At Enniskillen, the other Protestant stronghold in Ulster, the defenders defeated an Irish army the day before the siege of Derry was lifted. But the war was far from over. Having established himself in England and Scotland, William now came to Ireland to complete his control. The port of Derry, preserved at such dreadful cost, provided a beachhead for his campaign. He won a great victory over the forces of James II at the river Boyne, which sealed the fate of King James, though there were other battles to be fought in southern Ireland. James again fled to France, never to return. There were Houstons fighting for William II in the Battle of Boyne, a victory which assured for William and Mary the throne and a Protestant succession of British rulers down to the present time.

The Houstons had a gallant part in the defense of Derry. How many of the men in the armed forces and their women and children suffered and died inside the walls during the dreadful siege will never be known. However, history has recorded the names of five Houstons among the survivors of the fighting men who manned the ramparts.

Two of these were from the distinguished family of Craigs Castle in County Antrim, Lieut. Col. Robert Houston and his brother, Francis. (One historian spells this name Hueston but W. R. Young in his "Fighters of Derry" 2 uses the more common spelling.) Robert Houston held a commission as lieutenant colonel in the Skeffington regiment and took part in all the operations just prior to the investment of Derry. "He is particularly mentioned," says Young, "for good service in the neighborhood of Toome, where he commanded a section of his regiment."

Both he and his brother, Francis Houston, were among those attainted by the Dublin Parliament, hastily assembled by King James after his rebuff at the gates of Derry. Since James was driven out by King William and took flight to France he was never able to carry out the sentence of death as traitors and forfeiture of property for those attainted.

Most famous of the clan at Derry was James Huston, already mentioned, a deadshot with his trusty old musket. He came from County Donegal and would have been considered a "westerner" by the folk of Antrim. He was likely a son of a tenant farmer as he lived on "the Edwards Estate" at Garvetagh

2 Willam R. Young, Fighters of Derry (Eyre and Spotteswoode, London, 1932), p. 202.