induced such terror that the besieged, said Walker:
0:31:08 > 0:31:12On Monday, 3rd June - seven weeks after the start of the siege -
0:31:12 > 0:31:15the pendulum appeared to swing back in the defenders' favour.
0:31:15 > 0:31:20For on that day, three advance ships from the fleet,
0:31:20 > 0:31:24sent three weeks earlier from Liverpool to relieve Derry,
0:31:24 > 0:31:25were spotted on the Foyle.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32Now the Jacobites needed to conclude matters, and fast.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40As the relief fleet, under the command
0:31:40 > 0:31:45of Major-General Percy Kirke, sat on the Foyle, the Jacobite General,
0:31:45 > 0:31:49Richard Hamilton, dispatched a force to re-take Windmill Hill.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54But the Williamites quashed its attack.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01The mood in the Jacobite camp that night was sullen.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05Once again, the defenders had acquitted themselves better
0:32:05 > 0:32:07than might have been expected.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11And so the Jacobites turned to a new weapon.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15As de Pointis, the French engineer who had built the boom, put it,
0:32:15 > 0:32:19"Attacking must no longer be thought of,
0:32:19 > 0:32:21"we shall have to wait on hunger."
0:32:26 > 0:32:28De Pointis was right.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33Behind the walls, food supplies were running low, as were water, and fuel.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36The weather was also unseasonably cold,
0:32:36 > 0:32:40and disease had begun to rampage through the city.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44In the face of such adversities, the Williamites clung to hope
0:32:44 > 0:32:46wherever they could find it.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49Even the sight of a star in the daytime sky,
0:32:49 > 0:32:54they interpreted as a sign that the rest of Kirke's relief fleet was on its way.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00Perhaps - or perhaps not.
0:33:00 > 0:33:06But sure enough, on the 56th day of the siege, Thursday 13th June,
0:33:06 > 0:33:11the rest of the fleet was spotted far down the Lough.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15This was a major blow to the Jacobites,
0:33:15 > 0:33:20who now anticipated a Williamite attempt to lift the siege.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25But the Jacobites had an unlikely ally.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28None other than the commander of the relief fleet,
0:33:28 > 0:33:30Major-General Percy Kirke.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34Had he been of a different character, had he been more bold,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37he might have taken advantage of the collapse in Jacobite morale.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41But unwilling to risk his precious ships on the dreaded boom,
0:33:41 > 0:33:45he dropped anchor and waited and waited and waited.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52It looked as if this was the end.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55This was a sizable force of professional soldiers
0:33:55 > 0:34:00come from England to put an end to this siege.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04And yet this relief fleet sits in Lough Foyle.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06And it seems to do nothing.
0:34:06 > 0:34:11It does that because the commander Major-General Percy Kirke decided
0:34:11 > 0:34:17that the boom across the river is much stronger than it really was.
0:34:19 > 0:34:24Kirke would have been understandably reticent about breaching the boom.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28That it is a cold crumb of comfort to the residents of Derry
0:34:28 > 0:34:31who are dying of starvation in their hundreds.
0:34:35 > 0:34:36For the defenders,
0:34:36 > 0:34:40who by now had received the last of their weekly rations from Walker,
0:34:40 > 0:34:45joy turned to dismay at the sight of the ships idling on the Foyle.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53As the Presbyterian clergyman John Mackenzie wrote in his diary:
0:35:07 > 0:35:10They were told that William been sending an early fleet,
0:35:10 > 0:35:12but to be actually able to see the fleet
0:35:12 > 0:35:17gives them much more hope that they will be relieved.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20It is a very tantalising situation for them to be in.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23There's hope and despair at the same time.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28But despair for the Williamites equalled hope for the Jacobites
0:35:28 > 0:35:31as they realised the fleet was not for moving.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39Food shortages wreaked havoc in Derry.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42On June 18th, a mob even stormed Walker's quarters
0:35:42 > 0:35:44because they believed he was hoarding food.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47For the Williamites it was now more critical than ever
0:35:47 > 0:35:51that their dire circumstances were known to the ships of the fleet -
0:35:51 > 0:35:56that they were starving while the boats stalled on the lough.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Thankfully for them, a messenger, sent by Kirke,
0:36:03 > 0:36:07managed to slip through the Jacobite lines and swim to Derry.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12For the first time, the governors now had the chance to communicate
0:36:12 > 0:36:15directly with the fleet and Kirke.
0:36:18 > 0:36:23Walker sent the messenger - a man named Roch - back to Kirke and his fleet
0:36:23 > 0:36:28with a letter describing the perilous circumstances inside Derry's walls.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32But this time, Roch was not so lucky.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34He was shot and wounded by the Jacobites,
0:36:34 > 0:36:37and had to turn back to the city.
0:36:40 > 0:36:46Another volunteer was needed for the dangerous mission of swimming to the fleet, 12 miles away.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50And a man, known to history only as McGimpsey, stepped forward.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58McGimpsey set off with three letters from Walker to Kirke,
0:36:58 > 0:37:01wrapped up in a pig's bladder tied around his neck.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07Their message was stark -
0:37:07 > 0:37:11if the city wasn't rescued within six days it would have to surrender.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17Just before dark on the 26 June,
0:37:17 > 0:37:21McGimpsey slipped into the Foyle and swam for the fleet.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25But he never made it.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29He drowned during the night and his body was retrieved by Jacobites.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35In a macabre twist, the Jacobites strung up McGimpsey's body
0:37:35 > 0:37:39on a gallows in front of the city walls - there for all to see.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45In doing so, they sent a stark and demoralising message
0:37:45 > 0:37:47to those inside.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50That having seized the letters McGimpsey was carrying,
0:37:50 > 0:37:54they knew that the people were starving and close to surrender,
0:37:54 > 0:37:59and that Kirke and his fleet were still unaware of their plight.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07Williamite morale suffered another blow
0:38:07 > 0:38:12with Governor Baker's death from illness on the 30th June.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15Now Mitchelburne, with whom Baker had had a sword fight,
0:38:15 > 0:38:17replaced him as joint governor of the city.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23There was also a change of leadership outside the walls,
0:38:23 > 0:38:28as the Jacobite Lieutenant-General, Conrad de Rosen, returned to Derry.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31A fierce and resolute soldier,
0:38:31 > 0:38:36before long he would live up to his reputation for ruthlessness.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40Although they had thwarted the city's attempts
0:38:40 > 0:38:44to communicate with the fleet, its presence on the Foyle
0:38:44 > 0:38:47was still ominous to the Jacobites.
0:38:47 > 0:38:52Derry must fall before Kirke's ships could reach the city.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56Knowing that the city was on its last legs, Lieutenant General Richard Hamilton
0:38:56 > 0:39:00made the garrison an offer for its surrender.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04All who wished to, could remain in Derry under his protection.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07All who wanted to return home could leave freely.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16The garrison gave the appearance of considering Hamilton's proposals,
0:39:16 > 0:39:19but in reality was stalling - holding out for relief
0:39:19 > 0:39:23from the fleet, whilst its citizens were trying to survive on
0:39:23 > 0:39:26horse flesh, dogs, cats,
0:39:26 > 0:39:28rats and mice.
0:39:28 > 0:39:30All of which had a price.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36To increase the pressure on the city,
0:39:36 > 0:39:41Lieutenant-General Conrad de Rosen now turned to blackmail.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43He rounded up Protestants from the surrounding area
0:39:43 > 0:39:48and drove them naked and hungry to Butcher's Gate.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51His message for the garrison was chilling -
0:39:51 > 0:39:54either let your fellow Protestants in...or let them die.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01Rosen believed the Williamites would open the gates
0:40:01 > 0:40:06and admit their fellow Protestants creating mayhem and the fall of the city.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14But it seems he underestimated the prisoners' resolve.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Governor Walker's account of the siege describes
0:40:17 > 0:40:20how they pleaded with the guards at the gate to resist pity
0:40:20 > 0:40:22and keep them locked out.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30With the city's gates remaining closed and the garrison
0:40:30 > 0:40:34threatening to hang its Jacobite prisoners, Rosen relented.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38His plan had failed and now Derry, according to Walker:
0:40:43 > 0:40:47James was appalled by Rosen's tactics and had him recalled to France.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55Some historical accounts have mythologized the city's
0:40:55 > 0:40:57fearless resistance.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00But whilst its citizens had the will to resist,
0:41:00 > 0:41:02they no longer had the ability.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09By now there was little meat - of ANY description - within the city.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13Likewise there was virtually no fresh water,
0:41:13 > 0:41:18while the lanes and streets ran with faeces and urine.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27Because of the lack of fresh food, because of the overcrowding,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30you've got an outbreak of disease.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34You've got typhus and various other diseases
0:41:34 > 0:41:38that are endemic in such crowded situations,
0:41:38 > 0:41:41which are killing off considerable numbers of the defenders.
0:41:43 > 0:41:49As casualties mounted, bodies - not only of people, but horses -
0:41:49 > 0:41:50are putrefying.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54So conditions inside and outside the city would have been very poor.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01But just as conditions inside Derry were getting critical,
0:42:01 > 0:42:06the situation took yet another dramatic turn for the worse.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10From the walls the defenders watched, in despair and disbelief,
0:42:10 > 0:42:14as Kirke's fleet weighed anchor and set sail out of the Foyle.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23Kirke was moving his ships to Inch Island, in Lough Swilly.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28His plan was to rest his men until further troops came from England.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37Only once they arrived would Kirke sail to Derry's rescue.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40But of course, no-one in the city knew he planned on returning.
0:42:42 > 0:42:47When those ships head out of the Foyle it must've been
0:42:47 > 0:42:51a crushing psychological blow to people who are starving.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53People who have held out for so long.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57To think that deliverance was at hand, and then they disappear.
0:43:00 > 0:43:05Deliverance is within reach and then it is snatched away again.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09And this does cause, in the later months of the siege,
0:43:09 > 0:43:11there are mutinies within the city.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15Some... Many people within the city want to surrender.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18They're reduced by famine, they're reduced by disease,
0:43:18 > 0:43:21they're ill, they're hungry...
0:43:21 > 0:43:25There's no wonder that some inside the city say we could surrender.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32Hamilton took the opportunity to press for Derry's surrender.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36Copies of his offer were smuggled behind the walls and one copy,
0:43:36 > 0:43:40inside this shell, was fired into the city.
0:43:40 > 0:43:45Hamilton's offer stated that those who accepted his terms could serve James.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49Or, if they wished to leave Ireland, could have free passes.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52The rest could return to their homes,
0:43:52 > 0:43:55where they would be free to practice their religion.
0:43:55 > 0:44:01Hamilton's message was simple - make peace now or face certain death.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07Hungry and exhausted, and with the relief fleet gone,
0:44:07 > 0:44:11the Williamites saw little choice and agreed to talk to the enemy.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18But while they decided to drag on the negotiations
0:44:18 > 0:44:22for as long as possible, they also knew that unless support came quickly,
0:44:22 > 0:44:26they'd have no alternative but to surrender.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33On Saturday the 13th July, all guns fell silent
0:44:33 > 0:44:36while the two sides met and talked on Windmill Hill.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43Meanwhile Governor Walker took stock.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46Since his last roll call five days earlier,
0:44:46 > 0:44:50the garrison had lost 207 men to hunger and disease.
0:44:50 > 0:44:54It now stood at 5,313 men.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58Disaster was drawing ever closer.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05But then, into Walker's room, appeared a little boy.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12The truce had enabled him to make his way from the fleet, through the
0:45:12 > 0:45:16Jacobite lines with a letter from Kirke hidden inside his gaiters.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25From the letter the boy had carried, Walker learnt of the fleet's
0:45:25 > 0:45:31move from Derry over here, to Inch Island here in County Donegal.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35He also learnt that Kirke only intended to come
0:45:35 > 0:45:39once further troop reinforcements had arrived.
0:45:39 > 0:45:44Walker drafted a reply - the enemy had offered honourable terms.
0:45:44 > 0:45:49Unless Kirke appeared before July the 26th
0:45:49 > 0:45:55the city would have no alternative but to accept those terms and surrender.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57The letter hidden about his person,
0:45:57 > 0:46:02the little boy set off to walk back to Inch and the fleet.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11You can imagine the boy, probably in his early teens,
0:46:11 > 0:46:14maybe even a little bit younger,
0:46:14 > 0:46:18would have been able to pass lines of soldiers -
0:46:18 > 0:46:23simply being seen as a non-descript youngster, even an urchin.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27But it still required a considerable amount of courage on the boy's part
0:46:27 > 0:46:32because if it were known or even suspected that he was a spy
0:46:32 > 0:46:35there was only one likely outcome for that -
0:46:35 > 0:46:37his immediate death.
0:46:39 > 0:46:44I suppose he's this insignificant little figure
0:46:44 > 0:46:46who nevertheless is so important
0:46:46 > 0:46:50as a conduit between an increasingly desperate
0:46:50 > 0:46:58garrison and what they would consider a rather lacklustre relief operation.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04Inside the walls, Walker now had a dilemma.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08With Kirke's fleet still at Inch Island and awaiting reinforcements,
0:47:08 > 0:47:11there was little hope for the starving citizens
0:47:11 > 0:47:13that they would soon be rescued.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20And so to boost morale, Walker amended the letter brought by the little boy
0:47:20 > 0:47:25so that it falsely stated that there were already thousands of men at Inch,
0:47:25 > 0:47:27preparing to rescue Derry.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30This letter was copied and handed out around the city.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37On Windmill Hill negotiations stalled.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41Hamilton wanted the city's surrender by Monday the 15th July.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44But the city's commissioners were holding out for Friday
0:47:44 > 0:47:45the 26th July.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51They agreed to extend the truce and meet the following morning.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56Each of them - especially in the later stages -
0:47:56 > 0:47:58each of them is dancing around the other.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00Each one is trying to gain time.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04The Jacobites, they're aware of what happened with the fleet.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08The Jacobites are aware that the fleet will come back.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11So they know time is running out for them, too.
0:48:11 > 0:48:13Time is running out for the people in the city,
0:48:13 > 0:48:18they might be that weakened, that they can no longer defend the city.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21Powder is running out, supplies are running out.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23So each of them is playing for time.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25They need to bring this to a conclusion.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30Derry's commissioners returned to the city
0:48:30 > 0:48:33and reported Hamilton's demand of surrender.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36To their surprise, Walker argued that they should comply.
0:48:37 > 0:48:42But what about the letter from Kirke that the little boy had brought?
0:48:42 > 0:48:47Why surrender if - as it said - troops were already amassed at Inch?
0:48:47 > 0:48:51Walker confessed. He had forged the letter.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53Kirke had no plans to rescue them anytime soon.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58All the city could expect was more hunger and death.
0:49:03 > 0:49:10The next day, Sunday the 14th July, the Williamites met Hamilton
0:49:10 > 0:49:14once again, but they could not agree a surrender date.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16It was stalemate.
0:49:16 > 0:49:22Frustrated, Hamilton recommenced bombardment almost immediately.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26For the Williamites, all hope now focused, once again,
0:49:26 > 0:49:28on Kirke and the relief fleet.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34Four days later the little messenger boy returned to Derry
0:49:34 > 0:49:37with another letter from Kirke at the fleet.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40It offered assurances that he would relieve Derry,
0:49:40 > 0:49:44with troops from Enniskillen and those expected from England.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52In their reply to Kirke, the joint governors of the city,
0:49:52 > 0:49:56Walker and Mitchelburne, wrote that the guns and boom on the Foyle
0:49:56 > 0:50:00had gone. It was a lie, as they were still intact.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06As he made his way back to the fleet with the letter,
0:50:06 > 0:50:09this time the boy was stopped by Jacobite troops
0:50:09 > 0:50:11and taken in for interrogation.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18However, the little boy told the Jacobites nothing
0:50:18 > 0:50:21and two days later he appeared in Kirke's camp.
0:50:21 > 0:50:27Kirke was delighted with the news, the boom and the guns were gone,
0:50:27 > 0:50:30and Kirke finally launched the relief operation.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34The following day, his ships appeared on the Foyle
0:50:34 > 0:50:37and anchored here, off Culmore Point,
0:50:37 > 0:50:41to await a favourable wind before making their final approach to Derry.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54But there were few signs of hope or optimism within the city's walls.
0:50:54 > 0:50:59On Sunday 28th July, the 100th day of the siege,
0:50:59 > 0:51:04Walker noted that within two days, a staggering 435 soldiers had died.
0:51:06 > 0:51:09They were now down to 4,456 men.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17The civilian death rate had also soared.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21Graveyards, backyards and gardens were packed with bodies,
0:51:21 > 0:51:24and in the streets, there wasn't a dog to be seen.
0:51:27 > 0:51:32The following day, Walker, who noted the garrison could exist only a further two days,
0:51:32 > 0:51:35preached here in St Columb's Cathedral.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39He told his congregation he was confident that God would deliver them.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41But they must remain true to their faith.
0:51:45 > 0:51:47This was the darkest hour for the Williamites.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51But that evening the wind blew strongly in their favour
0:51:51 > 0:51:54and the ships on the Foyle made their move for Derry.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03Then the wind slackened, leaving only the flood tide
0:52:03 > 0:52:06to carry the lead ship, the Mountjoy, towards the boom,
0:52:06 > 0:52:09which - contrary to Walker's assurances to Kirke -
0:52:09 > 0:52:11was still in place.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21The Jacobites fired from both banks of the Foyle,
0:52:21 > 0:52:25while musketeers returned fire from on-board the Mountjoy.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32Meanwhile, on board a longboat, men frantically chopped at the boom with their axes.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44And finally the Mountjoy, carried forward by the tide,
0:52:44 > 0:52:48struck the chain, which curved like a bowstring - then snapped.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50The boom was broken.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57Although the Jacobite guns continued firing,
0:52:57 > 0:53:01they couldn't stop the Mountjoy from sailing on and reaching the city.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03The siege was over.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05Derry had survived.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13Thomas Ash, a soldier, recorded the sense of relief in the city.
0:53:13 > 0:53:14It was, he said:
0:53:25 > 0:53:28Once the fleet were seen arriving at the ship quay,
0:53:28 > 0:53:32then that was the ultimate message to the Jacobites,
0:53:32 > 0:53:34that this is the end.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38This is relief. They've got food, they've got ammunition,
0:53:38 > 0:53:41and they'll be able to continue the fight.
0:53:41 > 0:53:46And for the Jacobite army, there is no alternative but to strike camp
0:53:46 > 0:53:49and leave, which is what, over the next few days, they did.
0:53:54 > 0:53:55According to Walker,
0:53:55 > 0:53:59the garrison lost nearly 3,000 soldiers during the siege.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01He didn't record the civilian deaths,
0:54:01 > 0:54:05although estimates put them at between 4,000 and 10,000.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11The city had paid an enormous price.
0:54:15 > 0:54:17But by successfully defending its walls,
0:54:17 > 0:54:21Derry's garrison delivered a strategic victory for William
0:54:21 > 0:54:25and a devastating blow to James's Jacobite campaign in Ireland.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34The Jacobite failure to take the city,
0:54:34 > 0:54:39really meant that the high-water mark
0:54:39 > 0:54:45of James's attempts to regain his throne had passed.
0:54:47 > 0:54:51This is a huge victory for the Williamite forces.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53This is the Maiden City.
0:54:53 > 0:54:58The Protestant citadel, the plantation citadel, remains secure.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01It... It's walls are not breached.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03That's of huge psychological
0:55:03 > 0:55:07and propagandist importance to the Williamite cause.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17It's very, very common to say
0:55:17 > 0:55:21that the significant victory for the Williamites in Ireland
0:55:21 > 0:55:23was the Battle of the Boyne.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25The only significance that the Battle of the Boyne had,
0:55:25 > 0:55:30was that the two monarchs were on the battlefield.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34The Jacobites were finished when they failed to take Derry.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47Just three days later, as Hamilton's forces prepared to leave Derry,
0:55:47 > 0:55:502,000 Jacobites were slaughtered by Williamites
0:55:50 > 0:55:5370 miles south of the city, at Newtownbutler.
0:55:53 > 0:55:58A further 500 Jacobites fled into Lough Erne and drowned.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04And worse was to come for James.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08William's subsequent victories at the Boyne and Aughrim
0:56:08 > 0:56:12brought to an end all hope of using Ireland to regain the throne.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23But the siege of Derry was more than a defining episode
0:56:23 > 0:56:26in the power struggle between William and James.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29It was a bloody and epic fight to the death
0:56:29 > 0:56:32that was to have an impact not only beyond these walls
0:56:32 > 0:56:36but beyond the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41What happened in Derry, not only changed Irish history,
0:56:41 > 0:56:45it changed British history and it changed European history.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49So that the true significance of those 105 days
0:56:49 > 0:56:52are much, much broader than just this city.
0:56:52 > 0:56:57This city played a pivotal part in the history of an entire continent.
0:56:57 > 0:57:04That history pivoted around the walls of Derry for 105 days in 1689.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10But the siege was, above all else, a defining and symbolic moment
0:57:10 > 0:57:13in the psyche and mythology of Ulster Protestants.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20Their sense, or perception, of being under siege
0:57:20 > 0:57:24is encapsulated in the story of the siege of Derry.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26And their cries of "no surrender"
0:57:26 > 0:57:29shouted out from these walls
0:57:29 > 0:57:31have echoed down through the centuries.
0:57:33 > 0:57:35And they can still be heard today.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd