| Battle of Prosperous | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theIrish Rebellion | |||||||
 Attack on Prosperous byGeorge Cruikshank | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Irishmen |  Government Great Britain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| John Esmonde | Richard Swayne | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 200 | 150 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown, probably few | c. 140 killed | ||||||
  Battle of Prosperous (Ireland) Show map of Ireland | |||||||
TheBattle of Prosperous was a military engagement betweenBritish Crown forces andUnited Irishmen rebels on 24 May 1798, during that year's Irish Rebellion, in the town ofProsperous, County Kildare.
Prosperous was founded bySir Robert Brooke in 1780 as a village for processingcotton produced in theAmericas. Whena rebellion spearheaded by the United Irishmen broke out againstBritish rule in Ireland, rebel forces led byJohn Esmonde made plans to capture Prosperous.[1] Esmonde had 200 rebels under his command, while Prosperous was garrisoned by elements of theRoyal Cork City Militia under the command ofCaptain Richard Swayne reinforced by detachments of a Welsh mountedfencible regiment, theAncient British Regiment of Fencible Cavalry Dragoons (also known as the Ancient Britons), numbering 150 men in all.[2]
On 24 May 1798, Esmonde ordered his forces to attack Prosperous. Their entry was preceded by the infiltration of a small rebel vanguard, who with the possible help of female sympathisers residing in Prosperous, scaled the walls of the town's barracks, killed the sentries and opened the town gates. The barracks were quickly surrounded and attacked by the rebels who repulsed an attempt by the garrison to break out; "Swayne himself was surprised in bed, shot and piked to death and his body burned in a tar barrel."[3] The remainder of the garrison were trapped in the upper floors of the barracks which was set on fire by the rebels, causing them to jump in desperation onto the ground below, where they were summarily executed withpikes. While the rebels suffered no known casualties, c. 140 members of the garrison were killed in the battle.[4]
10 members of the garrison, all belonging to the Ancient Britons, managed to escape from Prosperous toDunlavin,County Wicklow, where they participated in theDunlavin Green executions on 26 May. Esmonde, who had previously enlisted in theClaneYeomanry as their first-lieutenant, returned to his regular unit hoping to gain intelligence, but was betrayed by his aide, captured and brought toDublin for trial.[1][4] He wascourt-martialled on 13 June and found guilty of being adeserter. Esmonde was executed byhanging on 14 June at onCarlisle Bridge with his yeoman's coat being worn reversed to indicate that he was convicted of desertion. Prosperous remained under the control of the United Irishmen until 19 June, when a detachment of the5th Dragoon Guards under the command ofLieutenant-Colonel Stewart recaptured the town.[5]: 124
