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The Siege of Charlemont took place in July–August 1650 during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland when the fortress of Charlemont in County Armagh, Ireland was besieged by Charles Coote's Parliamentarian army, which was largely composed of soldiers of the New Model Army. The force led by Coote eventually took the fort from its Irish defenders, but not before they suffered heavy losses, with some 500–800 Parliamentarian Soldiers being killed during assaults on the formidable stronghold. In terms of the number of soldiers killed in battle, The Siege of Charlemont was the second bloodiest engagement fought by the Parliamentarians in Ireland, only surpassed by the Siege of Clonmel. ==Background== Charlemont was the first stronghold to be captured in the Irish uprising of 1641, seized a force led by Felim O'Neill within 24 hours of the outbreak of the rebellion. It was one of the most modern fortrifications in Ireland and as such was one of the few strongholds in northern Ireland to remain in Irish Confederate hands throughout the 1640s. At the end of 1649, a force of New Model Army soldiers under Robert Venables moved into Ulster and linked up with Charles Coote's small army. The combined force conquered eastern Ulster easily, routing the Scottish Royalist Ulster army at Lisnagarvey. The only serious opposition to the Parliamentarian army came from Felim O'Neill's Ulstermen, who launched a night attack on the Parliamentarian camp, though to little effect. At the end of 1649, the Irish Ulster army had been momentarily paralysed as a result of the death of Owen Roe O'Neill. In 1650 Heber MacMahon was chosen to lead the Ulster army, and by mid-1650 the force was once again active, pushing into Ulster and threatening the forces under Coote. MacMahon however was a bishop rather than a military man, and at the battle of Scarrifholis he led the Ulster army to its destruction. The only senior Irish commander to escape Scarriffhollis was Sir Felim O'Neill. Along with a small number of survivors, he made his way to Charlemont Fort, the last remaining Irish stronghold in Ulster. Realising that the fort would be near impossible to capture without heavy artillery, Venables and Coote brought Siege Cannon and Mortars with their army when they commenced their attack in late July. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Siege of Charlemont」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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