To the Honorable, VV: Lenthal Eſq Speaker of the Honorable Houſe of Commons.

UPon the twelfth of this inſtant I marched from Moyallo to meet the Rebells army, who that morning marched from Kintuirk towards me, with Twelve hundred horſe and Seven thouſand foot, but they gave themſelves out to be Two thouſand horſe and Nine thouſand foot; and both armies came in view one of another about one in the afternoon, ours being Twelve hun­dred horſe and near Four thouſand foot: Where­upon they inſtantly took a Hill of ſtrength and ad­vantage, and drew up, which being two miles di­ſtant from us, we had not day-light enough to at­tempt any thing upon them, and therefore lodged our men in a convenient place about a mile from them, from whence we might obſerve that we could not charge them where they were, but upon diſ­advantage; and being doubtful that they might ſtand a while the next morning upon that ground, in expectation that we would come up to them, I writ the incloſed Letter to the Lord Taaff, to invite him to fight upon a fair plain, that lay between both ar­mies, and would be indifferent to both ſides: To which he gave o other anſwer, but by word of mouth to my Trumpeter, That he was not ſo little a Soldier, as to forgo any advantage of ground he could gain: And I do now finde that there is a pro­pheſie that Mac Donogh ſhould ſpill much Engliſh blood upon Knocknaſs, which heretofore hath been the name of that hill, and my Lord Taaff conceiving himſelf to be that Mac Donogh, in regard the eſtate of Mac Donogh in Conaught was made the reward of his Grandfathers ſervice againſt the Rebels the laſt Wars (which is now his) he would not be drawn from the Hill, to which therefore we did advance; and finding (that, as they were drawn up, we ſhould not onely have loſt the advantage of the wind and ſun, but have been alſo forced to charge upon much diſadvantage to our horſe, if we had gone on direct­ly on their front; we drew to the right hand of them and found a piece of ground within a convenient di­ſtance, to play with Ordnance upon their Right wing, where I cauſed two pieces to play, to the in­tent that I might diſcompoſe the form they were in; and in the mean time I directed the drawing of our men to the ditch at the foot of their Hill, that they might be ready to fall on, whileſt they ſhould be removing from their ground.

But after two ſhot was made (one whereof ſlew a Trumpeter of theirs) they perceiving that the Ord­nance would force them from that ground, preſent­ly came on down the hill to meet our men, and at the ſame inſtant that we brake their main Body, and left Wing, they brake a part of our left Wing of Horſe, being the middle Diviſion of three that were on that ſide; the other two routed thoſe that char­ged them, and following the execution, diſcerned not the advantage gained by the Rebels upon thoſe cloſe by them, where Col: Purcel with his Horſe, and Sir Alexander mac Donnel, whom they call Collae Kittagh, with his Red-ſhanks, ſlew Sir William Brid­ges; and Col: Gray then had the execution of our Forlorn-hope of Foot, under the command of Lieu­tenant Col: Criſp, who was taken priſoner, and Ma­jor Brown, who was ſlain with about Forty of their men that were drawn thither to ſecure the Ord­nance which Sir Alexander mac Donnel poſſeſſed a while (as alſo our Baggage) until I hapned to look back that way (and perceiving them chaſing our men) I commanded two Diviſions of Horſe, who were the Reſerve of the right Wing, to charge them, which was exceedingly well performed, and Sir Alexander and his Lieut: Col: ſlain, with moſt of all his Red-ſhanks, of whom I believe there was not above a fourth part that eſcaped. This Fight began a little before two in the Afternoon; the diſpute laſted not above half a quarter of an hour, but the execution ended not in that day: for though we were killing till night, as faſt as we could, yet we found Two or three hundred the next day in the Woods, as we were viewing the bodies, but could not poſſibly get any exact accompt of the number ſlain; for after I had an accompt of more then 2000. that the purſuing parties ſlew in their ſe­veral walks, I was informed of many hundreds that were ſlain in divers other places, ſo as our men be­lieve there were not leſs then Five thouſand ſlain; but I do not think it poſſible there ſhould be above Three thouſand, becauſe the diſpute laſted not at all; and that exeept the three Regiments of Foot that came on with Sir Alexander mac Donnel, the reſt made the beſt uſe they could of their heels, to the Woods and Bogs toward Kintuirk, New mar­ket and Lyfcarrol: yet we cut off Two hundred of their Horſe, and killed many of their Horſemen. We took four Wagons full of Ammunition, but have not yet taken up their arms, whereof I am moſt confident that they have left us near Six thouſand in the field, which is ſo much the more conſiderable a loſs, becauſe ſcarcity of arms amongſt them is very great, as appears by ſome of their Letters, which doth diſcover all the ſecreſie of that party and their deſigns. Wherefore I thought it my duty to preſent them to your Lordſhips, &c.

I am told by a Gentleman we have taken, that if my Lord Taaff do not make an eſcape, That their Supreme Councel will undoubtedly take away his life, having knowledge of his deſign againſt them, which they were firſt occaſioned to grow jealous of by the information he gave them of my offering, and his rejecting a Ceſſation, which he labored to poſ­ſeſs them with, whileſt he ſought to gain one from me, to the end he might deſtroy them, and bring the ſole Power into his own hand; which when they began to apprehend, they imployed Bealing one of their Councel to diſcourſe with my Lord, about the reaſons of his rejecting a Ceſſation, who diſcovered that there was no ſuch thing: Whereupon the Su­preme Councel (ſeeming not to take notice of Taaffs deſigns) pretended a neceſſity to have Owen Rowe in­gage with Col: Munck and Col: Jones, and that all would be at ſtake, and that therefore Four hundred of Taaffs horſe muſt inſtantly march to his aſſiſtance, which they ſent him Orders for, but were not obey­ed: On the other ſide, in ſtead of injoyning Owen Roe to fight, they expreſly forbid it him, and then reſol­ved to let Col: Munck and Col: Jones take any place, or deſtroy any country, rather then they would in­gage his army, until they had eſtabliſhed their own Power in the Aſſembly, by the countenance of it. Again, they ſent for my Brother, to whom, by the advice of the Councel of War, I gave liberty unto to go upon his word, to get off that Eſtate he had in their Quarters, being never to be releaſed; and they earneſtly preſſed him to labor with me to treat with them about a Ceſſation, making demonſtration of great advantages that I ſhould have by it; but for no other purpoſe, then to diſcern whether I were at all inclinable to it, being afraid of nothing more, becauſe Taaffs Army would then be at liberty to countenance their Faction in the Aſſembly; wherefore they ſend Letters upon Letters to him, to do ſome conſiderable Service upon us, upbraiding him with the vaſt expence and idleneſs of his Army, which they uſe means to have written unto him by divers private hands, inſomuch that my Lord Taaff was fain, for the vindication of his Honor, to de­cline his Oracle, my Lord Digbies Advice, who for­bade him to engage upon any terms againſt us, leſt it ſhould overthrow all his other Deſigns. Sir, thus it hath pleaſed the Lord to make our enemies grinde themſelves to powder, whileſt both aym at the Power to deſtroy us; and now, whereas we were the other day ready to periſh by our wants, we have now liberty to diſperſe our ſelves in the Rebels quarters, and take what they afford, whither we have marched with hungry bellies, the Common Soldier having ſpent all his proviſion Twenty four hours before we ſought, and neither Officer or Soldier ha­ving one bit of bread, or any other victual, but what Oatmeal and fleſh we got in our marches: Where­fore I am now forced to invite the Countrey to come in under contribution, that I may proſecute this Victory, and at leaſt keep the Rebels from re­cruiting their Army, if I do not reduce ſome of their chief Gariſons, which I deſign, in caſe I can get this Countrey to bring me in proviſion, whileſt I lie be­fore fore them: And thought this Deſign may be too dif­ficult to effect this unſeaſonable time of the year, yet if I did not invite the Inhabitants to ſtay at their habitations, and make proviſion for us, I could not poſſibly get one days victual; ſo as I ſhould be for­ced to return home, and leave the Countrey, neither made uſeles to them by deſtruction, nor uſeful to us by preſent Supportation, or future Contribution, which we hope to force from them by this means in ſome conſiderable meaſure, and yet protect them no longer, then the ſeaſon of the year would of it ſelf prove a ſufficient Fortification againſt us: If I could diſcern any other that might better conduce to the advantage of your Service, I ſhould there­unto apply the endeavors of, Sir,