Leinster and Ulster being now pretty safe, Coote was directed to cross the Erne near its mouth, and to turn the line of the Shannon. Reynolds was sent with a regiment of horse to help him, and there was no force in Connaught able to repel the invasion. Coote and Reynolds were at Athenry before the end of May, while Ireton himself advanced to the Shannon opposite Killaloe, and Hewson to Athlone. Castlehaven was at Killaloe with what were called ten regiments, 'but nothing answerable in numbers,' and there he received a long letter from Ireton setting forth the justice of the Parliamentary cause, speaking slightingly of the King, and inviting him to retire to England, where he would be well received. He would thus save his property and be spared a hopeless struggle in company unworthy of him. Peter Walsh was with Castlehaven, and by his advice Ireton's offers were spurned, after which all intercourse ceased between the two generals. Preparations for crossing at Killaloe, where the bridge was broken down, were openly made, and more quietly at O'Brien's Bridge, where there had been no bridge for generations. A few men were sent over in a boat at daybreak, and seized an old house on the Clare side, under cover of which and of field guns on the Tipperary shore 500 men were ferried over in one hour. The Irish were seized with panic, and deserted their entrenchments, while Colonel Ingoldsby with 300 horse crossed the river unopposed at Castleconnell. Castlehaven came too late to rally the fugitives, and in his absence Colonel Fennell deserted his post at Killaloe and fled to Limerick. Ireton then crossed himself without trouble, while Castlehaven, whose force had dwindled to 300 horse, lost his plate and other property, and went northwards in hopes of joining Clanricarde and intercepting Coote and Reynolds, who had left Londonderry together on May 5, and who for the first time dragged two pieces into Donegal over Barnesmore gap, 'till then thought impassable for the lightest carriages.' When they drew near the Curlew mountains, where Sir Conyers Clifford was overthrown in the Elizabethan days, their scouts reported that Clanricarde had occupied the passes, whereupon they turned westward, and got 'by strange and unexpected ways undiscovered into the county of Mayo,' near Ballaghdereen, leaving Clanricarde two days' march in their rear. They were at Athenry on May 31, and outside Loughrea on June 2, where they lost no time, but pushed on towards Portumna without fighting. Clanricarde and Castlehaven were together at Loughrea, but too weak to do anything. They warned all the population to fly with their property, and retired beyond the Galway river, taking refuge in the town when Coote appeared on its eastern side.[207] [Sidenote: Ludlow's march to Portumna, June.] [Sidenote: Desperate defence of Gort.] [Sidenote: The laws of war.]