The Battle of Aughrim () was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the largely Irish Jacobite army loyal to James II and the forces of William III on 12 July 1691 (old style, equivalent to 22 July new style), near the village of Aughrim, County Galway. The battle was possibly the bloodiest ever fought in the British Isles: 7,000 people were killed. The Jacobite defeat at Aughrim meant the effective end of James's cause in Ireland, although the city of Limerick held out until the autumn of 1691. The campaign By 1691, the Jacobites had adopted a defensive position. In the previous year they had retreated into Connacht behind the easily defensible line of the Shannon, with strongholds at Sligo, Athlone and Limerick guarding the routes into the province and the western ports. William besieged Limerick in late August 1690 but, suffering heavy casualties and losses to disease, he called off the siege and put his army into winter quarters. However, internal divisions, exacerbated by the departure of James for France after defeat at the Boyne, were increasingly undermining the Jacobite command. The main split was between the "Peace Party", led by James's viceroy Tyrconnell, which proposed negotiating a settlement with William, and the "War Party" of army officers grouped around Patrick Sarsfield, who believed the war could still be won outright. Encouraged by William's failure to take Limerick and looking to break Tyrconnell's influence, Sarsfield's faction decided to appeal directly to Louis XIV of France requesting that Tyrconnell and army commander Berwick be removed from office and that Louis send military aid. The "Peace Party" obtained an offer of settlement from the Williamites in December, upon which Sarsfield demanded that Berwick have Riverston, Denis Daly and other "Peace Party" leaders arrested. Berwick complied, probably with the approval of Tyrconnell, who returned from France to try and preserve his influence by repositioning himself with Sarsfield's faction. Alarmed by the fracturing of the Irish command, James was persuaded to request further military support directly from Louis. Louis sent general Charles Chalmot de Saint-Ruhe to replace Berwick as senior Jacobite commander, with secret instructions to assess whether Louis should send further military aid. Saint-Ruhe, accompanied by lieutenant-generals de Tessé and d'Usson, arrived at Limerick on 9 May, bringing sufficient arms, corn and meal to sustain the army until the autumn, but not the troops or