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, his army depleted by large-scale desertions. 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. Aughrim Unaware of the location of Saint-Ruhe's main army and assuming he was outnumbered, on 10 July Ginkel began a cautious advance through Ballinasloe down the main Limerick and Galway road. Saint-Ruhe and Tyrconnell initially planned to fall back on Limerick and force Ginkel into another year of campaigning. Saint-Ruhe issued an order to disperse to Galway and Limerick and sent several of his subordinate commanders, including d'Usson, onward. However, as deserters began to rejoin the army at Ballinasloe, Saint-Ruhe revised his strategy. Wishing to redeem his humiliation at Athlone, he appears to have instead decided to force a decisive battle. He reinforced the morale of the rank and file by stressing the religious aspect of the conflict and by "creating a personality cult around himself with bloodthirsty promises of what the army would do to its foes". Ginkel found his way blocked by the Jacobite army at Aughrim on the early morning of 12 July 1691. Saint-Ruhe had chosen an extremely strong defensive position, his infantry occupying the slopes of a ridge known as Kilcommadan Hill, with its flanks protected by marshy ground. He left the Jacobite camp "standing with all their baggage [...] not excepting his own"; Parker noted this obliged the Jacobite army to fight and suggested Saint-Ruhe's "resolution to conquer or die". Both armies began a preparatory cannonade at about 2p.m.; Ginkel ordered probing attacks on the Jacobite lines followed by a large-scale infantry assault under Mackay. The Jacobites repulsed Ginkel's attacks for several hours, while counter-attacks caused heavy losses in the Williamite army. Saint-Ruhe is reputed to have been confident of victory and organising a further attack when, at around eight o'clock, he was decapitated by a roundshot. The loss of Saint-Ruhe was among several factors that precipitated a collapse in the Jacobite army; the battle ended in a rout, with several thousand Jacobites dead.