north. In consultation, O'Neill and the northern rebels recommended a compromise: a landing on the coast between the southwestern port of Limerick and Lough Foyle in the extreme north. In September Archer set sail with the armada, which bore over 4500 soldiers and was bound for the port of Cork, or its alternative at Kinsale - both destinations lay at the extreme south of the island. Battle of Kinsale On arriving in Munster in September 1601, del Aguila discovered that the province lay docile under Carew's command, following the imprisonment of Florence MacCarthy and the capture of the Sugan Earl of Desmond. Archer vouched for a local chieftain, O'Sullivan Beare, who offered to block the march from Dublin of the crown's principal army, but del Aguila declined. The Spanish occupied the walled town of Kinsale, which was soon surrounded by Mountjoy in a siege that was to last three months. The rebel armies of O'Neill and Red Hugh O'Donnell marched the length of the country in bitter winter conditions, but were broken by the English cavalry and driven from the field in December at the battle of Kinsale. Del Aguila then surrendered on terms and departed with his forces for Spain. Archer immediately engaged in recrimination. He accused the Spanish commander of cowardice and vacillation, of refusing to heed local advice and failing to sally out and join with his Irish allies at the critical point. Anticipating further Spanish aid, Archer left Kinsale and fell in with O'Sullivan Beare, who was holding out further down the coast. Consideration was being given at the court of Philip III to a further expedition, and Archer sailed for Spain on 6 July 1602 (just before the Siege of Dunboy) to report on the state of Ireland. At court, Archer railed against del Aguila. For his part, the commander argued against further aid to the Irish and presented the king with a forged letter - supplied to him by Carew - purporting to be from Archer, in which the priest was supposed to have sought his pardon from Queen Elizabeth. The arguments dragged on, but by March 1603 Archer appears to have been vindicated while del Aguila was restrained in his lodgings. Archer's hopes of aid continued, but after the queen's death in March 1603 O'Neill accepted terms of surrender from Mountjoy. Upon the accession of James I of England to the English throne