money the Jacobites desperately needed. By this stage William's forces were led by his subordinates, Dutch officer Godert de Ginkel and second-in-command Württemberg. Ginkel was conscious of the poor military situation facing William in the Netherlands, and seeking a quick end to the war obtained William's permission to offer the Jacobites moderate terms of surrender. By late spring 1691, however, Ginkel became concerned that a French convoy could land further reinforcements at Galway or Limerick, and began planning to enter the field as quickly as possible. During May, both sides began assembling forces for a summer campaign, the Jacobites at Limerick and the Williamites at Mullingar. On 16 June, Ginkel's cavalry reconnoitred from Ballymore towards the Jacobite garrison at Athlone. Saint-Ruhe had been unsure where Ginkel would attempt to cross the Shannon, but by 19 June he realised Athlone was the target and began concentrating his troops west of the town. Ginkel breached the Jacobite lines of defence and took Athlone on 30 June after a bloody siege; Saint-Ruhe was unable to relieve the town and fell back to the west. Athlone was seen as a significant victory and likely to provoke the collapse of the Jacobite army. The Lords Justice in Dublin issued a proclamation offering generous terms for Jacobites who surrendered, including a free pardon, restoration of forfeited estates, and the offer of similar or higher rank and pay if they wished to join William's army. Unaware of the location of Saint-Ruhe's main army and assuming he was outnumbered, on 10 July Ginkel continued a cautious advance through Ballinasloe down the main Limerick and Galway road. Saint-Ruhe's and Tyrconnell's plan had been to fall back on Limerick and force the Williamites into another year of campaigning, but wishing to redeem his errors at Athlone Saint-Ruhe appears to have instead decided to force a decisive battle. Ginkel found his way blocked by Saint-Ruhe's army at Aughrim on the early morning of 12 July 1691. Deployments At this point of the campaign, both armies were about 20,000 strong. The core of the Jacobite force was formed around James's old Irish Army, which had been reorganised by Tyrconnell from 1686 onwards by dismissing the majority of Protestant officers and men. It had been substantially expanded with newly recruited Irish Catholic regiments, organised in the English military tradition. While it is not now possible to establish with certainty which Jacobite infantry regiments