The loss of William in this day's action was 2,000 men and one hundred and fifty-eight officers killed, and his casualties through the preceding eighteen days are estimated at 3,000 more. The loss of the besieged is nowhere definitely stated; but in the final assault they lost four hundred killed and wounded,--a small number for so great a result. But, as if to give a mournful grandeur to the event, many of the noble daughters of the city lay side by side in death with the men whose sterner natures they had animated to victory! After the battle, William sent an ensign into the town for leave to bury his dead; this being refused, he dismounted his batteries, withdrew his army, and prepared to retreat, for he could no longer continue the siege, as matters of a pressing nature demanded his presence in England, and should the news of this defeat precede him the consequences might be serious. His Irish adherents entreated him not to leave them with the conquest of the country uncompleted, and the leaders of his foreign army besought him to the same effect: but he turned a deaf ear to their entreaties. A deputation of the soldiers, both native and foreign, headed by the ecclesiastics, waited on him, and promised still greater efforts if he remained among them; but his resolution was unchanged. Annoyed by their importunities and chagrined by defeat, he gave vent to that exclamation which English historians have industriously suppressed: "Yes," said he; "if I had this handful of men who defend the place against you, and that you were all within it, I would take it in spite of you!"[49]--A censure so caustic, and a eulogium so grand, render comment unnecessary. Before retreating he set fire to his hospital, in which there were many invalids; but the Irish soldiers issued from the city, suppressed the flames, and saved the wretched victims. It is hard to credit, even on the authority of historians distinguished for wide research and cautious investigation, an act of such cold-blooded atrocity; and yet his conduct, during his retreat, was of a character that would seem to corroborate it.[50] "The curse of Cromwell" was repeated, the peasantry were murdered, their lands laid waste, and their homes given to the flames; so that the fertile district between Limerick and Clonmel was a scene of death and desolation. Committing the command of the army to the Count de Solmes, with Ginkle as second in command, he proceeded under escort to Waterford, whence, accompanied by Prince George of Denmark, and the Dukes of Ormond and Wurtemberg, he sailed for England.