There were in the town eighty of the carabineers and two
corps of yeomanry, but it was proposed to evacuate the garrison. My
father strongly opposed this measure, and undertook, with fifty men,
if arms and ammunition were supplied, to defend the gaol of
Longford, where there was a strong pass, at which the enemy might be
stopped. He urged that a stand might be made there till the King's
army should come up. The offer was gladly accepted--men, arms, and
ammunition, all he could want or desire, were placed at his
disposal. He slept that night in the gaol, with everything prepared
for its defence; but the next morning fresh news came, that the
French had turned off from the Longford Road, and were going towards
Granard; of this, however, there was no certainty. My father, by the
desire of the commanding officer, rode out to reconnoitre, and my
brother went to the top of the courthouse with a telescope for the
same purpose. We (Mrs. Edgeworth, my aunts, my sisters, and myself)
were waiting to hear the result in one of the upper sitting-rooms of
the inn, which fronted the street.
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