Frederick Schomberg, once called “the ablest soldier of his age”, was a key figure at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

Schomberg (originally Friedrich Hermann von Schönberg) was born in Heidelberg in 1615. His military career began in 1633 and lasted for over half a century of service in the Swedish, French, Dutch and English armies. He spoke German, Latin, French, Dutch, English and Portuguese, fought for the Dutch republic, commanded French and English troops in Portugal, and was general-in-chief of Brandenburg.

When the Protestant William of Orange invaded England, Schomberg was at his side. In 1689, now Duke of Schomberg, he was appointed commander-in-chief in Ireland, the main battleground for William’s war with James II, the Catholic king he had deposed. At the crucial showdown at the Boyne in 1690, Schomberg commanded the Williamite centre. While rallying his troops, he was killed by a shot from a musket.

Schomberg (Schönberg), Frederick Herman von
by Harman Murtagh
Schomberg (Schönberg), Frederick Herman von (1615–90), 1st duke of Schomberg, soldier of fortune, and commander-in-chief of William III's army in Ireland, was born 6 December 1615 at Heidelberg, Germany, the only son of Hans Meinhard von Schönberg (1582–1616), marshal of the Palatinate and sometime ambassador to England, and his English wife, Anne (d. 1615), daughter of Edward Sutton or Dudley, 5th Lord Dudley, and lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth, electress Palatine. After two years at Leyden University, in 1633 he became a soldier in the thirty years war, serving in Bernard of Saxe-Weimar's protestant army at the battle of Nördlingen (1634), and later with Henry, prince of Orange. In 1651 he entered the service of France, campaigning with distinction under Turenne in Flanders. In 1655 he was promoted lieutenant-general, and in 1658 commanded the left wing of the French army in the decisive victory over the Spaniards at the battle of the Dunes. From 1660 to 1668, with Louis XIV's secret support, he commanded the Portuguese in their struggle against Spain, overcoming immense logistical, military, and political difficulties to win a series of victories that sealed Portuguese independence.

After a short period in England in 1673, he was given command of the French forces in Roussillon, winning a marshal's baton in 1675 for his successful campaign against the Spaniards. In 1676 he was appointed to the senior command in Flanders under Louis. Thereafter, probably because of his protestantism, he was given only lesser appointments till his career in France abruptly ended in 1685 with the revocation of the edict of Nantes. Having resisted a personal attempt by Louis to persuade him to abjure his Calvinist faith, he retired to Portugal before moving to Brandenburg to command the Great Elector's army. In 1688 he was released to take command of the Dutch army under William of Orange (qv), which successfully invaded England and toppled James II (qv). Now at the height of his fame, he was appointed commander of the land forces in England, given £100,000 by parliament, conferred with the Garter and created a duke (he seems to have been a Portuguese duke from 1668).

In August 1689 he was sent to take command in Ireland, from where James, with a large catholic army and French support, threatened the security of William's regime. Although nearly 20,000 strong, Schomberg's army was largely comprised of raw English and Ulster regiments, newly raised for the campaign and commanded by inexperienced officers. Transport, artillery, medical, and supply services were all seriously deficient. His best troops were a few battalions of Dutch infantry and four regiments of huguenots. He was the senior figure in the huguenot military diaspora, and his partiality towards his fellow exiles was notorious. It was said that of his seven or eight ADCs only one could speak English, and he told William the huguenot soldiers were worth twice the number of any other troops. Schomberg was colonel of the huguenot cavalry regiment.

Landing at Belfast Lough (August), he opened his campaign with the capture of Carrickfergus. He then set out for Dublin, but his offensive came to a halt at Dundalk, where he was confronted by an Irish force under James. Despite strong pressure from William, he felt unable to resume his advance. In November, as the weather worsened and sickness decimated his army, he abandoned the campaign and withdrew to winter quarters in the north. Schomberg certainly bore some of the responsibility for this debacle. He seriously over-estimated the capability of the Jacobites. Always a methodical soldier, at 73 he had become excessively cautious, was unable to adjust to the improvisations needed for campaigning in Ireland, and lacked the drive for the speedy victory William wanted. However, William's government was also to blame for many of the army's shortcomings, and in the face of angry criticism from the house of commons, it became expedient to scapegoat the Irish command. The commissary general was arrested and Schomberg heavily criticised. Although ill, he was not granted the permission he sought to convalesce in England, where he might have taken the opportunity to defend his conduct. He retained his command in Ireland, but his reputation was irreparably damaged. William took personal charge of the 1690 campaign, first taking care to address the army's many deficiencies which had been so evident in 1689.

At the battle of the Boyne, on 1 July 1690, Schomberg crossed the river at Oldbridge to rally the faltering huguenot infantry. In the mêlée on the south bank he was sabred twice in the head by Irish troopers before being killed by a bullet in the neck, possibly a stray shot from his own side. William was reported to have wept at news of his death and to have declared that he had lost a father. However, since coming to Ireland he had treated Schomberg with marked coldness and pointedly ignored his advice, including his suggestion that the main attack at the Boyne should be a flanking movement upstream to envelop the Jacobite army. His body was interred in St Patrick's cathedral, Dublin, where Dean Jonathan Swift (qv) and the cathedral chapter erected a monument to his memory in 1731.

Schomberg's first marriage (1638) was to his cousin, Johanna Elizabeth von Schönberg (d. 1664). They had five sons who survived to manhood. His second marriage (1669), to Susanne d'Aumale (d. 1688), daughter of a prominent huguenot, was childless. He inherited an estate in the Palatinate and purchased another at Courbet near Paris. In appearance he was of middle stature and fair complexion, and in manner calm and courteous to all. Physically fit to the end of his life and brave in battle, he was universally regarded as a man of honour, despite many changes of allegiance during his long career as a prominent, if ultimately second-rate, figure in the international military profession. A portrait by W. Wissing is in the collection of Earl Spencer and another, attributed to G. Kneller, is in the collection of the trustees of the 10th duke of Leeds's will trust.

[G. Story], A true and impartial history of the most material occurrences in the kingdom of Ireland during the last two years (1691); J. Kazner, Leben Friedrich von Schomberg, oder Schoenburg (1789); C. de Courcelles, Dictionnaire historique et biographique des généraux français. Depuis le onzième siècle jusqu'en 1823, ix (1823), 135–7; D. Agnew, Protestant exiles from France in the reign of Louis XIV, or the Huguenot refugees and their descendants in Great Britain and Ireland (1871); Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (1875–1912), xxxii, 260–62; CSPD, 1689–91; DNB; J. G. Simms, Jacobite Ireland 1685–91 (1969); id., ‘Schomberg at Dundalk, 1689’, Ir. Sword, x (1971–2), 14–25; J. Childs, ‘The English brigade in Portugal, 1662–1668’, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, liii, no. 215 (autumn 1975), 135–47; K. P. Ferguson, ‘The army in Ireland from the restoration to the act of union’ (Ph.D. diss., Dublin, 1980), ch. 2; H. Murtagh, ‘Huguenot involvement in the Irish Jacobite war, 1689–91’, C. E. J. Caldicott, H. Gough, and J.-P. Pittion (ed.), The huguenots and Ireland; anatomy of an emigration (1987), 225–34; J. Childs, ‘A patriot for whom? “For God and for honour”: Marshal Schomberg’, History Today, xxxviii (July 1988), 46–51; J. Lynn, The wars of Louis XIV 1667–1714 (1999)

On Tuesday July 1st at 8.0'clock in the morning the battle started with an artillery barrage and William decided on a frontal assault across the river at Oldbridge. General Schomberg led some 7,500 soldiers westwards, away from the battlefield, intending to attack further up the river and come upon James from the rear. However, this move was primarily a decoy, and James took the bait. He sent a large part of his army, including his most seasoned troops, to attack Schomberg’s men. Schomberg crossed the Boyne and marched North, tracked by the opposing soldiers. However, neither side attacked the other because of the marshy ground separating them. In the meantime, William brought his main army from behind a hill where he had kept them hidden from James and led a head-on attack across the Boyne, fighting with  his experienced Dutch Blue Guards and English soldiers - they had to wade up to their armpits during the crossing, fiercely opposed by Tyrconnell's cavalry. William was in fact struck on the arm by a stray missile but carried on with the fight. Both the Duke of Schomberg and Rev George Walker were killed during the fighting.

James himself did not lead his troops, withdrawing instead to a hilltop well away from the scene of the battle from where he commanded his army. William however led his army from the front and was always involved in the heaviest fighting. It is widely believed that this difference in leadership styles played a large part in the swift victory of the Williamite forces. The Irish cavalry fought desperately to save the day but they had been out-manoeuvred and were never able to recover the ground lost due to being deployed by James against the decoy created by Schomberg. The battle raged on until 4 o'clock in the afternoon when James admitting defeat retreated hastily towards Kinsale and then on to Dublin and then to France. There are several stories told about his actions on the day. One story tells of Sarsfield, an Irish General in the Jacobite army who was jeered by an opposing General following the defeat. He is reputed to have said: "Change Kings and we'll fight you again!” Another story tells of King James complaining as he reached Dublin that the Irish troops ran away. A woman who lost several relations in the battle apparently replied "Congratulations, Your majesty, on winning the race!” . To this day in some parts of Southern Ireland James is still known as Seamus Akaka (James the sh*t)

The battle of the Boyne was a decisive European battle, one of the biggest battles of its time, some 1500 men were killed that day. Other battles took place, but the struggle in Ireland was short and William was victorious. The Battle of the Boyne established the throne of William Prince of Orange. The repercussions of this victory were felt right across Europe and persist in Ireland to the present day. On July 12th every year in Northern Ireland and in many other countries across the globe, tens of thousands of "Orangemen", so named, because they commemorate William of Orange, march in celebration of the great victory at the battle of the Boyne.

Frederick Schomberg, once called “the ablest soldier of his age”, was a key figure at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

Schomberg (originally Friedrich Hermann von Schönberg) was born in Heidelberg in 1615. His military career began in 1633 and lasted for over half a century of service in the Swedish, French, Dutch and English armies. He spoke German, Latin, French, Dutch, English and Portuguese, fought for the Dutch republic, commanded French and English troops in Portugal, and was general-in-chief of Brandenburg.

When the Protestant William of Orange invaded England, Schomberg was at his side. In 1689, now Duke of Schomberg, he was appointed commander-in-chief in Ireland, the main battleground for William’s war with James II, the Catholic king he had deposed. At the crucial showdown at the Boyne in 1690, Schomberg commanded the Williamite centre. While rallying his troops, he was killed by a shot from a musket.

Schomberg (Schönberg), Frederick Herman von
by Harman Murtagh
Schomberg (Schönberg), Frederick Herman von (1615–90), 1st duke of Schomberg, soldier of fortune, and commander-in-chief of William III's army in Ireland, was born 6 December 1615 at Heidelberg, Germany, the only son of Hans Meinhard von Schönberg (1582–1616), marshal of the Palatinate and sometime ambassador to England, and his English wife, Anne (d. 1615), daughter of Edward Sutton or Dudley, 5th Lord Dudley, and lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth, electress Palatine. After two years at Leyden University, in 1633 he became a soldier in the thirty years war, serving in Bernard of Saxe-Weimar's protestant army at the battle of Nördlingen (1634), and later with Henry, prince of Orange. In 1651 he entered the service of France, campaigning with distinction under Turenne in Flanders. In 1655 he was promoted lieutenant-general, and in 1658 commanded the left wing of the French army in the decisive victory over the Spaniards at the battle of the Dunes. From 1660 to 1668, with Louis XIV's secret support, he commanded the Portuguese in their struggle against Spain, overcoming immense logistical, military, and political difficulties to win a series of victories that sealed Portuguese independence.

After a short period in England in 1673, he was given command of the French forces in Roussillon, winning a marshal's baton in 1675 for his successful campaign against the Spaniards. In 1676 he was appointed to the senior command in Flanders under Louis. Thereafter, probably because of his protestantism, he was given only lesser appointments till his career in France abruptly ended in 1685 with the revocation of the edict of Nantes. Having resisted a personal attempt by Louis to persuade him to abjure his Calvinist faith, he retired to Portugal before moving to Brandenburg to command the Great Elector's army. In 1688 he was released to take command of the Dutch army under William of Orange (qv), which successfully invaded England and toppled James II (qv). Now at the height of his fame, he was appointed commander of the land forces in England, given £100,000 by parliament, conferred with the Garter and created a duke (he seems to have been a Portuguese duke from 1668).

In August 1689 he was sent to take command in Ireland, from where James, with a large catholic army and French support, threatened the security of William's regime. Although nearly 20,000 strong, Schomberg's army was largely comprised of raw English and Ulster regiments, newly raised for the campaign and commanded by inexperienced officers. Transport, artillery, medical, and supply services were all seriously deficient. His best troops were a few battalions of Dutch infantry and four regiments of huguenots. He was the senior figure in the huguenot military diaspora, and his partiality towards his fellow exiles was notorious. It was said that of his seven or eight ADCs only one could speak English, and he told William the huguenot soldiers were worth twice the number of any other troops. Schomberg was colonel of the huguenot cavalry regiment.

Landing at Belfast Lough (August), he opened his campaign with the capture of Carrickfergus. He then set out for Dublin, but his offensive came to a halt at Dundalk, where he was confronted by an Irish force under James. Despite strong pressure from William, he felt unable to resume his advance. In November, as the weather worsened and sickness decimated his army, he abandoned the campaign and withdrew to winter quarters in the north. Schomberg certainly bore some of the responsibility for this debacle. He seriously over-estimated the capability of the Jacobites. Always a methodical soldier, at 73 he had become excessively cautious, was unable to adjust to the improvisations needed for campaigning in Ireland, and lacked the drive for the speedy victory William wanted. However, William's government was also to blame for many of the army's shortcomings, and in the face of angry criticism from the house of commons, it became expedient to scapegoat the Irish command. The commissary general was arrested and Schomberg heavily criticised. Although ill, he was not granted the permission he sought to convalesce in England, where he might have taken the opportunity to defend his conduct. He retained his command in Ireland, but his reputation was irreparably damaged. William took personal charge of the 1690 campaign, first taking care to address the army's many deficiencies which had been so evident in 1689.

At the battle of the Boyne, on 1 July 1690, Schomberg crossed the river at Oldbridge to rally the faltering huguenot infantry. In the mêlée on the south bank he was sabred twice in the head by Irish troopers before being killed by a bullet in the neck, possibly a stray shot from his own side. William was reported to have wept at news of his death and to have declared that he had lost a father. However, since coming to Ireland he had treated Schomberg with marked coldness and pointedly ignored his advice, including his suggestion that the main attack at the Boyne should be a flanking movement upstream to envelop the Jacobite army. His body was interred in St Patrick's cathedral, Dublin, where Dean Jonathan Swift (qv) and the cathedral chapter erected a monument to his memory in 1731.

Schomberg's first marriage (1638) was to his cousin, Johanna Elizabeth von Schönberg (d. 1664). They had five sons who survived to manhood. His second marriage (1669), to Susanne d'Aumale (d. 1688), daughter of a prominent huguenot, was childless. He inherited an estate in the Palatinate and purchased another at Courbet near Paris. In appearance he was of middle stature and fair complexion, and in manner calm and courteous to all. Physically fit to the end of his life and brave in battle, he was universally regarded as a man of honour, despite many changes of allegiance during his long career as a prominent, if ultimately second-rate, figure in the international military profession. A portrait by W. Wissing is in the collection of Earl Spencer and another, attributed to G. Kneller, is in the collection of the trustees of the 10th duke of Leeds's will trust.

[G. Story], A true and impartial history of the most material occurrences in the kingdom of Ireland during the last two years (1691); J. Kazner, Leben Friedrich von Schomberg, oder Schoenburg (1789); C. de Courcelles, Dictionnaire historique et biographique des généraux français. Depuis le onzième siècle jusqu'en 1823, ix (1823), 135–7; D. Agnew, Protestant exiles from France in the reign of Louis XIV, or the Huguenot refugees and their descendants in Great Britain and Ireland (1871); Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (1875–1912), xxxii, 260–62; CSPD, 1689–91; DNB; J. G. Simms, Jacobite Ireland 1685–91 (1969); id., ‘Schomberg at Dundalk, 1689’, Ir. Sword, x (1971–2), 14–25; J. Childs, ‘The English brigade in Portugal, 1662–1668’, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, liii, no. 215 (autumn 1975), 135–47; K. P. Ferguson, ‘The army in Ireland from the restoration to the act of union’ (Ph.D. diss., Dublin, 1980), ch. 2; H. Murtagh, ‘Huguenot involvement in the Irish Jacobite war, 1689–91’, C. E. J. Caldicott, H. Gough, and J.-P. Pittion (ed.), The huguenots and Ireland; anatomy of an emigration (1987), 225–34; J. Childs, ‘A patriot for whom? “For God and for honour”: Marshal Schomberg’, History Today, xxxviii (July 1988), 46–51; J. Lynn, The wars of Louis XIV 1667–1714 (1999)

On Tuesday July 1st at 8.0'clock in the morning the battle started with an artillery barrage and William decided on a frontal assault across the river at Oldbridge. General Schomberg led some 7,500 soldiers westwards, away from the battlefield, intending to attack further up the river and come upon James from the rear. However, this move was primarily a decoy, and James took the bait. He sent a large part of his army, including his most seasoned troops, to attack Schomberg’s men. Schomberg crossed the Boyne and marched North, tracked by the opposing soldiers. However, neither side attacked the other because of the marshy ground separating them. In the meantime, William brought his main army from behind a hill where he had kept them hidden from James and led a head-on attack across the Boyne, fighting with  his experienced Dutch Blue Guards and English soldiers - they had to wade up to their armpits during the crossing, fiercely opposed by Tyrconnell's cavalry. William was in fact struck on the arm by a stray missile but carried on with the fight. Both the Duke of Schomberg and Rev George Walker were killed during the fighting.

James himself did not lead his troops, withdrawing instead to a hilltop well away from the scene of the battle from where he commanded his army. William however led his army from the front and was always involved in the heaviest fighting. It is widely believed that this difference in leadership styles played a large part in the swift victory of the Williamite forces. The Irish cavalry fought desperately to save the day but they had been out-manoeuvred and were never able to recover the ground lost due to being deployed by James against the decoy created by Schomberg. The battle raged on until 4 o'clock in the afternoon when James admitting defeat retreated hastily towards Kinsale and then on to Dublin and then to France. There are several stories told about his actions on the day. One story tells of Sarsfield, an Irish General in the Jacobite army who was jeered by an opposing General following the defeat. He is reputed to have said: "Change Kings and we'll fight you again!” Another story tells of King James complaining as he reached Dublin that the Irish troops ran away. A woman who lost several relations in the battle apparently replied "Congratulations, Your majesty, on winning the race!” . To this day in some parts of Southern Ireland James is still known as Seamus Akaka (James the sh*t)

The battle of the Boyne was a decisive European battle, one of the biggest battles of its time, some 1500 men were killed that day. Other battles took place, but the struggle in Ireland was short and William was victorious. The Battle of the Boyne established the throne of William Prince of Orange. The repercussions of this victory were felt right across Europe and persist in Ireland to the present day. On July 12th every year in Northern Ireland and in many other countries across the globe, tens of thousands of "Orangemen", so named, because they commemorate William of Orange, march in celebration of the great victory at the battle of the Boyne.