Preston's first service in the field did not augur well for his success as a general. Ormonde was anxious to relieve the garrison of Ballinakill on the borders of Queen's County and Kilkenny, and in December he sent Monck with a convoy and enough men to guard it. This service was duly performed, but Preston and Castlehaven, with a thousand foot and three troops of horse, attempted to cut him off on his return to Dublin. Monck passed by Timahoe, where there was a confederate garrison, who lined the hedges by the roadside; but hearing that he was pursued, he avoided the snare by drawing aside to some level ground backed by a hill, where he placed his foot to serve as support in case the horse were worsted. The contrary happened, and after the first charge the whole of Preston's force was driven under the shelter of Timahoe. The numbers engaged on each side were about equal, but a crowd of spectators on a distant hill were mistaken for reinforcements, and Monck prudently continued his journey to Dublin. Castlehaven thought most of the Irish foot would have been destroyed had the enemy pursued their advantage.[25] [Sidenote: Parliamentary agents in Dublin.] [Sidenote: Lisle and Grenville.] 'The check at Timahoe,' says Castlehaven, 'made us pretty quiet till towards the spring following,' when the Lords Justices resolved upon an expedition into Wexford. The sympathies of Parsons, who was the ruling spirit, were certainly with the Parliament, but the event was uncertain, and even after Edgehill it was hard to say whether the King would succeed or not. Since the end of October there had been a committee from the Parliament in Dublin consisting of Robert Reynolds and Robert Goodwin, members of the House of Commons, and of Captain William Tucker, agent for the English adventurers in Irish land. Part of their business was to induce soldiers to take debentures in lieu of pay. By the advice of the Chancellor Bolton these three were admitted to sit at the Council board. Tucker kept a journal of the proceedings, and it is clear that he was not much impressed by the wisdom of the Irish Government. The sittings were generally occupied in mere talk, and very little was done in the field. Thus, when Sir Francis Willoughby took Maynooth Castle Tucker reports that the rebels ran away after one day's siege, that four or five men were killed on each side, and 'no service done at all, but only expectation and the gain of one ass.' In the middle of January Lord Lisle, the Lord Lieutenant's son, proposed to relieve the empty treasury by leading out fifteen hundred men to live upon the enemy's country. Lisle was general of the horse, and Sir Richard Grenville major of Leicester's own regiment, and it was intended that these two officers should command in the field. Grenville, according to Clarendon, was noted for his cruelty, but he had served with credit at Kilrush, and he was major of Leicester's regiment of horse. In January came a commission from the King giving