Vereker - the only officer capable of commanding 100 men.

The attention of Humbert was now directed to the north, in a rapid march for Sligo he reached Colooney with the van of his army on the morning of the 5th. Here its advance was impeded by a small but gallant force, under the command of Colonel Veriker of the Limerick regiment, who, after a bold resistance, was compelled to retreat with the loss of
his cannon. This action was bravely contested, and, as Humbert declared, creditable to the arms of his opponents. Mistaking the enemy which he had repulsed the advance-guard of a more formidable army, and expecting its attack, the French General remained for some time on the field forming his troops, as they came up, for action; then, without
making any attempt on Sligo, he entered Leitrim, and by a rapid march reached Manor Hamilton on the 6th, more than fifty miles distant from his late headquarters at Castlebar.

[Humbert bore honourable testimony to the gallantry of Colonel Veriker, whom he pronounced the only British officer he had encountered in Ireland who was capable of commanding a hundred men.]

Sequel to The History of the Irish Rebellion of 1798

Charles Hamilton Teeling

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