Cromwell and his army encamped at the walls of Wexford on October 1, 1649. It was most important to capture that town, for it was through Wexford that the Confederates received their arms and kept in touch with supporters in foreign countries. He hoped the capture would be easy.

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Ormonde also realized the importance of the place and sent 1,000 infantry and 300 cavalry to reinforce the garrison. The townspeople, however, did not trust Ormonde. They remembered that he had surrendered Dublin a few years earlier; they knew he had recently made common cause with Inchiquin; they remembered how he had massacred his own people earlier in the revolt. Their distrust was so strong that they initially refused entry to Ormonde’s forces and did so only after the Parliamentary fleet arrived.

Cromwell himself admitted that Wexford was pleasantly seated and strong. It had a rampart of earth 15 feet thick within the walls to improve its chances of withstanding a siege. It was garrisoned by more than 2,000 men. In the fort and elsewhere were nearly 100 cannons. In the harbor were three ships, one with 34 guns and two with 20. Since it was the middle of October, winter would soon be setting in, and sickness would soon take its toll on troops camped in the open. Ormonde was camped 20 miles away at Ross, waiting for a favorable moment to strike.

The Confederates faced a disadvantage that negated the town’s impressive fortifications, however: there was a traitor in their midst, Captain James Stafford. Had Stafford’s treason not occurred, Wexford would no doubt have been a tougher nut to crack. On October 11, Stafford gave Cromwell entrance to the town. The scenes that followed mirrored those at Drogheda. Many Franciscans and other priests were killed. Three hundred women were massacred while standing at the cross in the public square. They had hoped that being near the cross would soften the hearts of the Christian soldiers. Instead it identified them as Catholics, and they were put to death. The churches were then destroyed. The total number of dead at Wexford was about 2,000.

After Wexford, Parliament sent Cromwell reinforcements and an enormous sum of money to buy off his English enemies in Ireland. Cromwell then marched on Ross. Two days after the summons, the town surrendered without a fight, although Ormonde had sent 2,500 extra men into the town. The townspeople no doubt were frightened by the events at Drogheda and Wexford. Unable to prevent them from crossing the Barrow River, Cromwell granted terms: the inhabitants were protected from looting and violence, and the garrison was allowed to march away under arms. He turned down a request for freedom of worship, however.

About 500 men from the Ross garrison, mostly Inchiquin’s men, defected to Cromwell. The reinforcements were welcome, because the expedition was beginning to take its toll on him and his men. At Ross, Cromwell himself suffered from a mild form of malaria. The defection of the troops was a blow to Ormonde. The ranks of the Confederacy were discouraged and disaffected. Ormonde wrote to Charles II that only his presence could hearten his discouraged subjects.

In early November, the Irish cause suffered an even worse blow. O’Neill died of a mysterious illness. Some say the only Irish commander who could have taken on Cromwell head to head had been poisoned. Before he died, O’Neill signed a treaty with Ormonde and sent some of his troops south, but after this severe setback Ormonde had to rely on withdrawal and evasion tactics.

After Ross, Cromwell built a bridge across the Barrow, advanced into Tipperary and captured Ormonde’s castle. He then joined his son-in-law, General Henry Ireton, at Duncannon. After some deliberation, most of the army was withdrawn from Ross and placed at a less fortified post to form a blockade around Duncannon to prevent supplies coming in from Waterford. That proved unnecessary, because Waterford refused to part with any of its own scanty provisions.

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