ABSTRACT
August 1597 saw two fairly predictable moves on the part of Elizabeth's administration in Ireland. Because of the unstable Ulster situation and well-authenticated reports that Tyrone was actively negotiating for Spanish aid, the queen had made exceptional efforts to send troops and supplies. The troops proved to be of low quality, but there were over 2000 of them and the supplies for 2100 men for 112 days were much more adequate than usual. Ormonde moved back into the disturbed districts of Leinster. That was where his own strength lay, and though he was criticised in retrospect for the decision, it was at the time obvious and right. Far more dangerous was Marshal Bagenal's march to reprovision the Blackwater fort. He marched from Armagh with nearly 4000 foot and 320 horse, but with the absolute certainty that he would meet the full force of the army of Ulster commanded by Tyrone and O'Donnell at a place and time of their own choosing and probably on a battlefield prepared to receive Bagenal. It was a catch-22 situation with a vengeance, and the opinions of experienced soldiers like Sir Henry Brounker that the fort was a strategic trap, opinions shared by Ormonde, were vindicated in the most horrendous fashion. Bagenal moved towards the fort with his army in blocks of two regiments; of these blocks, one was the vanguard, one his centre, and one brought up the rear. They were too widely spaced, unavoidably drawn out in marching order as they moved to a point where the vanguard could be seen by the gallant garrison of the fort, and offered a maximum of flank to the inevitable enveloping tactics of their enemies - who certainly outnumbered them, though perhaps by no more than a thousand. As the vanguard crossed the ford on the Callan brook which gave the battle its name as the Battle of the Yellow Ford, it ran into yet another classic tactic. To block the advance of the enveloped force a trench barrier surmounted by a thorn hedge had been constructed.
