On the evening of the first of July he reached the town of Ballinasloe, about ten miles south-west of Athlone, crossed the river Suck into the County Galway, and drawing out his army along its western bank, determined to await the enemy and stake his cause on the issue of a pitched battle. Here the ruinous effects of his late reverse became painfully apparent. The army that a few weeks before had marched from Limerick twenty-three thousand strong, buoyant in hope and spirit, was now reduced to less than fifteen thousand men. The cavalry was still powerful and efficient, having suffered little during the interval, but out of nearly nineteen thousand infantry he mustered somewhat less than eleven thousand, and the _morale_ of the men had also deteriorated.[64] Still, his determination was fixed, and his spirit rose, even as his difficulties multiplied. In order to remove the disadvantages of divided command, Tyrconnell now resigned his position as commander-in-chief, but determined to lend all his influence and power to recruit the army and follow its fortunes to the end. This self-sacrifice on the part of the viceroy produced a reconciliation quite beneficial to the cause, and satisfactory to the general, but the feeling between himself and Sarsfield, never cordial, now bordered on mutual hatred, deepening to the last, and at the last was fatal. Being now invested with entire military control, St. Ruth caused the garrisons of the Upper Shannon to be dismantled, drew in his outposts, and made speedy requisitions for men and munitions. Jamestown and Lanesborough were at once abandoned; Shannon Bridge, Banagher, and Portumna were each reduced to a nominal garrison; Galway sent a regiment, and Limerick all that could be spared from its defences, which were few, for the enemy had still ten thousand regulars, and a strong force of militia in Munster, and a desultory warfare, fierce and incessant, raged throughout the counties of Cork and Kerry, down to the vicinity of Limerick. A requisition for troops was also made on the _Pretender_, _Balldearg_, now holding court between Tuam and Athunree, surrounded by a force variously estimated at between eight and ten thousand. But this redoubtable chief would neither furnish the required levy, nor make any movement to discomfort the enemy; preserving at once his masterly inactivity and his worthless person.