believed a large body of yeoman cavalry was waiting to intercept their flight, so their forces desperately turned to face their enemy and "killed the whole detachment in an instant", leaving only the commanding officer, Colonel Foote, and four other survivors to escape to their base at Wexford Foote reported that, contrary to his orders, the militia had advanced incautiously and were surrounded and overpowered by the overwhelming rebel numbers, mostly armed with pikes, and that "great numbers" of the rebels were killed. Following the rebel victory, almost all of North Wexford joined the rebellion. Crown forces and loyalist civilians ceded control of the countryside, withdrawing to towns such as Enniscorthy, Gorey and Wexford. References Further reading Field, Henry M. The Irish Confederates, and the rebellion of 1798 Harper &Brothers, New York, 1851. pp 228–229. At archive.org Battles of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 History of County Wexford