m-..?m 
 
 WGRAPH/HS 
 
 ENTARV
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 OF THE
 
 THE 
 
 PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GREAT CIVIL WAR. 
 
 N. L. WALFORD, 
 
 MAJOR, E.A. 
 
 LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, 
 
 LIMITED. 
 
 1886.
 
 CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, 
 CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE FIRST CIVIL WAR 1642 23 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE FIRST CIVIL WAR, 1643 . . 51 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE FIRST CIVIL WAR. 1645 . .... 113 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 PEACE. 1646, 1647, AND 1648 152 
 
 963585
 
 Ti CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER YL 
 
 VAGB 
 
 THE SECOND CIVIL WAR. 1648 AND 1649 . . .181 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 THE CAMPAIGN IN IRELAND. 1649 AND 1650 . . . 208 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN IN SCOTLAND AND OF WORCESTER. 1650 
 
 AND 1651 233 
 
 AFTER YEARS . 203
 
 THE 
 
 PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GREAT CIVIL WAR 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 FOR the purpose of enabling the reader to more fully 
 realise the character of the contests of the Civil War, it 
 is proposed to give a brief description of the arms and 
 tactics of the period, while on a later page will be related 
 the early life of the principal generals of the army of the 
 Parliamentary party. 
 
 Two great schools for the art of war existed in Europe 
 at the beginning of the seventeenth century the camp 
 of Gustavus Adolphus, and the Netherlands. The former 
 appears to have principally attracted the Scottish adventurers, 
 while the latter was visited by almost every young nobleman 
 or gentleman in England, as a part of his education. 
 
 It would be beyond the scope of this work to enter at 
 any length into the differences and similarities which existed 
 between the systems of war used by the Swedes and the 
 Dutch; but we may say that, while the former studied 
 chiefly the offensive, the others, favoured by the character 
 
 B
 
 2 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 of their country, were renowned throughout Europe for 
 their skill in defence. 
 
 In comparing the art of war as it was in the seventeenth 
 century with the same art in its latest developments, we are 
 at first naturally more struck by the differences which meet 
 the eye than by the points of similarity which may be found. 
 But, in truth, many of these differences, great as they are, 
 are of quite modern growth ; for it is scarcely too much to 
 say, that there was less dissimilarity between the tactics of 
 Naseby and Waterloo than there was between those of the 
 latter battle and Gravelotte. 
 
 If we look into the history of war, we shall find that 
 strategy and the general principles of tactics have but little 
 changed during the lapse of many years, while the details 
 of the latter have not only constantly varied, but are in fact 
 now undergoing a daily process of change. If we further 
 inquire as to the reason for this fact, we shall discover that 
 the stability of the first is caused by the practically unaltered 
 relations of men and horses to each other, while the last 
 derives its variability from the continual improvement which 
 takes place in the manufacture of arms. 
 
 The men of the present day can march no farther than 
 the men of old, they are as liable to hunger and thirst, they 
 are as delicate in organisation, are as easily wounded or 
 killed ; and the same may be said of the horses of this era. 
 But if we turn to the arms, how great is the change. The 
 old musket carried about 200 yards, but was not to be 
 trusted above 100 ; the new rifle will throw with ease a 
 distance of 5,000 yards, and is trustworthy up to 1,000. 
 This last was about the range of field artillery in the old 
 days ; the present possible range may almost be described as 
 infinite as far as the gun is concerned, being in practice 
 bounded only by the limits of man's vision.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 It is evident that such vast changes as these must make 
 their mark in the manner of conducting the details of 
 the combat ; but smaller alterations have played their part 
 also. For example, the invention of the bayonet, that of 
 the iron ramrod, of the cartridge, and of the percussion 
 cap, have all exercised much influence in modelling from 
 time to time the character of fresh orders of attack and 
 defence. 
 
 If we examine into any system of tactics we must, for 
 the above reason, commence by considering the nature of the 
 arms with which the soldiers of the day were provided ; by 
 this the manner of their use was decided, as from this it 
 may be deduced. 
 
 The strategy of the period, in cases where any knowledge 
 of the art was shown, was not so unlike our own as to call 
 for particular notice, save perhaps that we should mention 
 that it was somewhat modified by the wretched character of 
 the roads, which much delayed the movements of armies, 
 and considerably lengthened the duration of their marches. 
 In our own day, the conditions of strategy have been 
 changed in the opposite direction by the advantage which 
 is gained by the power of moving troops by rail. In a 
 similar manner, higher tactics, though in principle almost 
 the same as ever, have changed as to their execution, owing 
 to the fact that drill and discipline have made easy of con- 
 duct many movements, which would have been far beyond 
 the power of the soldiers of the seventeenth century, and 
 which were therefore not considered in the calculations of 
 the generals of that time. 
 
 The altered character of strategy and of the higher tactics 
 may, to a certain extent, be learnt by observation of the 
 history of the campaigns of the Civil War, and it is not, 
 therefore, proposed to again refer to them in this chapter; 
 
 B 2
 
 4 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 but the actual details of the combat of great interest, and 
 yet rarely described at any length in the chronicles of the 
 time can only be discovered by the study of the books of 
 instruction which were used to prepare an army for the field. 
 These details, as we have said, have always, in all ages, 
 varied with the changes introduced as to the nature of the 
 arms in use. For this reason it is intended to commence the 
 subject by a description of the armament of the infantry, 
 cavalry, and artillery which took part in the Civil Wars. 
 
 The infantry of every army of the period of which we 
 write was armed with two weapons the pike and the musket. 
 The proportions which existed at different times between the 
 numbers of men who carried one or other of these weapons 
 varied considerably; the number of musketeers tending 
 always to increase, and those of the pikemen to diminish, as 
 the arm of the former gained in portability and in accuracy 
 of fire. At the commencement of the Civil Wars, the 
 bearers of the 'two arms were about equal in number. 
 
 The pike was a spear from sixteen to eighteen feet in length, 
 armed with a small steel head, not unlike that of an Indian 
 hog-spear. It was in battle held in one of two ways. Against 
 infantry, it was levelled with the point as high as the enemy's 
 breast, the butt resting by the side of the right hip ; against 
 the attack of cavalry, while the shaft was still held with 
 both hands, the butt was placed against the hollow of the 
 right foot, the point being thus raised in the air. The pike- 
 man was armed with breast and back plates, under which he 
 wore a buff coat (to save his body from the pressure of the 
 armour), while his head was protected by a morion or pot- 
 helmet. Light as was his weapon, he was, on account of 
 the weight of his defensive arms, considered as a heavy-armed 
 soldier, and the ranks of the pikemen were filled from the 
 largest and strongest men in the company.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 The musketeer, on the other hand, was not as a rule armed 
 with any defence more perfect than a buff coat, but his 
 head was guarded in the same manner as that of the pikeman. 
 He was reckoned as a light-armed soldier, and was expected 
 to be more active than his heavier comrade. The musket 
 was a cumbrous weapon, with a barrel three feet in length, 
 and having a bore which took a ball of twelve to the pound. 
 It was fired from a rest which, on the march, was trailed by 
 a string from the wrist of the soldier. It was loaded from a 
 bandoleer, on which dangled ten or twelve small wooden or 
 tin boxes, which each contained a single charge of powder ; 
 the lid of one of these was pulled off with the teeth, and 
 the charge then poured into the barrel. The bullets were 
 carried in a bag which was worn at the side ; but before 
 going into action, the soldier placed two or three balls in his 
 mouth, whence he took them when needed, and dropped 
 them wet into the barrel without wad or patch. The muskets 
 were as a rule matchlocks ; that is to say, they were fired by 
 means of a lighted coil of slow-match, which, on the trigger 
 being pulled, was inserted into the pan of the weapon. 
 There were, however, in use some few snaphaunces and 
 wheel-locks, which were fired by means of a flint and steel. 
 
 Nor were bows and arrows as yet considered to be obsolete, 
 since in 1643 we find that Essex issued a call for volunteers 
 armed with those weapons ; while in a contemporary work 
 they are suggested as fit arms for the pioneers, as being light 
 and portable. But they do not seem to have been much 
 used, the quickness of their fire being more than neutralised 
 by the inability of the arrows to pierce the heavy armour of 
 the day. 
 
 In addition to the arms above mentioned, all infantry 
 soldiers carried a straight sword, which was worn on the left 
 side, and hung generally from a baldric or shoulder-belt.
 
 t> THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 Infantry were organised in companies, which varied in size- 
 from 100 to 200 men, of whom, as has been mentioned, 
 about one-half were musketeers. These companies were, 
 on the Continent, usually enlisted and equipped by the 
 captain, and were hired as a whole for the service of any 
 state which might happen to be at war. The size of the 
 company in this case depended upon the amount of money 
 which was at the disposal of the captain, or upon his 
 personal character and renown. The same system doubtless 
 obtained in England at the commencement of the Civil War, 
 with this important difference, that the captains enlisted their 
 companies for the avowed object of serving one or the other 
 side, and were not thus, strictly speaking, " mercenaries ; " 
 though, of course, they and the men received pay as soldiers. 
 Six, eight, or ten companies formed a battalion, which was, 
 as a rule, commanded by some nobleman or distinguished 
 person, and was always known by the name of its colonel. 
 The actual command was, however, generally left in the hands 
 of a lieutenant-colonel. 
 
 Each company had 1 captain, 1 ensign, 4 sergeants, and 2 
 drummers, while the staff of the battalion consisted of the 
 lieutenant-colonel and a sergeant-major only ; the latter 
 seems to have ranked as an officer and to have discharged 
 the duties of adjutant. 
 
 Each unit of infantry appears to have fallen in, whether 
 for battle or for parade, in one invariable formation; the 
 pikes were formed into a square, on either flank of which 
 stood a smaller square of musketeers, while the general order 
 of battle for the entire force was in lines of battalions at close 
 interval. 
 
 The cavalry were divided into cuirassiers, arquebusiers, 
 carbineers, and dragoons, and made up as a rule about one- 
 quarter of the total strength of an army. At the beginning.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 of the seventeenth century lancers were also used, but they 
 appear to have passed out of date before the commencement 
 of the Civil War. 
 
 Cavalry were organised in troops, which were 100 or 120 
 strong, according to whether they were intended to fight five 
 or six deep ; each troop had 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 1 cornet, 
 3 corporals, and 2 trumpeters. 
 
 The cuirassier was a heavy-armed soldier, mounted on a 
 large horse, and attended by a boy, who carried his arms and 
 " snapsack." He was dressed in full armour from head to 
 foot, and used, in addition to a long straight sword, a brace 
 of pistols of 20 or 24 bore, and about 18 inches in length. 
 
 The arquebusier wore a helmet, a back and breast plate, 
 and a gorget, under which was a good buff coat ; he was 
 armed, in addition to his sword, with an arquebus about 30 
 inches long and of 17 bore, as well as with a pair of pistols. 
 
 The carbineer rode a lighter horse than either of the pre- 
 ceding, having, it would appear, no defensive armour; he 
 wore a sword, and carried also a carbine about 27 inches 
 long and of 24 bore. 
 
 The dragoon was in truth a mounted infantry soldier, 
 whose horse was used merely a means of conveyance, since 
 the man fought invariably on foot. Dragoons were armed 
 exactly as were the infantry, with pike and musket, and 
 fought in a square in a similar manner. The strength of a 
 troop was usually 132, which allowed one horse-holder to each 
 eleven horses, while 120 was the fighting strength of the 
 troop. 
 
 Of these several divisions of the mounted force, the 
 dragoons were pushed forward to seize or to hold any par- 
 ticular post which the general might wish to possess ; in this 
 respect, they were the exact type of the mounted infantry of 
 the present day.
 
 8 THE PAELIAMENTAUY GENERALS. 
 
 The arquebusiers and carbineers performed those duties 
 which we in our days consider to devolve especially on 
 cavalry; they led the march and protected the columns 
 while on the move, they guarded the flanks of the infantry 
 in battle, and, after driving off the enemy's cavalry, struck at 
 the flanks of the hostile foot. 
 
 The cuirassiers acted as a reserve to the others, being 
 posted always in rear, in order that they might cover the 
 retreat, if necessary, of the other cavalry, and might thus 
 gain time for the latter to reform. It is obvious that the 
 great weight carried by the horses would prevent the 
 cuirassiers from charging over any distance; indeed, their 
 charge, when they did not receive the enemy at the halt, 
 was never made at any faster pace than a trot. 
 
 Charges against infantry were rarely pressed home by any 
 one of the various descriptions of cavalry. The general plan 
 of such an attack was a converging rush on the front and 
 flanks of the hostile square, the horses being pulled up when 
 near the front of the infantry to allow their riders to discharge 
 their firearms in the faces of the pikemen ; should the latter 
 give way, the cavalry pushed on into the ranks of the battalion, 
 and soon broke it up into a mass of fugitives. 
 
 Even against cavalry, the true cavalry weapon, the sword, 
 was never drawn until the pistols or carbine had been 
 discharged, and it is specially recommended by one of the 
 tacticians of the time that the first pistol should be fired at 
 the hostile rider, but the second at his horse ; when both had 
 been discharged, the sword was to come into play. He 
 further recommends that a cuirassier shall endeavour to 
 advance against the right hand of his adversary, as he could 
 thus use his pistols with greater effect; but arquebusiers and 
 carbineers are advised to attack the enemy's left, as they 
 could thus rest their weapons on their bridle-arm.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The artillery of the Civil "Wars were divided under four 
 heads, as follows : 
 
 1. The cannons; including the cannon royal, the whole 
 cannon, and the demi-cannon, 
 
 2. The culverins ; consisting of the culverin, the demi- 
 culverin, the saker, the minion, the falcon, the falconet, the 
 robinefc, and the base. 
 
 3. The pierriers, or guns for throwing stone shot. 
 
 4. Mortars, closely resembling those of the present day, 
 which threw iron and stone balls. 
 
 The following table will give information as to the principal 
 characteristics of the several guns : 
 
 Names of 
 guns. 
 
 Diam. 
 of bore 
 in 
 inches. 
 
 Weight 
 of shot 
 in Ibs. 
 
 Length 
 of gun 
 in feet. 
 
 Weight 
 of gun 
 in Ibs. 
 
 Charge 
 of 
 powder 
 in Ibs. 
 
 Range, with 
 elevatiou of 
 7 30'. 
 
 Cannon royal ... 
 
 8 
 
 63 
 
 12 
 
 8,000 
 
 27 
 
 1,500 yds. 
 
 Whole cannon ... 
 
 7 
 
 39 
 
 11 
 
 7,000 
 
 18 
 
 1,350 
 
 Demi-cannon ... 
 
 6-5 
 
 30 
 
 10 
 
 6,000 
 
 14 
 
 1,300 
 
 Culverin 
 
 5-25 
 
 17-5 
 
 12 
 
 4,400 
 
 12 
 
 1,500 , 
 
 Demi-culverin ... 
 
 4-5 
 
 10-5 
 
 11 
 
 2,400 
 
 7-5 
 
 1,450 
 
 
 3-75 
 
 5-25 
 
 9 
 
 1,500 
 
 4-75 
 
 1 250 
 
 Minion 
 
 3-25 
 
 3'75 
 
 7'5 
 
 1,200 
 
 3 
 
 1 000 
 
 Falcon 
 
 275 
 
 2'5 
 
 7 
 
 700 
 
 2 
 
 1 100 
 
 Falconet 
 
 2-25 
 
 ri4 
 
 6 
 
 500 
 
 1 
 
 750 , 
 
 Robinet 
 
 1-5 
 
 25 
 
 4 
 
 300 
 
 5 
 
 500 
 
 Base 
 
 1-25 
 
 5 
 
 3'5 
 
 201 
 
 -5 
 
 380 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 All these guns were used for siege purposes, while in the 
 field we occasionally find even so large a gun as the demi- 
 culverin, which was a little heavier than is our present twenty- 
 five pounder, also a gun of position. 
 
 Owing to the difficulties of transport, guns were in the 
 seventeenth century a great encumbrance during a campaign ;
 
 10 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 nor could they in battle, owing to the slowness and inaccuracy 
 of their fire, yield sufficient benefit to repay the trouble of 
 their carriage. But a siege train was a necessity in the days 
 when towns were fortified and castles were proof against 
 assault, and since for this reason an army never marched 
 without some guns, it was customary to make use of those 
 guns in action in the open field. 
 
 In the case of siege guns there was little difference from the- 
 practice of the present day, except that the ranges were of 
 course much less, and the fire much slower, than they are 
 now. The position and the action of the artillery in battle 
 will be considered on a later page. 
 
 The heavy guns were drawn by teams of from eight to 
 sixteen horses, each horse being supposed to draw about 
 500 Ibs. ; the drivers were sometimes mounted in turn on 
 the off and near horse of each alternate pair. 
 
 The operation of loading a gun was as follows : It was, as 
 now, first sponged out ; the charge of powder was then taken 
 by means of a brass ladle out of a budge barrel ; the ladle, 
 which had a long handle, was pushed to the bottom of the 
 bore and then inverted, in order to pour out the powder ; a 
 wad of " hay, grasse, weedes, okham, or such like " was 
 next rammed home; after this the shot, and then another 
 wad of similar materials. Cartridges of linen or paper were 
 sometimes used, in which case they were pricked with a 
 priming-iron. 
 
 When the loading had been completed, the vent was 
 primed with loose powder from a horn, and the gun was 
 fired by means of a linstock, which consisted of a stick, 
 around which was a coil of slow-match. 
 
 An army of the seventeenth century, when drawn up in 
 order of battle, was generally formed in three lines, named 
 respectively the main battle, the battle of succour, and the-
 
 INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 rear battle ; of these, the two last were together about equal 
 in number to the first. The distance between these lines 
 was no more than from twenty to fifty paces ; the troops 
 composing them being all formed in column at close interval, 
 the front of the army was short in proportion to its strength. 
 
 The infantry of each of these lines was formed, as has 
 been mentioned, in squares of pikemen, on the flanks of 
 which stood smaller squares of musketeers ; in the intervals 
 between the battalions of the first line were posted the guns, 
 while the cavalry was divided almost equally between the 
 right and the left wing of the army, and was drawn up 
 five or six deep in two or more lines of troops or squadrons 
 at close interval. 
 
 Owing to want of discipline and drill, the operation of 
 forming the order of battle was a very long process, and for 
 this reason was performed while the force was still at a 
 distance from the enemy; after its completion, the army 
 advanced in order against the position of the hostile troops. 
 Since such an advance would hardly be possible over broken 
 ground, it resulted that battles were almost invariably fought 
 on open plains or fields ; the small extent of these being of no 
 consequence, since the front of the battle was always narrow in 
 proportion to the numbers engaged. It was considered that 
 the force which stood to the defensive had a great advantage 
 over its enemy, owing to the almost certain effect of the 
 advance of the latter on the arrangement and the order of 
 his troops. 
 
 Small but independent bodies of infantry and cavalry 
 were pushed to the front as the enemy approached ; these 
 parties, which were styled "forlorn hopes,* were intended 
 to delay the advance of the enemy by their fire, and were 
 therefore composed mainly of musketeers, so many pikes 
 only being added as would be needed to protect the others
 
 12 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 from the hostile cavalry. These bodies "pickeered" be- 
 tween the two armies, while the guns of the defenders fired 
 on the assailants ; those of the latter could not fire until the 
 line of battle had been halted. 
 
 The cavalry of the attacking force, being on account of 
 their height more liable to injury from the artillery fire than 
 the infantry, were if possible kept under cover until actually 
 needed, but it was not unusual for desperate attacks to be 
 made by small bodies of light-armed infantry or cavalry 
 upon the guns, in the hope of silencing or spiking them. 
 
 When the two armies were at a distance of from 300 
 to 400 yards apart, they both as a rule halted and stood 
 watching each other, while the guns continued their fire. 
 After a pause of shorter or longer duration, varied only by 
 the skirmishing of the advanced troops, one or the other 
 force would decide to attack. An advance was made, the 
 forlorn hopes were driven in, and the true battle began. 
 As soon as it was obvious that the enemy meant to close, the 
 guns of the defenders were withdrawn through the intervals, 
 and formed up in line with the battle of succour. While 
 the infantry were slowly picking their way across the inter- 
 vening space, the horse of each army would charge that of 
 the other ; advancing towards their enemy at a hand-gallop, 
 they would fire their pistols in each other's faces, and then 
 join in a hand-to-hand fight with swords. This irregular 
 engagement, which the cavalry fought out for themselves 
 regardless of the necessities of the infantry, was typical of 
 the tactics of the Civil Wars, in which, owing to the lack of 
 discipline in either army, a battle became a series of single 
 combats, without purpose and often without result. 
 The cavalry of either side being thus well occupied, the 
 infantry, closing in on each other, drew forward to close 
 combat.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 On the advance of the hostile army, the musketeers of each 
 battalion were sent to the front, marshalled in files ten deep, 
 and posted so as to cover the flanks and front of the pike- 
 men. As the musketeers of the enemy, who were formed 
 in a similar manner, came within shot, the leading man of 
 each file fired his musket; this done, he wheeled to the 
 right-about, and fell back to the rear of the file in order to 
 load. Files which were advancing moved up to the front to 
 fire, and stood their ground to load. 
 
 As the two lines drew yet nearer and nearer, the mus- 
 keteers of either army drew away from the front of the 
 pikes, and formed up on their flanks ; when the latter came 
 actually almost in contact, the musketeers either ranked up 
 in rear of the square or placed themselves inside it, and fired 
 on the enemy through the intervals between the pikes. 
 
 At last both squares of pikemen closed, and the fight was 
 fought out hand-to-hand and knee-to-knee, with little hope 
 of escape for the wounded, who were trampled to death as 
 the mass of the combatants swayed above them ; at length 
 one or the other side would break and fly, with the view of 
 rallying on the battle of succour. At once from out of 
 and from in rear of the square, the musketeers poured forth 
 and pursued the retreating battalions with their fire; but 
 soon, not being able, owing to the clumsiness of their fire- 
 arms, to follow them far, they returned to their pikemen 
 and prepared for a renewed defence. So the wave of battle 
 swayed backwards and forwards ; for, since there was seldom 
 any connected plan of attack or defence, each battalion 
 fought out the fight for itself, and an army victorious on its 
 right might nevertheless be routed on the left ; in which 
 case the final victory generally rested with that force which 
 had its reserves close at hand. 
 
 In the battles of the Civil War, the infantry combat had
 
 14 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 never come to a decided end before the return of the cavalry 
 of one or the other party; and thus it happened that in 
 almost every action the result of the battle followed that of 
 the cavalry contest. 
 
 On the return of the victorious horse to the field of battle, 
 their efforts were at once addressed to breaking the infantry 
 ^squares, either by charging these in flank while the infantry 
 attacked them in front, or by their own independent action. 
 In the latter case they rode up to the pikemen and fired into 
 their ranks, then wheeling away retired to reload their 
 pistols ; so the fight went on, until either the cavalry had 
 been repulsed by the fire of the musketeers, who lay under 
 the front pikes or fired from the interior of the square, or 
 some unsteadiness having shown itself among the pikes, the 
 horsemen could push into the battalion square and could 
 disperse the men in all directions. "When the horse had 
 been driven from the field and the squares of the infantry 
 had been broken up, in spite of their efforts to rally on the 
 lines in rear, then indeed the battle was lost and the pursuit 
 began, of all parts of the action the most costly to the defeated 
 party. For, cumbered by their arms, and having too little disci- 
 pline to rally, the retreating troops fled without order to any 
 point which promised momentary safety, and thus fell an 
 easy prey to the swords of the pursuing cavalry, who drove 
 them from shelter to shelter, with but small loss to them- 
 selves, until the army was not only defeated but dispersed 
 never to rally again. 
 
 Unlike as is a modern European battle to such a contest 
 as has been described, with regard to the numbers engaged, 
 the space occupied on the field, the mode of attack, and in 
 the manner of the use of cavalry, in nothing is it more unlike 
 than in the conduct of the pursuit. Whereas in the seven- 
 teenth century the larger portion of the losses of the defeated
 
 INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 array were incurred during its flight, it is now the case that, 
 owing to the extreme ranges at which a battle is fought, 
 there is in practice hardly any such thing as a pursuit ; 
 from this it results, that in almost every action the army 
 which attacks, though it may be victorious, loses more men 
 than that which assumes the defensive. 
 
 We may here remark that, in spite of their experience in 
 the Netherlands, the leaders on either side, at the commence- 
 ment of the Civil "Wars, showed but little skill either in 
 tactics or strategy ; and that the few lessons which may be 
 drawn from the history of these campaigns teach us for the 
 most part only what to avoid in war. 
 
 Before beginning the narrative of the Civil War, it may 
 be interesting to briefly recall the extraction and analyse 
 the characters of some of the principal leaders of the forces of 
 the Parliament. 
 
 Of these, the foremost in point of time, though by no 
 means the most remarkable as a general, is Robert Devereux, 
 the third Earl of Essex. 
 
 He was the son of the unfortunate favourite of Elizabeth, 
 and was born in London in 1592, so that at the outbreak of 
 the war he was about fifty years of age. 
 
 His first wife, Lady Frances Howard, deserted him for 
 Carr, Lord Rochester, the unprincipled favourite of James I. 
 Essex, weary of England, passed over to the Netherlands, 
 where he served for some time, attained high distinction, 
 and was much beloved by his men. 
 
 On his return to his native land, his sympathies were alto- 
 gether in favour of the popular party, though the King, with 
 the object of detaching him from it, bestowed upon him the 
 office of Lord Chamberlain. 
 
 This place was shortly after, on his refusal to follow the 
 King from London, foolishly taken from him, and the earl
 
 16 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 was thus left free to accept without scruple the command in 
 chief of the forces of the Parliament. 
 
 If we judge of his military abilities by the results of his 
 campaigns, we are forced to admit that they were but mode- 
 rate ; no skill is shown in the general conduct of the war, 
 while his movements, when not forced by circumstances into 
 some certain direction, appear to have been for the most 
 part objectless, for during his three years of command he 
 effected little or nothing towards the favourable conclusion 
 of the contest ; this failure to obtain marked success against 
 the King may, however, have been the consequence rather of 
 his political policy than of his incompetency for command, 
 since he was undoubtedly as averse to the complete triumph 
 of the Republican party as he was disinclined to allow the 
 return of the King to such despotic exercise of his power as 
 would be possible should he entirely crush the rebellion of 
 his subjects. But he was not sufficiently strong for the 
 times. The men whom he proposed to use as tools to for- 
 ward his personal aggrandisement, so soon as they realised 
 that he was inclined to play his own game and not theirs, 
 caballed against him, and, aided by the common-sense of the 
 people, who saw that thus conducted the war would never 
 end, they succeeded in ousting him from his high post, and 
 laid him by in honourable obscurity. 
 
 Sir Thomas Fairfax, the successor of Essex, was the 
 son of Ferdinand, Lord Fairfax, on whose death, March 
 13th, 1648, he assumed the title. He was a member 
 of an old Yorkshire family, and on the outbreak of 
 the Civil War threw the whole weight of his personal 
 influence in favour of the Parliamentary cause. His 
 father at first led the Koundhead party in the North, but 
 the youth and energy of the son soon raised him to the 
 real, though not the nominal, command, and the name of
 
 INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 Ferdinand, Lord Fairfax, is chiefly known in history as 
 that of the father of Sir Thomas. 
 
 The latter in his early youth had served in Holland, and 
 had brought back thence the repute of a skilful soldier. 
 His continued, though at one time almost hopeless, struggles 
 against Newcastle in the North made his name famous ; and 
 there does not appear to have been one dissentient voice 
 raised against his appointment as Commander-in-chief in 
 succession to Essex. 
 
 He was gentle and kind in private life ; his countenance 
 and mind were strongly marked with melancholy, the result 
 possibly of continual ill-health, for he suffered during his 
 whole life from the effects of his hardships in the Nether- 
 lands; but in action he was fierce and uncontrollable, so 
 that in battle men dared scarcely speak to him. It may be 
 doubted whether, as a soldier (not as a leader), he was not 
 at least the equal of Cromwell ; he certainly knew more of 
 war, and his blows, if less heavy, were perhaps more skilful 
 than those of his great successor. In comparing the two 
 generals, we must remember that Cromwell never commanded 
 in chief against better troops than the indifferently armed 
 and undisciplined Scots and Irish, whereas Fairfax in one 
 campaign defeated the Eoyalist army and ruined their cause, 
 at the very moment when its partisans were most full of 
 hope. 
 
 To those who read the history of his times with care, the 
 name of Fairfax shines forth as that of the most unselfish 
 and most noble gentleman of his party, though, being more 
 a soldier than a politician, he never acquired the renown of 
 Cromwell, for the reason that he served in war with no 
 ulterior or personal motives. 
 
 Of Cromwell, the foremost figure of the latter years of 
 the war, as he was the guiding spirit of much that was done 
 
 c
 
 18 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 during the earlier period, it is unnecessary to speak at length, 
 since his life is in great part the history of England. 
 
 He was born in the year 1599, and was the son of a 
 gentleman of Huntingdon, of good family in that county. 
 
 At the commencement of the disagreement between the 
 King and the Parliament, he strongly supported the cause of 
 the latter, and, when hostilities between the two became 
 inevitable, he used his great local influence for the purpose 
 of raising troops in the eastern counties. At first merely 
 the captain of a troop, he soon worked his way to the rank 
 of colonel; but his greatest task at this time was the 
 formation of the Association of the Eastern Counties, a league 
 which was never broken, and which added immensely to the 
 strength of the Parliamentary party. 
 
 With respect to his character as a general, we may note 
 that, gifted with a natural genius for organisation, and with 
 that peculiar power over the minds of men which stamps the 
 true leader, he raised the first body of " soldiers," and with 
 them leavened that army, which before his coming was a 
 mere rabble of " tapsters and serving- men." 
 
 Devoted to religion but broad in his views, he at the 
 same time made use of the fervour of the zealot, and accepted 
 the good service of those who differed from him in their 
 dogma ; " the cause " was to him the touchstone of a man's 
 worth, and none were rejected who were " honest men." 
 
 At a later period, when higher command fell to his lot, he 
 showed the same talents as a general which had already dis- 
 tinguished him as a captain ; he was a good judge of men, 
 and, being thus secure in his confidence in his subordinates, 
 ventured to undertake movements and marches which, to the 
 majority of the armies of those days, would have been, 
 impossible to execute and dangerous to attempt. 
 
 His success, reacting on the influence over men which.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 had made that success possible, raised him to a pinnacle of 
 power, whence other men appeared but pigmies, as small 
 and as mean as their ends; while, accustomed to the 
 obedience of the soldier, he sought, as have all those who 
 have risen by the sword, to treat a nation as an army. 
 
 While he lived, England endured this attitude, but at 
 his death she gladly flung his sons back into obscurity, and 
 destroyed with ease that political condition which he had 
 brought about at the cost of the best years of his life. 
 
 Sir William Waller was a gentleman of Kent, and was 
 born in the year 1597 ; he was, therefore, at the beginning of 
 the war about forty-five years of age. 
 
 He had in his youth much distinguished himself in war on 
 the Continent, and was on his return knighted by Charles I. 
 as a reward for these services. Eut a quarrel with a relative, 
 which found its crisis in a blow delivered within the precincts 
 of the Palace of Westminster, brought Waller before the 
 Star Chamber, from whose clutches he with difficulty 
 escaped at the cost of a heavy fine. After this incident he 
 threw himself headlong into opposition to the Eoyal party, and 
 was rewarded by a command at the first outbreak of the war. 
 
 He had no talent as a soldier, and the history of his 
 campaigns is an almost unbroken list of defeats ; yet he was 
 popular, partially on account of his rivalry with Essex, 
 and might, but for his ill-success in war, have succeeded 
 that general in his command. 
 
 Waller is a remarkable example of a case in which the 
 man's reputation was so much greater than the man, that 
 its possessor was eventually broken down by its weight ; 
 for he does not appear to have been in any respect above 
 mediocrity; he had so little influence with his soldiers 
 that he was even unable to preserve discipline, while, 
 to speak charitably, his fortune was so bad that he was 
 
 c 2
 
 20 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 defeated in a large majority of the battles in which he 
 commanded. 
 
 Of the leaders who came into notice at the latter end of 
 the Civil "Wars, the first to claim our attention is Henry 
 Ireton, the friend and son-in-law of Cromwell. 
 
 He was born in Nottinghamshire, in the year 1610, and 
 served the Parliament from the commencement of the war 
 up to his death in 1651. 
 
 This event was of national importance, not so much on 
 account of the share which Ireton had taken in the military 
 and political conduct of the Civil War, as by reason of the 
 effect which his counsels and opinion might have had on 
 Cromwell, had he lived to see the latter supreme. Having 
 been educated as a lawyer, Ireton had the principal hand 
 in drawing up the various declarations and remonstrances 
 which were presented to the Parliament by the Army. But 
 he was a strong man in action as well as with his pen, 
 being very energetic, industrious, and firm, and, as a soldier, 
 able and stout in the field. No man had such influence 
 with Cromwell as he, none was so trusted and none so 
 respected. He was in heart and soul a Eepublican, and it 
 may be doubted whether, had he lived, Oliver would have 
 ventured to assume the Protectorate. 
 
 Charles Fleetwood, who married Ireton's widow, was the 
 son of Sir William Fleetwood, who was cupbearer to James I. 
 and Charles I. 
 
 He had sufficient military skill to enable him to carry 
 out the plans of better men than he, but was wanting 
 in energy, in daring, and in self-confidence. Timid, waver- 
 ing, and cunning, he was, perhaps, of all the leaders of 
 the forces of the Parliament, the one least worthy of his 
 place in the history of the times, which was probably, in 
 great part, due to his relationship to the Protector.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 Of far other metal was the bold, ambitious, and unscru- 
 pulous Lambert, who was early marked by Cromwell as a 
 useful but dangerous man. 
 
 He was born, of good family, about 1620, and was edu- 
 cated for the Bar, but abandoned his profession on the 
 outbreak of hostilities. 
 
 As a leader of cavalry he had no equal in those days, 
 and he appears to have been fully acquainted with his 
 whole duty in war. This was especially shown in the cam- 
 paigns against the Scots in 1648 and 1651, where, though 
 he had every temptation to strike an independent blow at 
 the enemy, he entered so fully into the plan of the campaign, 
 that he held his hand until the number of troops at the 
 command of the Parliamentary leaders rendered the defeat 
 of the Northern army not only certain but disastrous. 
 
 In political matters his action was bold to rashness, open 
 and determined ; and he was in consequence, on the eleva- 
 tion of Cromwell to the Protectorate, dismissed from his 
 offices in disgrace. Compared with Cromwell, he was 
 deficient in the art of ruling men, and had not the power 
 which Oliver possessed of concealing his intentions until 
 they were ripe for execution ; but as a soldier he was not 
 far behind his great leader. 
 
 The name of Blake should not perhaps be included among 
 those of the generals of the Parliamentary party, but it is 
 one of such mark in English history that it cannot be 
 altogether passed by. 
 
 Robert Blake was born at Bridgewater, in Somersetshire, 
 in the year 1594. On the commencement of hostilities be- 
 tween the King and the Parliament, he joined the army of 
 the latter, and distinguished himself in the defence of Bristol 
 against Prince Rupert. His most gallant service was performed 
 in 1 6 45, at Taunton, which town he defended during two sieges.
 
 22 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENEEALS. 
 
 In 1649, when in his fifty-fifth year, he received the com- 
 mand of the Parliamentary fleet, and in that position gained 
 many most important successes over the Dutch. He was 
 a severe disciplinarian, a rigid Puritan, and in politics a 
 Eepublican. 
 
 In view of the importance of the after action of Monk, 
 we may perhaps also give a short record of his birth and 
 early life. 
 
 George Monk was the second son of Sir Thomas Monk, 
 of Petheridge, Devon, and was born in 1608. He served 
 in the expedition to Cadiz, and also in that to Ehe*. In 
 1629, he passed into the Low Countries, where he served 
 with distinction ; in 1639 he returned to England, and was 
 engaged in the two campaigns which Charles I. made against 
 Scotland. 
 
 In 1642, he was sent as a colonel to Ireland, but was 
 recalled when the King, having concluded a truce with 
 the rebels, drew the army of Ireland to his aid in England. 
 Though suspected of a leaning to the Parliamentary cause, 
 Monk succeeded in justifying himself to the King, and was 
 appointed to serve with the Irish force which landed in 
 North Wales at the end of 1643. 
 
 He was there taken prisoner by Sir Thomas Eairfax, and 
 was committed to the Tower. His subsequent fate, and his 
 actions in the service of the Parliament in Scotland, will be 
 related in the following chapters. 
 
 Having thus briefly introduced to our readers the prin- 
 cipal leaders of the Parliamentary party, we may pass 
 on to the narration of the events with which they were 
 connected.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 1642. 
 
 AMOXG the most prominent failings of the Stuart kings may 
 oe placed their blindness, complete as it was unconscious, to 
 the signs of the times in which they lived ; this again was a 
 consequence of their entire inability to understand the 
 character of the English people. 
 
 James I., the pedant-debauchee, held a very different 
 position in the eyes of England to that occupied by his 
 imperious predecessor, but it may be doubted whether he 
 ever realised how entirely the heartiness of the welcome 
 accorded to him sprang from fear of the two powers, which 
 to the minds of most Englishmen represented the Antichrist, 
 namely the Pope and Spain. As far as James could be said 
 to hold to any form of faith, he was a Protestant, a fact 
 which to men of those days meant more than we can now 
 imagine, we who view the Papacy as an interesting relic of 
 earlier ages, venerable from its antiquity and harmless for the 
 same reason. 
 
 Passing on to the successors of James, we find that the 
 poison most constantly used to envenom the attacks on 
 Charles I. was the repetition of the statement that his army 
 was mainly composed of " Papists," while in all probability, 
 of all the errors which he committed, none heaped upon him
 
 24- TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL^. 
 
 so huge a load of contumely and hatred as his hesitation 
 to issue proclamations against the Catholic rebels in Ireland. 
 
 James II. lost his crown by his intolerant devotion to the 
 Church of Home, while Charles II. earned forgiveness for 
 his well-known though disguised leaning in the same direc- 
 tion, only by persecuting most strenuously in public that 
 Faith in which in private he was, as far as any belief in him 
 lay, a believer. 
 
 If we turn from the religious to the political doctrine of 
 the Stuart kings, we shall here again find them at variance 
 with the spirit of the times. From the first to the last of 
 the race they assumed that the Kingship was theirs by inde- 
 feasible right, and that England was, so to speak, their farm, 
 in which the nobles were bailiffs and the people labourers, 
 and of which the entire profit was for their sole use, and 
 subject to their disposition alone. Such was not at all the 
 view taken by the people of England during the earlier part 
 of the seventeenth century. The last of the purely English 
 line of kings was dead, and the ruler of an alien race, of one 
 moreover allied from old time with hostile France, was 
 accepted as the wearer of the crown, and this not so much 
 because this ruler was desired or desirable, as from fear lest 
 worse things should otherwise befall them. The position of 
 the Stuart kings with respect to England was thus very 
 different to that of their predecessors, while their demands 
 on the unhesitating loyalty of their subjects were such as 
 might well have strained the bonds between Elizabeth and 
 her people. The spread of education, bringing with it the 
 habit of independent thought, and the same striving after 
 liberty in speech and action which had led to the rupture of 
 the chains of Rome, made men criticise such things as seemed 
 to them doubtful, and condemn much which earlier ages had 
 revered.
 
 1642. 25 
 
 The attitude of the England of those days closely re- 
 sembled that of a youth who has reached that stage of his 
 development when the fairy tales and fables of his childhood 
 have no longer an interest for him, since he has begun to 
 learn that there is in him a something which demands 
 stronger food ; he is no longer to be held back by " wiso 
 saws and modern instances," but insists upon a voice in 
 matters affecting his interests. The king, on the other hand, 
 resembled the father of such a stripling who is unable and 
 unwilling to understand that there is a well-marked stage 
 between the child and the man, and who strives to repress, 
 by means which perhaps only last year were sufficient, that 
 personality of his son which is now independent of all but 
 his love. If to further extend this simile we suppose the 
 son, as is not rarely the case, to awake one day to the fact 
 that his father is not infallible or immaculate, while the sire 
 in his turn ventures to resort to violent means for the subju- 
 gation or the punishment of his heir, we shall find, as the 
 result of the opposition of the two kindred wills, a struggle 
 which may serve as a fair type of the great Civil War. 
 
 On the 27th of March, 1625, died James the First of 
 England, and Sixth of Scotland, leaving, as a heritage to his 
 son, a war with Spain, a half-healed quarrel with the Parlia- 
 ment on the subject of that son's marriage, an exchequer 
 burdened with gifts to the favourites and satellites of a 
 debauched court, and a people oppressed with the load, 
 hourly felt and cursed, of monopolies on many of the articles 
 of common use, laid upon them by the Crown for no public 
 purposes, but for the maintenance of the lowest creatures of 
 both sexes. 
 
 Charles, the inheritor of this fortune so full of promise of 
 evil, was a man who in many respects deserved a better fate. 
 He was, as men then went, virtuous ; he was in any case
 
 26 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 decent ; and his accession was the signal for a notable 
 cleansing of the court ; he was brave, generous, and chival- 
 rous, a good husband and a most loving father ; but he was 
 weak, and of his weakness deceitful. His manner was 
 wanting in cordiality, while his knowledge of men was 
 small, and he thus at no time had any real power (apart from 
 his position as king) over those by whom he was surrounded, 
 while, strange as it may seem when we think of the love 
 lavished on him when dead, he does not appear to have been 
 loved by any one friend at any time during the whole of his 
 life. 
 
 But another characteristic far outdid all these in its 
 result on his reign. He had, in an inordinate degree, the 
 Stuart belief in the "divinity that doth hedge a king." 
 As his misfortunes and death have raised to him myriads 
 of posthumous adorers, so the errors and failings of his 
 life have drawn from others words of scorn, such as are 
 scarcely deserved by one who, false as his lights were, lived 
 up to them as far as he was able. 
 
 Charles appears to have fully and truly believed that 
 the kingship was a thing of a nature so divine that it 
 was holy, not only to all subjects, but even to the king 
 himself. He wore his crown as a direct gift from God, 
 holding it to be a symbol as sacred as the sacramental 
 cup, a thing not to be touched by profane hands, not to 
 be approached but with bared head and downcast eyes. 
 The man, he felt, might err, but the king never; and 
 such deeds as were done by him as king, though they 
 might appear inscrutable or even unreasonable to others, 
 should be by them received as the acts of an inspired being 
 too high for cavil, too holy for criticism. 
 
 He held, in a very different sense to that in which we 
 now use the words, that the king could "do no wrong."
 
 1642. 27 
 
 Even more, he believed that for a king there were no such 
 qualities as right and wrong. Opposition to him was heresy 
 abuse of him, blasphemy ; as to honour him was worship, 
 and to love him the whole duty of man. 
 
 Up to this point we shall, according to our hearts, pity 
 or deride King Charles. The moral results of this phase of 
 his character we must all condemn ; but for the steadfast- 
 ness with which he held to that which he thought to be 
 true, we must all feel that admiration which is due to any 
 belief for which a man may dare to die. 
 
 Of his kingship, Charles felt himself to be but the depo- 
 sitary ; and thus, even during his times of utmost suffering, 
 we find that the paramount idea in his words and actions 
 is the absolute duty that lay upon him, that by him no 
 stain should fall upon the brightness of this inestimable 
 jewel. The crown was to him as was the breastplate to 
 the Jewish High Priest; in it were thellrim and Thummim, 
 and it were better for him to die better even that he had 
 never been born than that the glory of this ensign should 
 be abated through any deed, or even through any scruple, of 
 his own. 
 
 From this inordinate reverence for the kingly office grew 
 a great evil, for with a perverseness of reasoning which we 
 name Jesuitical, Charles held that for the advancement of 
 so holy a cause, as that of the king must ever be, no means, 
 however vile or mean to the common eye, could be in verity 
 aught but virtuous and true. To this Moloch he sacrificed 
 his children, as he had previously surrendered his home, his 
 wife, and his happiness ; to this idol he offered up the 
 love of his subjects, the hope of his house, and the good 
 of his country ; for this he became an outcast, a vagrant, 
 and a prisoner; and when love, friends, and liberty had 
 been swallowed by the burning fiery furnace, he flung
 
 28 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 in with them his honour and his fair fame for ever ; 
 it was then no hard matter to die for the god. Let 
 those only judge him for whom there exists a Truth so 
 living. 
 
 Such was the King who, on the 4th of January, 1642, 
 came to the House of Commons attended by about two 
 hundred of his courtiers and soldiers of fortune, and, passing 
 alone into the House, demanded, from his station by the 
 Speaker's chair, that the five members should be surrendered 
 to him. This act, of so threatening a character, rendered 
 reconciliation all but impossible, and Charles, finding that 
 the feeling of the City of London (where the five members 
 had taken refuge) was altogether on the side of the Parlia- 
 ment, withdrew from his capital, which he was never to 
 re-enter save as a prisoner. The House of Commons, on 
 the other hand, knowing their insecurity in the case of an 
 appeal to arms, unless they could succeed in getting the 
 government of the militia into their own hands, endeavoured 
 to induce the King to agree to the appointment of such 
 persons as they should select to " settle " that force. 
 
 This point now and ever, Charles refused to grant. 
 Finding that the almost certain end of such proposals 
 would be civil war, he despatched the Queen whose un- 
 popularity far exceeded his own to Holland, with a con- 
 siderable portion of the Crown jewels. On these she was 
 to raise money for the purchase of arms and munitions 
 of war. He himself moved towards the north, and at the 
 end of March, 1642, was at York. 
 
 At the time of the abandonment of the ill-omened cam- 
 paign against the Scots, in 1640, a large store of arms and 
 powder, prepared for that expedition, had been left in 
 Hull. This the King was as anxious to seize as the Parlia- 
 ment was desirous to deny it to him. The latter wished
 
 1642. 29 
 
 to bring the whole to London ; but, finding that the King 
 would not permit them to do so, sent Sir John Hotham, 
 in whom they had entire dependence, as governor to Hull, 
 with direct orders to deny admission to the King, should 
 he demand it. On the 23rd of April, Charles, with a train 
 of no great size, presented himself at the gates of the town, 
 which on his approach had been closed. On his demand 
 for admission, Hotham, speaking from the walls, declared 
 on his knees that he could not admit him without breach 
 of his trust to the Parliament. Charles, after a useless 
 effort to gain by negotiation that which he could not 
 win by arms, returned to York, contenting himself, per- 
 force, with the empty proclamation of Hotham as a 
 traitor. 
 
 Each party, seeing now that war was inevitable, made 
 every effort to raise forces for the coming struggle. The 
 Parliament passed an " Ordinance for the Militia," which 
 placed the command of that body in the hands of lieu- 
 tenants of their own selection ; while the King, after 
 raising a body-guard of about six hundred men in the 
 county of York, sent out his Commission of Array. Each, 
 as might have been expected, declared the action of the 
 other to be illegal, and in this each was probably warranted 
 by facts. But the time was past for all constitutional pro- 
 ceedings, and the result was that every man served in that 
 army which either appeared to him to have the better 
 cause, or which promised to himself personally the greater 
 present or ultimate gain. But of even greater urgency 
 than the question of the supply of men, was that of the pro- 
 vision of money. For this the Parliament principally relied on 
 the City of London, which responded with the very utmost 
 alacrity, cash and plate being freely offered by the citizens, 
 even the women bringing their jewellery and ornaments
 
 30 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 to add to the public store ; while on the passing of a 
 vote "that an army should be raised for the defence of 
 King and Parliament," recruits 'willingly nocked in. It 
 is certain that the support of the City of London alone 
 enabled the Parliament to commence the struggle ; since 
 the capital, which contained by far the greater part of the 
 wealth of the country, furnished to its defenders not only 
 pay and provisions, but also, as will be seen at a later 
 period, a force of infantry which had no superior in the 
 field. 
 
 The King had no such ally, but was indebted for his 
 supplies of money and arms to the contributions of those 
 nobles and gentlemen who favoured his cause, and especially 
 to the generosity of the University of Oxford, of which 
 *he Colleges did not even deny that plate which was a great 
 subject of their pride. It may be of interest to note here, 
 though the occurrence took place in 1643, that a similar 
 contribution on the part of the University of Cambridge 
 was rendered impossible by the swift action of Oliver 
 Cromwell, who occupied the town, and overawed the Heads 
 of Colleges ; he was at that time the Captain of No. 67 
 Troop of the Parliamentary army, and was employed, under 
 Lord Willoughby of Parham, in organising the popular 
 forces in the eastern counties. 
 
 Charles, after having levied a small force in Yorkshire, 
 where, however, his action was much hampered by the 
 counter-influence of Ferdinand, Lord Fairfax, and of his 
 son Thomas, moved slowly towards the south, in the hope of 
 raising recruits in the midland counties. He was defeated, 
 by the thoughtf ulness of the Earl of Stamford, in an attempt 
 to seize the armoury at Leicester, and, Coventry having 
 refused to receive him, he retired to Nottingham, where, on 
 the 22nd of August, 1642, he raised his standard. Of this
 
 1642. 31 
 
 proceeding, the actual ceremony was devoid of grace. The 
 standard, which was of scarlet silk, " in form of a scutcheon," 
 bore on it the King's arms, with the motto, " Give Caesar 
 his due ; " it was at first pushed from one of the upper 
 windows of the Castle, but, as the King considered that it was 
 not thus fully displayed, it was on the following day carried 
 into the park, and there, with much difficulty, owing to the 
 hardness of the ground, finally raised, which operation was, 
 however, conducted in so unskilful a manner, that on the 
 same night the standard, with its pole, was blown to the 
 ground, which, being taken as an omen, seemed an "ill 
 presage to melancholy men." The practical found a worse 
 augury in the fact that during a stay of about three weeks at 
 Nottingham, scarcely any recruits joined the King's forces ; 
 he had thus no infantry and few arms, and was dependent 
 even for the safety of his person on the trained-bands which 
 the Sheriff of the County had called out. So early did 
 it become evident that Charles could not expect support from 
 the Eastern half of England. 
 
 The Parliament had in the meantime fixed the head- 
 quarters of their army at St. Albans, whence, when the 
 organisation had been in some degree completed, they were, 
 in the middle of September, moved to Northampton, an 
 advance which compelled the retirement of the King. The 
 total strength of the forces of the popular party was about 
 15,000 men, divided into horse, foot, and dragoons, the 
 latter being in practice mounted infantry. 
 
 The command of this considerable body of men had 
 been given by the Houses to Robert Devereux, Earl of 
 Essex, who had held charge of all south of the Trent during 
 the Scottish war, a post which had afforded him little oppor- 
 tunity of distinguishing himself. He was appointed at a 
 later period, as has been mentioned, to an office near the
 
 32 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 person of the King, \vhich Charles, with the characteristic 
 folly of the Stuarts, took from him at the very moment 
 when it was of the last importance to bind him to his side. 
 What wonder, then, that Essex threw in his lot with the 
 party to which he was at heart attached ! 
 
 To the Parliament his presence was of the greatest value ; 
 brave, generous, and the darling of all such as had served 
 under him in the Netherlands, his very name was a tower 
 of strength to the cause which he favoured, and " honest 
 Eobin " as the men named him was, both in popularity 
 and in warlike renown, the first of the then generals in 
 England. 
 
 Born in 1592, he was at this time in the full vigour of 
 manhood, and having lived, owing to his domestic mis- 
 fortunes, much abroad in camps and bivouacs, stood forth 
 as the natural leader of the Parliamentary forces; though 
 subsequent events led many to doubt both his military skill 
 and the purity of his political principles. 
 
 On the 9th of September, 1642, Essex, accompanied 
 by many members of both Houses of Parliament, joined 
 his army at St. Albans, and there took up his command. 
 From this date we may assume the undoubted existence of 
 a state of war, though both before and after that event efforts 
 at negotiation were constantly made by those who thought 
 no scheme should be left untried which might avert from 
 the country so terrible an evil as civil war. 
 
 But such efforts could have no result, for both King and 
 Parliament were now determined to fight, since matters 
 between them had come to such a pass, that no recon- 
 ciliation was possible, save on the condition of the absolute 
 submission of the one to the other, which again on either 
 side could follow only as the result of a decisive defeat. 
 Yet all men thought that the struggle, bloody though it
 
 1642. 33 
 
 might be, would prove but short; while each party felt 
 secure in such certainty of success as was born of their 
 entire ignorance of the many possible sources of failure. 
 The general feeling of the country was that one battle 
 would decide the contest ; and, with that want of know- 
 ledge of military matters which always results from a long 
 peace, men imagined that war needed no skill but only 
 courage, and that a victory if bloody must necessarily be 
 decisive. 
 
 With regard to the adherents of either party, we may 
 say that, broadly speaking, the nobility and county mag- 
 nates were, as might be expected, on the side of the King, 
 and were followed in their actions, if only partially in 
 their principles, by their tenants and dependants; while 
 the supporters of the Parliament were the traders, the 
 manufacturing and seafaring population, and, in some 
 parts of England, the yeoman freeholders. From this 
 division it followed that, as a rule, the principal sea-ports 
 and the large towns, including the capital, were in arms 
 against the rural districts, including the garrisons of the 
 various castles and manor-houses in the kingdom. 
 
 From this fact there at once grew a great advantage to the 
 Parliamentary party, since a town, if in any way capable of 
 defence, can spare from its garrison some considerable quota 
 to the strength of the field army ; whereas the fair castles 
 and noble houses of the supporters of the King were too 
 small as a rule for a prolonged defence, while the natural 
 tendency of each man to protect his house and family led to 
 the retention in such tiny garrisons of bodies of men who 
 might, in the aggregate, have added considerably to the 
 marching force of the Royalists. 
 
 If we consider the political principles of the time from 
 a geographical point of view, we shall find that the east 
 
 D
 
 34 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 and .south-east of England, with part of Yorkshire and 
 Lancashire, as also a portion of the south coast, favoured 
 the Parliament, while the cause of the King, which found 
 its largest number of recruits in Wales and the west, was 
 popular also in many of the midland counties and in the 
 north. Space will not admit of the particularisation of 
 the districts and towns which adhered to each party, but 
 the above may be taken as generally true ; while in many 
 parts the local magnates were so evenly divided as to numbers 
 and influence between the combatants, that, especially during 
 the earlier part of the war, such districts became the scene 
 of many skirmishes and combats which, without result to 
 their action or cause for their undertaking, were as useless 
 as they were destructive, and, as we read of them, remind us, 
 in their futility and rancour, of the private wars which 
 raged under the feudal system. 
 
 One peculiar phase of this method of making war is worthy 
 of mention. In Yorkshire at this time and a little later in 
 Cheshire, as also in Devonshire, a private truce to their 
 private war was arranged between the leaders of the Cavaliers 
 and Koundheads in the several counties, such truces having 
 for their object the preservation of the inhabitants of the 
 particular district from the invariable sufferings caused by 
 the passage and contests of armed forces, and for their reason 
 the certainty which all men felt that the war would be 
 decided by the first great battle between the main armies. 
 
 The opening event of the war was very unfavourable to 
 the Koyal party. Portsmouth, Hull, and London were at 
 this time the principal arsenals of the kingdom, and of these 
 the two latter were in the hands of the Parliament ; but the 
 first, under Colonel Goring, held for the King, who had thus 
 a sea-port on the south coast, by which he could communicate 
 with France. The Houses, realising the importance of this
 
 1642. 35 
 
 possession, sent Sir William Waller to besiege Portsmouth, 
 to whom after a feeble defence Goring surrendered "the 
 strongest and best fortified town in the Kingdom." Thus 
 in the beginning of September, Newcastle was the only port 
 in the hands of the Cavaliers. 
 
 The war at this period divides itself into four main 
 theatres, viz. 
 
 1. The Eastern Counties. 
 
 2. The North, and Yorkshire. 
 
 3. Cornwall and the West. 
 
 4. The Midlands. 
 
 1. The progress of events in the eastern counties, of which 
 want of space will not permit the examination of every detail, 
 is mainly remarkable as giving the first proof of the vigour 
 of the mind and the hand of Cromwell, who, with Lord 
 Grey of Wark, was during this year and the next working 
 hard to form the Eastern Association. This, which con- 
 sisted at first of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge, and 
 Herts, in time included also Lincoln and Huntingdon. 
 From these counties Oliver drew that cavalry whose name 
 will endure as long as his own, and, flying with them hither 
 and thither as need might call, he allowed no Eoyalist rising, 
 he permitted even no Cavalier's presence, to disturb the 
 peace of the district which thus, during the whole course 
 of the contest, stood alone in its almost absolute immunity 
 from the horrors of war. 
 
 2. The northern counties and Yorkshire were at this 
 time for the most part Eoyalist, though Hotham held out in 
 Hull, while Ferdinand Lord Fairfax endeavoured to raise a 
 party for the Parliament in the West Eiding. His son, Sir 
 Thomas, succeeded during the autumn in securing Leeds, 
 Wakefield, and Doncaster, upon which the Earl of Newcastle
 
 36 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 was sent from the north, as the King's general, to defend the 
 county. In December, Lord Fairfax, who had been appointed 
 general in Yorkshire for the Parliament, was attacked at 
 Tadcaster by Newcastle with very superior forces, but the 
 former, after a fight which lasted five hours, drove the Earl 
 back to York. Each party, however, was at this early period 
 of the war in such small strength that no decisive action 
 could be expected from them. 
 
 3. When the King leaving York advanced towards London, 
 he detached from his person the then Commander-in-Chief, 
 the Marquis of Hertford, with orders to make his way into 
 the west and to there organise the Koyalist forces. Hert- 
 ford having fixed his headquarters at Wells, called in the 
 trained bands to his standard, but finding that recruits came 
 in but slowly, while on the other hand the Earl of Bedford 
 was in the field with a large body of the troops of the 
 Parliament, he fell back into Sherborne Castle. Hearing at 
 this place of the surrender of Portsmouth, which it had been 
 his purpose to relieve, he crossed the Bristol Channel into 
 Glamorganshire, and, after a time, rejoined the army of the 
 King. The Earl of Bedford, for his part, made his way to 
 the Earl of Essex, as did also Sir William Waller, as soon 
 as Portsmouth had surrendered to him. 
 
 4. But though these smaller events were important to the 
 actors in them, the eyes of the country were fixed, to the 
 exclusion of other interests, on the movements of the two 
 principal armies under Essex and the King. 
 
 The latter in September, on the advance of the Parlia- 
 mentary forces from St. Albans to Northampton, finding that 
 he could in Nottingham obtain no accession to his strength, 
 moved by way of Derby and Stafford into the west, and was 
 on the 20th of September at Shrewsbury. Here his forces 
 were so largely increased by the number of recruits who
 
 1642. 37 
 
 joined from Wales, that it now became a matter of very 
 great difficulty to supply them with either arms or money. 
 
 Essex, who had undoubtedly lost a favourable opportunity, 
 since he might easily have crushed the small following of 
 the King while they lay at Nottingham, now, when it was 
 too late, marched after him with the object of hindering the 
 junction of his reinforcements, and this movement brought 
 about the first action of any importance. 
 
 A body of the Parliamentary cavalry, which, under 
 Nathaniel Fiennes, formed the advanced guard of the main 
 column, on arriving at Worcester found at that place a con- 
 siderable force of the Royalist horse, which, led by Prince 
 Eupert and Goring, had been sent thither from Shrewsbury 
 to serve as escort to A convoy of money, and between these 
 parties, on the 22nd of September, took place a skirmish, 
 much thought of at the time, but of which the memory was 
 afterwards almost lost in that of the severer actions of the 
 war. The manner of it was as follows : An advanced guard 
 of the Eoundhead cavalry, consisting of about 1,000 horse 
 and dragoons, having crossed the Severn, moved on Worcester 
 by way of Powick, where was a bridge over the Teme. On 
 false information that Sir William Balfour, the lieutenant- 
 general of the main body of cavalry, had ordered his force to 
 advance in support, the officer in command pushed on across 
 the Teme, and up a narrow lane where five or six men only 
 could march abreast. While so moving they suddenly found 
 themselves in the presence of about 1,600 of the Eoyalist 
 cavalry, who, wearied with their long ride, were lying idly 
 on the ground. 
 
 Prince Eupert, at once seeing his advantage, had in a 
 moment mounted his men, and burst upon the enemy before 
 more than five troops had found time to deploy for the 
 charge. The Parliamentary horse, surprised and out-
 
 38 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 numbered, yet made head for a while against the attack of 
 the Cavaliers, "but were finally routed and driven back in 
 disorder acros? the river, with the loss of their colonel 
 (Sandys, who was mortally wounded), and of about thirty 
 other officers and men. 
 
 The moral effect of this small engagement was out of all 
 proportion to its real importance, since it "rendered the 
 name of Prince Eupert very terrible." To us, who can 
 view the history of the war as a whole, it further brings the 
 thought whether this success, so easily obtained, may not 
 have been in some degree the originating cause of much 
 further disaster, in that it encouraged to rashness the in- 
 considerate valour of the Prince. 
 
 It is interesting to note, as showing the worthlessness 
 from a military point of view of the Parliamentary troops 
 at this time (the tapsters and serving-men of Cromwell's 
 celebrated saying), that we learn from Ludlow, then a 
 private in the general's body-guard, that even that force 
 of picked men so little understood the meaning of a word of 
 command that, at the order to " wheel about," they " shifted 
 for themselves," and rallied only on the following morning 
 at head-quarters, where they naturally met with but a cold 
 reception from the general. 
 
 The King, having by the beginning of October raised 
 about 8,000 men,* of whom 6,000 were infantry, prepared to 
 take the field, although his troops were most insufficiently 
 supplied with the necessaries of war. For, in order to 
 provide arms for even so small a force as the above, he 
 had been compelled to seize the arsenals of the county 
 trained-bands, and could then find no better weapons than 
 cudgels for some 300 or 400 of his soldiers, while none of 
 
 * According to other accounts he had 6,000 foot, 3,000 horse, and 
 1,500 dragoons.
 
 1642. 39 
 
 the pikemen (the true strength of the infantry of the day) 
 were provided with corslets; moreover the cavalry, who 
 were for the most part gentlemen, had no other arms than 
 their swords, and were as a rule without the defensive 
 armour which was then deemed essential to the safety of 
 a horseman. 
 
 The Parliamentary troops, on the other hand, were 
 generally well armed, for the great arsenal of the Tower of 
 London was in the power of the Eoundheads ; thus, after 
 the skirmish at Worcester, bitter complaints were made by 
 Rupert's men that their swords could not touch their 
 enemies, who rode in armour of proof, while of pistols the 
 Cavaliers had few or none. 
 
 In spite, however, of such disadvantages, it was determined 
 that with what force he had the King should march on 
 London, for it was felt that this movement would certainly 
 be followed by Essex, and that from it a battle would result, 
 of which the issue would without doubt be favourable to the 
 Royalists, and which would at one blow decide the quarrel. 
 Accordingly the Royal army, leaving Shrewsbury about the 
 middle of October, marched by Bridgenorth, Wolverhampton, 
 and Birmingham to Edgecot, at which place, about four 
 miles from Banbury, it arrived on Saturday, the 22nd of 
 October. 
 
 This movement put the Parliament and the City into " no 
 small apprehension," and they used all means to obstruct 
 Charles's march and to hasten Essex after him. The latter, 
 on learning of the King's advance, at once broke up his camp 
 at Worcester, and, following the Royal army, was at the 
 above date at Kineton, a village on the borders of Warwick- 
 shire and Oxfordshire, about six miles from Edgecot. On 
 the following day, Sunday, October 23rd, took place the 
 battle of Edgehill, the first of that war of which the last
 
 40 TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 engagement, contrary to the hopes and beliefs of most men, 
 was not to be fought until nearly nine years later. 
 
 The main body of the Parliamentary army, about 10,000 
 strong, had been ordered to rest for the Sabbath in the 
 village of Kineton, whither, however, in the morning, as the 
 leaders were on their way to church, news was brought from 
 the advanced scouts that the enemy were moving forward, 
 and about 9 a.m. the leading Royalist troops were observed 
 in position on Edgehill, an eminence about three miles to the 
 south-east of the camp of Essex. 
 
 This movement of the Cavaliers had been caused by a 
 report which Kupert, about midnight on the 22nd, had sent 
 in to the King, of the presence of the hostile army at Kine- 
 ton, on receipt of which orders were at once issued for the 
 occupation of Edgehill ; this position was not, however, fully 
 held by the King's troops until noon on the 23rd, on account 
 of the distance, seven or eight miles, which some of the 
 regiments had to march. Thus, had Essex been properly 
 served by his scouts, he might easily have seized such 
 advantage as could be derived from the nature of the ground. 
 
 Between Edgehill and Kineton lies the Vale of the Red 
 Horse, which is described as being on the day of the battle 
 a "great broad field," but somewhat intersected with hedges, 
 especially in that part of it which lay near the village. On 
 this plain, posted on some slightly rising ground, the army of 
 Essex, marshalled in line of battle, awaited until 1 p.m. the 
 advance of the enemy. 
 
 Their order of battle, as nearly as can be discovered in the 
 confusion of contemporary accounts, was as follows : The 
 centre of the line consisted of three brigades of infantry, 
 echeloned on the right brigade, which was commanded by 
 Sir John Meldrum, the other brigadiers being Colonel 
 Essex and Colonel Hollis. In support of this force there
 
 
 Parliamentary Army.. 
 Jlejal Army 
 
 i f t i Mile 
 
 THE VALE OP THE RED HORSE, 
 
 BETWEEN KINETON AND EDGEHILL, 
 
 WHERE THE BATTLE OF EDGEHILL WAS FOUGHT, 
 
 OCTOBER 23RD. 1642. 
 
 [Page 40.
 
 1642. 41 
 
 was a reserve, consisting of one "brigade under Colonel 
 Ballard. On the right stood three regiments of cavalry, two 
 in first line and one in reserve, commanded by Sir Philip 
 Stapleton, Sir William Balfour, and Lord Fielding. The 
 left wing was composed of twenty-four troops of horse, led 
 by Sir James Ramsay, while Hampden, with another brigade, 
 which was serving as escort to the artillery (of which the 
 advance had been very slow, owing to the want of draught- 
 horses), was at this time drawing near to Kineton by the 
 Stratford-on-Avon road. 
 
 The Eoyal army, which was commanded by the Earl of 
 Lindsey, moved down the hill about 2 p.m., in a similar 
 order ; the foot, in nine tertia or battalions in line, formed the 
 centre, while the left was composed of ten troops of cavalry 
 under Lord "VVilmot, the remainder of the mounted arm 
 being placed on the right, and being led by Prince Rupert in 
 person. 
 
 The advance of the Royalist army appears to have been 
 but indifferently executed, since a wide interval (about half- 
 a-mile) divided each wing from the centre, while some of the 
 infantry regiments lagged in their march so far behind the 
 front line, that the main army might have been defeated 
 before they could have come up. This carelessness was no 
 doubt in part due to the assurance of victory which the 
 Cavaliers felt, of which a yet stronger proof was given by 
 their voluntary abandonment of a good defensive position 
 which, lying between the enemy and London, compelled an 
 attack under every disadvantage. Thus, despising their 
 adversary, the Cavaliers gave up every point in their favour 
 and pressed forward to the attack, though many of their men 
 had marched eight miles to the battle and others had not 
 tasted food for forty-eight hours. The advice of some of the 
 more prudent of the King's officers, that the battle should be
 
 42 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 deferred until the morrow, was overruled, on the ground that 
 delay would not bring with it any accession of strength to 
 themselves, while the forces of the Parliamentary army were 
 being daily augmented, thanks to the efforts of the House of 
 Commons and the City. 
 
 The army of Essex stood quietly awaiting the approach of 
 their enemy until about 3 p.m., when, after the exchange of 
 a few shots from the artillery of either side, the battle was 
 begun by an attack of the Royalist foot on the leading 
 brigade of the Parliamentary army, followed a moment 
 later by a furious charge of Kupert against the cavalry of 
 Essex's left wing, of which the effect was much increased by 
 the desertion, from Sir William Waller's regiment, of Sir 
 Faithful Fortescue and his troop, who, firing their pistols 
 into the ground, rode into the ranks of the Cavaliers. 
 
 By this charge the Parliamentary horse of the left wing 
 was entirely routed, and they, flying before their foes, burst 
 their way through the ranks of Hollis's regiment of foot, 
 which, being further pressed by the victors, broke up and 
 fled for their lives to Kineton. Thither they and the 
 remnant of the horse were pursued by Rupert, who, rushing 
 in upon the Roundhead camp, proceeded to wreck and 
 destroy all that he found there, careless of the fact that, as 
 might have been expected, all discipline was quickly lost in 
 the universal search for plunder. 
 
 The centre of the army of Essex, giving way to the conta- 
 gion of fear, was also partially broken up, and for a time 
 matters looked ill for the Parliamentary party, but all advan- 
 tage which might have been reaped from this good fortune 
 was lost to the Royalists, owing to the failure of Rupert to 
 appreciate the situation, and to improve it by attacking with 
 his victorious troops that portion of the enemy's line which 
 yet held its ground.
 
 1642. 43 
 
 The cavalry on the King's left, having with dragoons 
 driven in some musketeers who lined the hedges in their 
 front, charged the two regiments of horse who formed the 
 first line of the Parliamentary right, and were to some 
 extent successful, but the Roundhead regiment, which was in 
 reserve, having charged in its turn, they appear to have been 
 beaten from the field, since we hear no more of them. The 
 right or foremost brigade of the echelon of the Parliamentary 
 foot, having been reinforced by some of the better-hearted of 
 the men of the brigades in rear, stood its ground firmly, 
 and, assisted by the cavalry on its right, which forced the 
 enemy's musketeers to seek refuge within the squares of the 
 pikemen, bravely repulsed all attacks. 
 
 Each of the two armies had by this time practically 
 changed front to the left, as they now stood facing, the 
 Royalists the south, and the Parliamentarians the north. 
 After a pause in the action, for each party was unwilling to 
 retire though neither dared to attack, a fresh charge was 
 made against the King's left flank by the three regiments of 
 cavalry of Essex's right wing ; to this attack Charles had no 
 horse to oppose, since his body-guard, who, according to the 
 custom of the time, should have formed his reserve of 
 cavalry, furious at being jeered at by the other troops as 
 merely " men of show," had begged permission to charge at 
 the head of Rupert's columns, and were thus, at the hour of 
 need, engaged with the others in the plunder of Kineton. 
 
 The cavalry regiments of Colonel Ballard and Lord 
 Brooke broke up two of the King's squares, entirely dis- 
 organising and destroying the battalions which composed 
 them, while Sir William Balfour, with the aid of a frontal 
 attack by the infantry, dispersed the whole of two other of 
 the Royal regiments of foot. In this charge the King's 
 standard-bearer, Sir Edward Verney, was killed and the
 
 44 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 standard captured ; it was presented to Essex, who handed 
 it to his secretary. From the latter it was recovered at a 
 later period of the action by an officer of the Royal army, 
 who, disguised by wearing an orange-tawny scarf (the colour 
 of Essex), pressing through the enemy snatched it from his 
 hand, saying, " no clerk should carry it," and thus unobserved 
 escaped with it to the King. 
 
 The lull which after this sharp engagement fell over 
 the field was interrupted by the return of Kupert, who had 
 been driven from Kineton by the advance of Hampden's 
 brigade, with so much of Hollis's force as the latter had 
 succeeded in rallying. Pressed from their plunder the 
 Cavaliers swept back towards the King, but as they passed 
 over the ground where, at the commencement of the action, 
 the Parliamentary left had rested, they were charged by 
 some of Essex's Life Guards ; flying from these and in great 
 disorder, they at length arrived to the support of the 
 Koyal infantry, but were too exhausted or too disheartened 
 to attempt a new attack. The condition of the Parliamentary 
 troops was no better than that of their adversaries, and 
 thus, since neither army had any further reserves or fresh 
 battalions, the opposing lines stood facing each other, like 
 two dogs, weary with fighting, each on its guard against the 
 other, but neither capable of attack. On this attitude the 
 short October day drew to a close. 
 
 During the night the King withdrew his forces on to 
 Edgehill, while Essex made his bivouac on the field of 
 battle, and thus, in the eyes of the Parliamentary party, 
 proved himself to be the winner of the action, which 
 however, save in respect to the losses incurred in it, left 
 each of the opponents in the same condition in which he 
 was before it took place. 
 
 On the following day Essex paraded his force at about
 
 1642. 45 
 
 9 or 10 a.m., but, though he had by that time been re- 
 inforced by Hampden's brigade (2,000 foot and 500 horse), 
 he attempted no attack, but stood merely on the defensive 
 and watched the King's army file off the hill; when the 
 last man had disappeared he in his turn, having completed 
 the burial of the dead, retired by way of "Warwick on 
 Coventry. Charles having received the surrender of Ban- 
 bury Castle, the garrison of which was overawed by the 
 supposed victory of the Koyalists, pushed forward to Oxford 
 on his way to London. Eupert however, hearing of the 
 retreat of Essex, returned to the field of battle, whence he 
 followed the Earl towards "Warwick, having, so said his 
 enemies, in passing committed great cruelties on the wounded 
 of Essex's army who had been left at Kineton. On the 
 strength of this movement the Koyalists, for their part, 
 claimed to have been last in possession of the field. The 
 loss of the two armies in this battle amounted altogether 
 to between 5,000 and 6,000 men, of which the King's 
 admitted only 2,000 as their share. This assertion may 
 probably have been correct, since it was noted that those 
 of the Parliamentary army who fled suffered more than 
 those who stood, while the contrary was the case in the 
 King's force; while it is an undoubted fact that in the 
 battles of that time the greatest slaughter invariably took 
 place during the pursuit. 
 
 It is perhaps scarcely reasonable to judge the tactics of 
 that period by the scale of modern knowledge and expe- 
 rience, but it is impossible to escape the conviction that 
 Charles committed a grave error when he abandoned his 
 position on Edgehill; so long as he stood there he was 
 placed in such a manner that, while Essex by the necessity 
 of the situation was compelled to attack (for otherwise he 
 could not relieve the pressure upon London), the assault
 
 46 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 of the Parliamentary troops must have been made under 
 such conditions that, considering the rawness of their 
 soldiers and their doubtful mobility, the probabilities of 
 success would have inclined strongly to the side of the 
 Royal army. The King, in fact, abandoned all such ad- 
 vantage as he might have gained from the character of 
 the ground, and assumed the offensive at a time when the 
 defensive would have been the safer, if less brilliant, form 
 of tactical attitude. He was probably pushed to this line 
 of action by the same force which rendered attack dan- 
 gerous, and as it proved disastrous, namely, the headlong 
 valour and the ignorant zeal of the Cavaliers, who 
 appear to have been peculiarly liable to that English 
 failing, contempt for their adversaries. There can be no 
 doubt but that, man for man, the army of the Parliament 
 was at this time inferior to that of the King ; but their 
 very inexperience, and consequent dependence on the few 
 men who knew anything of war, combined with the fact 
 that in this, their first battle, the infantry stood prin- 
 cipally on the defensive, tended to prevent that extra- 
 vagant precipitation, that " eagerness " to use Lord Clyde's 
 words which lost in after time so many battles to the 
 King. 
 
 Whether Essex so failed in ignorance of war, or whether 
 he was unwilling to push his advantage to the end, it is 
 certain that he committed a great fault in not pressing 
 on after Charles, "whose troops were weary and in retreat, 
 with the fresh forces which Hampden and Lord Wil- 
 loughby of Parham had brought up. Had he done so, it 
 is probable that he would have demoralised or even dis- 
 persed the army of the King, while he would certainly 
 have saved Banbury from capture, and have secured for 
 himself the honour of undoubted victory. As it was,
 
 1642. 47 
 
 each army claimed to have won the field ; but we, who 
 can at this distance of time be impartial, prefer to say 
 that victory was at various times in the grasp of either, 
 but that each failed to seize the opportunities which fortune 
 rather than skill offered to it. 
 
 The results of the battle were, for the above reasons, 
 insignificant ; but, even had the King gained a decisive 
 victory, its fruits would have been lost, owing to the long 
 stay which he made in Oxford, where he remained idle 
 until the first week of November, in place of marching 
 at once on London. 
 
 In November he at last moved, and having learnt from 
 his scouts that Eeading had been abandoned by its garrison 
 while Essex was still at Warwick, he occupied that town,, 
 where he received proposals of peace from the Parliament. 
 While negotiations were proceeding, Essex, taking advan- 
 tage of the pause in military operations, transferred his 
 army to the capital, which by this time had become a 
 huge camp, since the trained-bands and apprentices had 
 been called to arms; while, by order of the Houses, all 
 shops had been closed and all business suspended. The 
 Surrey forces were concentrated at Guildford and the 
 City troops were in camp on Turnham Green, while 
 Brentford was held by the two regiments of Hollis and 
 Hampden. 
 
 The Royal army, preceded by Rupert and his cavalry, 
 pushed on, while the discussion of the treaty was yet un- 
 finished, through Colnbrook towards London, the Prince 
 making on the way an unsuccessful effort to secure the 
 surrender of Windsor Castle. On the 12th of November, 
 the King's advanced guard came in contact with the out- 
 posts of the Parliament in front of Brentford, and, being 
 reinforced by the main body, attacked the entrenchments 
 
 E
 
 48 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 with which the town was defended ; after a sharp struggle 
 the assailants were completely successful, the garrison were 
 driven out, and the town occupied by the Eoyalist forces. 
 This action occasioned loud outcries from the Eoundheads, 
 who angrily protested against such an interruption of the 
 negotiations for peace. During the whole of the night which 
 followed this attack, the citizens of London trooped out to 
 the westward, and the morning of Sunday, the 13th of 
 November, found 24,000 of them in arms facing the Eoyal 
 forces on Turnham Green. 
 
 The Surrey trained-bands had been by this time brought 
 up to Kingston, and the suggestion was now made that 
 these should, under the above circumstances, move on to 
 Hounslow, with the object of threatening, if not of cutting 
 off, the retreat of the Cavaliers ; but the order which was 
 at first given to this effect was soon counter-ordered, as 
 was also one for a similar movement of two regiments of 
 horse and one of foot by way of Acton. 
 
 Whether these counter-orders were dictated by a desire 
 not to bring matters to a final issue, or by a cautious wish 
 to provide a golden bridge for the King's army, will never 
 be known ; but the Cavaliers, after facing the City troops 
 for some hours, were permitted to draw off without oppo- 
 sition and retreated leisurely on Reading, alleging after- 
 wards as their reason for retiring, that the greater part of 
 their ammunition had been expended. 
 
 Thus, like all other military movements of King Charles, 
 which, even when they had in their conception some appear- 
 ance of that boldness which forces victory, failed invariably 
 from the weakness of their execution, this march on London 
 of which even the failure created a panic, while the suc- 
 cess of it would have conquered a kingdom dwindled into 
 a mere military promenade, futile as regarded its imme-
 
 1642. 49 
 
 diate object, while the attendant details of plunder and 
 rapine raised up numberless enemies to the Eoyal cause. 
 
 During the remainder of the year 1642, no movement of 
 importance was undertaken by either of the main armies, 
 who both, as was the custom in those days, passed the bad 
 weather of the winter in quarters, a measure no doubt 
 rendered advisable by the fact that marching was impossible 
 except in the drier and warmer months, on account of the 
 bad condition of the roads. 
 
 It remains only to notice some of the smaller events 
 which happened during the year. In Cornwall, Sir Kalph 
 Hopton and Sir Bevil Greenville (or Grenville), having 
 called out the militia of the county, seized Launceston for 
 the King, and thus commenced that war in the west, 
 which at one time promised to replace Charles in power. 
 In Yorkshire, at the end of the year, Newcastle was joined 
 by Goring, who had returned to England ; but the former, 
 devoting his attention principally to the organisation of 
 his army, permitted Fairfax to retain for the present an 
 uninterrupted occupation of the southern half of the county. 
 In Lancashire, the Earl of Derby, trusting in his personal 
 influence, endeavoured to raise a force for the King, 
 but the general spirit of the county was so entirely for the 
 Parliament, that in this he signally failed, and was finally 
 defeated and forced to shelter himself in Latham House. 
 
 In the southern counties Sir "William Waller succeeded in 
 capturing Farnham Castle and the town of Winchester, 
 while towards the end of the year he reduced Chichester, 
 which had been garrisoned by some of the gentlemen of 
 Sussex, who having raised a force with the intention of join- 
 ing the King at Brentford, found themselves isolated on his 
 unexpected retreat. 
 
 As a summary of the operations during the year 1642, vre 
 
 E 2
 
 50 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 may say that by them the relative positions of the contend- 
 ing parties was not materially altered, but that now, all hope 
 of accommodation being at an end, men were for the most 
 part decided as to the attitude which they intended to main- 
 tain ; yet many on each side, though they were committed 
 to a distinct policy, were but half-hearted in their wishes for 
 the complete triumph of either party. 
 
 The King remained master of the north and Wales, whilst 
 his headquarters at Oxford were, by the natural advantages 
 of the position of that city, absolutely secure from attack. 
 But already symptoms were to be seen of that disagreement 
 between the leaders of his army which was to work such evil 
 to him, for the great nobles of England found it hard to 
 endure the abrupt manner and hasty speech of Prince Rupert, 
 who, too young to understand the art of ruling men by their 
 weaknesses, did not hesitate to chide their failings, and, con- 
 fident in his position as one of royal blood, forgot that to 
 Englishmen he seemed rather a foreigner than one of them- 
 selves. 
 
 The Parliament, on the other hand, held possession of 
 every sea-port except Newcastle, and were steadily gaining 
 ground towards the west in the southern counties, while 
 their forces in Yorkshire were now organised for resistance, 
 and the Eastern Association, growing daily in strength, 
 formed with the City of London a bulwark, against which the 
 undisciplined forces of the King might dash themselves in vain. 
 
 None of those suspicions, which were afterwards so rife, 
 seem yet to have arisen with regard to the goodwill of Essex, 
 nor were there any signs at present of the ill-blood which at 
 a later period prevented the co-operation of himself and 
 Waller ; while the latter, whose name in a few years became 
 synonymous with defeat, was still saluted by the citizens, 
 who adored him, as " William the Conqueror."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 1643. 
 
 IT is almost impossible to give any connected history of 
 tli is period of the contest, when every town was warring with 
 the country around it, and each county became the scene 
 of a petty campaign. Thus Cheshire was divided between 
 Sir "William Brereton, who had fortified Nantwich for the 
 Parliament, and Sir Nicholas Byron, who held Chester for 
 the King while Lancashire, in spite of the persistent efforts 
 of the Earl of Derby, assisted the former, as the Eoyalists 
 were aided by Shropshire and Wales. 
 
 Northamptonshire, "Warwickshire, Derbyshire, and Staf- 
 fordshire formed an association under Lord Brooke against 
 the King, while Berkshire and Oxfordshire were in his 
 favour, the remaining midland counties being possessed by 
 the one or the other party as the fortune of war might 
 decide. 
 
 The first actions of the year took place in Yorkshire, 
 where Lord Fairfax, repulsing the efforts of Newcastle to 
 drive him from Leeds, Bradford, and Halifax, succeeded for 
 a time in holding the south-west corner of the county ; but 
 about the middle of February the Queen, having landed at 
 Lridlington Bay, gave such assistance in arms and money to
 
 2 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 the Earl, as enabled him to raise an army superior to any 
 that Fairfax could collect, and the latter thus was able only 
 with great difficulty to hold his own. The country between 
 York and Oxford was, however, still for the most part in the 
 power of the Parliamentary party, and the Earl therefore 
 placed a garrison in Newark with the object of keeping up 
 communication with the headquarters of the King. Thence 
 a little later he was able to extend his operations into 
 Lincolnshire, where Cavendish, a brother of the Earl of 
 Devonshire, succeeded in occupying Grantham. In addition 
 to, or in consequence of this good fortune, the Governor of 
 Scarborough Castle gave in his adhesion to the Royal cause, 
 while Hotham, the Governor of Hull, whose faith in the 
 Parliament had long been wavering, was with his son made 
 a prisoner and sent to London, on a suspicion of a similar 
 intention. 
 
 Eeturning now to Cornwall, we find that the Parliamentary 
 leaders in that county, Buller and Carew, had, on the advance 
 of 3,000 men under Hopton to Launceston, fallen back into 
 Devonshire, whither the Eoyalists followed them, after a 
 short delay caused by the necessity of raising volunteer 
 regiments, since the militia, which composed their present 
 force, could not be called upon to serve out of their county. 
 Euthven, the Parliamentary Governor of Plymouth, was 
 defeated by Hopton at Braddock Down, and the Eoyalists 
 gallantly carried Saltash by storm. This petty war was 
 ended by a private peace, concluded in all due form between 
 the counties of Devon and Cornwall, a peace promptly 
 annulled by the Houses, who further at once ordered Waller 
 to the west. 
 
 In Staffordshire the siege of Lichfield cost the Parliament 
 the life of Lord Brooke, who was shot from the close, as he 
 sat at a window watching the operations of the besiegers ;
 
 1643. 53 
 
 but the city was soon after stormed by Sir John Gell, the 
 Eoundhead leader in that county, against whom in turn the 
 Earl of Northampton advanced from Banbury. 
 
 Gell, pressed by the superior forces of the Earl, abandoned 
 Lichfield and fell back towards Nantwich ; he found there 
 Sir William Brereton at the head of nearly 3,000 men, who 
 returned with him against the Earl. The two forces met, 
 about the middle of March, on Hopton Heath, near Stafford, 
 where a battle ensued, in which Northampton was killed at 
 the head of his troops. Each party claimed the victory, but 
 a good proof that fortune on this occasion favoured the 
 Cavaliers is given by the fact, that Lichfield was in April 
 surrendered to them. 
 
 Gloucester, of which the governor, Massey, had acted with 
 great vigour in reducing the castles in its vicinity, was in 
 the early part of the year threatened by the Earl of Wor- 
 cester, who, at the head of a mob of raw Welsh troops, 
 moved against it from the west; but when the so-called 
 siege had lasted only five weeks, this undisciplined rabble 
 was easily defeated by Waller, who had been detached to 
 the relief of the city, and was by him driven back in 
 disorder into the hills. After the completion of this light 
 service, Waller possessed himself of Hereford and Tewkes- 
 bury, and having provided them with garrisons, himself 
 returned to the main army under Essex, who was at that 
 time before Heading. 
 
 Let us now return with him to the Lord-General. The 
 early months of the year had been occupied in efforts as 
 ever, unsuccessful to find grounds on which a treaty of 
 peace might be concluded; but all hope of agreement having 
 been abandoned by the middle of April, Essex at that date 
 advanced towards Reading, with the intention of besieging 
 that town.
 
 54 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 His army was composed of about 16,000 foot and 3,000 
 horse, and every care was taken to secure the supply of all 
 kinds of provisions and stores from London ; thus under 
 the management of Major-General Skippon, an old soldier 
 of the best type, the besiegers daily gained ground. The 
 garrison numbered only about 3,300 of all arms, and were 
 badly furnished with munitions of war, having less than 
 forty barrels of powder. About a week after the commence- 
 ment of the siege, the governor, Sir Arthur Aston, was 
 wounded, and the command consequently devolved upon 
 Colonel Fielding, the senior officer of the garrison. 
 
 From the earliest commencement of the siege the King 
 strained every nerve to accomplish the relief of the town. 
 Rupert was hastily recalled from Lichfield ; but the neces- 
 sities of the garrison not permitting sufficient delay to allow 
 of his arrival, Charles sent out every man he could muster, 
 under Lord Forth, his then Commander-in-Chief, with orders 
 to raise the siege. By means of a convoy, which had fought 
 its way in, the besieged had been previously informed that 
 they should be relieved in a week. 
 
 The Eoyal forces marched by way of Wallingford to 
 Caversham, where they attacked the besiegers, and were 
 repulsed with loss. Much surprised that, at the time of 
 their attack, no corresponding sortie was made by the garri- 
 son, communications were opened with the governor, who 
 reported that he had been offered terms so favourable that 
 he had decided to accept them. Though this decision was 
 fully approved by the King at the time, Colonel Fielding 
 was afterwards sentenced by court-martial to be beheaded 
 for thus surrendering his command ; he was, however, par- 
 doned by the King, who was in truth not much grieved at 
 a surrender which set free the garrison for service in the 
 field ; for by the terms, which were signed on the 26th of
 
 1643. 65 
 
 April, the entire force of the besieged was at liberty to 
 march out with colours flying, and to proceed without 
 hindrance to Oxford. About this time also arrived a 
 much-needed convoy of ammunition, sent by Newcastle 
 from the north, of which the receipt so raised the spirits 
 of the Royalists that those who, but a few days earlier, 
 were ready to abandon Oxford, now talked of awaiting Essex 
 and of offering him battle. 
 
 But the Parliamentary army was scarcely in a position to 
 advance ; for, partly on account of the weather, partly by 
 reason of the marshy character of the ground around Reading, 
 their men had suffered severely from fever and ague, and 
 were now in no condition to move, far less to attack. 
 Towards the end of May, some improvement having occurred 
 in the health of his troops, Essex moved forward to Thame, 
 about ten miles from Oxford ; at this time the main body 
 of the King's forces was about Abingdon. In these posi- 
 tions both armies remained, in an idleness which was varied 
 only by frequent skirmishes between their mounted troops, 
 until the middle of June, when an engagement occurred, 
 small of itself, but of moment on account of the loss which 
 the Parliament incurred in it by the death of one of its most 
 remarkable members. 
 
 A certain Colonel Hurrey, or Urry, a Scot, being dis- 
 satisfied with his treatment by Essex, deserted from the 
 Parliamentary army, and, for the purpose of ingratiating 
 himself with his new comrades, gave full information to 
 Rupert as to the quarters occupied by the cavalry of Essex, 
 adding further that they kept but indifferent guard. Acting 
 on this intelligence, the Prince made several attacks on the 
 cantonments of the Roundheads, and finally determined to 
 beat up their headquarters at Thame. 
 
 Leaving Oxford on the evening of the 16th of June, he
 
 56 TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 marched through the night by a circuitous route until he 
 had placed himself between his enemy and London; turning 
 then towards Oxford, he swept through one village after 
 another, carrying off prisoners and plunder. As the day 
 began to dawn, finding that he was followed by the cavalry 
 of the Parliament, who were now at last fully roused, 
 Rupert made his way to a bridge at which, on his advance, 
 he had left a guard of infantry. As a narrow lane led to 
 the bridge and he found that his pursuers were close upon 
 him, the Prince determined to check their advance before 
 committing his troops to the defile. A " fair plain," named 
 Chalgrove Field, offered good ground for a cavalry action, 
 and here accordingly at 8 a.m. on the 17th he took his 
 stand. 
 
 The vanguard of the Parliamentary horse included in its 
 number many of the principal officers of the army, who, in 
 many cases only half armed, had hurried forward with- 
 out waiting for their troops. These on arriving in front 
 of the Cavaliers at once rushed to the attack, but being 
 firmly met, were repulsed with loss and beaten back to 
 their main body, which, under Essex himself, arrived only 
 in time to see Rupert gallop across the bridge, his retreat 
 being covered by musketeers, who lined the lane by which 
 alone it could be approached. 
 
 Apart from its interest as a good example of skilful 
 cavalry tactics, this skirmish has a name for all time, 
 since in it, among the foremost in the charge, the great 
 Hampden met with his death. Whether wounded by the 
 fire of the enemy or, as another account has it, by the 
 bursting of his own pistol which had been overloaded by 
 a page,* he " rode off the field before the action was done, 
 
 * Who, having been ordered to reload the pistol daily, did BO 
 indeed, but neglected to daily draw the previous charge.
 
 1643. 57 
 
 which he never used to do," and died of his wounds at his 
 own house on the 24th of June. 
 
 Shortly after this action Essex, finding himself unable to 
 undertake anything of importance against the King, owing 
 to the continued ill-health of his troops, fell back with 
 his army to St. Albans. Thence he himself proceeded to 
 London, where he exerted every means to incline the 
 Parliament to treat with the King, a mode of action which 
 by no means increased the general's popularity with the 
 majority of the people or with the army. It was at one 
 time proposed that Waller should be put forward as his 
 successor in the chief command, but the unfavourable 
 results to the Parliamentary cause of events which now 
 took place in the west, put an end to any plan of ' the 
 kind, though Sir William, taking advantage of the waning 
 popularity of Essex, obtained greater independence of 
 command than had up to this time been allotted to him. 
 From this date commenced the enmity between the two 
 leaders, which during this and the succeeding year bore 
 bitter fruit to the commonwealth, since each preferred the 
 satisfaction of his private jealousy to the advantage of his 
 cause and country. 
 
 It is difficult to conceive how any cause could be worse 
 served than was that of the Parliament at this time by the 
 two leaders of its armies, and we have here a good example 
 of the truth of the principle, which lays down that service 
 in a subordinate position, however excellent it may have 
 been, can be no criterion of the fitness of a general for high 
 command. It is true that other factors, besides incapacity, 
 may have influenced the actions of Essex, but as regards 
 "Waller, there is not even this fact by which to account 
 for the almost invariable failure of his plans. If we 
 follow him to his campaign in the west, we shall see
 
 58 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 how he was at fault, not only in the details of his 
 strategy, but also in the mere handling of troops on the 
 field of battle. 
 
 In the early part of May, 1643, the Earl of Stamford, on 
 the abrogation of the private peace between Devon and 
 Cornwall, had invaded the latter county with an army far 
 superior to that which followed the leaders of the Royalists, 
 but, having detached the larger part of his cavalry to 
 Bodmin for the purpose of seizing the person of the high- 
 sheriff, his camp at Stratton was on May 16th attacked in 
 their absence, and most gallantly carried by the Cornish 
 troops under Sir Bevil Grenville. 
 
 On the news of this success Charles despatched the 
 Marquis of Hertford and Prince Maurice, with a strong 
 force of cavalry, to assist " the Army of Cornwall," as it 
 was now called ; these troops he could easily spare, since 
 Oxford was now (in June) no longer threatened by Essex, 
 while they were much needed in the west, for Waller, who 
 was at this time quartered at Bath, had lately received 
 reinforcements from London, in addition to such increase of 
 his strength as resulted from the rallying of the fugitives 
 from Stratton. 
 
 The Eoyalists, advancing through Devon and Somerset, 
 seized Wells, and, having been successful in a cavalry 
 skirmish at Chewton, pushed on after a rest of a few days 
 to Bradford in Wiltshire, within a short distance of Bath. 
 
 Small actions became now of daily occurrence, and in these, 
 a new regiment, raised by Sir Arthur Hazelrigg, greatly 
 distinguished itself ; being armed in complete steel the men 
 composing it received the nickname of the " Lobsters," and 
 were said by the Cavaliers to be the first of the Parliamentary 
 horse who could stand against them. 
 
 Hertford was sc confident of success, that he determined
 
 1643. 59 
 
 to force on a battle, and, with this object, marched past Bath 
 to Marshfield, as if with the intention to move on Oxford, 
 which was indeed his design so soon as he should have 
 succeeded in defeating Waller. The latter, who had received 
 special orders to stop any such movement, at once followed 
 him, and, on the 5th of July, having taken up a strongly 
 intrenched position at Lansdown, awaited there the attack of 
 the Eoyalists. In order to draw them on to the assault, 
 which he did not doubt his ability to repulse, he sent forward 
 at first a weak body of horse ; this was quickly driven in, 
 upon which he attacked with his whole strength of cavalry 
 and dragoons. The charge of these troops, especially that of 
 Hazelrigg's cuirassiers, was for a time completely successful, 
 but they were at length repulsed by an attack from a mixed 
 force of cavalry and infantry under Sir Nicolas Slanning. 
 
 The Cornish foot now clamoured loudly for " leave to fetch 
 off the guns," and their leaders, yielding to this spirit of 
 daring, so often the precursor and the cause of victory, 
 prepared to assault the very strong position of the Parliamen- 
 tary general. 
 
 The brow of the hill on which Waller's forces were posted 
 was lined along their front with breastworks, while each 
 flank of the line rested on a wood, which was held by a 
 large force of musketeers. The King's forces, having detached 
 two considerable bodies of troops against these woods, 
 advanced towards tbe front of the position, and, after having 
 been charged by the hostile horse, which inflicted upon 
 them a serious check, by a supreme effort under the leader- 
 ship of Sir Bevil Grenville, threw back the mounted troops 
 and stormed the breastworks, which they gallantly carried. 
 
 This success dearly purchased by the loss of Grenville, 
 who was killed by a blow with a pole-axe, was at once 
 followed up by an advance of the whole of the Koyalist
 
 60 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 line, and the woods having been by this time cleared of their 
 defenders, the crest of the hill was crowned and the breast- 
 works occupied by the Cavaliers. The Parliamentary army 
 was however not yet beaten, for, sullenly drawing back, it 
 took up a new position behind a stone wall on the level top 
 of the hill, and in this attitude remained facing the enemy 
 until nightfall. 
 
 Neither side had any reserve of fresh troops with which 
 to bring the battle to a decisive issue, and Waller, after 
 having about midnight made a semblance of an attack on 
 his lost position, fell back before daylight on Bath. 
 
 This engagement is a notable example of a "soldier's 
 battle," won as it was by sheer hard fighting, without so 
 much skill to direct as could either choose a point on which 
 to attack, or make use of the victory when gained. In this 
 respect it resembles every action in the early part of the Civil 
 Wars, for it is not until the entrance of Fairfax and Cromwell 
 into power of command that we shall find, as the result of a 
 battle, aught but a doubtful though costly victory, even in 
 cases where either party could be said to be distinctly 
 victorious. 
 
 The Eoyalists fell back on Marshfield, having suffered, in 
 addition to the loss of Sir Bevil Grenville, a further calamity 
 by the serious injury of Sir Ealph Hopton, who was, on the 
 morning after the battle, much hurt by the accidental ex- 
 plosion of some barrels of gunpowder. 
 
 On the receipt of reinforcements from the King it was 
 decided that the army of Cornwall should march on Oxford, 
 and it accordingly moved to Chippenham, whither Waller, 
 who had joined to his force a considerable portion of the 
 garrison of Bristol, hastened after it ; finding it there in a 
 very strong position, he hesitated to attack, whereupon Prince 
 Maurice continued his march on Devizes.
 
 1643. 61 
 
 Waller's cavalry, well armed and well mounted, were as 
 much superior to the weary and broken-down horse of the 
 Royal army, as his infantry were inferior to those of the 
 King, and for this reason it was determined by the leaders of 
 the Cavaliers, that they would not attempt to move the foot 
 to Oxford, since their way thither lay over open ground well 
 suited to the action of the enemy's squadrons, but that, 
 while the horse should march as quickly as possible to the 
 King, the infantry should hold a position at Devizes and 
 await reinforcements. 
 
 The march to Oxford (thirty miles) was executed by 
 Prince Maurice, in the night of the 9th of July, and the fol- 
 lowing day saw "Waller with all his army assembled around 
 the town of Devizes, which was entirely open to attack. On 
 the llth Waller ordered an assault, which was repulsed by 
 the besieged, to whom, feeling certain of ultimate victory, he 
 then offered terms of capitulation ; these the Eoyalists, whose 
 object it was to gain time for the arrival of relief, feigned to 
 be prepared to accept, and negotiations had been but just 
 broken off, when Lord Wilmot appeared within a few miles 
 of the town, with every horse and man that could be spared 
 from Oxford. 
 
 The Parliamentary army at once drew off from the siege, 
 and took up a position on Roundway Down, about two miles 
 from Devizes, where, posted between the King's horse and 
 his infantry, they prepared to give battle. Waller, however, 
 without reason, abandoned his defensive attitude, and, " out 
 of pure gayety," drawing off his horse from his foot, charged 
 up-hill with the whole of the former against Wilmot's 
 squadrons. The result was disastrous; defeated in their 
 first charge, the Roundhead troopers were with difficulty 
 rallied and again advanced, only to be again thrown back ; 
 Hazelrigg's cuirassiers were routed, and troop after troop
 
 62 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 dispersed, so that in half-an-hour after the commencement of 
 the action Wilmot's horsemen had left no formed body of the 
 Parliamentary cavalry on the field ; carried away by their 
 panic all had fled, suffering more loss, the chronicler relates, 
 by the fall of horse and man owing to the broken ground., 
 than from the swords of the pursuers. 
 
 The infantry of the Parliament still stood firm, but the 
 garrison of Devizes, who at first refused to believe the good 
 news, now came up from the town, and Waller's foot, their 
 11 hearts failing them," were all either killed or made prisoners. 
 That general himself fled to Bristol and thence to London, 
 leaving the former city in great terror, since a large propor- 
 tion of its garrison had been lost on Eoundway Down. 
 
 The ill feeling between Essex and Waller rose to a greater 
 height after this defeat of the latter, who accused the Lord- 
 General of not doing his best to aid him, and had some fol- 
 lowers in that belief ; but the credit of the Earl was still too 
 high to suffer much from the charges laid against him by his 
 lately defeated rival, who averred that Essex, posted at 
 that time at Thame, could and should have prevented or 
 intercepted that advance of Wilmot from Oxford on Devizes, 
 which caused the ruin of his army. 
 
 Of the Koyal forces Wilmot returned to Oxford, while the 
 Cornishmen, having taken Bath, commenced on the 24th of 
 July the siege of Bristol. On the 27th, after some portion 
 of the outworks had been carried by assault, that city was 
 surrendered by Nathaniel Fiennes, the governor ; an act for 
 which, though eventually pardoned by Essex, he was by 
 court-martial condemned to die. 
 
 Of all the valley of the Severn, almost we might say of all 
 the west of England, the only point which now remained in 
 the hands of the Parliament was the city of Gloucester. 
 Could that be won, Worcester, Shrewsbury, and the country
 
 1643. 63 
 
 as far north as Lancashire might be supplied through the 
 lately captured sea-port of Bristol, which last, on the revival 
 thus caused of its trade, would " bring in a notable revenue 
 to the King." All the forces also in Wales could then be 
 drawn out into the field army, and Charles might thus pit 
 the western half of England against the eastern, with every 
 hope of success. 
 
 On the other hand it was urged that much time would be 
 required for the siege of a city of such importance, and 
 that so great a delay would enable the Parliament to make 
 good the recent losses of its army, while, should the King 
 advance at once on London, nothing now stood between him 
 and the capital but the dispirited and diseased force which 
 Essex had lately withdrawn from Thame. 
 
 A message from Colonel Massey,the Governor of Gloucester, 
 which seemed to promise a readiness to serve the King, 
 turned the scale, and it was decided to march on that city, 
 not with any intention to undertake a lengthened siege, but 
 in the hope that it might be immediately surrendered. On 
 the 10th of August the Royal army arrived at Gloucester, 
 which was at once summoned. Within the two hours laid 
 down as a limit for the consideration of the terms, came out 
 from the city " two citizens, with lean, pale, sharp and bad 
 visages," who signified clearly that " We, the inhabitants of 
 Gloucester, are resolved to keep this city." Moved by the 
 opinion of experts in his army, that the siege could not last 
 more than ten days, the King commenced the attack in due 
 form. Thus passed the days of precious opportunity, of 
 which moreover the Parliament did not fail to make use. 
 
 Leaving the King and his main army thus employed, we 
 must turn our attention to other parts of the kingdom, 
 where events were occurring remarkable, not so much for 
 themselves, as for the men, Fairfax and Cromwell, who 
 guided them.
 
 64 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 The Earl of Newcastle had in the early part of May 
 possessed himself of the towns of Sheffield and Kotherham, 
 and Lord Fairfax, being cooped up in the barren country 
 about Leeds, found his forces in absolute want; on the 
 night of the 20th of May he sent out a body of about 
 1,500 men, under his son Sir Thomas, who, moving on 
 Wakefield, where they arrived at 4 a.m. on the 21st, stormed 
 the town with small loss to themselves, though of the enemy 
 they took 1,500 prisoners and 4 guns. But in spite of this 
 success Fairfax felt himself unable to cope with the over- 
 whelming strength of the Eoyalists, and, in the same letter 
 in which he reports his last action, begs that Cromwell may 
 be at once sent to his assistance. Oliver, who was now a 
 colonel, had been "up and down in Lincolnshire in the 
 Parliamentary service," and in May advanced on Newark in 
 the hope of drawing off some of the Royal troops from 
 Fairfax. At Grantham he defeated a large body of cavalry 
 under Cavendish (who was killed in the action), but was not 
 in sufficient strength to attempt anything of moment against 
 the garrison. This was the first engagement which brought 
 Cromwell's name prominently before the public. 
 
 Towards the end of June the Earl of Newcastle advanced 
 on Bradford, and on his way was met by Fairfax on Atherton 
 (or Allerton) Moor, at which place, on the 30th, a battle was 
 fought in which, though his foot were at first successful, 
 Fairfax was utterly routed, owing to a determined charge by 
 some of the Earl's cavalry. The Parliamentary forces fled to 
 Leeds, whither the Earl was about to pursue them when he 
 heard of Hotham's seizure at Hull, upon which news he at 
 once marched on that town. On learning his destination 
 Lord Fairfax and his son, by forced marches and at great 
 personal risk, pushed on into Hull, of which the former was 
 made governor.
 
 1643. 65 
 
 Yorkshire being thus now almost entirely in his power, 
 Newcastle, who about this time was created a marquis, pre- 
 pared to attack the Associated Counties, and with this object 
 marched on Gainsborough, then held by Lord Willoughby of 
 Parham, which he closely besieged. 
 
 Cromwell, who was at once recalled to Willoughby's relief, 
 had after the action at Grantham moved towards Nottingham 
 in the hope of being able to cut off the march of the Queen's 
 force to Oxford, whither she had gone from Yorkshire in the 
 early part of June ; in this he was unsuccessful, for Her 
 Majesty without difficulty joined the King at Kineton, 
 whither the latter had moved from Oxford for the purpose of 
 meeting her. On hearing of Willoughby's danger, Cromwell 
 at once marched to his assistance and, capturing on his way 
 the town of Stamford and Burleigh House, on the 28th of 
 July forced a passage into Gainsborough with a convoy. 
 On attempting however to advance out of the town for the 
 purpose of driving off the besiegers, Oliver found himself in 
 the presence of the whole army of Newcastle, and was 
 therefore obliged to fall back by a hasty, though skilful 
 retreat on Huntingdon. 
 
 During the month of August Gainsborough and Lincoln 
 were surrendered to the King's forces, and the eastern counties 
 were saved from invasion only by the burning desire of 
 Newcastle to possess himself of Hull, of which on the 2nd 
 of September he commenced the siege. 
 
 The affairs of the Parliamentary cause were at this time 
 in a condition of almost hopeless difficulty, for, apart from 
 the actual losses which they had sustained in men and 
 territory, a large party had grown up who, despairing of 
 success or desirous of making good terms for themselves, 
 demanded peace with no doubtful voice. Chief among these 
 was the General Essex, though even he did not proceed to 
 
 p 2
 
 66 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 such extremities as did other members of the House of 
 Lords, who did not scruple to abandon the principles for 
 which they had struggled, and who fled to Oxford to make 
 their peace while there was yet time. Their reception, it 
 may be added, was not such as to encourage others to follow 
 their example. 
 
 But the House of Commons, supported by the City of 
 London, resolutely refused to listen to any suggestions for 
 proposals for peace, and prepared to fight out the contest to 
 the end. 
 
 The eyes of the nation were now turned upon the siege of 
 Gloucester, which, without well knowing why, men grew to 
 regard as the test-point of success in the war. To trust 
 much to its resistance seemed indeed but a forlorn hope, for 
 the total strength of the garrison was only 1,400 men, and 
 their supply of powder did not exceed fifty barrels, while the 
 line of defensive works was long out of all proportion to the 
 force available to man it ; there was further a party in the 
 city, which was desirous of an immediate submission to 
 the King. Operations were commenced by the besiegers, 
 who numbered, in horse and foot, about 8,000 men, with 
 the object of cutting off the supply of water which drove 
 the corn-mills ; that for drinking purposes, being furnished 
 by the Severn, was, fortunately for the defenders, out of 
 their power. Batteries were thrown up, and a constant fire 
 was directed on the city from guns and mortars of, for that 
 day, very large calibre, but the besieged repaired the breaches 
 as quickly as they were made, while several sallies were 
 undertaken with entire success; at the end therefore of 
 twenty-six days of siege, little or no impression had been 
 made upon the defences. 
 
 The Parliament had in the meantime not been idle ; the 
 army of Essex was recruited with volunteers and pressed
 
 1643. 67 
 
 men; all shops were by their order shut until Gloucester 
 should be relieved, with the object that no ordinary business 
 might interfere with a matter of such importance ; and the 
 crowning result of their exertions was obtained, when, on the 
 21st of August, a force was prepared sufficient to ensure, 
 under skilful direction, the relief of the beleaguered city. 
 
 On the 24th Essex mustered 10,000 men on Hounslow 
 Heath, and on the 26th commenced his march by Colnbrook 
 and Beaconsfield. On receipt of the news of his advance, 
 Prince Eupert was detached with a force of cavalry from the 
 besieging army, with orders to delay the march of the Round- 
 heads by all possible means, and it is recorded that scarcely 
 a day passed on which an attack was not made on some part 
 of the Parliamentary columns. On the 1st of September 
 Essex received at Brackley Heath a reinforcement of a 
 brigade of the London trained - bands ; on the 4th, near 
 Stow-in-the-Wold, he skirmished for many miles together 
 with 4,000 of the Prince's cavalry, while on the 5th he 
 arrived within sight of the city of Gloucester, and, from 
 the Prestbury Hills, saw the huts of the King's camp in 
 flames, their occupants having abandoned the siege on his 
 approach. 
 
 On the 8th of September Essex entered Gloucester, where 
 he was received with great rejoicings ; on the 10th he 
 marched to Tewkesbury, where he remained five days, with 
 the object of covering from attack the foraging parties, which 
 were sent out to revictual Gloucester; thence,. after making 
 a feint towards Worcester, he suddenly, by a forced march, 
 swooped upon a Royal magazine of stores at Cirencester, 
 obtaining there a large supply of provisions, of which his 
 troops were in the utmost need. From this point he com- 
 menced his return march on London, which he conducted by 
 way of Cricklade and Swindon, thus directing his route
 
 68 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 through a country less suited to the action of the Royal 
 cavalry than that by which he had advanced. 
 
 But this care did not much avail him, for Rupert, follow- 
 ing close in rear of the Parliamentary army, fell upon the 
 rearguard in Aldbourn Chase with such gallantry, that he 
 drove it in confusion on the main body, and, when it had 
 there rallied on superior strength, by a second charge threw 
 it again into disorder. Being thus delayed, Essex did not 
 arrive at Hungerford until the evening of the 18th of 
 September, by which date the King was in position at 
 Newbury, between him and London. 
 
 Charles, after retiring from Gloucester, had taken up his 
 post at Evesham, being deceived by the original direction of 
 Essex's march (on Tewkesbury), and had proposed, at this 
 point, should the Parliamentary general use the same road to 
 return as he had already used to advance, to cut his line of 
 retreat on London. The sudden and unexpected movement 
 of the Earl on Cirencester disarranged this plan, but, thanks 
 to the delay caused by the persistent attacks of Rupert, 
 Charles was still able by dint of forced marches (which, 
 however, seriously diminished his strength) to interpose at 
 Newbury between Essex and his base. 
 
 The King was thus master of the situation ; he had it in 
 his power to refuse or to give battle, while Essex, in order to 
 secure his road on London, was compelled to attack an 
 enemy who was posted in a strong position. The Parlia- 
 mentary army, cut from the source from which it derived 
 both provisions and recruits, could find safety only in 
 victory, while defeat implied the immediate advance of the 
 King on panic-stricken London. A turning movement round 
 the enemy's flank was, in those days of bad roads, an impos- 
 sibility, and would in any age have been the acme of rash- 
 ness, while a retreat, considering the relative positions in
 
 King's Anny 
 PaxitaJUtlitat 
 
 1 f i ? Mile 
 
 NEWBURY AND THE COUNTRY ROUND, 
 
 WHERE THE TWO BATTLES OF NEWBURY WERE FOUGHT, 
 SEPTEMBER 20TH, 1643, AND OCTOBER 27TH, 1644. 
 
 [Pages 69 and 106.
 
 1643. 69 
 
 which the two armies stood, could have no object and no 
 safe end. 
 
 Thus the strategical attitude of the King was scarcely 
 capable of improvement, while his tactical position, extend- 
 ing as it did across a range of hills, was against the mode of 
 attack of those times exceptionally strong, especially since 
 each flank rested on a marshy valley. Every circumstance 
 pointed to the assumption of the defensive as the wisest 
 policy, but owing to the gallant but unskilful leading of the 
 Royal cavalry, the King's army in point of fact attacked 
 during the whole of the day, and thus surrendered to their 
 adversaries the entire advantage which they had purchased 
 by a large expenditure of labour and lives. 
 
 On the 19th of September Essex marched from Hunger- 
 ford on Newbury, but, finding the King's army in possession 
 of the hills to the south of the latter town, of which fact, 
 owing to his weakness in cavalry, he seems to have been 
 previously unaware, he bivouacked at a distance of two 
 miles from his adversary. At break of day on the 20th he 
 continued his march, and, finding a hill (of which in con- 
 temporary accounts the name is given as Bigg's Hill), which 
 he considered to be of essential importance to him, already 
 occupied by the enemy, he attacked it in person at the head 
 of his own regiment and two brigades of infantry, and drove 
 from it the advanced posts of the King's troops. 
 
 The main position of the Cavaliers was upon a spur of the 
 range of hills which divides the valley of the Kennet from 
 that of the Embourne, and was in its nature purely defen- 
 sive. The ground in front of the centre and left of the 
 Royal army was broken heath land, presenting by the steep- 
 ness of its slope considerable difficulty to the rapid advance 
 of an assailant, an advantage of great value in those days 
 when, owing to the poor character of the fire of musketry, no
 
 70 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 force could be driven from its ground except by an actual 
 charge to close quarters. On the right of the King's line, 
 which extended almost into the valley of the Kennet, the 
 ground was enclosed and in places marshy ; for this reason 
 the action in this part of the field was of a more desul- 
 tory and less decisive character than that of the left and 
 centre. 
 
 Essex having taken up his position on the captured hill, 
 was immediately attacked by the Koyal cavalry, who thus 
 vitally changed the character of the action, while the King's 
 foot, still standing on the defensive, took no part in the 
 earlier phases of the battle. The artillery of the Cavaliers, 
 having been placed with a view to the defence of the main 
 position, was of little or no use in support of this irregular 
 attack, while it is reported that that of the Parliamentary 
 army "did very great execution." 
 
 Essex's cavalry, led by Sir Philip Stapleton, the com- 
 mander of his body-guard, repulsed several charges of the 
 Royalists' horse, but being at length outnumbered and out- 
 flanked, they were beaten back behind their own line. 
 
 This temporary success of the Cavaliers led to a phase of 
 battle, which, natural as it seems to us now, was then a 
 matter of wonder; for the Koundhead horse, flying before 
 their pursuers, found shelter and leisure to reform in rear of 
 the infantry squares, which stood "as a bulwark and a 
 rampire." We have seen before, and we shall see again in 
 this war how, when a battle had been practically decided by 
 the flight of the cavalry of the one or the other party, the 
 infantry was, as a rule, broken up and cut to pieces by the 
 combined attacks of the enemy's horse and foot ; such was 
 no longer the case here, for the trained-bands of London 
 who, so said the Cavaliers, knew nothing of war " beyond 
 the easy practice of their positions in the artillery garden,"
 
 1643. 71 
 
 standing shoulder to shoulder, threw back the best blood of 
 England from the front of their pikes. 
 
 On the right in the meanwhile Skippon had not been 
 idle; he observed a movement of the King's left wing to 
 their left, which apparently was made with the object of 
 cutting off the march of Essex's train, then moving along 
 the valley of the Embourne ; leaving therefore a portion of 
 his force to act as escort to the guns, he pushed forward 
 with the remainder to make a counter-stroke ; the Cavaliers 
 upon this, slightly changing the direction of their advance, 
 made an attack on the extreme right of the Parliamentary 
 line, which was repulsed by a brigade of infantry under Lord 
 Eobartes, with the assistance of four field guns. The centre 
 being at this time hard pressed, Essex called up a fresh 
 regiment to the relief of his two brigades, who had been 
 fighting since daybreak, but this was made of no such stuff 
 as the others, was at once " overcharged/' and was extricated 
 from its danger only by a new attack by the London trained- 
 bands. 
 
 Xight fell, but the battle still continued ; at about 10 p.m. 
 the Eoyalists, having at last brought their guns into a good 
 position, opened a heavy fire on the line of the Parliamentary 
 troops, but Skippon pushing forward his artillery in turn, 
 appears to have enfiladed the King's left, and to have 
 stopped any progress in that direction. Yet a little later 
 another but weaker attack on the Parliamentary right was 
 easily repulsed by 300 musketeers, and the engagement came 
 to an end. 
 
 During the night the Royal forces threw back their left, 
 Tvhich retired into the town of Newbury, and thus, greatly 
 to his surprise, gave free passage to Essex, who had fully 
 expected to fight again on the following day. He at once 
 took advantage of his permission to depart, and marching
 
 72 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 early in the morning, arrived at Reading on the 22nd, 
 having been pressed during the whole distance by Prince 
 Kupert, who, with a strong force of cavalry and 1,000 foot, 
 continually harassed the rear of the Roundhead column. 
 From Reading Essex moved slowly on London, where he 
 himself arrived about the 25th, his army being quartered in 
 Windsor, while Waller's force lay about Staines. Reading 
 was at once occupied by the Royalists, who also left a 
 garrison in Donnington Castle, near Newbury; the King 
 then withdrew his army to Oxford, and went into winter 
 quarters. 
 
 The neglect or refusal of Waller to assist Essex in his 
 hour of need, as he might easily have done from his post at 
 Staines, by no means improved the relations between the 
 two Parliamentary generals, but the House of Commons, 
 foreseeing the danger of any quarrel which might thence 
 arise, insisted upon and arranged a meeting, in which " Sir 
 William was all submission and humility, and His Excel- 
 lency all grace and courtesy." Yet was the rancour not 
 lessened on either side. 
 
 The Parliament claimed that while their loss amounted 
 to but 500 men, that of the King's army was at least 2,000 ; 
 the truth of this statement is fairly open to doubt, as indeed 
 are all accounts of casualties on either side during the war ; 
 the loss of the King's army included, as might be supposed, 
 more men of family than that of the Parliament, and every 
 man of learning or refinement, whichever cause he might 
 favour, mourned the death of Lucius Gary Lord Falkland, a 
 scholar and a gentleman in the highest sense of the words. 
 
 We must here for a while leave the progress of the war, 
 in order to notice an incident which had more effect than 
 any battle on its course and end. The Parliament, finding 
 itself hard pressed in the field by the army of the King,
 
 1643. 73 
 
 had during the year debated the desirability of concluding 
 an alliance with Scotland, and, having decided this question 
 in the affirmative, received a favourable response from the 
 sister country, coupled however with the condition that 
 England should join in a Solemn League and Covenant, to 
 forward the reformation of religion, to extirpate Popery, to 
 preserve the King's person and to punish malignants; the 
 latter was a term which included all those who refused to 
 sign the Covenant itself. Accordingly, on the 25th of 
 September, this document was formally signed by the 
 principal members of the House of Commons, and the Scots 
 in return promised their aid towards the prosecution of the 
 war, a promise which was followed by the raising of an 
 army under the Earl of Leven. 
 
 But the arms of Scotland, evil though the opposition of 
 that country was to prove to the King, did but little injury 
 to his cause in comparison to that which he himself inflicted 
 on it by an ill-judged effort at a counter-stroke. For in 
 order to balance the accession of power which the alliance 
 with Scotland brought to the Parliament, Charles was so un- 
 wise, men then said so guilty, as to conclude a peace with 
 the Irish rebels, with the intent that thus those of his forces 
 which had been employed against them, might be set free to 
 join his army in England. No act of the King, not the 
 levying of ship-money, not the crowd of monopolies which 
 enriched the court and impoverished the people, neither the 
 extravagance of Buckingham, the tyranny of Strafford nor 
 the prelacy of Laud, not even the attempted arrest of the 
 five members, raised such a storm of indignation and hatred 
 throughout the kingdom, as did this determination of the 
 King to withdraw (as men said), for the purpose of subduing 
 his subjects, the force which had been raised to avenge the 
 blood of 100,000 Protestant martyrs.
 
 74 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 We, looking at the course of events at such a distance as 
 softens both lights and shadows, fail probably to realise how 
 deep and how fierce was this feeling of resentment in the 
 breasts of Puritans, who saw the avengers of blood called 
 back from their righteous work of slaying the Irish (foreign 
 and therefore savage, Roman Catholic and therefore diaboli- 
 cal), and directed by the orders of a Protestant King to 
 turn their weapons against God's saints on earth. 
 
 To us the " riposte " of Charles appears to have been a 
 fair one. The Parliament had applied for aid to a country 
 which, in spite of his father's reign and his own, was still to 
 the minds of most Englishmen foreign ; might he not with 
 equal, or with better right, recall his troops from a task 
 which did not immediately press for completion, and use 
 them against those who dared to invite the stranger to 
 invade their Fatherland 1 So to us, but to the England of 
 the time this act was nauseous, was exasperating to the 
 highest degree, while to the cause of the King it was fatal ; 
 for, from this moment, the condition of the Parliamentary 
 party began to mend. 
 
 We must now return to the consideration of events in the 
 eastern counties, where Lord Manchester had taken the 
 command of a force composed of various detachments, which 
 served under the respective orders of Lord Willoughby of 
 Parham, Colonel Cromwell, and Sir Thomas Fairfax. The 
 latter had lately, with twenty troops of horse, crossed the 
 Humber from Hull, where his father was now besieged by 
 the Marquis of Newcastle. The siege was carried on by the 
 Royalists with no less than 15,000 men, but Lord Fairfax 
 had, by cutting the dykes, laid all the surrounding country 
 under water, and had thus secured the town against an 
 assault. A sally on the llth of October, at first repulsed by 
 the besiegers, was at last completely successful, and in it the
 
 1643. 75 
 
 garrison carried off a large gun belonging to the enemy; 
 despairing of his object, the Marquis on the following day 
 raised the siege. 
 
 On the llth of October another victory for the Parliamen- 
 tary cause was gained at Horncastle, where the Earl of 
 Manchester defeated a detachment of Newcastle's army, 
 which had been reinforced, a contest being obviously in- 
 evitable and near at hand, with all available cavalry from 
 the garrisons of Lincoln, Newark, and Gainsborough. 
 
 On the 10th the Koyalist force, being united while Man- 
 chester's troops were still scattered, had driven in the 
 outposts of the latter, forcing him to abandon the town of 
 Horncastle and to take up a position on Bolingbroke Hill. 
 During the whole night the Parliamentary squadrons were 
 gathering to the rendezvous, and the morning found them in 
 strength equal to that of the enemy. The dragoons of either 
 side first engaged, but, ere the fire of their muskets had 
 produced much effect, the Roundhead horse, led by Cromwell 
 and Fairfax, dashed at their foe; they swept through the 
 Eoyalist dragoons, by whose fire Cromwell's horse was killed, 
 and charging the front line of the hostile cavalry, bore them 
 back on the second line and the reserve. The remainder 
 of Manchester's troops, seeing the advantage which had thus 
 been gained, poured in upon the confused Cavaliers, who fled 
 pell-mell, leaving their dismounted dragoons to the mercy of 
 the enemy. What mercy they received may be gathered 
 from the statement, that the Parliamentary forces "had 
 the execution of them for five miles," killed 500 and took 
 800 prisoners. 
 
 Cromwell in this action had a very narrow escape of being 
 killed, for his horse in its fall held him down, and, when he 
 at last extricated himself from the pressure, he was again 
 borne to the ground by a blow from a Cavalier; rising a
 
 76 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 second time, Oliver mounted a horse which one of his men 
 had caught, and pressed on after the enemy. Lincolnshire 
 was thus relieved, for Lincoln and Gainsborough fell into 
 the hands of the Parliament before the end of the year, and 
 preparations were now energetically made for the reconquest 
 of Yorkshire. 
 
 In the southern counties, Waller, after some few small 
 successes in Surrey, was appointed Major-General of the 
 Associated Counties of Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey, and 
 Kent, and the Earl of Essex having been forced by the 
 importunities of Parliament to grant him greater powers and 
 independence of command, he was able to reduce every part 
 of these counties into obedience to the Houses, with the 
 single exception of Basing House, the seat of the Marquis 
 of Winchester, which defied all efforts for its capture. 
 
 On the King's side, the principal event which occurred 
 during the latter part of 1643 was the landing in Wales 
 of a considerable number of the soldiers of the army of 
 Ireland. Prince Maurice, who commanded in the west, had 
 in September captured Exeter ; in October Dartmouth was 
 surrendered to him, while during the remainder of the year 
 he was engaged in the siege of Plymouth. 
 
 The balance of victory during the year was undoubtedly 
 in favour of the King, who, though he had not gained any 
 very decided advantage, had yet in many instances inflicted 
 great losses on the Parliament, in men, arms, and horses. 
 That his successes had never more than a temporary effect 
 was due in part to the absence of any distinct plan for his 
 campaign, in consequence of which defect his movements 
 in the theatre of war and in the battle-field were equally 
 devoid of object ; while when, as at Newbury, he obtained 
 a distinct advantage of position, he was unable to make full 
 use of it, owing to the want of discipline which was the
 
 1643. 77 
 
 curse of his army, and which was in great measure due to 
 the unavoidable disproportion which frequently existed 
 between the social and military rank of individuals. 
 
 In the army of the Parliament, on the other hand, with 
 but few exceptions, each man took his status by his rank as 
 a soldier alone, since, as a rule, no one had any position by 
 birth or favour. In another respect, however, the Cavaliers 
 were more fortunate than their opponents, since in the Royal 
 army all, whatever their personal quarrels might be, were at 
 one with regard to the object of the struggle against the 
 Houses; while the soldiers of the latter were severely 
 weighted by the various political opinions of their leaders, 
 of whom many were for private reasons unwilling that 
 either their own party or that of the King should obtain 
 complete success. Should the former win the day, they 
 would assuredly fall under the rule of men whom they 
 regarded as their social inferiors, whose every hope was a 
 blow to the privileges which the leaders loved ; while, should 
 the King prevail, their very heads sat loose upon their 
 shoulders. 
 
 Such were the Earls of Essex and Manchester, while 
 Waller, wKo was a mere soldier, had so little personal weight, 
 that he was not even able to maintain discipline in his 
 command. But a new school was soon to arise, of which 
 Fairfax and Cromwell were types, composed of men who 
 intended to crush the King, and who regarded the war as a 
 means to this end, and not as a source of livelihood or as a 
 field for intrigue. They were still for the most part in the 
 junior ranks of the army, but the time was near when 
 opportunity was to show of what stuff they were made, and 
 their desert was to place them in their rightful positions as 
 leaders of the Nation in arms. 
 
 This advance was contemporaneous with that of a new 
 
 G
 
 78 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 power, the spirit of Independency, which before long brought 
 about a military crisis, in its turn the forerunner of a political 
 revolution. 
 
 The Independents as strongly objected to the rigid tram- 
 mels of Presbyterianism, as did the Presbyterians to the- 
 rule of Episcopacy, holding themselves, as their name im- 
 plied, free from the chains of all dogma and of all forms of 
 worship. Each man among them claimed the right to judge 
 for himself in matters of religion, and from this assumption 
 of liberty in such matters grew a similar demand with 
 reference to things political. The freedom thus given to 
 personal opinion proved at once the strength and the weak- 
 ness of this party, for while it attracted thinking men of 
 various sects to their banner, it also made certain the eventual 
 resolution of the incoherent body into its constituent particles, 
 when once the force which compelled them to coalesce should 
 be withdrawn. Tolerant of everything except Royalty and 
 Popery, the Independents, when once the former had been 
 extinguished by the execution of the King, and the latter 
 rendered impossible by the feeling of the country, had no 
 other foes to fight, and therefore no bond to hold them 
 together ; impatient of all control, each man of them then 
 became the high-priest of his peculiar form of religion, in 
 which in many cases he was the only believer, and the 
 powerful party of the Independents thus, immediately after 
 it had attained the acme of its power, fell apart into a 
 multitude of insignificant and obscure sects. 
 
 In 1643 the party was daily growing in strength, and, 
 having among its members many men of great ability, while 
 the Presbyterians had been weakened by the deaths of 
 Hampden and Pym, secured at first a hearing and then 
 applause for their declaration that the time was now come for 
 the abolition of all half-measures, and that England was to-
 
 1643. 79 
 
 be saved at any cost, be it by the death of the King or of 
 any other. 
 
 A further complication of the politics of the time was 
 caused by the fact that the Scots, rigid Presbyterians as 
 they were, had been called to the assistance of the Parlia- 
 ment at the very moment when the Independents, of whom 
 Cromwell may be held as the head, were fast coming into 
 prominence ; and we shall find the key to many after riddles 
 in the fact that Oliver, in common with the majority of his 
 co-religionists, at once hated and despised the Scots, whom 
 he regarded as pedantic formalists, governed by their 
 ministers even in matters military. But in speaking of this 
 we are anticipating the future; for in 1643 Presbyterian 
 and Independent were arrayed side by side against the King 
 and Prelacy.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 1644. 
 
 TOWARDS the end of the year 1643 Sir Ralph Hopton (who 
 had lately been created Lord Hopton), the Governor of 
 Bristol for the King, having received invitations from some 
 of the principal inhabitants of Hampshire and Sussex, was 
 ordered to advance into those counties, with the object of 
 preventing any movement on the part of Waller which 
 might tend to disturb the siege of Plymouth, at that time 
 beset by Maurice. Hopton moved by Salisbury on Winchester 
 with a force about 3,000 foot and 1,500 horse, at which 
 Waller at once retired to Farnham, and went himself to 
 London to ask for aid. 
 
 Hopton, having received reinforcements under Sir Jacob 
 Astley, moved on Arundel Castle, which surrendered on the 
 third day of the siege ; but Waller having returned from 
 London with an addition to his strength of two City regiments 
 of foot, and with 1,000 horse from the army of Essex, Hopton 
 was compelled to fall back on Winchester, since he had 
 received special orders, that in no case was he to allow Waller 
 to pass him by and go' into the west. The latter, after sur- 
 prising a regiment of the Royalist cavalry at Alton and 
 driving all outlying parties into Winchester, marched on 
 Arundel Castle-, which he retook in a few days.
 
 1644. 81 
 
 Further reinforcements from the King having been received 
 by Hopton, he moved on Farnham, where were Waller's 
 headquarters, and on the 29th of March the two armies, 
 each consisting of about 5,000 foot and 3,000 horse, met at 
 Alresford. 
 
 Waller commenced the action with a charge of cavalry, 
 which the Eoyalist horse received so ill, that the threat 
 of a second made them wheel about and fly before it was 
 delivered, their officers being left to shift for themselves. 
 The King's foot, however, stood so firmly that the Parlia- 
 mentary troops could not break their squares; this alone 
 prevented the utter rout of Hopton's force. At nightfall 
 that General drew off his men to Reading, while Waller on 
 the following day hastened to Winchester, in the hope 
 of receiving the surrender of the Castle ; being disappointed 
 in this, he wantonly sacked the city, after which he retired 
 towards London. 
 
 The principal actions of the year 1644 took place in two 
 distinct theatres of war, at a considerable distance from each 
 other, and must on this account, as also by reason of the 
 entire independence of the movements which accompanied 
 them, be separately described, though many of the events of 
 the two campaigns occurred simultaneously. 
 
 I. The War in the North. 
 
 At the close of the year 1643 Newcastle was in possession 
 of the whole of England to the north of the Humber, with 
 the single exception of the town of Hull, in which Lord 
 Fairfax was held fast ; while Sir Thomas, being driven from 
 the county of York, had united his strength with the forces 
 of the Eastern Association in Lincolnshire. The arrival of 
 the Scottish army, which entered England on the 19th of 
 January, with a total of 18,000 foot and 3,500 horse, entirely 
 changed the aspect of affairs.
 
 82 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 On the receipt of the news of this invasion the Marquis 
 moved at once to the north, and on the 2nd of February 
 arrived at the town of Newcastle, before which the Scots 
 came on the following day. After a few skirmishes of no 
 importance, Leven, considering it unlikely that he would 
 be able to take the town, which was defended by a large 
 garrison, marched round it, and 011 the 4th of March entered 
 Sunderland. On the 6th of that month the Marquis, having 
 been reinforced from Durham, pushed towards the Scots, 
 but, as neither side much desired to fight, no battle took 
 place, and he continued his movement on Durham. Here 
 Newcastle remained, the Scots being in close proximity to 
 him and frequent skirmishes taking place between them, 
 until in the early part of April he was recalled to York by 
 the unwelcome success of Lord Fairfax. 
 
 But before entering into the details of the exploits of 
 the father, it is necessary to relate those of the son. In 
 order to do this we must first go back to the November of 
 
 1643, at which date a body of troops from Ireland, set free 
 by the King's treaty with the rebels, landed at Mostyn in 
 Flintshire. Under Lord Byron this force on the 4th of 
 December captured Hawarden Castle, after which, driving 
 back Sir William Brereton, they, in the beginning of January, 
 
 1644, laid siege to Nantwich. Sir Thomas Fairfax was sent 
 from the eastern counties to Brere ton's assistance ; on the 
 12th of January the former arrived at Manchester, whence 
 after a short delay for the purpose of collecting additional 
 troops, he effected a junction with Brereton, and on the 
 21st marched on Nantwich, with about 2,500 foot and 800 
 horse. 
 
 Having, after some resistance, driven in the enemy's 
 advanced troops, Fairfax found their main strength posted 
 at Acton Church, and, hearing that Lord Byron with the
 
 1644. 8*3 
 
 <cavalry would be compelled to make a long round before he 
 could cross a small river which separated him from the 
 remainder of his force, determined to attack the church 
 ere he could come up. Being, however, much delayed in 
 his advance, Fairfax failed in this object, and therefore 
 moved on the town in the hope of drawing fresh troops from 
 it. As he retired, the Koyalists fell upon the rear of his 
 army and, when these turned to resist the attack, made a 
 new onslaught on them from the other side. Fairfax at 
 once turned again upon them, beat them off with the aid of 
 the townspeople, and following up his advantage, fought his 
 "way to the church at Acton, surrounded it, and took all in 
 it prisoners " as in a trap." 
 
 Of the captured on this occasion, the most memorable in. 
 history, though but a colonel at the time, was George Monk, 
 who had, at the invitation of the King, passed with troops 
 from Ireland to his assistance. Monk was sent up to 
 London, and, after having spent two or three years as a 
 prisoner in the Tower, took service in the Parliamentary 
 army, where we shall meet with him again. 
 
 After this success, Sir Thomas Fairfax marched into 
 Lancashire, where he undertook the siege of Latham House, 
 the seat of the Earl of Derby ; thence he was called by a 
 letter, dated March the 5th, from the Committee of War in 
 London, which ordered him to march across the West 
 Biding of Yorkshire and to join his father, with the object 
 that their amalgamated forces should in some way take 
 advantage of the absence of Newcastle in the north. 
 
 The Marquis had, on his departure, left Colonel Bellasis 
 as Governor of York, who, hearing of the intended junction 
 of the father and son, moved to Selby for the purpose of 
 interposing between them ; in this he completely failed, and 
 Lord Fairfax, in command of the united force, marched on
 
 84 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 Selby, which on the llth of March he stormed, utterly 
 defeating the Koyalists, and making Colonel Bellasis himself 
 a prisoner. 
 
 Newcastle at once hastily retired from his advanced 
 position at Durham, fell back to York, and laboured only 
 to secure that city from attack. The field beiog thus left 
 open for their movements, the Scots advanced at their 
 leisure, and, on the 17th of April, at Wetherby, completed 
 their junction with the Parliamentary army. At an inter- 
 view which took place between Leven and Lord Fairfax, 
 it was decided to unite their forces at Tadcaster on the 20th, 
 and to push on together to the siege of York. 
 
 This was accordingly done, but, as it was found that the 
 total strength at their disposal was not sufficient to surround 
 the city, while the amount of Newcastle's force (14,000 men), 
 and his possession of a bridge over the Ouse, which enabled 
 him to strike on either bank of that river, made it impossible 
 for them to divide their armies, it was determined to call 
 Manchester, who commanded the Associated Counties, to 
 their assistance. 
 
 In order to trace the progress of the latter, we must now 
 go back a little in point of time. The Parliamentary party 
 in Lincolnshire, having been roused to action and assisted 
 by the Eastern Association, had, by the end of 1643, gained 
 the upper hand in that county, and, commencing offensive 
 operations about the beginning of March, 1644, closed in 
 around Newark and besieged it. In order to preserve this 
 post, which was important as a connecting link between 
 Oxford and York, Prince Eupert, who at this time lay on 
 the Upper Severn, was ordered to relieve it. Marching 
 with all haste, and collecting forces on his way, the Prince 
 was at Wolverhampton on the 10th of March, and on the 
 19th, with 7,000 men at Bingham, eight miles from Newark.
 
 1644. 85 
 
 On the 21st he attacked Sir John Meldrum, who had been 
 left in command by Lord Willoughby of Parham. The left 
 wing of the Parliamentary army fought well, but the right 
 fled without a blow, and the entire force was eventually 
 driven over a bridge of boats on to an island in the centre 
 of the river Trent, whence their retreat, though threatened 
 by a sortie of the garrison of Newark, might be carried out 
 by means of a bridge to the further bank. But during the 
 night six companies, who had been placed to guard this 
 bridge, fled across it and broke it down, and Meldrum was 
 thus compelled to purchase terms with the surrender of all 
 his fire-arms. 
 
 Eupert was, after this success, called into Lancashire to 
 the aid of the Earl of Derby, who was besieged in Latham 
 House ; him he relieved, but failed to find any such support 
 in that county as the Earl had led him to expect. 
 
 Manchester, being thus left unopposed, on the 3rd of May 
 carried Lincoln by storm, Cromwell being detached to keep 
 off a force under Goring which was advancing to its relief. 
 On the 15th of May Manchester was appointed by the 
 Parliament General of the Associated Counties, Cromwell 
 at the same date being made Lieutenant-General of his 
 horse, while orders were sent to them to join the army of 
 the Scots so soon as the latter should enter Yorkshire. 
 
 In obedience to these commands Manchester marched on 
 York, and on the 3rd of June joined the forces of the besiegers. 
 The siege, which up to this time had been little more than 
 a blockade, now completely changed its character, for bat- 
 teries were thrown up against the city, while daily attacks 
 were made upon it by one or other of the allied forces. 
 During the siege Newcastle found means to send a letter to 
 the King, in which he undertook to hold out for six weeks 
 or two months, but begged that ere that time expired some
 
 86 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 means might be taken to relieve him. Upon receipt of this 
 news Charles ordered Kupert to march to the aid of York, 
 proposing himself, with such troops as he could collect, to 
 take the field alone in the absence of the Prince. The 
 latter, pursuing his advantages in Lancashire, had 011 the 28th 
 of May taken Bolton by storm, but on the llth of June, 
 after the capture of Liverpool (a great gain to the King's 
 cause, as giving him a port by which to communicate with 
 Ireland), he marched at full speed on York. 
 
 Newcastle in the meanwhile, in order to gain time, asked 
 for terms, which were offered only to be refused. On the 
 30th of June the besiegers heard of the near approach of the 
 Prince, who was reported to be then at Knaresborough or 
 Boroughbridge, at a distance of from twelve to fourteen miles 
 from York, with a force of 20,000 men. 
 
 It was at once determined to raise the siege, and ac- 
 cordingly, on the morning of the 1st of July, the allied 
 commanders drew off all their forces, and took up a position 
 on Marston Moor, about five miles to the west of York, where 
 they awaited battle. But it was neither Rupert's duty nor 
 his wish to fight on this occasion, and he therefore, holding 
 the passages of the Nidd, which covered his right, with 
 detached parties of cavalry, marched across the enemy's front 
 to the confines of the city. 
 
 At the meeting which ensued between Rupert and New- 
 castle, the latter urged that no present action was desirable, 
 since he was daily expecting reinforcements, while the enemy, 
 distracted by quarrels between the three generals, would in a 
 few days divide their forces, in which case the Scots might 
 even return to their own country. But Rupert refused 
 to listen to one whom he probably despised as " a very fine 
 gentleman, amorous in Poetry and Musick," and replied that 
 he had an " absolute and positive command " from the King
 
 Parliamentary Army, 
 Royal v*ry_._ 
 
 RISING GROUND BETWEEN LONG MARSTON AND TOCKWITH, 
 
 WHERE THE BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR WAS FOUGHT, 
 
 JULY 2ND, 1644. 
 
 (Pages'.
 
 1644. 87 
 
 to fight the enemy, this being the colour it pleased him to put 
 upon the King's order, which, after directing the relief of 
 York, continued, " where being joined with the Marquis of 
 Newcastle's army, there was hope they might fight the 
 enemy." Newcastle, who had "a particular reverence for 
 the person of the King," responded that he was ready to 
 obey His Highness in all things as though His Majesty was 
 there present, and accordingly the army of the Prince and 
 the garrison marched together from York, and on the after- 
 noon of the 2nd of July came in front of the position of their 
 adversaries. 
 
 The Parliamentary army and the Scots, who had passed 
 the night on the moor, were about to move to Tadcaster, in 
 order to prevent any movement of Rupert to the south, when 
 at 9 a.m. they saw the Prince with a vanguard of 5,000 
 cavalry advancing over Marston Moor. The allied forces at 
 once turned to fight, and recalled such of their troops as had 
 already started on their march. Not being able to regain 
 possession of the moor, the three leaders drew up their men 
 on the rising ground between Long Marston and Tockwith, 
 facing towards the north. 
 
 The order of battle was similar to that of Edgehill, the 
 cavalry being placed on the flanks, while the centre was 
 formed of the infantry with their battalion guns. Sir 
 Thomas Fairfax commanded the right wing of horse, con- 
 sisting of about 80 troops (4,000 men), added to which were 
 a part of the Scottish horse, while Cromwell led the left, 
 which was composed of the cavalry of the Associated 
 Counties and three regiments of Scottish horse, in all about 
 70 troops (3,000 men); on the extreme left, since Kupert's 
 lines overlapped that of the allies, were posted the Scottish 
 dragoons. Of the infantry, which were in two divisions, 
 Lord Fairfax commanded the right, composed of his own
 
 88 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 foot, with two Scottish brigades as a reserve, while Leven on 
 the left led two brigades of the Earl of Manchester's infantry 
 and six regiments of Scots, having one of Manchester's 
 brigades as a reserve. The whole force, which was about 
 equal to that of Eupert, amounted to some 14,000 foot and 
 9,000 horse and dragoons, while the line was one mile and a 
 half in length. 
 
 The Eoyal army adopted a similar formation; Eupert 
 commanded 5,000 horse on the right wing, while the left 
 was led by Lucas and Hurrey, the infantry of the centre 
 being under Goring. 
 
 At about 3 p.m. the guns on each side opened fire, and 
 continued in action for nearly two hours, after which time a 
 " general silence " fell upon the field, each army waiting to 
 see what the other would do. For between the lines of 
 battle, which were but a very short distance apart, were a 
 ditch and a bank, the passage of which would almost cer- 
 tainly throw an attacking force into disorder, and would 
 thus give an opportunity for the defenders to charge with 
 perhaps fatal effect. During another two hours this pause 
 continued, and men began to say that there would be no 
 fight that day. 
 
 But at 7 p.m. the Parliamentary left, horse and foot, 
 advancing at a quick pace, passed the bank and fell on. 
 Cromwell's cavalry, though hard pressed by the Prince, who 
 attacked Oliver's special division in front and flank, cut its 
 way through the enemy, and drove them back to Wilstrop 
 Wood, where, mingling with the foot, which Manchester's 
 infantry had forced from their ground, they for the most 
 part fled by the rear of their own left in the direction of 
 York. 
 
 The Eoyalist left, under Hurrey, met the charge of Fairfax, 
 and beat back the horse of the Parliamentary right wing,
 
 1644. 89 
 
 though Sir Thomas himself with a few followers, burst 
 through them and joined Cromwell's horse in rear of the 
 Prince's line. Keeping their order after the first shock, 
 they turned next upon the infantry, of which the new levies 
 and the Scots broke up before them, and flying rearwards, 
 hampered the defence of the reserves, with the result that 
 the whole of the right wing and centre of the allied armies 
 Avere routed and fled to the south, giving out all was lost. 
 Even Leven himself rode off to Leeds, and knew nothing of 
 the outcome of the battle, until he was brought back on 
 the following morning. Matters looked ill for the Parlia- 
 mentary party, until Cromwell's cavalry, returning to the 
 charge, surrounded and cut to pieces the remainder of the 
 Royalist infantry, who " scorned to fly." The forces of the 
 adversaries were now mingled in confusion, from which, 
 after a time, two large bodies disengaged themselves, and 
 it then appeared that the positions of so much as remained 
 of the armies had become exactly reversed. Lucas and 
 Hurrey with their cavaliers stood where had been the 
 Eoundhead right, while Cromwell occupied the ground 
 opposed to them, where the Prince's left had been posted. 
 Rallying all whom they could to their side, the leaders again 
 charged with unabated courage, but by 10 p.m. the remainder 
 of the Royalist army was in full flight to York, having lost 
 1,500 prisoners and the whole of their artillery. 
 
 Those employed to bury the dead reported that they 
 found 4,150 slain; of these the Parliament acknowledged 
 the loss of only 300. Thus ended the greatest and most 
 important battle of the war, whether we gauge it by the 
 number of combatants, by the losses of the vanquished, or 
 by the result of the victory, for, from the 2nd of July, 1644, 
 the north of England was for ever lost to the King. 
 
 Cromwell and Fairfax, to whom principally the victory
 
 90 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 was due, were both wounded; the former in the neck, 
 possibly by the accidental discharge of a pistol by one of 
 his own men; the latter on the head and face, he being 
 unhorsed and narrowly escaping capture. 
 
 Newcastle, having secret information that Rupert had no 
 intention to wait to be besieged in York, declared his own 
 decision to leave England, and, quitting the city on the 
 morning after the battle, sailed from Scarborough to Ham- 
 burg, where he arrived on the 8th of July, to return no 
 more to his native country until after the Restoration. 
 The Prince, also on the 3rd, marched from York to the 
 northward, and, collecting what forces he could, passed 
 unmolested into Lancashire, and so to Chester, where we 
 may for the present leave him. 
 
 The fate of the city of York was not long in doubt. The 
 siege was resumed on the 4th, and carried on with so much 
 energy, that Sir Thomas Glenhani, who had been left as 
 Governor, surrendered on the 15th. On the 16th, the 
 garrison, 1,000 strong, marched under his command to 
 Carlisle, which he afterwards nobly defended. 
 
 The three leaders of the allied armies, having thus attained 
 the object of their junction, now agreed to separate their 
 forces. Fairfax, with his headquarters at York, was to 
 guard that county and Lancashire ; the Scots passed to the 
 north to the town of Newcastle ; while Manchester, whom 
 we shall shortly meet again, retired into the eastern counties, 
 for the purpose of recruiting his forces. 
 
 Amidst the list of aimless marches and counter-marches, of 
 desultory fights and skirmishes, which up to this time have 
 made up the story of the Civil War, this campaign attracts 
 our attention as being the first of which criticism is possible; 
 for where there is no plan, as in the earlier phases of the 
 contest, military history becomes nothing but a catalogue of
 
 1644. 91 
 
 objectless slaughter, and war, losing its character as an art, is 
 merely a series of sanguinary brawls. 
 
 The aim of this campaign, from the point of view of the 
 Parliament, was the possession of Yorkshire, the key of the 
 north, and the assurance of such possession could be gained 
 only by the capture of the city of York. The plan by 
 which this result was to be obtained had for its basis the 
 junction of three armies, of which one was on the spot, while 
 the two others were respectively to the north and south of 
 the objective. 
 
 In the seventeenth century, when communications were 
 execrable, and when the power of moving troops was in its 
 infancy, we cannot expect to find any very skilful strategy, 
 and accordingly in this campaign each force came to the 
 rendezvous on the day which best suited its own con- 
 venience, while no effort was made to prepare the way for 
 their joint action until the junction had actually taken place. 
 
 Though opportunities, which would be assuredly seized in 
 modern war, were thus allowed to pass unheeded, yet the 
 junction itself, and the handling of the three armies in com- 
 bination, were a remarkable advance on anything which had 
 up to this time been attempted in England. Of whatever 
 faults of omission they may, according to our ideas, have been 
 guilty, the leaders fully succeeded in their one great and 
 necessary duty, in that they completed their concentration 
 before the enemy could strike. 
 
 The second phase of the campaign opens with Eupert's 
 march; his object, to enter York, was obtained without 
 difficulty, owing partly to the want of mobility of his adver- 
 saries (a failing common to all armies at that period), and 
 partly to the skilful manner in which he covered his right 
 with the river Nidd. He thxis succeeded in marching across 
 the enemy's front, and effected a junction with Newcastle in 
 
 H
 
 &2 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 their actual presence ; a counterstroke was by this fairly 
 given to the previous movements of the Parliamentary party. 
 But, as was customary in the case of every action of the 
 Boyalists, the Prince's advance was too late ; he should, as 
 he might well have done, have collected in March a force as 
 large as that which fought at Marston Moor, and with it, in 
 conjunction with Newcastle, should have crushed the Scots, 
 while Fairfax might have been contained by a moderate 
 detachment. In place of this the early part of the year was 
 wasted in the capture or relief of comparatively unimportant 
 points, whose fate, as the history of war has frequently 
 shown, would have, without doub.t, followed the fortunes of 
 the field armies. 
 
 Throughout the whole of this war, until the stars of 
 Fairfax and Cromwell rise, we shall find the same inability 
 on each side to grasp the situation, and to judge of the 
 decisive point on which the blow should be delivered. As a 
 rule the armies wandered about blindly, until they came in 
 contact ; upon their meeting followed a battle, which was 
 entirely destitute of any tactical plan, and was remarkable 
 only for hard hitting. After this action one of two cases 
 occurred ; either the victors (if any decision could be made 
 as to who had won the day), pursued the vanquished with 
 gradually decreasing zeal, or both armies retired to repair 
 their losses or to wait for fine weather. 
 
 The third era of the campaign opens with the two armies 
 in presence, the one facing to the north, the other in and 
 around York. The English portion of the Parliamentary 
 force in this position covered its base, which may be 
 assumed to have been for Fairfax the south-west corner of 
 Yorkshire, for Manchester the eastern counties, and for 
 both in case of need the City of London ; but the Scots 
 were by Eupert's march completely cut away from their
 
 1644. 93 
 
 country, and actually faced their line of retreat. But in 
 those days of indirect supply and of unlimited plundering 
 armies \vere not so sensitive as they are now in regard to 
 their communications, while owing to their small size they 
 were more easily fed than a modern force would be ; again, 
 the provision of ammunition, which next to food is the 
 most vital necessity of an army of the present day, was not 
 then of so great importance, since, owing to the slow rate of 
 fire, the expenditure even in a lengthened battle was but 
 small. We find accordingly that the Scots, even before the 
 engagement, were prepared to accompany their allies to the 
 southward, without any scruples as to abandoning their 
 natural base, from which indeed it is probable that they 
 drew neither men, money, nor supplies. The Parliamentary 
 position for battle was thus founded on logical principles; 
 but it is impossible to say the same of Prince Rupert's 
 attitude, for he formed his troops in such a manner, that the 
 line of retreat of the whole (to York) was in prolongation 
 of his line of battle, and thus invited disaster in case of a 
 reverse. As the natural result of such a disposition, we 
 have seen how his right wing, when beaten, dispersed in 
 rear of his left, since Fairfax, after charging through the 
 latter, came directly upon the pursuers of the former ; for the 
 same reason the Royal infantry could not retire, and were 
 absolutely destroyed as they stood, so absolutely, that of the 
 20,000 men with whom the Prince began the battle, he had 
 on the following day not 4,000 by his side. 
 
 Of pursuit, such as we shall find in the later actions of the 
 Avar, there was little or none, and that probably for the 
 reason that the fugitives found ready shelter behind the 
 walls of York. But it is certainly a blot upon the success of 
 the Parliamentary leaders, that they should have allowed 
 Kupert to escape with his diminished following; for this 
 
 n2
 
 94 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 mistake within the year the Parliament had a heavy price to 
 pay. The desertion of York by the Prince and Newcastle is 
 beneath criticism, and was probably due rather to the 
 personal characters of the two leaders than to any idea of 
 military necessity. 
 
 Thus in the middle of July, 1644, we leave the northern 
 counties in the undisputed possession of the enemies of the 
 King, for he retained in them but a few garrisons, of which 
 Carlisle and Newcastle, the most important, were shortly 
 after reduced. The surrender of Newcastle was specially 
 desired by the citizens of London, Avho were at this time 
 suffering severely from the dearth of coal. 
 
 II. The campaign against the main army of the King. 
 
 About the end of March, 1644, an ordinance of the 
 Houses fixed the strength of Essex's army for the ensuing 
 year at 7,500 foot, 3,000 horse, and a train of artillery. 
 That of Waller was at the same time ordered to consist of 
 3,000 foot, 1,200 horse, and 500 dragoons, who were to be 
 levied in the southern counties. The King's force amounted 
 to about 10,000 men, and was, at the commencement of the 
 campaigning season, quartered around Oxford. 
 
 The plan for the campaign, as laid down by the Parlia- 
 ment, was as follows : each of their armies was to be in 
 every respect distinct from the other, though Essex was to 
 remain in supreme command. If the King should continue 
 at Oxford, the two armies were conjointly to undertake the 
 siege of that city, which required a long line of works in 
 order to enclose it, while the difficulty of so doing was 
 increased by the fact that the besieging force must of 
 necessity be divided into two parts by the Thames. Should, 
 however, the King march, as was expected, towards the 
 north, Essex was to follow him, while Waller was directed
 
 1644. 95 
 
 to proceed into the west, for the purpose of repressing 
 Maurice and Hopton. 
 
 On the King's part it was determined, by the advice of 
 Rupert, to hold Oxford, Heading, Wallingford, Abingdon, 
 and Banbury on the defensive, and to send every man who 
 could be spared from those garrisons to join Prince Maurice 
 in the west; but this plan, which indeed was contingent 
 on the movements of Essex and Waller, was considerably 
 modified in execution, for, after advancing to Newbury, 
 where he waited until the middle of May, with the object 
 of ascertaining the plans of the enemy, Charles moved to 
 Eeading, whence, having demolished the defences of that 
 town, and added the garrison (2,500 old soldiers) to his 
 infantry, he returned to Oxford. 
 
 At this time, Essex was at "Windsor, and Waller in 
 North Hampshire, each endeavouring, by all possible means, 
 to recruit his numbers to full strength. In May both armies 
 inarched on Oxford. On the 23rd, Essex was at Reading, 
 while on the 25th, his advanced cavalry, after occupying 
 Abingdon, passed Oxford by the Worcester Road. Waller, 
 having mustered over 10,000 men at Farnham, joined Essex 
 on the 26th about Abingdon, which place, against Charles's 
 orders, had been abandoned by the Royalists. 
 
 The bulk of the King's army lay in Woodstock, and in 
 the adjacent villages to the north of the city, and the further 
 movements of the Parliamentary generals were directed 
 with the object of closing round these cantonments, which 
 were shut in on either side by the Isis and the Cher- 
 well. With this intention, Essex crossed the Thames at 
 Sandford Ferry, and, extending his force round the city, 
 endeavoured to pass the Cherwell at Gosford. In this 
 attempt he was, on the 1st of June, repulsed, but, on
 
 96 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 the 2nd, Waller having in the meantime sent 5,000 over 
 the Isis at Newbridge "in the boats called punts," the 
 Royalists abandoned their works and fell back, leaving the 
 bridge at Gosford open for the General's advance. The 
 King's horse was now at Woodstock, and his foot at 
 Woolvercot ; he himself, returning to Oxford, gave orders for 
 a sortie in the direction of Abingdon, and under cover of 
 this, which drew the enemy's attention to the south, left the 
 city about 9 p.m. on the 3rd of June, with his eldest son 
 and a few noblemen, and, meeting shortly after with his 
 escort of 3,000 foot and 4,000 horse, marched with them 
 and a train of sixty or seventy carriages to Handborough, 
 where he arrived at daybreak ; thence continuing his march 
 to Burford he reached Evesham on the 5th. Here he had 
 intended to rest, but, fearing that the enemy might cross 
 the Avon at Stratford, and push in between himself and 
 Worcester, he moved at once to that city, which he entered 
 on the 6th, having broken down the bridge at Pershore 
 behind him. Since after the King's departure the standard 
 remained flying in Oxford, while on the 4th a body of troops 
 was again pushed out towards Abingdon, Essex discovered 
 nothing of his flight ; but Waller, having received notice of 
 it from friends of the Parliament in the county, despatched 
 some cavalry to follow Charles. These made prisoners at 
 Burford of a few of his stragglers, but do not appear to 
 have found the main body. Essex, on receipt of the 
 news, marched by Woodstock to Chipping Norton, where 
 he arrived on the 5th, on which day Waller was at Stow-in- 
 the-Wold in Gloucestershire. 
 
 Since the King had thus moved from Oxford, one of the 
 cases provided for by the orders of the Parliament had now 
 arisen, and the question of the direction of march of the two 
 armies had to be resolved ; on this point occurred a most
 
 1644. 97 
 
 serious quarrel between the leaders. Essex, at a council of 
 the officers of both armies, stated it as his will that Waller, 
 who had the lighter ordnance and the smaller train, should 
 follow the march of the King, while he himself would pass 
 on into the west against Hopton and Maurice. To this 
 Waller objected that, in the case of the separation of the 
 armies, it had been distinctly laid down by the Parliament, 
 that he was to go into the west, arid Essex to follow the 
 King. But to such words Essex refused to listen, and, as 
 his commanding officer, gave him positive orders to abide 
 by the plan which had been promulgated in the council. 
 Waller, enraged at this treatment, appealed to the Parliament, 
 Avho, feeling that the true reason of the action of the Earl 
 was his dislike to fight against the King in person, sent 
 direct orders to the Lord General to follow the instructions 
 which they had given him, and to send Waller into the 
 west. These orders found Essex at Salisbury on the way to 
 the relief of Lyme Regis, which was besieged by Maurice 
 and defended by Elake, and on his returning an answer to 
 the Houses, to the effect that his action had been founded 
 on military reasons, he was permitted to continue his march. 
 
 The armies of Waller and Essex being thus employed, the 
 Parliament raised a new force, under Major-General Browne, 
 a citizen of London, for the purpose of keeping in check 
 the King's garrisons in the valley of the Thames, such as 
 Wallingford, Oxford, and Greenland House near Henley, and 
 also, if possible, of reducing Basing House and Banbury. 
 
 It will be well to follow first the fortunes of Waller's 
 army. He, thinking that the King, who had marched in the 
 direction of Shrewsbury, intended to make for that town, 
 moved on the 13th of June to Bromsgrove; but Charles had 
 no such plan, and had so led his troops, with the object of 
 keeping the Severn between him and his enemy, as also on
 
 98 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 account of his great desire to avoid being besieged in 
 Worcester. Since Waller had advanced so far to the north, 
 and was daily receiving reinforcements from Staffordshire, 
 the King determined to double back and to slip past him to 
 Oxford. 
 
 On the 15th accordingly he pushed some horse to the west, 
 as if he intended to move on Shrewsbury ; Waller fell into 
 the trap, and pressed forward to intercept his march, upon 
 which the King retired at full speed to Worcester, was 
 on the 16th at Evesham, on the 18th at Witney, and by the 
 21st had returned to his former position at Woodstock. 
 Waller at once perceived that all pursuit would be useless, 
 and having drawn to himself such troops as Massey could be 
 induced to spare from Gloucester,* returned leisurely towards 
 Chipping Norton by way of Stow-on-the Wold. The King, 
 hearing of his approach, and having collected all available 
 forces (5,500 foot and 4,000 horse), moved by Banbury, and 
 arrived at Culworth on the 27th, at which date Waller was 
 at Hanwell with 8,000 men ; on the following day the two 
 armies stood face to face on either side of the Cher well, 
 Waller on the defensive, the King eager to fight. 
 
 The position of the Parliamentary troops being too strong 
 to allow of a successful attack on it, Charles endeavoured 
 to draw them from it by advancing on the 29th of June, 
 as if with the intention of entering farther into Northampton- 
 shire. 
 
 The Royal army marched in three divisions, a vanguard, a 
 main body, and a rearguard, the latter consisting of 1,000 
 infantry and two brigades of cavalry, while in order to cover 
 the left flank of the column, a party of dragoons was sent to 
 hold Cropredy Bridge. Information having been received by 
 the vanguard that a body of reinforcements for Waller was 
 * These were not many, as Massey was a partisan of Essex.
 
 1644. 99 
 
 crossing their line of march, the two leading fractions of the 
 army, with the permission of the King, who was with the 
 main body, increased their pace in the hope of cutting it off. 
 The rear, who had heard nothing of any such advance, still 
 moved on at the same rate as before ; from this it followed 
 that in a short time a considerable interval divided the 
 rearguard from the remainder of the army. 
 
 Waller, who was waiting for an opportunity to strike, 
 having seen the vanguard and the main body pass, imagined, 
 since there were no other troops in sight, that the whole 
 force had filed by. He at once determined to attack that 
 which he believed to be the rear of the column, and for this 
 piirpose, driving back the dragoons from Cropredy Bridge, he 
 threw across the Cherwell a detachment of 1,500 horse and 
 1,000 foot under Middleton ; the mounted portion of this 
 body pressing on left the foot to follow. The latter having 
 been surprised on the march by the leading squadrons of the 
 King's rearguard, were at once charged and dispersed, while 
 the other parts of the Royal force, having turned about, 
 drove back Middleton's cavalry upon the victorious rear- 
 guard ; these again charging, cut the enemy from their line 
 of retreat by Cropredy Bridge, until Waller, pushing down 
 the Tower Hamlets trained bands, at last made way for the 
 remnants of the ill-fated detachment. 
 
 It is worth while to note the statements as to casualties 
 of either side, in order to learn how little dependence can 
 be placed in any roll of losses. The Royalists claimed to 
 have killed 150, and to have taken 193 prisoners, and 11 
 guns, while they themselves had lost but 2 officers and 
 14 men. On the other hand, the Parliamentary army 
 denied that of their men more than 23 men were killed, 
 but acknowledged the loss of 100 prisoners, against which 
 they set 100 Cavaliers killed and 60 made prisoners.
 
 100 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 It being only 3 p.m. when the action ended, the King 
 made a half-hearted effort to attack Waller's position, 
 but, being repulsed at Cropredy Bridge, and being thus 
 unable to cross the river, he remained in front of Waller 
 during two days, after which he drew off and lost touch 
 of the Parliamentary force. The latter marched on the 
 2nd of July to Towcester, where it met Browne's troops, 
 who had advanced to its assistance; but as he soon after 
 returned to his charge of the Eoyal garrisons, while Waller's 
 City battalions for the most part found their way home, 
 neither of them for the moment exercised any influence on 
 the war. 
 
 The King, being thus freed from opposition, determined 
 at once to march into the west against the Earl of Essex, 
 and, having sent orders to Hopton to draw all the men he 
 could from Monmouthshire and Wales, moved by way of 
 Cirencester to Bath, where he arrived on the 15th of July. 
 Shortly after leaving Oxford Charles heard of the defeat of 
 Eupert at Marston Moor. 
 
 We must now return to Essex, who, passing Salisbury, 
 was on the 15th of June at Dorchester, and on the 19th 
 at Weymouth. Hearing of his advance, Maurice had, on 
 the 16th, raised the siege of Lyme Eegis, which small and 
 unimportant town had, since the 20th of April, bravely 
 sustained his attacks. The Prince, retiring by Honiton, 
 was himself at Exeter on the 18th, but had then sent a 
 part of his force to Bristol to join Hopton. 
 
 About this time, Essex, who had signed his last letter to 
 the Parliament as their " innocent though suspected servant,'* 
 received a letter from them in return, in which he was told 
 that the Houses approved neither of his actions nor of his 
 letters, but recommended him to use his best endeavours 
 towards reducing the west. The Independents . were, in
 
 1644. 101 
 
 truth, becoming daily stronger in the House of Commons, 
 and this letter was but one of many signs of the increasing 
 power of the party which meant war to be war, and not a. 
 military promenade. It may fairly be doubted whether 
 Essex's heart had ever really been in the cause, while the 
 manners and the designs both of the Parliament and of 
 the army were not such as would be likely, on further 
 acquaintance, to please the great lord, who, by accident 
 a seeming democrat, was by birth and breeding an aristocrat, 
 though no courtier. 
 
 On the 26th of June, Essex was at Chard, where he 
 received .a message from the Queen (who had in the 
 beginning of the year left Oxford for Exeter, where on the 
 16th she had been confined of the Princess Henrietta), 
 asking for a free passage to go to Bath ; this Essex refused, 
 upon which the Queen, as soon as she was in a condition to 
 travel, sailed from Falmouth on the 14th of July and 
 arrived safely at Brest, her ships being " fresh tallowed }> 
 to enable them to sail faster than those which "Warwick, 
 the Parliamentary admiral, sent after them. 
 
 Essex arrived at Tiverton on the 5th of July. Towards 
 the middle of that month, hearing of the King's advance 
 into the west, he proposed to turn back and engage him 
 before he should be able to unite his forces with those of 
 Maurice. In this wise project he was overruled by Lord 
 Eobartes, a general in his army, who, with others, assured 
 him that, if he would but continue his march into Corn- 
 wall, he Avould secure that county for the Parliament, 
 prevent the King from passing out of Devonshire, and 
 thus detain him until a fresh force from London might 
 attack him in rear. 
 
 Essex, angry though he was at the supposed preference 
 of the Parliament for Manchester's army rather than for his
 
 102 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 own, and astonished with reason at the neglect of Waller to 
 follow the King, yet could not believe that he would be 
 left to face alone the whole of the Eoyal army ; he there- 
 fore, though against his own conviction, yet without needing 
 much persuasion, agreed to the plan proposed by Robartes, 
 and continued to advance westward after the Prince. On 
 the 18th of July, after making a feint to march against 
 Charles, the Earl moved from Tiverton towards Plymouth, 
 and on the 26th entered Cornwall and took Launceston. 
 On the same day the King was at Exeter, and thence 
 following Essex fairly held him in a trap. The Lord 
 General on the 29th captured Lostwithiel, and , also the 
 haven at Fowey, of which the latter was eventually of 
 the very greatest use to him. He thence sent letters to 
 the Parliament praying for aid, in answer to which 
 Middleton was sent with 2,500 horse and dragoons; he, 
 however, was not only too weak, but too late, to be of 
 any use to the Eoundhead army. 
 
 On the 6th of August, the King, whose headquarters 
 were at Liskeard, as those of Essex were at Lostwithiel, 
 sent a letter to the Earl, which on the 8th and 9th was 
 followed by others from the officers of the Eoyalist army, 
 all entreating him to join their cause and promising him 
 honours and rewards should he do so ; to these Essex 
 answered but a few words in which he refused to betray 
 the trust reposed in him by the Parliament. Eor this 
 answer he received the thanks of both Houses, a com- 
 pliment which in no way delayed his fate. 
 
 The King, having moved his headquarters to Boconnock, a 
 house of Lord Mohun, drew his line closer and closer around 
 Essex, who could neither escape nor force Charles to fight, 
 and who now held nothing but Lostwithiel and Fowey. Sir 
 Richard Grenville, advancing with the Cornish troops from
 
 1644. 103 
 
 Bodmin, pressed on the Parliamentary army from Lanhyd- 
 rock, while the King seized all the passages of the river 
 between Lostwithiel and Fowey, as also a fort which 
 guarded the mouth of the harbour at the latter place. 
 
 Finding that his quarters were daily being narrowed, and 
 having no longer subsistence for his cavalry, while constant 
 skirmishes along the river made him fear lest he should be 
 cut off from the sea, Essex gave orders to his horse to break 
 through the enemy's lines, and on the same night, that of 
 the 31st of August, drew back the whole of his infantry 
 into Fowey. 
 
 One regiment of cavalry only was retained ; the others, 
 under Sir William Balfour, marched at about 3 a.m. through 
 the Royal army, passing within pistol-shot of a cottage where 
 a special guard had, on the information brought by two 
 deserters of the intended escape, been placed to intercept 
 their retreat. Goring, who had succeeded "Wilmot in the 
 command of the King's horse, was at a drinking bout when 
 he received the news of their march, and, choosing utterly to 
 discredit it, allowed Balfour to ride away with no greater 
 loss than 100 men ; nor was Sir William in any way further 
 troubled during the whole of his long march to London. 
 Such Avas Goring's favour with the King that, since all men 
 knew that he was most to blame, no one was ever punished 
 for this most disgraceful neglect. 
 
 On the 1st of September, Essex, finding his case hopeless, 
 deserted his infantry, and taking ship, sailed from Fowey to 
 Plymouth ; he wrote from the latter place to Skippon, whom 
 he had left in command, to the effect that "Nothing but 
 fear of slavery and to be triumpht on, should have made 
 us have gone." No words are needed to characterise this 
 action of the Earl ; it stands condemned by his own excuse, 
 and, if ever a soldier deserved to be shot, Essex was that
 
 104 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 man. Fortunately we can say that there is but one other in- 
 stance of such behaviour in the military history of England,* 
 and in this case there is good reason to suppose that the 
 deserter was not sane at the time. No such plea can be urged 
 for Essex, and by this cowardice he forfeits any claim which 
 .he ever possessed to the name of soldier; but he was not 
 punished; he was even permitted to retain the command 
 of that army which he had deserted in its hour of need, 
 though it is true that, owing to other events, he never again 
 led it into action. 
 
 Very different was the action of old Skippon, who, assem- 
 bling his officers at a council of war after the flight of the 
 general, made such a speech to them as deserves to be 
 recorded. " Gentlemen," he said, u you see our general and 
 some chief officers have thought fit to leave us, and our horse 
 are got away; we are left alone upon our defence; that 
 which I propose to you is this, that we, having the same 
 courage as our horse had, and the same God to assist us, 
 may make the same trial of our fortunes, and endeavour to 
 make our way through our enemies as they have done, and 
 account it better to die with honour and faithfulness, than to 
 live dishonourable." 
 
 But it was of no use ; the army dispirited would not fight, 
 and the brave old man, through no fault of his own, was 
 compelled, on the 2nd of September, 1644, to surrender his 
 artillery, arms, and ammunition to the forces of the King. 
 The men, having embarked at Plymouth, were in the course 
 of the month landed at Portsmouth, where Essex resumed 
 the command, reclothing and rearming them with supplies 
 sent from London. 
 
 It is difficult to understand why Charles did not take 
 full advantage of his situation, and, having the Parlia- 
 * Namely in Nepaul, in the year 1816.
 
 1644. 105 
 
 mentary foot at his mercy, did not insist upon the accept- 
 ance of harder terms. An explanation may perhaps he 
 found in the fact that, while he had no place in which to 
 keep and guard them as captives, that custom of war had 
 not yet "become general, which allows a victor to bind his 
 prisoners not to serve again either during a war or for some 
 given term. As a result of his leniency, we shall, before 
 the year ends, find many of this infantry again in the 
 field. 
 
 The Parliament, on the receipt of the news of this 
 disaster, wrote to Essex to assure him of their continued 
 regard, and to inform him of the intended advance of 
 Manchester and Waller on Dorchester, as also of the 
 dispatch of arms and clothes to equip his troops when they 
 should arrive at Portsmouth. 
 
 After the completion of the surrender, the King moved 
 to the eastward. He was on the 10th of September at 
 Plymouth, which he attempted to carry by assault, but, 
 having been repulsed in several attacks, he passed on to 
 Exeter and thence to Sturminster in Dorsetshire, where he 
 was on the 9th of October. Part of his army under 
 Grenville was in the meantime carrying on the siege of 
 Plymouth, while Goring had forced the surrender of Barn- 
 staple and Ilfracombe. On the 15th of October Charles 
 was at Salisbury, and on the 18th at Andover. 
 
 Waller and Middleton, who had effected their junction, 
 retired before him, in order to avoid an engagement until 
 they should have met the army of the Earl of Manchester, 
 and also that of Essex. This junction took place on the 
 21st of October at Basing, the King being at that date at 
 Whitchurch, in Hampshire. 
 
 On the 22nd, the King, covering his march with parties 
 of cavalry, drew off his infantry from Kingsclere, and moved
 
 106 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 to Newbury. The forces of the Parliament, advancing first 
 on Reading, changed direction towards Newbury, and a battle 
 thus became inevitable. Essex, on the nominal ground of 
 illness, was not present with the army, which was therefore 
 under the command of Waller and Manchester; it amounted 
 altogether to about 10,000 men, of which 8,000 were cavalry. 
 The King's strength had been seriously impaired by the 
 dispatch of three regiments of horse, under the Earl of 
 Northampton, to the relief of Banbury Castle, for though 
 this service was efficiently performed, the detachment did 
 not return in time to take part in the battle. 
 
 Charles, having determined to stand upon the defensive, 
 in order to gain time for the arrival of Northampton or of 
 Rupert, who was marching to him with 3,000 horse, took 
 up a position on the hill to the south of the Lambourne, 
 which stream covered his front. The latter was also pro- 
 tected by the fire of Donnington Castle, which, but a month 
 before, had repulsed Manchester from its walls. Here the 
 King threw up earthworks, providing with especial care for 
 the defence of the approaches to Newbury town, the village 
 of Shaw being very strongly held. The line of defence 
 extended towards the right (east) as far as the junction of 
 the Lambourne and the Kennet ; while the left, which rested 
 on the village of Speen, was covered by works which could 
 sweep the open down with their fire. 
 
 The plan of attack of the Parliamentary generals was as 
 follows : "Waller, with the army of Essex, part of Manchester's 
 cavalry, and most of his own force, was to make a circuitous 
 march, out of reach of the fire of Donnington Castle, and 
 was to attack the King's left at Speen, while Manchester, 
 with the remainder of the army, should assault Shaw, in 
 order to gain an entrance into Newbury, or in any case to 
 draw away some portion of the enemy from the scene of
 
 1644. 107 
 
 Waller's attack. The horse of the turning column under 
 Balfour and Waller and the foot under Skippon started at 
 daybreak on the 27th of October, yet even thus it was nearly 
 3 p.m. before they were formed in order of attack. The 
 King's left, which was commanded by Prince Maurice, was 
 taken by surprise, not imagining that so strong a post would 
 be assaulted at so late an hour ; they, however, rallied to 
 their front, but were, after about three hours of hard fighting, 
 driven from their lines and from the village of Speen, at 
 which place Essex's troops retook six of the guns which they 
 had lost in Cornwall. 
 
 It had been arranged that, on hearing the guns of Waller's 
 column in action, Manchester should attack Shaw and a 
 fortified house, which the Royalists held on the south side of 
 the bridge which crosses the Lambourne ; but in place of so 
 doing, he assaulted Shaw at daybreak with 1,000 men, and, 
 driving the surprised Cavaliers across the river, pressed on 
 until his progress was stopped by the fire from the house 
 above mentioned. A sally from this post pushed back the 
 Parliamentary attack with severe loss, and, though Manchester 
 in the afternoon, on hearing the guns at Speen, again assaulted 
 the bridge, he did so in small strength and without success. 
 
 On the high ground about Speen the engagement now 
 took the form of a cavalry action, in which neither party 
 had obtained any decided success when the fall of night put 
 an end to the battle. 
 
 Diiring the night the King's forces, having drawn out of 
 Newbury, placed their guns, ammunition, and wounded in 
 Donnington Castle ; after which, abandoning the town, they 
 marched between the two fractions of the enemy's army 
 without receiving any interruption from either, and proceeded 
 to Wallingford. 
 
 Each party as usual claimed the victory : the Parliament
 
 108 TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 on the ground that their attack had dislodged the King from 
 his position ; the Royalists on account of an asserted minority 
 of loss incurred in the action. It is perhaps most just to 
 either side to say, that no victory was obtained and no defeat 
 suffered, since though the King thought fit to retire, there 
 was in truth no necessity for him to do so; while with 
 regard to the proportion of loss of either army, it may be 
 assumed as an axiom that when, as was the case on this 
 occasion, a battle is not followed by a pursuit, the greater 
 part of the casualties will be furnished by the force which 
 attacks, in this instance the Parliamentary troops. Judging 
 by the light of subsequent events, it may be considered 
 probable that Charles, anticipating the coming of Rupert 
 and his reinforcements, had no wish to bring matters to an 
 immediate issue ; while one at least of the Parliamentary 
 leaders did not desire to force the King's hand, or to cripple 
 him beyond recovery. 
 
 On the departure of Charles, Manchester and Waller at 
 once occupied Newbury, and sent Colonel Hurrey, for the 
 second time a deserter, to the Earl of Brentford, who lay 
 wounded at Donnington, to demand the surrender of the 
 castle ; this being refused they marched on Oxford, but find- 
 ing the road so bad that all advance was difficult, returned to 
 Newbury, where they arrived on the 6th of November. 
 
 The Royal army awaited at Oxford the junction of Rupert 
 and the return of Northampton ; when these had taken place, 
 and the Prince had been declared General vice Brentford, 
 it pushed forward to Wallingford, and thence to Donnington 
 Castle, which was relieved without a blow. 
 
 The King, having drawn his artillery from the castle, 
 offered battle, but the Parliamentary leaders decided at a 
 council of war that it was not advisable to fight ; a similar 
 council in the Royal army having come to the same conclu-
 
 1644. 109 
 
 sion, Charles, after pushing a small force over the Lambourne 
 against the Roundhead position, now nearly the same as that 
 which he himself had held a fortnight earlier, drew off to 
 Wallingford with drums beating and trumpets sounding. 
 Despatching a detachment to relieve Basing House, Charles 
 marched with his troops to Oxford, and on the 23rd of 
 November went into winter quarters in and around that 
 city. 
 
 The Parliamentary army, weary with war and disgusted 
 with their leaders, fell back on Eeading, and took up winter 
 quarters between that place and Farnham. 
 
 Thus ended the campaign of 1644. 
 
 Before entering into a relation of the events of the winter, 
 it will be well to review shortly the relative positions of the 
 two contending parties. Newcastle having been stormed by 
 the Scots in October, the Parliament had at the end of the 
 year possession of the whole of the north, Chester and 
 Newark being the most advanced garrisons of the King in 
 that direction. The latter had, however, much increased his 
 power in the west, towards which the rule of the Houses 
 extended but little beyond the boundary of Surrey and 
 Hampshire. The eastern counties, as ever, held with 
 London against the King, while the midlands had changed 
 but in a small degree from their attitude of the previous 
 year. On the whole, in spite of the surrender of the army 
 of Essex, the advantage of the year of fighting remained 
 with the Parliament, since the decided victory of Marston 
 Moor, and the consequent gain of the north, far outweighed 
 any and every success which Charles could claim. 
 
 The King had now but one army, properly so called, and 
 this, which in December, 1644, numbered about 11,000 
 men, was made up of the remnants of the various forces 
 which had fought and suffered for him. The Parliament in 
 
 12
 
 110 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 a similar manner in the following year collected its troops 
 under one head and sent forth a single army to battle. But 
 how great a difference in constitution was there between the 
 two forces; that of the Parliament was selected from their super- 
 abundance, that of the King was scraped together from far 
 and near, and, as we shall find at a later date, made up some 
 part of its deficiency from the rejected overplus of the former. 
 Again, owing to the prolonged nature of the -war, the want 
 of money at this time afflicted the King as much as did the 
 dearth of men, for his adherents, most of whom drew their 
 income from land, had, now that their tenants were soldiers 
 and their meadows fields of battle, no rents to offer for the 
 Royal service. On the other hand, the supporters of Parlia- 
 ment, men who lived by commerce, having no fear of danger 
 by sea, since the fleet was in the hands of their rulers, lost 
 little, perhaps in some respects even gained, by the existence 
 of war, and could afford further subsidies to obtain their end. 
 Thus the fortunes of the King were fading, and it became 
 more and more certain as time went on, that he would never 
 recover by the sword that kingdom which he regarded as 
 given to him by God. But there yet remained the hope of 
 negotiation, and in this Charles put his trust, knowing well 
 that there were some among the ranks of the Parliament 
 who, though they had at first armed against him as a tyrant, 
 now trembled with fear at the storm which they had raised, 
 and regarded with greater dread than any one King could 
 inspire that legion of rulers which called itself the House of 
 Commons. Encouraged by his hopes in such men, Charles, 
 during the period of inaction which was coincident with the 
 coming of winter, sought to reopen negotiations with his foes. 
 But all agreement was impossible between the two parties, 
 who started from totally opposite premises, and moved thence 
 in directions which diverged, and no more space need be
 
 1644. Ill 
 
 given to this abortive effort towards a treaty, than will suffice 
 to mention that the Commissioners appointed by either side 
 to discuss the question met at Uxbridge on the 29th of 
 January, 1645, and separated on the 22nd of February, 
 without having found it possible to agree on any one point. 
 
 The scope of this work will not permit of the narration 
 of the smaller actions which distracted the country, but did 
 not affect the progress of the war, and many brave deeds 
 must be left unrecorded, among which there are few so 
 deserving of renown as is the ride of Colonel Gage from 
 Oxford to the relief of Basing House.* The skirmishes of 
 Middleton during his effort to relieve Essex in Cornwall, the 
 exploits of Massey around Gloucester, the " excursions and 
 alarms " of Fairfax and the Scots in Yorkshire, as also the 
 sorties from Newark and other garrisons, must be all left 
 unnoticed, as they were in fact immaterial to the issue of the 
 war. 
 
 But one act, though not strictly military in its beginning, 
 must be mentioned at some length, since by its result it 
 proved itself to be the most fatal arm which the hand of 
 Parliament could prepare against the King, and, in time, 
 against itself. To the former it brought imprisonment and 
 death, to the latter disgrace and annihilation. The " Self- 
 denying Ordinance" stands almost alone in history in the 
 remarkable disproportion between the simplicity of its prin- 
 ciple and the complexity of its causes and effects, even 
 though we confine our examination of the latter to those only 
 which immediately preceded or followed its adoption. 
 
 Introduced in the early part of December, 1644, it had 
 
 not passed both Houses until the beginning of April, 1645, 
 
 for which reason, among others, it is proposed to reserve its 
 
 discussion until the succeeding chapter, pausing here only to 
 
 * " Clarendon," vol. II., part ii., edition of 1717, page 527.
 
 112 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 draw attention to the fact that it was between the above 
 dates that efforts had been made to come to an agreement 
 with the King; a treaty with Charles being the counter- 
 stroke with which the Presbyterians proposed to answer 
 the blow, which, as they knew well, the Independents were 
 preparing against them.
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 1645. 
 
 THE conduct of the war by the Parliamentary leaders had, 
 up to the commencement of this year, given satisfaction to 
 very few of their party ; opportunities had been neglected, 
 victories had been but half won, while defeats, though they 
 had not been disastrous, had been far too numerous. The 
 contest had thus lingered on, and now, after nearly three 
 years of hostilities, men found that peace, with the freedom 
 from service and taxation which should accompany it, was 
 practically as distant and as improbable as ever. In pro- 
 portion as men had at first plunged headlong into the sea 
 of war, in the hope, almost in the assurance, that after a 
 short struggle they should draw thence the pearl of their 
 liberty, they now, as that hope dwindled and became 
 uncertain, were inclined to give hard judgment on those 
 who had first led them, but who now seemed to have deserted 
 their charge. 
 
 To many of the foremost adherents of the Parliament, the 
 war was at its commencement but an acute form of court 
 intrigue, by which they proposed to oust their rivals from 
 their positions, and even up to the period at which we have 
 now arrived, very few had dared to suggest the abdication or
 
 114 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 the deposal of the King ; for this civil war was unlike all 
 those which had preceded it, in that there was no counter- 
 claimant to the throne. Such being the case, the above 
 section of the party were naturally careful not to offend too 
 deeply that King whom they intended to replace upon the 
 throne, as soon as he had been convinced by misfortune of 
 the error of his ways. 
 
 But there were others, more especially in the army, who 
 feeling in themselves the power, as they had the will, to 
 rule, were not well pleased by the thought that, when peace 
 had been made to the liking of their military or social 
 superiors, they, by whose swords such a peace had been 
 rendered possible, must be content to sink back into 
 obscurity, happy indeed if they escaped punishment at the 
 hands of those who had suffered so much by them. These 
 men were not content to take as the reward of their labours 
 such a modicum of satisfaction, as might be derived from 
 seeing the Garter at the knee of Essex, or from the elevation 
 of Manchester to a marquisate, while to such an end, as they 
 suspected, events were turning, since those who were their 
 generals preferred to threaten rather than to strike, and 
 fought only a mock combat with (so to speak) blunted swords, 
 against that army which in many a Roundhead's belief was 
 composed exclusively of men of Belial. 
 
 In the eyes of such soldiers as these, mostly Independents 
 and indebted for voice to Cromwell and Ireton, their leaders 
 had turned back after putting their hands to the plough, 
 and were thus a doubting and backsliding people, deserving 
 no longer to be trusted or obeyed by the elect. Again, these 
 very leaders were for the most part Presbyterians, and as 
 such absolutely intolerant of variation from their religious 
 ritual and dogma, while the Independents, desiring liberty 
 in all, thought " Presbyter," in the words of Milton, to be 
 "merely Priest writ large."
 
 1645. 115 
 
 The time had now come also when the army, as is natural 
 to any army which has pride in itself as such, desired to be led 
 by men chosen for what they had done in the field, not for 
 what they had said in the Houses, while the entire nation, 
 weary of the shilly-shallying, of the alternate battles and nego- 
 tiations, neither of which seemed ever to have any result, and 
 of the variations from frenzy to apathy, with an occasional 
 change to a feeble loyalty, felt that the army was in the 
 right, and that, if any good end was to be obtained, the 
 beginning of that end must be a sweeping alteration in the 
 organisation of the Parliamentary forces. Doubtful men 
 must be set aside, those neutral in heart must be made 
 incapable of evil, and the full power of the sword of England 
 must be placed in some hand, which would use the weapon 
 to strike and not to guard only. 
 
 The grievance of the nation and of the army found a 
 voice in the Grand Committee, into which on the 9th of 
 December, 1644, the House of Commons resolved itself. 
 There Cromwell spoke, as did another, much to the purpose, 
 while after a long debate the Committee passed the following 
 resolution : " That no member of either House of Parliament 
 shall during the war enjoy or execute any office of command 
 military or civil, and that an ordinance be brought into that 
 purpose." 
 
 By this Act in effect every Peer was disqualified from 
 employment, and all the principal leaders of the army were 
 thus at once dismissed ; but there was more in it than this, 
 for since a Peer could not by any means cease to be a 
 member of his House, he was of necessity debarred from 
 command for all future time, while a member of the House 
 of Commons could, if he were permitted to do so, resign his 
 seat and so preserve his office. We shall however find that 
 this Act, like many others, having served its purpose was 
 allowed to become a dead letter.
 
 116 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 The ordinance, after another long debate, passed the 
 Commons on December the 19th, 1644, but was on the 13th 
 of January, 1645, thrown out by the Lords, who fully 
 realised its scope. The Commons nothing daunted pressed 
 on their scheme for the " New Model : ' of the army, which 
 was to be selected from the old forces, and was to be officered 
 by men in whom entire confidence could be placed, 
 
 The new model was organised as follows : 
 
 10 Kegiments of Cavalry of 600 men 6,000 
 
 10 Companies of Dragoons of 100 men ... ... 1,000 
 
 10 Regiments of Infantry of 1,400 men 14,000 
 
 Total 21.000 men. 
 
 All officers were to be nominated by Sir Thomas Fairfax, 
 the new General, and (as was insisted upon by the Lords, 
 with the object of excluding the more fanatical Indepen- 
 dents) every officer was to sign the covenant within twenty 
 days of his appointment. 
 
 The cost of this force was estimated at 539,460 per 
 annum, about .1,600,000 of our money. 
 
 On the 24th of March, 1645, the ordinance was again read 
 in the Commons, and finally passed that House on the 31st 
 March. Sir Thomas Fairfax having been appointed Com- 
 mander-in-Chief by a vote of both Houses on the 1st of 
 April, Essex, Manchester and others of the Lords resigned 
 their commissions on the 2nd, and all reason for resistance 
 being thus removed, the ordinance passed the Lords on the 
 13th of April, 1645. 
 
 The name of Cromwell was of course, with those of other 
 members of the Commons, omitted from the original list of 
 the New Model army, but with a significance which could 
 not have escaped remark, the appointment of lieutenant- 
 general was left vacant, while none doubted by whom that 
 vacancy would be filled.
 
 1645. 117 
 
 Sir Thomas Fairfax, the new Lord General, the eldest 
 son of Ferdinand Lord Fairfax, was born in 1611, and was 
 therefore at this period in his thirty-fourth year. He was in 
 person tall and well made, but his constitution was not 
 strong, and he was much subject to illness, caused partially 
 by hardships endured on active service in Holland during 
 the earlier years of his life. The expression of his face was 
 sad and unintellectual ; he stammered in his speech, which 
 was in consequence slow, and was timid and reserved in his 
 manner. He was not as a rule quick to act, but a decision 
 once made was with him irrevocable, and, though easily led, 
 he had much character of his own. In battle only he seemed 
 really to live, and under fire or in the rush of a cavalry 
 charge, changed entirely in disposition as in the expression 
 of his face. Slow though clear in council, he was in battle 
 " as one distracted and furious," though not so much so but 
 that he governed all things well. His personal bravery was 
 remarkable even among brave men, and his modesty was 
 such that all loved as they admired him. He was not a 
 genius, except in war. and his enemies said of him that, 
 unless in actual battle he was a weak and foolish man ; but, 
 as we know, after the Eestoration, at which time only his 
 enemies dared to speak, virtue was accounted folly, and the 
 wisdom of the serpent the only wisdom. In religion he was 
 a Presbyterian of the strictest type, and was in this respect 
 much influenced by his wife, the daughter of Lord Vere of 
 Tilbury. 
 
 Such was the man who, on the 1st of April, 1645, was 
 made the leader of the Parliamentary cause, an appointment 
 mainly due, as may be supposed, to the influence of Cromwell, 
 who was not as yet himself in the position to aspire to the 
 supreme command. 
 
 Before proceeding to the narration of the actions of the
 
 118 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 new army, it is necessary to draw attention to those which 
 took place during the months of January, February, and 
 March, which preceded its formation. 
 
 Of these the principal were : a defeat inflicted on Rupert 
 at Abingdon by Browne, Avho was still employed in block- 
 ading the posts around Oxford ; the success of Langhorne 
 (or Laughorne), a Parliamentary general, in South Wales, 
 where he captured Cardigan ; and the appointment of Waller 
 to the chief command in the west, where Grenville was 
 engaged on the siege of Plymouth. 
 
 Sir William, having been joined by Cromwell, advanced 
 to Weymouth, but, on his endeavour to press on to Plymouth, 
 was driven back by Goring. The Scottish army, having 
 with the assistance of Fairfax forced the King's party from 
 the northern counties, began in February to move southward, 
 and in March joined Brereton about Chester. 
 
 But little was done in the field, until on the 3rd of April 
 Fairfax proceeded to Windsor, at which place he had ordered 
 the army to rendezvous, for the purpose of taking up his 
 command. With the assistance of Skippon, who was much 
 beloved by the soldiers, the new general, who was personally 
 unknown to many of his troops, succeeded in reducing the 
 regiments which were ordered to be disbanded, and in re- 
 organising those which were to be retained, without arousing 
 that spirit of mutiny, which had but a short time before 
 shown itself among Waller's men. Essex's life-guard, who 
 had done such good service under Sir Philip Stapleton, were 
 disbanded, but were afterwards enlisted under new officers 
 to serve as a body-guard to Fairfax. 
 
 The whole of the month of April was spent in the organi- 
 sation of the New Model, and Cromwell, who, leaving Waller, 
 had by this time drawn towards Oxford, coming, as was said, 
 for the purpose of taking leave of Fairfax on his retirement
 
 1645. 119 
 
 from the army, had the honour of fighting the first action of 
 importance of the new year. 
 
 It came about as follows : Massey, who was still the 
 active Governor of Gloucester, set out towards the end of 
 April from that city, and marched to Ledbury with about 
 400 horse and 500 foot ; at that point he was on the 22nd 
 surprised by Rupert, who broke with great fury from all 
 sides into the town. Massey, in no way dismayed, caused 
 his infantry to retire across country, while he himself with 
 the cavalry covered them as a rear-guard, upon which Eupert, 
 finding that in the pursuit he lost as many men as his enemy, 
 fell back on Worcester. 
 
 The King had at first proposed, on the suggestion of 
 Kupert and of Sir Marmaduke Langdale, a north-country 
 leader, to begin the year by marching into the north, with 
 the object of defeating the Scots before the organisation of 
 the New Model should be completed ; but Goring, who was 
 jealous of the renown of the Prince, coming from Taunton, 
 which he left besieged by his foot and artillery, urged Charles 
 rather to march into the west, which was all his own, and 
 there to raise an army which might compete with that of 
 the Parliament. This being agreed upon, Goring returned 
 to the siege and Rupert was directed to send 2,000 horse to 
 join the King at Oxford, and to act as his escort on his 
 march into the west. 
 
 Orders were at once sent by the Parliament to Fairfax 
 to cause the advance of this force to be intercepted, and 
 Cromwell was specially named, as the commander most 
 capable of executing this commission. Oliver, having been 
 reinforced, marched into Oxfordshire, and at Islip Bridge 
 encountered four regiments of the King's cavalry, whom he 
 completely defeated, capturing about 200 prisoners, 500 
 horses, and the Queen's standard. Pressing the pursuit he
 
 120 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 came to Bletchingdon House, which, though defended by 
 infantry as well as by horse, surrendered without an effort to 
 Cromwell's cavalry, who, in order to intimidate the garrison, 
 called loudly as they advanced to their foot, of whom they 
 had none, to fall on. For this error or act of cowardice the 
 Governor, Colonel Windebank, was afterwards shot by 
 sentence of a council of war. 
 
 From Bletchingdon Cromwell marched by Witney and 
 Rampton-in-the-Bush, at each of which places he cut to pieces 
 a body of the enemy's troops, and took in all an additional 
 250 prisoners ; he was however repulsed from an attempted 
 attack on Faringdon, which he made on his way back to 
 the general. 
 
 By the end of April the new army was ready for action, 
 and Fairfax was at once directed to march to the relief of 
 Taunton, which under Colonel (afterwards Admiral) Blake 
 was by this time hard pressed. 
 
 Before entering into a narration of the important events 
 which followed the advance of Fairfax, it will be well to 
 review shortly the relative positions at the beginning of 
 May, of the parties of the King and of the Parliament. 
 The latter had practically possession of the following 
 counties, viz. : 
 
 Bedford, Cambridge, Cumberland, Derby, Durham, Essex, 
 Gloucester, Hertford, Huntingdon, Kent, Lancashire, Lincoln, 
 Middlesex, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, Notting- 
 ham, Rutland, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick, West- 
 moreland and Yorkshire ; in all twenty-four. 
 
 The King was paramount in nine counties, in addition to 
 almost the whole of Wales, viz. : 
 
 Cornwall, Devon, Hereford, Monmouth, Oxford, Shrop- 
 shire, Somerset, Wilts and Worcester. 
 
 Berks, Buckingham, Cheshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Leices-
 
 1645. 121 
 
 ter and Stafford, in all seven counties, were partially in the 
 hands of either party. 
 
 The field armies of the King were as follows : 
 
 1. The army of the west under Lord Goring, consisting 
 of about 14,000 men. 
 
 2. The Royal army commanded by Prince Rupert, amount- 
 ing to about 7,500 men. 
 
 3. The cavalry of the various garrisons, which could be 
 called out in case of need. 
 
 Against these the Parliament put into field : 
 
 1. The New Model army under Fairfax, 21,000 men. 
 
 2. Such regiments (about seven) as had been neither 
 disbanded nor united to the New Model ; these were under 
 Massey at Gloucester. 
 
 3. Some small bodies of troops in Wales, in Shropshire, 
 and in three or four other counties. 
 
 Thus at the commencement of the campaign, omitting the 
 Scottish army (who after Marston Moor did nothing more in 
 the field), the forces of the opponents were about equal, but 
 the Parliament had at starting the great advantage, that 
 their force was concentrated and under one head, whereas 
 the two parts of the Royal army, owing to the dissensions 
 of their leaders, were with difficulty induced to act in 
 unison. 
 
 The best plan for the campaign of Fairfax, as indeed at a 
 later period it was worked put, was therefore plainly this, to 
 defeat one army of the King in the absence of the other, 
 and then to turn upon and destroy the latter in its turn. 
 
 But the public voice, as before in the case of Gloucester, 
 loudly demanded the relief of Taunton, and on the 29th 
 of April an order was sent by the Commons to the general 
 that the army should march to the West with that object. 
 Accordingly, Fairfax leaving Cromwell and Browne before
 
 122 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 Oxford with 4,000 men, marched on the 30th from Windsor 
 to Heading. 
 
 On the 2nd of May, at Newbury, a meeting took place 
 between Fairfax and Cromwell ; but information having 
 been received from a prisoner captured that night, that 
 Goring intended to beat up Oliver's quarters, the latter 
 hastily returned to his command. Goring before his arrival 
 had already carried Radcot Bridge, and Cromwell, having 
 sent some horse across the Isis to reconnoitre, the Royalist 
 cavalry drove them back with some loss. Being reinforced, 
 the Roundheads again advanced, only to be again forced to 
 retire by the overwhelming strength of their enemy, while the 
 further passage of reinforcements was checked by Lord 
 Wentworth, who held the bridge. Goring had thus possession 
 of the river, but on the following day, Cromwell having 
 crossed at Newbridge on his flank, he quitted his position 
 and hastened back to his main army at Taunton. 
 
 On the 7th of May Fairfax, being then at Blandford, re- 
 ceived an order to detach a brigade to the relief at Taunton, 
 and to march himself on Oxford. This change of plan was 
 caused by the receipt of information that the King, taking 
 advantage of the movement of the army of the Parliament to 
 the west, was drawing out of his headquarters, with the view 
 of taking the field, and had with this object called Rupert to 
 his side. Orders were at the same time received by Cromwell 
 and Browne to follow the King wherever he might go, and 
 to hamper his movements in order to gain time for the 
 advance of Fairfax. 
 
 In obedience to this order, on the 8th of May 4,000 foot, 
 and from 1,800 to 2,000 horse, were detached under Colonel 
 "Welden from the main Parliamentary army ; these marched 
 directly on Taunton, and being mistaken by the enemy for 
 the advanced guard of the entire force, succeeded on the
 
 1645. 123 
 
 llth of May in relieving that town. This mistake of the 
 Koyalists had been favoured by the movements of Fairfax, 
 who had with this intention marched at first on Dorchester, 
 but had, after proceeding a few miles, turned abruptly to the 
 east, and thus left the detached brigade to continue its 
 march alone. The besiegers having retired on the approach 
 of Welden, he, after entering Taunton, fell back on Chard, 
 but was a little later, on the arrival of Goring with 3,000 
 horse, driven into Taunton, and thus besieged in the very 
 place which he had come to relieve. Fairfax, in the mean- 
 while, marching on an average twelve miles a day, reached 
 Newbury on the 14th of May, Here we must for a time 
 leave him in order to follow the movements of the King. 
 
 Charles, taking advantage of the original direction of the 
 march of Fairfax, left Oxford on the 7th, taking with him 
 7,000 or 8,000 men under Rupert ; Goring being detached, 
 as previously mentioned, to Taunton almost immediately after 
 the force had started. The King moved by easy marches 
 by way of Droitwich, Newport, and Market Drayton, to 
 the relief of Chester, which was at that time besieged by Sir 
 William Brereton. On the arrival of the Royal army within 
 twenty miles of the city the siege was abandoned, and the 
 Parliamentary forces retired into Lancashire. Charles then 
 changed the direction of his advance, and proceeded through 
 Staffordshire into Leicestershire, where he, on the 29th of 
 May, commenced the siege of Leicester, this being intended 
 as a counterstroke to the siege of Oxford, which had then 
 been beset by Fairfax. 
 
 At this point we must for awhile break the narrative of 
 military events, in order to draw attention to an act of the 
 Parliament, of which the results, perhaps unforeseen, were 
 very important. On the 10th of May an order was made by 
 both Houses that Lieutenant-General Cromwell " should be
 
 124 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 dispensed with for his personal attendance at the House, 
 and continue his service and command in the army for forty 
 days longer, notwithstanding the Self-denying Ordinance." 
 This order has been frequently noticed, as indeed considering 
 its effects was certain ; but it appears to be the general 
 belief that Cromwell was the sole exception among the 
 members to the action of the Self-denying Ordinance. This 
 was by no means the case, for we find that on the 12th of 
 May Brereton and two others were also confirmed in their 
 authority for the same period ; and it might not be im- 
 possible to find additional cases in which the same permission 
 was given. 
 
 On the march of the King from Oxford, Cromwell and 
 Browne, according to their orders, followed his army, but 
 soon finding that their strength was too small to cope with 
 the increasing forces of Charles, reported to that effect, and 
 were recalled. A party of about 2,500 horse, detached from 
 Cromwell's brigade, was however sent to the north under 
 Colonel Vermuyden to join the Scots, who would, it was 
 expected, hinder the further advance of the Eoyal army. 
 
 The reason why this force was thus detached from the 
 troops under Cromwell's command is worthy of notice. The 
 Scots entertained for Cromwell very strong dislike and dis- 
 trust; feelings which were amply returned by the latter, 
 with a large admixture of contempt. In order to learn the 
 cause of this variance, which was in the future to bear bitter 
 fruit to the Scots, we must look back for awhile into the 
 year 1644. At the end of November in that year Cromwell, 
 who was Lieutenant-General of Manchester's army, was 
 engaged in bringing before the House his report of the 
 behaviour of his general at Ne vrbury, and in this report, as 
 also in other speeches, did not spare Essex, the Commander- 
 in-Chief.
 
 1645. 125 
 
 The latter was warned by the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, 
 at a meeting at the house of the Lord General, that Cromwell 
 if not destroyed would certainly oust him from his position ; 
 that he was an " incendiary " "between the two kingdoms, 
 and that unless he were removed from power the existing 
 friendship between the two nations would undoubtedly soon 
 come to an end. " For," said the Chancellor, "you ken vary 
 weele that Lieutenant-General Cromwell is no friend of 
 ours." For the above reasons, as the spokesman of the 
 Scottish Commissioners, he urged that Cromwell should be 
 proceeded against in order to " clip his wings from soaring to 
 the prejudice of our cause." 
 
 But nothing was done in pursuance of this proposition, a 
 report of which was almost certainly carried to Oliver, and 
 which no doubt had its effect on his after proceedings with 
 the Scots. 
 
 The original cause of this quarrel cannot be discovered, 
 but we should probably not be far wrong if we placed the 
 date of it in the previous July, about the time of the battle 
 of Marston Moor, and we may perhaps assume that it arose 
 from the friction which was certain to follow from the close 
 contact of the bigoted Presbyterianism of the Scots, with 
 the broad and liberal theology of the Independents. The 
 behaviour of the Scots in the battle itself may in some 
 degree account for the contempt with which the great 
 soldier afterwards regarded them, and it is possible (though 
 this can be nothing but surmise) that the death of young 
 Oliver, Cromwell's eldest surviving son, who is generally 
 supposed to have fallen about this time, may have afforded 
 good reason for his father's hatred of the allies of the 
 Parliament. 
 
 Whatever may have been the originating cause of the dis- 
 agreement, the fact remains that Cromwell, on account of 
 
 K 2
 
 126 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 the known ill-feeling between them, was not ordered to join 
 the Scots, but fell back to Fairfax, whom he found, on the 
 22nd of May, engaged in the siege of Oxford, an under- 
 taking which the general then felt to be as hopeless as we 
 now know it to have been. After a few skirmishes with the 
 garrison, Fairfax received orders to raise the siege and to 
 march against the King, who on the 1st of June carried 
 Leicester by storm. So little real was the siege of Oxford, 
 that the artillery intended for that service did not arrive 
 until the day before the abandonment of the enterprise. 
 
 The reason for this sudden change of plan on the part of 
 the Parliament is to be found in the movements of the 
 Scots, who, contrary to the hope and the expectation of the 
 Commons, fell back into Westmoreland before the advance 
 of the King. Colonel Vermuyden at once rejoined Fairfax 
 with his cavalry, and the whole army prepared to " attend " 
 Charles's march. Upon the idea that the King from 
 Leicester might move upon the Eastern Association Cromwell 
 was sent, with an escort of but four troops, to organise the 
 defence of the Isle of Ely ; but Charles had at first headed 
 for Oxford ; on hearing however that the siege of that city had 
 been raised, he marched into Northamptonshire, and was 
 about the 10th of June at Daventry. 
 
 It is pitiable to observe how even now, after nearly three 
 years of war, the King's generals marched and counter- 
 marched their troops without plan or object ; they appear at 
 first sight to have learnt nothing by the practice of war, but 
 we shall probably be nearer to the truth if we attribute this 
 seeming vacillation to the multitude of counsellors, in whom, 
 in spite of Solomon's dictum, there is in war no wisdom, but 
 rather the confusion of imbecility. The Court, as ever, was 
 a maze of intrigue, in which every man strove not to surpass 
 but to supplant his neighbour, while as has been before
 
 1645. 127 
 
 mentioned, social precedence being the sole measure of 
 military rank, there were in the Royal army too many equals 
 and no one supreme ; for the King was compelled to turn 
 his attention rather to compose the quarrels of his own 
 leaders, than to frustrate the plans of those of the enemy. 
 
 Fairfax, having marched from Oxford on June the 5th, 
 was on the 8th near Xewport-Pagnell, whence he wrote to 
 the House to ask that Cromwell might be retained in its 
 service; the answer being favourable, Fairfax on the llth 
 sent a letter to him, in which he appointed him lieutenant- 
 general of the horse ; Cromwell on receiving it marched at 
 once, with 3,000 cavalry whom he had raised in the eastern 
 counties, to rejoin the army, which on the above date was at 
 Northampton. Orders were also despatched by Fairfax to 
 various Parliamentary garrisons, directing the Governors to 
 come at once to him with what strength they could ; while 
 Skippon, as before the Sergeant-Major-General of the army, 
 was instructed to organise it in brigades. 
 
 The King, having thrown supplies, swept up by his 
 foraging parties from Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, 
 into Oxford, was still at this date at Daventry, but on hear- 
 ing of the retreat of the Scots, proposed to move with his 
 army to the relief of Scarborough and Pontefract Castles, 
 which still held out against Lord Fairfax. 
 
 On the 1 2th the Parliamentary army marched to Kisling- 
 bury, advancing directly on the position which the King 
 occupied on Burrough Hill, near Daventry ; a reconnoitring 
 party of cavalry pushed forward to beat up the quarters of 
 the Cavaliers, and found, as they reported, all in disorder, the 
 horses at grass and the King hunting. 
 
 During the night Charles hastily broke up his camp and 
 fell back on Market Harborough. Fairfax followed at once, 
 and on the evening of the 13th was at Guilsborough ; the
 
 123 THE PAELIAMENTAEY GENERALS. 
 
 van of the Eoyal army being then at Harborough, and the 
 rear at Naseby. Early on the morning of the 13th Cromwell 
 with his cavalry joined from the eastern counties. It is 
 interesting to note how, while the Eoyalists were entirely 
 without information as to the movements of their enemy, 
 every step of the army of the Parliament was guided and 
 guarded by the action of detachments of cavalry. For 
 example : during this day Harrison was sent with a body of 
 horse to Daventry, in order to learn more details of the 
 strength of the King; while Ireton with a strong force 
 moved on the flank of Charles's columns, watching every- 
 thing and ready to strike if opportunity should offer. In 
 speaking of these things we almost seem to be considering 
 the respective action of the French and German armies during 
 the days which preceded the battle of Gravelotte. 
 
 Towards evening on the 13th, Ireton's forces fell upon the 
 rear of the King's columns in Naseby village, and drove it 
 in confusion before him ; on the receipt of the news of this 
 engagement, Charles in the middle of the night assembled 
 a council of war at the quarters of Prince Rupert, where it 
 was decided that the Eoyal army should offer battle, and 
 abandon the previous plan of retiring on Leicester and 
 Newark for the purpose of gaining reinforcements; it was 
 even deemed advisable to march to meet the advance of 
 Fairfax. 
 
 Accordingly, in the early morning of Saturday the 1 4th of 
 June, the Eoyal army was drawn up in a strong position to 
 the south of Market Harborough facing southward; the 
 centre of the line was as usual composed of infantry, of 
 which there were four regiments in the first line, and three 
 in the second, while in rear of these stood the reserve 
 consisting of the King's and Prince Eupert's regiments ; this 
 infantry was under Lord Astley, and was formed as was
 
 1645. 129 
 
 customary at that time by regiments, each with a central 
 body of pikemen and two wings of musketeers. Its strength 
 is given by Clarendon at 3,300 men, but other accounts 
 value the nine regiments at about 5,500 soldiers. 
 
 The right wing was composed of about 2,500 cavalry 
 under Kupert, while the left, which was equal in strength, 
 was led by Sir Marmaduke Langdale, and was made up of 
 the Northern and the Newark Horse. 
 
 The King's army being thus drawn up ready for action, a 
 force of cavalry was sent to the front about 8 a.m. to discover 
 the enemy's position and intentions. With the carelessness 
 which by this time had become characteristic of the Eoyal 
 army, this reconnaissance was pushed only three or four miles 
 towards Xaseby, and the scout-master on his return having 
 reported that he could find nothing of the enemy, Rupert 
 with his usual precipitation dashed forward with his horse, 
 to overtake and scatter the force, which he supposed to be 
 retreating. 
 
 When he had advanced some little way, small parties of 
 the Roundheads were seen ; these in all probability were but 
 advanced scouts of Ireton's force, and at the sight of the 
 Royal cavalry they naturally fell back on their supports. 
 Rupert, now confirmed in his belief of the retreat of Fairfax, 
 sent back a message that the whole of the King's force 
 should move forward at once, and should make haste to 
 arrive at the point where he stood. At this order the 
 line was set in motion, and leaving its excellent position, 
 the King's army advanced " as well as might be " towards 
 Naseby. 
 
 All who have read Kinglake's account of the battle of the 
 Alma will remember how the English line, advancing to the 
 attack over about a mile and a half of ground, became dis- 
 ordered and disorganised ; if such was the condition of a
 
 130 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 highly trained army in the nineteenth century, what may 
 we not conceive to have been the result of an advance, 
 over about the same distance, of the half-trained levies of 
 King Charles 1 
 
 Shaken by their march out of the stiff formation in which 
 men fought in those days, the Royal army was hurried into 
 action by the impatient ardour of Rupert " before the cannon 
 was turned, or the ground made choice of upon which they 
 were to fight." 
 
 To return to the Parliamentary troops. At 3 a.m. on the 
 morning of the 14th of June, Fairfax moved from Guils- 
 borough on Naseby, with the intention of harassing the rear 
 of the King's army with his cavalry, in order so to delay 
 its march that his foot might have time to come up and 
 inflict a decisive blow. By 5 a.m. he reached Naseby, 
 and passing on, came at daylight in sight of masses of the 
 Royal horse, who were shortly after followed by the main 
 army of the King. 
 
 Fairfax at once determined to accept battle, and took up a 
 defensive position along the brow of a low hill to the north- 
 west of Naseby, where was a hedge which flanked the front 
 of his line. In order to conceal his numbers and formation 
 from the Cavaliers, he drew up his troops about a hundred 
 yards in rear of the crest, and there stood awaiting the 
 attack. 
 
 The following was the order of battle of the Parliamentary 
 army : The cavalry of the right wing, consisting of six regi- 
 ments, was commanded by Cromwell, who formed his force in 
 three lines, com posed respectively of five, four, and three bodies 
 of about 300 men each, so placed that the intervals in each 
 line were covered by the troops of the line in rear ; half of 
 Rossiter's regiment was echeloned in rear of the right flank, 
 which was exposed to attack. The cavalry of the left wing,
 
 JXne't Army 
 
 Parliamentary' Army^ 
 
 O | f t 1 Mile. 
 
 MILL HILL, NEAB NASEBT, 
 
 WHEEE THE BATTLE OF NASEBY WAS FOUGHT, 
 JUNE 14TH, 1645. 
 
 [Page 130.
 
 1645. 131 
 
 five regiments, with one troop and the dragoons of the Asso- 
 ciated Counties, was under the command of Ireton, who 
 formed it in two lines, the first of three regiments, the 
 second of two, while the dragoons lined the hedge and 
 guarded the left flank from attack. The infantry in the 
 centre, commanded by Skippon, were formed in one line 
 with a reserve ; the first line, naming the regiments from the 
 right, was composed of Fairfax's, Montague's, Pickering's, 
 Waller's, and Skippon's battalions, while the reserve included 
 the regiments of Pride, Hammond, and Eainsborough. The 
 baggage of the army, under a guard of musketeers, was 
 parked on the hill which lies close to the north-west corner 
 of K"aseby village. 
 
 On the approach of the Royal army Fairfax advanced his 
 line to the crest of the hill, and sent forward, as was then 
 the custom, a small body of about 300 men (termed a forlorn 
 hope), which passed down the slope towards the enemy; 
 these were quickly driven in, and the battle began almost 
 simultaneously along the whole line. 
 
 The best contemporary account of the battle of Naseby 
 divides the action under four heads, which we propose to 
 examine in turn. 
 
 1. The contest between the Parliamentary left and the 
 King's right. 
 
 Ireton, on seeing the approach of Eupert's force, advanced 
 to the crest of the hill, where, finding that the Cavaliers in 
 his front had halted, he did the same ; but on their resuming 
 their forward movement he sounded the " charge," and 
 attacked them in dchelon right in front. A fierce hand-to- 
 hand fight now took place, and the extreme right of his line 
 being galled by the fire of some of the King's infantry, 
 Ireton led a half-regiment of his force against the square 
 whence the fire proceeded ; in this charge he was wounded
 
 132 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 in the thigh and the face, and, having his horse shot under 
 him, was made prisoner, but afterwards escaped in the confu- 
 sion of the battle. Of his cavalry, the front line broke that 
 of the enemy opposed to them, but not being well supported 
 by their comrades, were in their turn driven back by the 
 Royal reserves, who, pushing on, routed the whole of the 
 Koundhead left wing, and drove them pell-mell into and 
 through the village of Naseby. Returning from the pursuit, 
 Rupert wasted most valuable time in a fruitless attack on 
 the camp of the Parliamentary army, from which he was 
 gallantly repulsed ; the opportunity to rally thus offered to 
 the defeated horse of Ireton was not lost, for four regiments 
 of them reformed in sufficient time to press on the rear of 
 the Prince as he at last fell back to join the King. 
 
 This charge of Rupert's cavalry was entirely isolated, and, 
 as far as its effect on the battle was concerned, might have 
 been a totally independent skirmish ; but this was as a rule 
 the case in the days of which we Avrite, for each arm then 
 fought as it were " for its own hand," and the combined 
 movements of mounted and dismounted troops were things 
 as yet undreamt of. But nothing can excuse the attack on 
 the camp, which, we must believe, was actuated only by the 
 hope of plunder, and heavy was the penalty paid by the 
 King for the ignorance among his adherents of the axiom, 
 that the first object of a battle is to defeat the enemy ; 
 since, that done, minor advantages follow as a matter of 
 course. 
 
 2. The action of the centres of the two armies. 
 
 Here also the advantage in the battle was at first to the 
 King, for attacking in strength the left of the Parliamentary 
 foot, which we may conceive to have been partially shaken 
 by the charge of a portion of Rupert's horse, the Royal 
 infantry drove back every regiment of the front line, with
 
 1645. 133 
 
 the exception of that which stood on the right. The broken 
 troops fled in disorder behind the regiments which were in 
 reserve ; but the latter, advancing against their enemy, forced 
 them over the crest and down the hill to their former position. 
 Skippon was at this time dangerously wounded by a shot in 
 the side ; but the stout old man refused to quit the field, and 
 remained at his post until the battle had been won. 
 
 3. The charge of the right wing of the Parliament under 
 Cromwell. 
 
 This force advanced in echelon, the right thrown back ; 
 but it may be doubted whether this formation was not 
 principally due to the nature of the ground, which was 
 full of rabbit-holes and covered with furze, and much delayed 
 the attack. Whalley, leading the front line, was completely 
 successful, and Cromwell, though he met with a stout re- 
 sistance, turning both flanks of his adversaries drove without 
 a check through Langdale's cavalry, and forced those who 
 yet remained on the field to take refuge behind the King's 
 reserves; the remainder "fled farther and faster than became 
 them." 
 
 We must now note how different is the action of a true 
 leader from that of a mere soldier. Cromwell, unlike Eupert, 
 in the place of pursuing with his entire force, detached two 
 regiments to observe and to hold in check the cavalry which 
 he had defeated, and turned back with the remainder of his 
 troops to a new task. The King's right was victorious, but 
 out of reach ; his left was shattered, but his centre still stood 
 firm, and unless this could be broken before the return of 
 the Prince he might yet win the day. Against the centre of 
 the Eoyalist line were therefore turned all the efforts of the 
 Parliamentary troops. In front, the regiments of Hammond, 
 Rainsborough, and Pride, with the reorganised remnants of 
 the broken front line of the Koundheads, pressed upon the
 
 134 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 enemy's infantry, which soon gave way, with the exception 
 of one gallant square that held its ground, though charged in 
 front, in rear, and on both flanks. At length Fairfax himself 
 led up his own regiment of foot, who attacked it with the 
 butt-ends of their muskets, while the horse charged it at the 
 same time ; thus pressed, the brave battalion at length broke, 
 and with it the last of the King's infantry and artillery were 
 captured or destroyed. 
 
 Charles in the meantime had endeavoured to rally his 
 beaten cavalry, and was proposing to lead in person his 
 guards upon the enemy, when the mistaken loyalty of the 
 Earl of Carnwarth, who turned the King's horse from the 
 battle, joined to the confusion created by a wrong word of 
 command, caused a panic, from which but few could be 
 rallied even by the individual exertions of the King. 
 
 At this moment Rupert returned from his chase of the 
 Parliamentary left wing, but his troopers, as ever, could not 
 be rallied or formed for a second charge ; and when Fairfax 
 advanced, after a short pause to reform his infantry, with a 
 force of all arms against the King's remnant of cavalry, the 
 Cavaliers swung round and fled from the field. 
 
 The pursuit continued to within two miles of Leicester 
 (about fourteen miles), and as the battle had been the 
 hardest fought of all in the war, so were the losses of the 
 defeated party exceptionally great, while their disorder and 
 disorganisation were irremediable: 5,000 prisoners, and 8,000 
 arms, with more than 100 colours, were the trophies of the 
 action, the last in which Charles was in person engaged, and 
 the true death-blow to his cause. 
 
 Of even greater importance than the above was the 
 capture of the King's cabinet of private papers, which 
 included many letters to and from the Queen. These were 
 printed by the orders of the two Houses, and served by
 
 1645. 135 
 
 their contents to assure the rise of the Independents, since 
 even the most moderate Presbyterians could not deny but 
 that Charles had been playing a double game, appearing to 
 desire alliance with and to promise favour to them, at the 
 very moment that he was asking aid from the Catholic 
 Powers, and declaring his intention to befriend those who 
 held to the Eoman faith. 
 
 The Parliamentary army after the battle marched to Market 
 Harborough, while the King fled on through Leicester 
 to Ashby-de-la-Zouch ; thence he pursued his way by 
 Lichfield, through Worcestershire, to Hereford, in the hope 
 that he might be able to raise a new army in Wales ; at 
 Hereford Kupert left him for the purpose of taking command 
 of the city of Bristol. 
 
 At the termination of this phase of the campaign we may 
 perhaps pause, in order to say a few words as to its general 
 character. Attention must first be drawn to the waste 
 of time and of labour caused by the orders of the Parlia- 
 ment, by which Fairfax was forced to march, first to the 
 west and then north-east, for the purpose of undertaking 
 a siege which at that time could have but one result, 
 absolute failure. The escape of the King from Oxford gave 
 the general the excuse which he needed, and he then, as no 
 doubt he had longed to do at first, marched directly on the 
 Koyal army, seeing with a true soldier's eye that, so long as 
 that remained in the field unbroken, no real success could be 
 possible; and that, that once defeated, all sieges became 
 matters of certainty, and the surrender of each fortress 
 a mere question of time. Of the strategy and tactics of the 
 campaign there is not much to be said, for we can scarcely 
 dignify with the former name the very simple plan of inter- 
 posing an army between the King and Oxford, and by 
 advancing to force him either to accept battle, or to under-
 
 136 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 take a retreat of which the direction would lead him upon 
 the Scots ; while the manner of conducting the battle itself 
 consisted as usual of a series of frontal attacks by the 
 several arms, followed in the case of success by isolated 
 combats of small mixed bodies against such fractions of the 
 enemy as might yet hold their ground. It may be said that 
 up to the time of the battle of Naseby, all the contests of the 
 war had been " soldiers' battles," in that they had all been 
 won by sheer hard fighting, without much assistance from 
 any plan of attack, or, except in the last, by any decided 
 attempt to increase the value of the victory by a very de- 
 termined pursuit ; but much of this want of plan was un- 
 doubtedly due to the quality of the troops, who could fight 
 but could not manoeuvre. 
 
 The character of the battles of Naseby and of Marston 
 Moor stands out entirely distinct from that of any other 
 combat in the war, in the fierceness of their conduct and in 
 the crushing nature of their results; and we may fairly judge 
 that they took this character from those of Fairfax and 
 Cromwell, the leaders of the victorious armies. Indeed, to 
 the student of war it seems as though each commander, in 
 our own times as well as in those of our forefathers, had a 
 "style" of his own in battle, and that a man skilled in 
 reading between the lines in military history could well 
 gather from anonymous details of an action the name of the 
 general who gained it. Thus, Wellington could never have 
 conceived an Austerlitz, while Bazaine had it not in his 
 nature to produce even a poor copy of the campaign of 
 1814; of Napoleon alone can it be said that nothing was 
 impossible to him, since he was capable of all. 
 
 The difference between the troops of Fairfax or Cromwell 
 and those of Essex or Waller is noticed by Clarendon, in a 
 passage where he mentions that those of the two latter
 
 1645. 137 
 
 generals could never be brought, as could the others, to rally 
 after a charge, whether successful or the reverse ; a failing 
 which he also states to have been characteristic of the King's 
 troops. From this time forward we shall find all the military 
 operations of the Parliamentary army marked by a directness 
 and thoroughness which were before unseen in this war, and 
 to whatever causes we may attribute the weak handling of 
 Essex, Waller, and Manchester, there can be no doubt but 
 that the New Model army, under its great leaders, knew well 
 what it meant to do and did it. 
 
 Of all England, since the north had been lost at Marston 
 Moor and the midlands at Naseby, there remained now to 
 the King, in addition to a few isolated garrisons, only the 
 west, where Prince Charles held the nominal command of an 
 army which was in reality directed by Hopton and Goring. 
 Leaving the King in "Wales, and calling the Scots towards 
 the south to occupy the valley of the Severn, and thus to 
 cut Charles from England, to the west accordingly Fairfax 
 bent his way. 
 
 He had before the battle of Naseby, through the treachery 
 of a spy, become possessed of some letters from Goring to 
 the King, in which the former stated that, when he had 
 taken Taunton (in some three weeks), he would march north- 
 wards to aid the main Royal army. Had Charles received 
 these letters, he would probably have refused to risk a 
 battle before Goring's arrival ; to Fairfax they spoke loudly 
 of the danger of Taunton, and of the necessity for its 
 relief. But Leicester was near at hand, and was in trepi- 
 dation on account of the issue of the battle; to Leicester 
 therefore he first turned his attention, and having be- 
 leaguered it, secured its surrender on the 18th of June by 
 the threat of a bombardment. From Leicester Fairfax 
 marched by "Warwick (22nd of June), Lechlade (26th),
 
 138 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 Maryborough (29th), over Salisbury Plain* (July the 1st). 
 At Salisbury, whither some officers and men went at a 
 distance from the main column, the Parliamentary forces 
 first met the " club-men," of whom before long they were to 
 have considerable experience. 
 
 The so-called " club-men " or " club-risers " were members 
 of associations formed among the agricultural population of 
 Dorsetshire, "Wiltshire, Somersetshire, and parts of the neigh- 
 bouring counties, under the leadership of local personages ; 
 they professed themselves to be neutral in the war, and 
 to desire only the cessation of hostilities and the prohibition 
 of plunder, but were commonly suspected of favouring the 
 Royal cause, insomuch that Fairfax was of opinion that, 
 should his army be worsted in an engagement with Goring, 
 these bands would fall upon the fugitives and destroy 
 them. 
 
 As however to his advance they offered no opposition, of 
 which indeed they were incapable, he, on July the 3rd 
 at Dorchester, consented to receive a petition from them ; but 
 found himself compelled to refuse their desires, among which 
 were the cessation of the war, with a promise of a renewal 
 of the efforts to bring about a treaty of peace, and the 
 possession of all garrisons in "Wilts and Dorset ; to which 
 was also added a demand for reparation for some little loss 
 which Massey, who with 3,000 men was striving to assist 
 Taunton, had shortly before inflicted upon them. 
 
 On the night of the 15th of July, at Beaminster, Fairfax 
 received authentic information that Goring, having heard 
 of his advance, had raised the siege of Taunton. The 
 general at once pushed forward some cavalry under Fleet- 
 wood in pursuit, while, after a very long and very hot march 
 
 * " Being drawn up that morning to a rendezvous at a place 
 called Stonage." (" Anglia Kediviva," p. 55.)
 
 1645. 139 
 
 to Crewkerne, the infantry, hearing that this force had teen 
 engaged -with the rear of the enemy, hurried on towards 
 Fetherton, where the Koyalists held the bridge, in the hope 
 of bringing them to battle. The defence of the passage 
 was however abandoned on the approach of the Parliamen- 
 tary forces, of which the outposts during the 6th occupied 
 the line Petherton-Martock. 
 
 On the afternoon of that day information was received 
 that the main body of the enemy lay at Long Sutton, and 
 that the bridge over the Yeo at Yeovil had been broken 
 down, while those at Load, Ilchester, and Langport were 
 held in force. 
 
 The army having paraded at 6 a.m. on the 7th, the general 
 made a reconnaissance of the river-line, and decided that 
 it was too strong to allow of a successful frontal attack ; 
 he therefore determined to observe the three above-named 
 bridges with detachments, and to force a passage at 
 Yeovil, on the left flank of the enemy, where, since the 
 bridge was considered impassable, the defence had been 
 entrusted to a party of horse. On the advance of Fairfax 
 this force retired, and the bridge having been repaired, 
 all was ready for the passage, when early on the morning 
 of the 8th it became known that the Royalists, finding 
 that the flank of their line had been thus turned, had aban- 
 doned their position, and had fallen back on Langport. On 
 the receipt of this news Fairfax, withdrawing from Yeovil, 
 marched along the south side of the river to Ilchester, which 
 he occupied. Information now arrived that Goring, hoping 
 to find Taunton undefended, proposed to make a dash at 
 that town ; to counteract this movement, Massey was sent 
 with a large force to observe his actions. 
 
 If the above manoeuvres be followed on the map, it will 
 be noticed that the strategy of Fairfax was excellent ; he 
 
 L 2
 
 140 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 avoided an engagement with his enemy in a position where 
 the latter wished to fight, and would have fought at great 
 advantage ; and nohly aided hy the energy of his men, who 
 had suffered greatly from the heat and the length of the 
 marches, turned them out of this position without firing 
 a shot. 
 
 On the 9th the army moved to Long Sutton, while the 
 cavalry, who, under Massey, had heen pushed close up to the 
 enemy's position, fought a small but successful action with 
 the Royal horse. On the following day Goring, finding that 
 his expected reinforcements did not arrive, drew off his guns 
 and baggage towards Bridgewater, and proposed to cover 
 this movement by holding the passage of the river about one 
 mile to the east of Langport. Fairfax, on discovering this 
 intention of the enemy, formed his army in order of battle, 
 and after a preliminary fire of artillery, sent forward his 
 infantry against the " pass " ; * these running from hedge 
 to hedge secured the passage. The King's horse at once 
 threatened to charge, at which the Parliamentary cavalry, in 
 the most gallant manner, pressed on up a narrow lane, 
 attacked, and broke their adversaries ; the pursuit was for a 
 moment checked, to allow of the arrival of greater strength, 
 but being again taken up, was continued, with one short 
 pause caused by an effort of the Eoyalists to make a stand 
 on particularly favourable ground on Aller Moor, to within 
 two miles of Bridgewater, with the result that 1,400 
 prisoners and 1,200 horses were captured. Fairfax on the 
 same day pushed on to Middlezoy, and the following day to 
 Chedzoy, where he had an interview with some of the 
 leaders of the club-men, who since his success had grown 
 more friendly. 
 
 A reconnaissance of the town of Bridgewater, carried out 
 * Presumably a ford or a bridge.
 
 1645. 141 
 
 by Fairfax and Cromwell, showed it to be a place of great 
 strength, defended by a wet tidal ditch thirty feet in width, 
 with good fortifications armed with forty guns, and with a 
 garrison of about 1,400 men. After a series of councils of 
 war, it was at last decided that, since the town was too 
 important to be neglected, while a siege by approaches 
 would give time for the King to recruit his army, it should 
 be attempted by storm on Monday, the 22nd of July. 
 Accordingly the storming-faggots, which the assailants carried 
 for the double purpose of covering themselves and of filling 
 up the ditch, were prepared, as were also long ladders which 
 might serve as bridges; all being ready on the Sunday 
 night, the storming parties moved to their posts as soon as it 
 was dark, and waited for the three shots which were to be 
 the signal for attack. 
 
 Six regiments under Massey were ordered to assault the 
 Devonshire side of the town, while the eastern face was to 
 be attacked by seven others. At 2 a.m. on the 22nd the 
 latter fell on, the former merely threatening the enemy, and 
 thus preventing them from reinforcing the point of the 
 true attack. The storming parties quickly forced the passage 
 of the ditch and rampart, and fighting their way to the gate 
 lowered the drawbridge, over which dashed the forlorn-hope 
 of horse ; in those days, strange as we should think it now, 
 an ordinary feature of a storm. These quickly cleared the 
 streets, and pressed in as far as a second gate, which led to 
 the inner town. Repeated summonses from Fairfax failing 
 to induce the Governor to surrender, fire was reopened on 
 the town, with the result that it yielded at 8 a.m. on the 
 23rd. 
 
 The capture of Bridgewater, apart from its moral effect, 
 was of great service to the cause of the Parliament, who now 
 held a line of fortified posts, including Taunton, Langport,
 
 142 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 and Lyme Regis, by which the Royalist counties of Devon 
 and Cornwall were cut off from communication with the rest 
 of England. 
 
 At a council of war assembled on the 25th it was deter- 
 mined to advance into the west against Goring, whose troops 
 lay at this time at Torrington, he himself being at Barnstaple 
 with Prince Charles ; but after one march Fairfax, doubting 
 the wisdom of a further advance until Rupert had been 
 driven from Bristol, retraced his steps with the intention of 
 taking Bath and Sherborne Castle, the possession of which 
 two points might serve to cut off the Prince from Goring and 
 Devonshire. 
 
 On the 28th, accordingly, the army marched to Wells, 
 having detached a small force to observe and report upon 
 Sherborne Castle. On the 29th a party of horse and dragoons 
 having been sent to Bath under Colonel Rich, the latter 
 summoned the city, which refused to surrender. Upon this 
 the dragoons dismounting crept over the drawbridge in the 
 dusk of the evening, drove the defenders from the loopholes, 
 fired the gate, and most gallantly forced an entrance. The 
 governor at once surrendered ; and thus Bath was won. 
 Having placed a garrison of two regiments of foot in the 
 city, the army on August 1st marched as far as Queen's 
 Camel, in the direction of Sherborne. 
 
 Information having been received of an intended meeting 
 at Shaftesbury of the club - men of Wilts, Dorset, and 
 Somerset, a party of horse under Colonel Fleetwood was 
 despatched to seize the ringleaders, of whom he secured 
 about fifty ; these were at once imprisoned, pending an 
 opportunity to send them to London for trial. 
 
 The effects of this action was immediate, for on the 
 following day 10,000 men of the three counties rose with 
 the intention of releasing their leaders. Cromwell (whose
 
 1645. 143 
 
 tenure of command, prolonged in June for three months, had 
 been now renewed for four additional months) set out on 
 the 4th of August with a body of horse towards Shaftesbury, 
 in order to convince or to coerce the insurgents, as might be 
 most easy or most advisable. 
 
 The first party which he met, upon his assurance that their 
 goods should be protected, and that justice should be done 
 on all marauders, broke up and returned quietly to their 
 homes ; but, upon a hill (styled " Hambleton Hill, near 
 Shrawton," probably Hamilton Hill, near Blandford), where 
 was " an old Eomane work deeply trenched," he found a body 
 of 4,000 men, who refused three messages of peace, and even 
 fired on the messenger. These Cromwell determined at once 
 to dislodge, and his first attack in front having been re- 
 pulsed, owing to the narrowness of the track by which it was 
 necessary to ascend the hill, he sent Desborough with a 
 regiment to attack the club-men in rear. After a long and 
 difficult climb the cavalry reached the top of the hill, charged 
 the mob and dispersed them with but little loss, taking the 
 leaders prisoners. 
 
 On the following day, August 5th, Cromwell with his 
 party returned to Sherborne, against which the siege 
 was pressed with energy. Though bombarded with heavy 
 guns and attacked with mines, for which latter purpose 
 miners were brought from the Mendip hills, the Castle, 
 under Sir Lewis Dives, held out gallantly until the 15th, 
 on which day, after the outworks had been carried, the 
 garrison, about 400 men, surrendered at discretion. 
 
 A council of war was now called for the purpose of decid- 
 ing upon the next step in the campaign, whether to go west 
 after Goring, or to attack Rupert in Bristol. It was finally 
 determined to undertake the latter, for the following reasons : 
 the Prince had then so large a force under his command that,
 
 144 TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 in addition to finding a sufficient garrison for the city, he 
 could put 3,000 horse and foot into the field; it was dangerous 
 to leave so great a strength in rear of the army, especially 
 since Bristol might at any moment become a rallying-point 
 for the club-men of the adjacent counties; and finally the 
 great advantage which would accrue to the Parliamentary 
 cause by the capture of a city of such importance. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 18th, Fairfax started from Sherborne, 
 and marching by way of Castle Gary, Shepton Mallet, and 
 Chew, pushed forward from the latter place on the 21st to 
 Bedminster with a party of horse, desiring both to recon- 
 noitre the city and to prevent a reported movement on the 
 part of Eupert, who, it was said, intended to break out of 
 Bristol to the west, and thus to effect a junction with Goring. 
 There was probably little truth in this rumour, since any 
 combined action of these two leaders would have been im- 
 possible, considering their mutual dislike and distrust. 
 
 On the 22nd the army moved to Keynsham, and on the 
 23rd a part of it advanced to Stapleton, in Gloucestershire; 
 on the latter day the system of posts which was to shut in 
 the city on the west was completed, and by the 25th Bristol 
 was entirely surrounded ; on the same day Massey with a 
 force of cavalry was despatched to Taunton, to cover the 
 siege from any attempt which Goring might make to inter- 
 fere with it. Sorties took place from Bristol on the 23rd, 
 24th, 26th, and 27th, as also on the 1st of September, but 
 they were all repulsed with loss. On the 2nd of September 
 it was determined to storm the city, for any further delay 
 might be dangerous, since the Scottish army had raised the 
 siege of Hereford and were retiring by Warwick to the north. 
 
 The cause of this movement was the success of Montrose in 
 Scotland, for Leven, on hearing of the result of the battle of 
 Kilsythe, had sent Lesley with a strong force into Scotland
 
 1645. 145 
 
 to drive back the Marquis. It was considered possible that 
 the King, being thus relieved might pass to Oxford, and having 
 there collected troops, might endeavour to join Goring, who 
 for his part, as was known by intercepted letters, undertook 
 to relieve Bristol in three weeks. 
 
 The assault having been determined on, there was nothing 
 to delay its execution, all things having been prepared to 
 that end since the first commencement of the siege, and after a 
 summons which was sent in on the 4th, the final answer to 
 which was delayed by Rupert until the night of the 9th, an 
 order was issued that the storm should take place at 2 a.m. 
 on the 10th of September. 
 
 The dispositions for the attack were as follows : Welden, 
 with the troops which first relieved and then defended 
 Taunton, was to assault the city from the Somersetshire 
 side ; from Gloucestershire two attacks were to be made, one 
 by Montague, Pickering, and Sir Hardress Waller upon the 
 works to the east of the city between the Avon and the 
 Frome, while the second, under Rainsborough and Hammond, 
 was to storm the northern face, their efforts being particularly 
 directed against Prior's Hill, on which stood a strong 
 fort. 
 
 The fortunes of these assaults varied much. "Welden's 
 failed utterly on account of the strength of the defences on 
 the side which he was ordered to attack. Montague, Picker- 
 ing and "Waller made good a lodgment, and being seconded 
 by Desborough with the horse, fought their way into the 
 city, which was then set on fire by the enemy. Rains- 
 borough's attack on the fort on Prior's Hill was at first 
 checked, but after three hours of fighting Hammond with 
 some of his troops, having broken another portion of the 
 Royalist line of defences, took the fort in reverse, carried it, 
 and "immediately put almost all the men in it to the sword."
 
 146 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 Thus before noon nearly the whole of the defences on the 
 east side of Bristol were in the hands of the Parliamentary 
 party, and as Rupert shortly after asked for terms, articles 
 were proposed which by 7 p.m. had been agreed on by 
 both sides. By these Bristol was surrendered at 1 p.m. 
 on the llth of September. On that day Prince Kupert 
 and his troops marched out and proceeded under escort to 
 Oxford. 
 
 It may be well at this point to narrate the movements of 
 Charles after the Battle of Naseby. Wandering in "Wales 
 until the early part of August, he had then passed through 
 that principality round the flank of the Scottish army, 
 and had thus arrived at Ludlow in Shropshire. He there 
 formed the idea of joining Montrose, who was at that time 
 carrying on a fairly successful war in Scotland with the 
 Presbyterian party (of which Argyll was the leader), and 
 with this object marched by Nottinghamshire to Doncaster, 
 where he was met by many of the Royalists of York- 
 shire; but on the alarm of the approach of Lesley who, 
 as has been before mentioned, was moving to the north for 
 the purpose of opposing Montrose, this force dispersed, 
 and Charles fell back to Newark, whence before the end of 
 August he went to Oxford. From that city, after a rest 
 of only two days, he passed to Raglan Castle, with the 
 object of raising troops to relieve Hereford, then besieged 
 by the Scottish army, and when this city had been freed 
 by their departure, he turned his every thought to the 
 succour of Bristol. But before any sufficient body of 
 troops could be prepared, the news came of Rupert's 
 surrender, upon which the King, broken-hearted, recalled all 
 the Prince's commissions, and from Hereford wrote to him 
 a letter in which he spoke of the loss of Bristol as " the 
 greatest trial of my constancy that has yet befallen me."
 
 1645. 147 
 
 Here for the present we must leave Charles, and return 
 to the progress of events in the west. 
 
 Goring being now successfully cooped up in Devon and 
 Cornwall, it was decided that the Parliamentary army, while 
 holding the chain of posts which kept him in, should send out 
 detachments to reduce the various garrisons which hampered 
 their communication with London ; at the same time Colonels 
 Poyntz and Rossiter were ordered to follow the King, and to 
 prevent him from raising a fresh force. 
 
 Berkeley Castle and the castle at Devizes were the first 
 points to claim attention, as they were the nearest to the 
 army ; the reduction of the former was entrusted to Rains- 
 borough, who was detached with three regiments for that 
 purpose, while Cromwell with four regiments marched for 
 the latter. 
 
 The castle at Devizes which commanded the great western 
 road, was a place of considerable strength by nature, and 
 its defensive power had been much augmented by art, 
 extensive earthworks having been thrown up about it ; 
 the siege commenced on the 20th of September, but to 
 Cromwell's summons the Governor returned only the 
 answer : " Win it and wear it ! " This bravado was, however, 
 not the forerunner of a long defence, for on the 23rd the 
 Castle surrendered ; on the same day a detachment from 
 Oliver's force xinder Colonel Pickering took possession of 
 Laycock House, a post in that neighbourhood of some 
 strength. Rainsborough had like success, for Berkeley 
 Castle, the outworks having been caried by storm, was 
 surrendered on the 26th. 
 
 These tasks having been performed, it was determined 
 to complete the work by reducing Winchester and Basing 
 House, which commanded the road from London ; this was 
 the more necessary since the army was by this time in great
 
 148 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 need of money, which could be sent by that route only. 
 Cromwell was accordingly, with the same brigade reinforced 
 with three regiments of horse, despatched on this duty, while 
 the main army, which on the 18th of September was at 
 Devizes, turned westwards by Warminster, Shaftesbury, Dor- 
 chester, and Beamiuster, and so came on the 6th of October 
 to Chard. 
 
 Cromwell, having arrived at Winchester on the 28th of 
 September, received on that night the submission of the 
 governor of the castle, and thence, in a few days, moved on 
 to Basing House, the seat of the Marquis of "Winchester. 
 This strong post (of which the ruins are still standing near 
 Basingstoke) had up to this time laughed at all attempts to 
 force or starve it into surrender ; but its time was now come, 
 for at 6 a.m. on the 14th of October it was carried by storm. 
 It was, after its capture, by the advice of Cromwell, dis- 
 mantled and rendered untenable, since on account of its 
 great size it required to hold it a garrison of at least 800 
 men. 
 
 This duty being done, Cromwell returned towards the 
 west, capturing on his way Langford House near Salisbury. 
 In the meantime Fairfax had advanced through Honiton, and 
 by the 17th of October, having occupied Tiverton, had driven 
 Goring back behind the Exe. On the 19th, Tiverton Castle, 
 the chain of the drawbridge having been accidentally cut by 
 a round-shot, was stormed with a rush and occupied. It 
 was now determined, in consideration of the time of year 
 and of tho great exertions which the troops had made, to 
 attempt no more action in the field, but to commence a 
 rigid blockade of Exeter, in which were about 5,000 men. 
 Accordingly, during the remainder of the year 1645, the 
 Parliamentary troops contented themselves with holding the 
 country around Exeter, while Goring, for similar reasons,
 
 1645. 149 
 
 took up his winter quarters, the horse being posted at Oke- 
 hampton and the foot about Launceston ; the Royalist 
 leaders were however not idle, for throughout the winter 
 strenuous efforts were made to raise a strong force from 
 among the Cornishmen. 
 
 At this point we may therefore leave Fairfax and return 
 to the action of the King, whom we left at Hereford. On 
 the 20th of September, having heard that Chester was in 
 danger from an attack of a Parliamentary force under Colonel 
 Jones, Charles with 5,000 horse passed northwards to its 
 relief. Poyntz who, as has been before mentioned, had 
 received orders to follow the Eoyal army, pressed hastily 
 after them, and on the 24th attacked them on Rowton 
 Heath, about two miles from Chester ; the Cavaliers charged 
 at first with such resolution that they routed the Eoundhead 
 horse, but a detachment of 800 men, coming up from the 
 besieging force which lay around Chester, fell upon the rear 
 of the Royalists with entire success ; after a severe struggle 
 the King's party fled in utter disorder into Wales, with the 
 loss of about 1,000 prisoners. After collecting some few 
 men in Denbighshire, the King avoiding Poyntz, who was 
 waiting for reinforcements, pushed across England to 
 Newark, which the Scots, who at this time lay at Durham, 
 had, in spite of frequent orders to that effect from the 
 Parliament, neglected to besiege. Indeed, since the Inde- 
 pendents had gained ground over the Presbyterians, the rela- 
 tions between the Scots and the Parliament had become 
 much strained, the former demanding constant supplies of 
 money, while the latter gave nothing but orders. 
 
 From Newark Charles, in the vain hope of establishing 
 communication with Montrose, despatched Lord Digby and 
 Sir Marmaduke Langdale with a considerable force to Scot- 
 land ; but these leaders, while attempting to fight their way
 
 150 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 through Yorkshire, where at first they met with some slight 
 success, were about the 18th of October defeated by Poyntz, 
 with the loss of 400 men. From the field of battle the 
 Koyalists fled into Westmoreland and endeavoured still to 
 push on, but were a few weeks later discomfited and dis- 
 persed on Carlisle Sands, by a force which the Governor of 
 Carlisle had sent out against them ; the entire body being 
 broken up, the leaders fled by sea to the Isle of Man. 
 
 The King, now nearly alone, escaped by night from 
 Newark on receipt of the news that the siege of that place 
 was about to be undertaken by Poyntz and the Scottish 
 army, and arrived on the 6th of November at Oxford. Here 
 on the 7th of December he was joined by Prince Eupert, to 
 whom he had been previously to some degree reconciled, 
 and under the command of the Prince a force of 1,500 men 
 left the city on the 16th, with the object of relieving 
 Chester; they were, however, beaten back before they had 
 reached Warwick. 
 
 The King's cause had by this time become hopeless, for 
 with the exception of Hopton's army, he had now no troops 
 who could keep the field, while his garrisons were daily 
 reduced in number. Hereford was in December carried by a 
 stratagem, and even Wales, the stronghold and recruiting- 
 ground of the Royalist party had, as regards its southern 
 counties, been reduced by Langhorne into obedience to the 
 Parliament. 
 
 Thus ended the year 1645, during which the war, which 
 had dragged on its length for nearly three years without any 
 result but the abundant shedding of blood, was in nine 
 months brought to a crisis, decisive and favourable to their 
 cause, by the action of the New Model ; the leaders and 
 soldiers of which, unlike those of the earlier armies, had set 
 forth to themselves a clear object for their action, and,
 
 1645. 151 
 
 further, possessed the will to -work out their intentions to 
 the full end. In this year also we meet with the first signs 
 of that military skill which was in later days to ensure the 
 supremacy of Cromwell in the army, and through the army 
 in the State.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 1646, 1647, AND 1648. 
 
 IP we compare the condition of the Royal party at the 
 commencement of the year 1646, with that which it enjoyed 
 in January, 1645, we shall be able to realise how terrible 
 was the blow inflicted on their cause by the single defeat 
 of Kaseby ; for indeed with the exception of this battle 
 no action of the first importance had taken place during the 
 year. Yet there now remained to the King but one army, 
 that which was held fast in Devonshire by Fairfax ; it is 
 true that a body of from 1,500 to 2,000 cavalry still 
 accompanied Charles in his wanderings, but these were 
 little more than a body-guard, and as we shall find were 
 soon wasted in desultory fighting. Of all England the 
 King now possessed only Devon and Cornwall, for we can- 
 not reckon as territory the land occupied by the few, though 
 strong, garrisons which still held out for him in various 
 parts, such as Newark, Chester, Oxford, Worcester, and the 
 Castles of Raglan, Caernarvon, Conway, Donnington, 
 Wallingford, and others. To that portion of his kingdom 
 which was still his own he was unable to make his way, and 
 was perforce compelled to permit the army which defended 
 it to be crushed without an effort to aid.
 
 1646, 1647, AUD 1648. 153 
 
 At the commencement of the year 164G, the Civil War 
 was thus practically over, and save by the help of foreign 
 arms, no power at that time remained to Charles to continue 
 the struggle with any, even the wildest, hope of ultimate 
 success ; this fact, which was patent to all, was not hidden 
 from the King, and we shall accordingly find that during the 
 year on which we have now entered, he was busily employed 
 in the endeavour to obtain by mediation or intervention 
 that position which he had risked on, and lost by, the sword. 
 It was more than suspected by the Independents that already 
 there was a tendency on the part of the Scots to make 
 advances to the King, who on his part was at this time 
 offering all things to the Irish, the French, the Pope, to any 
 one indeed, who would accept promises as an equivalent 
 return for aid in some form. 
 
 The policy of Charles was undoubtedly dishonest, but it 
 was also unfortunate, and much of his vacillation, with its 
 consequent apparent deception, may be justly set down to 
 the weakness of his will, through which he surrendered 
 himself to each of twenty advisers in turn, and following 
 the advice of each for a while, recklessly threw over any 
 plan, however far advanced, which appeared likely to clash 
 with his latest hobby. He further believed that he had 
 sufficient skill in the game of politics to play off ono 
 party against the other, and ventured even to apparently 
 favour two opponents, of whom at that very moment he had 
 fully determined to crush one. Again he felt deeply in 
 his heart, that his kingly office was of a character so 
 majestic, that men neither could nor would dispense with 
 it, and even at this time when his fortunes were at a 
 very low ebb, he was unable or unwilling to realise that 
 the Crown, worshipful as he held it, had no longer any 
 weight as compared with the sword of the people. Charles
 
 154 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 still believed, and believed to his death, that siich was the 
 inherent grandeur of his office, that his acceptance of one or 
 the other of two parties was sufficient to ensure the moral 
 superiority of that side which he preferred, and to turn the 
 scale of evenly balanced power in its favour. He hoped 
 to prove himself to be necessary to each, and to be wooed 
 by all for their purposes, to gain which he intended that 
 they should first serve his own ; but in place of this he was 
 used now as a puppet, and a little later as a scapegoat, and 
 when no longer needed was erased as a superfluous zero. 
 At this very moment, while beseeching help from every 
 power on the Continent, he was engaged in the endeavour 
 to arrange a treaty with the Scots, was making a series 
 of proposals for peace to the Parliament, while in writing to 
 Rupert he tells that Prince that in any case he will give no 
 more than had already been refused at Uxbridge, in 
 January, 1645. But that the King's cause was lost was 
 obvious to every eye, and the saddest portion of the story of 
 this year is the gradual desertion of this unfortunate man by 
 friends, dependants, and relatives, at the time when he was 
 tasting the fruits of the greediness of the first, of the am- 
 bition of the second, and of the foolhardy rashness of the 
 third. 
 
 To return to the actions of the main army of the Parlia- 
 ment, which we left at the close of 1645 cantoned around 
 Exeter, while Sir Richard Grenville in Cornwall and Hopton 
 in Devonshire* still kept the field in the King's name. On 
 the 8th of January after a council of war, which on the 5th 
 decided to advance, Fairfax moved forward on Crediton, 
 whence on the following day a brigade under Cromwell 
 pushed on to Bovey Tracey, where lay some of the Royalist 
 
 * Goring, seeing no chance of success, had sailed for France in 
 November, 1645.
 
 1646, 1647, AND 1648. 155 
 
 Tiorse. Attacking at about 6 p.m. Oliver surprised them, 
 and captured all their horses and about fifty prisoners. The 
 officers, who when Cromwell's cavalry burst into the town, 
 were playing cards, on finding that the house in which they 
 were had been beset by the Eoundheads, flung the stakes 
 out of the window among the men and, taking advantage of 
 the delay which was caused by the scramble for the money, 
 escaped through a back-door, and so across the river. 
 
 On the 10th of January the Parliamentary army, driving 
 the Cavaliers before them, occupied Ashburton, and there 
 decided to move directly to the relief of Plymouth, in pre- 
 ference to fighting Hopton's force, which was in position on 
 the northern edge of Dartmoor. On the llth a further 
 advance was made to Totness, whence a despatch was sent to 
 Plymouth to assure the garrison of aid ; from Totness strong 
 parties of cavalry were sent out over the moor towards 
 Okehampton and Tavistock, and some of these having been 
 mistaken by the besiegers for the vanguard of the main 
 army, the siege was hurriedly abandoned by the Cavaliers, 
 who fell back over the Tamar into Cornwall. It was now 
 determined that, since Plymouth had been thus relieved, 
 no further advance should take place until after the capture 
 of Dartmouth, since a sea-port was urgently needed, in 
 order that the money and recruits sent from London 
 by sea might be received by the army; Dartmouth was 
 accordingly invested on the 12th of January, and after a 
 pause of some days, needed for the preparation of ladders, 
 etc., as also for the arrival and co-operation of the fleet, was 
 stormed at 11 p.m. on the 18th with the loss of but one man 
 killed. On the capture of the town the outlying forts at 
 once surrendered, as did also two men-of-war which were at 
 the time in the harbour. The total number of guns captured 
 -was 103, while 800 to 1,000 prisoners were taken. These, 
 
 M 2
 
 156 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 with the exception of the officers and the gentlemen of the 
 county, were all set free ; and Fairfax, in addition, wisely 
 gave a present of two shillings to every Cornishman to help 
 him to his home. 
 
 Having by the relief of Plymouth obtained the object of 
 his march, Fairfax now retired by Totness and Chudleigh 
 towards Exeter, with the intention of continuing the siege of 
 that city, which during his expedition to Dartmouth he had 
 left carefully blockaded. 
 
 On the 29th of January news was received that a force of 
 cavalry from Oxford had advanced as far as Corfe Castle, 
 while the Royalist horse of Hopton's force, now under the 
 command of Lord Wentworth, had pushed forward to 
 Barnstaple, with the intention of effecting a junction with 
 the former body. Upon the receipt of this information 
 Fairfax moved forward to Tiverton, and sent out three 
 regiments of cavalry to reconnoitre in North Devon ; these 
 last were however recalled on the 5th of February, when 
 it had been discovered that the enemy's horse, after re- 
 victualling Dunster in Somersetshire, had retired on their 
 infantry, pursued by such of the troops stationed in those 
 parts (under Blake in Tatmton) as had not been drawn off 
 towards Corfe Castle. The Royal troops who had attempted 
 to surprise this latter post were with some difficulty driven 
 back, and returned to Oxford. 
 
 On the 8th of February it was discovered that Hopton 
 was again about to make an effort to break out, for having 
 collected about 4,000 foot and some cavalry at Launceston, 
 he marched thence into Devonshire, and was at this date on 
 his road to Torrington, at which place he proposed to arrive 
 on the 10th. About the same time some letters were also 
 intercepted, in which Wentworth undertook to shortly relieve 
 Exeter. On the receipt of this information a council of war
 
 1646, 1647, AND 1648. 157 
 
 was assembled, in which on the 9th, it was determined to 
 leave Sir Hardress "Waller, with a detachment of troops 
 (three regiments of foot and one of horse), to continue the 
 siege of Exeter, while Fairfax and the remainder of the army 
 (five regiments of horse and seven of foot) should march 
 against Hopton. Accordingly, on the 10th the General 
 moved to Crediton, where he heard that the enemy had 
 5,000 horse and 4,000 foot at Torrington, and expected a 
 further reinforcement of 1,000 men from Barnstaple. On 
 the 14th Chumleigh was reached, and it was intended to 
 arrive at Torrington on the following day ; hut the weather 
 was so bad, and so much delay was caused by the action of 
 the enemy in breaking down the bridges, that the engagement 
 was deferred until the morrow, though many skirmishes took 
 place during the day between the horse of the two parties. 
 At 4 a.m. on the IGth the drums beat the "assembly," and 
 by 7 a.m. the whole army of the Parliament was formed in 
 order of battle on the moor, about five miles from Tor- 
 rington ; by 5 p.m., after skirmishing all the day through 
 the narrow lanes, the Parliamentary forces advanced to 
 within a mile of the town, towards which, at 8 p.m., the 
 enemy retired after some hard fighting in the fields and 
 enclosures. Fairfax having decided that it would not be 
 wise to venture an attack in the dark over unknown ground, 
 halted his army, pushed forward the outposts in double the 
 usual strength, and gave orders that the assault should be 
 delayed until the following morning. 
 
 During the night a noise was heard in the town, which 
 gave the idea that the enemy was retiring ; in order to ascer- 
 tain if this were really the case, six dragoons were ordered to 
 creep up to the barricades of the Eoyalists and to fire over 
 them. This fire was answered by a sharp volley, to which 
 the Parliamentary advanced troops at once replied ; the firing
 
 158 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 was immediately taken up along the whole line, and evert 
 the reserves were soon pushed into action. 
 
 Fairfax, observing the good spirit of the soldiers, ordered 
 the attack to be supported by the whole force, and the 
 firing thus became general ; the Parliamentary foot crept 011 
 from hedge to hedge, and, after about two hours of hard 
 struggling, drove the Cavaliers behind the barricades which 
 guarded the approaches of the town. By fresh efforts, and 
 not without serious loss, these defences were stormed, and 
 the enemy, still fighting from house to house and from street 
 to street, was at last forced out of Torrington. This success- 
 had been scarcely gained, when eighty barrels of powder, 
 which had been stored in the church, also unfortunately 
 used as a place of confinement for 200 prisoners, were 
 exploded by a man named Watts, who had received 30 in 
 payment for this crime. The prisoners and their guards 
 were all killed, and many houses in the town were destroyed, 
 while the Royalists, led by Sir John Digby, strove to take 
 advantage of the resulting confusion, and by a vigorous 
 charge to redeem their defeat. But they were repulsed by 
 the Parliamentary horse, who about 11 p.m., after a pause 
 for the purpose of rallying their scattered troops, started in 
 pursuit of the Cavaliers, of whose entire force only about 400 
 recrossed the Tamar into Cornwall. 
 
 Thus ended one of the most severe and gallant contests 
 of the war. The Cornishmen proved themselves as ever 
 soldiers of the best, Avhile the loss of the Roundheads in 
 officers and men was greater " than hath been in any storm 
 since the army came forth." But from this day's work the 
 Royal infantry never rallied, for the greater part of the 
 Cornishmen dispersed to their homes, while the Devon men 
 deserted in large numbers ; Hopton had still, however, 5,000 
 horse on the west bank of the Tamar.
 
 1646, 1647, AND 1648. 159 
 
 At a council of war held on the 20th of February, it was 
 unanimously decided to march into Cornwall, and this for 
 three reasons : to put an end to the field army of the King 
 and to settle the west ; to do this at once lest succour, 
 already expected, might soon arrive from France ; and 
 because when once the force in the field had been routed, 
 Barnstaple and Exeter, the only towns which yet held out 
 for the King, would infallibly fall. 
 
 It was therefore determined to blockade these while the 
 main army should pursue its march after Hopton; in 
 February the Parliamentary forces moved, a part from 
 Torrington to Holsworthy, and the remainder from their 
 cantonments to Torrington, while a party of horse was sent 
 on in front to force the passage of the Tamar. This cavalry 
 encountered the enemy at a point near Stratton, and defeated 
 them with the loss of 480 prisoners. 
 
 On the 25th the army marched by way of Tamerton to 
 Launceston, a long and weary journey, it being midnight 
 when the rear of the column was yet two miles from the 
 town, which was held by 500 Royalist foot, who were how- 
 ever quickly driven out, though without much loss, owing 
 to the darkness of the night. During the following day the 
 tired troops rested in Launceston, where Fairfax again won 
 golden opinions from the inhabitants by dismissing every 
 Cornish prisoner with a present of twelve pence. 
 
 It became now a matter of the greatest solicitude to 
 Fairfax that the enemy's horse should not, imitating the 
 action of those of the army of Essex when in a similar situa- 
 tion, break out through the chain with which he bound them 
 within Cornwall, since, if they could be retained in their 
 present position, their surrender would be only a question of 
 time. The precautions which he took to this end are not 
 without interest.
 
 160 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 Special orders were sent to Colonel Cook who, with 
 Massey's horse, lay before Barnstaple, to be in readiness to 
 strike at the flank of any party of the enemy which might 
 pierce a line of posts which the General formed along the 
 Tamar, of which river every passage was occupied by detach- 
 ments of the cavalry of the Parliamentary rear-guard. He 
 further sent forward in advance of the main army a troop of 
 dragoons, which were posted at Camelford, where they might 
 obtain the earliest possible information of any attempt of 
 the lloj'alists to pass round his right flank. All being thus 
 prepared against any attempt on the part of Hopton to escape 
 from Cornwall, Fairfax advanced in order of battle on Bodmin, 
 whence, so great was his dread lest the Cavaliers by breaking 
 his blockade should be able to prolong the war, he sent a 
 special messenger to Whalley, who was watching Oxford, 
 ordering him to move thence into Wiltshire, for the purpose 
 of cutting off any troops who might succeed in passing the 
 other lines. 
 
 The Parliamentary army, being somewhat delayed in their 
 movements by the threatened attack of some parties of the 
 Eoyalist cavalry, were on the night of the 1st of March at 
 Blisland, where they, at 10 p.m., heard that the enemy had 
 evacuated Bodmin. Thither on the 2nd they advanced, 
 and there halted until the 7th, posts being placed at Wade- 
 bridge, Padstow, and Lostwithiel to form a new line against 
 the escape of the Cavalier horse. 
 
 On the 4th it was known that Prince Charles had sailed 
 for Scilly, and that Hopton's headquarters were at Truro, his 
 main army being stationed between that town and the three 
 points, St. Columb, Grampound, and Tregony, while the mass 
 of his horse was at St. Dennis ; against these every passage 
 across Cornwall was carefully barred, while the country 
 people were urged to barricade the lanes and watch the fords.
 
 1646, 1647, AND 1648. 161 
 
 On the 4th also a ship from Ireland, which had 300 Irish 
 on board, was captured at Padstovv ; in her were found 
 letters to the effect that 6,000 Irish were ready to embark 
 at once for England, while 4,000 more should follow them 
 in May; the Cornish gentlemen who had come in to Fairfax 
 expressed to him their very strong dislike to the landing 
 of any " foreigners " for the King's service, and inclined more 
 decidedly to the Parliament on account of their hatred of 
 such action on the part of the Royal generals. 
 
 On the 6th a summons to surrender was sent to Hopton, 
 and on this day information was received that the long- 
 expected effort to escape was to be made by the Royal 
 cavalry. A strict watch was ordered to be kept by the whole 
 of the Parliamentary army, and on the following day Fairfax 
 moved on St. Columb, with the object of still further 
 narrowing Hopton's quarters. On the same day, in order 
 that the Royalist horse might have no rest, and might 
 thus be unfit for a long and hurried march, Colonel Rich 
 was sent with 1,000 cavalry and dragoons to beat up the 
 enemy's quarters ; Rich fell in with the enemy a few miles 
 to the west of St. Columb, drove the outposts back on their 
 reserves, and then charging the latter forced them from 
 the field with the loss of 100 prisoners, and of 300 horses. 
 
 On the 8th Fairfax advanced to St. Stephens, St. Blazey, 
 and other points near to Truro ; in the evening an answer to 
 the summons sent on the 6th arrived from Hopton, in which 
 the Cavalier leader spoke of an intended treaty between the 
 King and the Parliament, and of his readiness to be a 
 party to it, offering further to appoint commissioners to 
 discuss conditions of peace ; it was however known by a 
 prisoner, that the summons of Fairfax had been kept secret 
 from the soldiers of the Royal army, while that general 
 demanded not peace but surrender.
 
 162 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 On the 9th a summons was sent "by Fairfax, who in order 
 to emphasise his message advanced on that day to Tregony 
 and Probus ; during this march it was found that so firmly 
 were Hopton's troops assured of the existence of an armistice, 
 that crying out " A Cessation ! A Cessation ! " they refused 
 to engage their adversaries, though the latter pressing on 
 denied altogether that there was any ground for their belief ; 
 when at last convinced that they were mistaken, the Eoyalist 
 horse retired, "expressing much sorrow." With troops so 
 dispirited, it was of course impossible to prolong the 
 struggle, and Hopton, yielding to the circumstances, asked 
 for a meeting at Tresillian, at which terms of surrender 
 might be discussed. Fairfax agreed to this request, but 
 demanded as a preliminary step to any negotiations, the 
 abandonment of Truro by the Eoyalists ; this condition was 
 perforce accepted, and the town was occupied by the army 
 of the Parliament on the 10th of March. 
 
 Offers of submission now flowed in on all sides ; at mid- 
 night on the llth, the treaty was concluded, and between 
 Sunday the 15th of March and Friday the 20th, the whole 
 of Hopton's array was entirely disbanded. It had consisted 
 of nine brigades, composed of twenty-seven regiments, of 
 which about 3,000 men were cavalry. Thus was ended the 
 great business of the year, for with Hopton's surrender the war 
 came to a complete end, since no organised body of the 
 King's troops now kept the field, though here and there in 
 various parts of the country, isolated contests continued until 
 almost the end of the year. 
 
 Of this campaign in Devonshire and Cornwall, it is not 
 too much to say that its strategical plan would have reflected 
 honour on any general, and that its conductor, whether 
 Fairfax or Cromwell was the real chief, was a man of the 
 first rank among skilful soldiers. At the commencement of
 
 1616, 1647, AND 1648. 16? 
 
 1646 the Parliamentary army found itself so placed that 
 their enemies were confined to a peninsula, across the neck 
 of which stretched a line of posts, forbidding egress ; to 
 maintain this position, while gradually advancing, and thus 
 narrowing the ground available for Hopton's forces, was the 
 principal object of Fairfax, and this he succeeded in doing 
 without a single check. It may be that according to our 
 modern ideas his movements were slow ; so slow that an 
 active enemy might perhaps have forced his way through 
 the line, by the simple plan of making a concentrated attack 
 on one point after a feigned effort upon another ; but we 
 must remember that the marches of which we have spoken 
 were made in bad weather, sometimes with snow on the 
 ground, and over roads which in our day would scarcely be 
 considered practicable for troops. The skilful use of detach- 
 ments, in front, in rear, and on the flanks, the full recogni- 
 tion of the value of an obstacle, and above all the example 
 on the Yeo of the principle of manoeuvring an enemy out of 
 a position which is too strong to be attacked in front, all 
 prove a great advance in this campaign on the military 
 power of the commanders during the previous years of the 
 war. Here again we find that Fairfax, realising the superi- 
 ority of his infantry over that of Hopton, trusted in it as a 
 source of strength sufficient to more than neutralise the 
 great advantages which the enemy possessed over him as 
 regarded the number of cavalry at their command. It will 
 be well also to observe how the Royalist cavalry is continu- 
 ally annoyed, not with any hope of permanent success 
 against it, since it was so superior in strength to that of 
 the Parliament, but for the sole purpose of wearying the 
 horses, in order that they might not be in a condition to 
 carry their riders through the long and hard inarch, which 
 would inevitably follow on any effort to escape.
 
 164 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 The events of the twelvemonths which had nearly elapsed 
 since the formation of the New Model may fairly be classed 
 as " war," in contradistinction to those of the previous years, 
 in which there was only "fighting," and from this time 
 forward we may venture to look for a plan for each 
 campaign, and for some sort of system in its execution. 
 
 To return to the King, who at the end of the year 1645 
 was at Oxford. He remained in this city during the earlier 
 part of 1646, in personal security indeed, but so completely 
 cut off from the rest of England, that he could neither give 
 nor receive aid ; his safety resembled that of a man who 
 from an island sees all that he possesses swept away by an 
 encircling flood, he himself being both powerless to help 
 and beyond rescue. 
 
 His garrisons one by one fell into the hands of his 
 enemies ; Chester on the 3rd of February surrendered to its 
 old foe Brereton ; Ashby-de-la-Zouch a little later shared 
 the same fate ; while Whalley and Fleetwood were gradually 
 drawing in the net around Oxford, a task in which, after 
 the dispersal of Hopton's army, they were assisted by 
 Browne. 
 
 On the 22nd of March occurred the last combat of the 
 war, of which the result was so disastrous to the cause of the 
 King, that even his personal surrender, deprived as he was of 
 all hope or help, became merely a question of time. Sir 
 Jacob Astley, having with difficulty raised a force of 3,000 
 men, proposed about the middle of March to join the King 
 at Oxford, with this welcome reinforcement ; on receipt 
 of the news of his intended movement, Charles sent out 
 a body of 1,500 soldiers to meet him and bring him in, but 
 they failed altogether to find him, and knew nothing of 
 his fortune until they received the information of his de- 
 cisive defeat. Colonel Morgan, who had command of the
 
 1646, 1647, AND 1648. 165 
 
 cavalry about Gloucester and Hereford, having heard of 
 Astley's intended march, sent warning of it to Whalley and 
 Fleetwood, and further drew from Brereton all the horse 
 which the latter could spare; with these he pushed on 
 after the Cavaliers. So fast did Morgan advance that he 
 came in contact with the Royal troops before Brereton had 
 succeeded in joining him ; but though inferior in strength 
 to Astley, he attacked him at once, and fought alone 
 with him for four hours, with the object of delaying his 
 advance until Brereton should come up. Towards morning, 
 for this engagement took place wholly at night, Sir William 
 at last arrived, and the Parliamentary leaders, having com- 
 pleted their junction, charged together on the Cavalier?, 
 and at about half-an-hour before daylight on the 22nd of 
 March, completely routed them, taking 1,600 prisoners, 
 2,000 arms, and Sir John Astley himself. The latter, fully 
 realising the decisive character of the victory, is reported 
 to have said in conversation with his captors after the 
 battle, " Novf you have done your work, and may go and 
 play, unless you fall out among yourselves." 
 
 During the remainder of the year 1646, there is little to 
 record but the successive surrenders of the various Royal 
 garrisons; Exeter having yielded on the llth of April, 
 Barnstaple followed its example on the 14th. The west 
 being thus altogether in the hands of the Parliament, 
 Fairfax moved his army eastwards, to join in the siege 
 of Oxford, the headquarters of the King, his present abode, 
 and the centre of the Royalist strength. Cromwell, re- 
 signing his command, returned to London, for the purpose 
 of making a report to the House of Commons of the doings 
 of the campaign. 
 
 On the arrival of Fairfax at Newbury, on the 27th 
 of April, he heard the news of the escape of the King
 
 166 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 from Oxford, which had taken place on the preceding 
 day. 
 
 Charles, after offering propositions to Fairfax and the 
 army, that they should, on his surrendering himself to 
 them, conduct him to London, finding that these met with 
 no favourable response, determined to evade the circle 
 which was closing in around Oxford, and with this object, 
 but without any distinct plan, fled with only two com- 
 panions. Intending at first, it would appear, to go to 
 London, where he seems to have expected to find friends, 
 the King passed by Henley and Brentford to Harrow. 
 Abandoning that scheme he next turned to the north, 
 through St. Albans, and was on the 28th at Market 
 Harbor ough ; thence he went to Stamford, thence again to 
 Downham in Norfolk, where he lay hid until May the 4th. 
 During this time he was endeavouring to find some means of 
 passing into Scotland, with the intention of joining the army 
 of Montrose ; but on the 5th of May, having given over all 
 hope of being able to effect this purpose, Charles presented 
 himself, under the escort of a troop of cavalry which had 
 been sent to meet him, at the headquarters of the Scottish 
 army, which were at Kelham, near Newark. 
 
 On the 2nd of May Fairfax had completed his preparations 
 for the siege of Oxford, of which, though it ultimately 
 surrendered rather for political than for military reasons, it 
 may be well to give a short sketch. 
 
 The situation of Oxford was, in the days when the range 
 of fire-arms was very limited, one of great defensive strength. 
 Standing at the junction of two rivers, the Isis and the 
 Cherwell, the city from its position possessed one great 
 advantage, in that the besieger, should he surround it, must 
 of necessity find his army cut into three parts, upon either 
 of which under ordinary circumstances the garrison might
 
 1646, 1647, AND 1648. 167 
 
 throw its concentrated forces. But when, as was the case at 
 this time, the country to the south of the junction of the 
 two rivers had been inundated by shutting the locks, this 
 advantage was lessened, since in proportion as the floods 
 rendered the city unapproachable, so they equally limited 
 the ground available for sorties to that which lay on the 
 north front of the defences. 
 
 As might be expected from 'what has been just said, the 
 main attack was from the north, on the ground between the 
 Isis and the Cherwell. This was connected by a bridge at 
 Marston with the Parliamentary headquarters, which were in 
 a strong fort on Headington Hill, while from this latter 
 point approaches appear to have been pushed forward to 
 St. Clement's. The right of the main attack was defended 
 by a fort on the Isis, while the outer edge of the inundations 
 was watched by cavalry. Such troops as remained after this 
 line had been provided for were employed to reduce the out- 
 lying posts which, standing around Oxford, alone rendered 
 an active defence possible ; of these were Faringdou, Radcot, 
 "VVallingford, and Borstal House. After providing for the 
 blockade of each of these points, Fairfax despatched all 
 other troops which could be spared to press the city of 
 "Worcester. 
 
 The siege of Oxford itself presents no very salient features, 
 for being no doubt aware of the fate of the King, the Governor, 
 Sir Thomas Glenham, accepted the proposals of Fairfax for a 
 treaty, and on the 18th of May negotiations commenced; 
 but they were not brought to a conclusion without a long 
 delay, for the terms were not agreed on until the 20th of 
 June. At noon on the 24th the garrison marched out, 
 about 3,000 strong, leaving another 4,000 in the city, who 
 were afterwards disbanded. 
 
 With Oxford surrendered Kadcot and Faringdon, while
 
 168 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 Wallingford shortly after made terms. On the 19th of July 
 Worcester yielded to Whalley, and Newark having been 
 surrendered early in May by order of the King, there then 
 remained but a few castles which still held for the Royal 
 cause. Among these the chief was Raglan Castle, which 
 was defended with great courage until the 20th of August. 
 Of all England and Wales the last post which was taken 
 from the Royalists by the Parliamentary party was Harlech 
 Castle, which did not fall into the hands of Colonel Mytton 
 until March, 1647. 
 
 The Scots, having possession of the person of the King, 
 moved to the north immediately after the capitulation of 
 Newark, and arrived at Newcastle about the middle of May. 
 Thus, the King being a prisoner and his army dispersed, 
 ended the First Civil War. 
 
 But there were soon not wanting many symptoms that the 
 cessation of war by no means implied a permanent peace. 
 The Royalist party having been destroyed as a separate 
 entity, was certain to cling for its own sake to one or other 
 of the two prevailing factions, while, though it had been 
 defeated, it was still of no little importance in number and 
 in influence ; and its existence could thus not be ignored 
 without danger by either the Presbyterians or the Inde- 
 pendents, between whom the commencement of a struggle 
 could not be long delayed. 
 
 The City of London, the majority of the House of 
 Commons, and so much as remained of the Upper House, 
 were of the Presbyterian party; they, in addition to their 
 own strength, relied upon the assistance of their co-religionists, 
 the Scots. On the other hand, the New Model army, of 
 which the success was so fresh and so decisive, was, with 
 the majority of the country, on the side of the Independents. 
 The person of the King, with the prestige gained by his
 
 1646, 1647, AKD 1648. 169 
 
 presence, became a possession coveted by each party. Of 
 this Charles was fully aware ; but over-estimating his value 
 to the Independents, he presumed too much on the supposed 
 fact that he was absolutely indispensable to them. Fully 
 believing that, defeated though he was, his very name was a 
 tower of strength, he led on each party in turn to a crisis, 
 only to abandon it as soon as a direct decision became 
 requisite. 
 
 Strenuous efforts were at this time made by the Presby- 
 terian party to obtain from Charles such terms of peace as 
 might satisfy their religious and political opinions, and the 
 Scots themselves vehemently urged him to accept the terms 
 offered by their brethren ; but the King, as usual planning 
 when he should be acting, refused that which he considered 
 he could not be forced to grant, and the Presbyterians, who 
 had hoped by a timely reconciliation with him to have 
 united with them the great mass of public feeling, found 
 themselves checkmated by this unfortunate obstinacy. 
 
 The Scots were placed in a yet more difficult position, 
 for they had in their hands a king whom their own 
 authorities would not recognise, nor even admit into Scot- 
 land, except on condition that he took the Covenant, which 
 Charles resolutely refused; at the same time they were 
 invited, nay pressed, to quit England. The difficulty was 
 at first evaded by a refusal to return to their own country, 
 until the arrears due to them had been paid, while these 
 were set at the huge sum of 1,000,000; this was, however, 
 on discussion reduced to 500,000, and by the end of 1646 
 the Scots had been induced to accept 200,000 at once, 
 with the promise of an equal sum to be paid at a future 
 time. These terms having been settled, the Scottish 
 Parliament, anxious above all to keep on good terms with 
 that of England, and to thus assist their brother Presby-
 
 170 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 terians against the increasing power of the Independents,, 
 voted the surrender of the King, who was accordingly given 
 up in the early part of February, 1647, the Scottish army 
 crossing the border on the 13th. In December, 1646, 
 Skippon with a considerable force was sent to the north 
 to serve, nominally as a convoy to the 200,000, but really 
 as an escort to the King, while Fairfax with the main 
 army moved into Northamptonshire to provide for the 
 due execution of the treaty, and to receive the person 
 of the King. 
 
 But before this, difficulties had begun to arise with regard 
 to the army, which in the opinion of many in the Parlia- 
 ment should, now that its duties in war were over, be 
 either disbanded or sent to Ireland, where alone hostilities 
 still continued ; but after long and tedious discussions the 
 power of the Independents was sufficient to ensure the 
 passing of a resolution at the end of July, 1646, that none 
 of the forces of Fairfax should go to Ireland, to which 
 destination all other troops were to be at once despatched. 
 In August it was decided that the troops which had served 
 under Langhorne and Massey, and who had formed no part 
 of the New Model, should be sent across the Channel ; while 
 on the llth of that month an Act was passed, by which all. 
 troops not in Fairfax's army were to go to Ireland or be dis- 
 banded. On the 7th of October it was determined that the 
 New Model should be paid and clothed for six months 
 longer ; while on the other hand, on the 21st Massey's force 
 Was dispersed under the conditions named above. 
 
 Two other matters of interest remain to be noticed as 
 having occurred in the year 1646 : the Earl of Essex died in 
 September, and was buried with the highest military honours, 
 though his power in the State as in the army had passed 
 away with the acceptance of the Self-denying Ordinance;.
 
 1646, 1647, AND 1648. 171 
 
 while Monk, who had been made prisoner at Nantwich, 
 having taken the Covenant, was released from the Tower 
 and sent to Ireland. 
 
 With the beginning of the year 1647, the Presbyterian 
 party renewed their efforts to rid themselves of the army, 
 in. whose existence they saw a perpetual threat. After 
 numerous orders and ordinances, none of which were of any 
 practical effect, a vote passed on the 8th of March, which 
 renewed the Self-denying Ordinances, and ordered that all 
 officers should take the Covenant, while the appointment of 
 all governors of garrisons was to be in the hands of the 
 Parliament. 
 
 On the 17th a petition from .the City of London was 
 presented by the Lord Mayor, praying that the army might be 
 disbanded. This was at once answered by a petition from 
 the army, demanding their rights as regarded arrears of pay 
 and indemnity for all acts done during the war. This 
 latter petition the House ordered Fairfax to suppress, and 
 further appointed Hammond, Ireton, and Skippon to reside 
 as Commissioners with the army. Upon this another 
 meeting was called by the army, which decided to hold 
 to their former petition. 
 
 On the 20th of April it was reported that the army as a 
 whole refused to go to Ireland, whereupon on the 27th it 
 was ordered that the army should be disbanded "with all 
 convenient speed." Upon this a vindication of the petition 
 of the army was presented by three troopers, after a debate 
 upon which Cromwell, Skippon, Ireton, and Fleetwood were 
 ordered by the House to go down to the army, and assure 
 them that their arrears should be paid. But the Parliament 
 had no money with which to fulfil their promises, while the 
 army steadily refused to be satisfied with words ; abandoning 
 the old system of a council of officers, the soldiers now 
 
 K 2
 
 172 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 chose committees or adjutators, who should debate upon the 
 propositions of the Parliament. 
 
 On the 18th of May, the Commons striving again to carry 
 matters with a high hand, voted that all forces which refused 
 to go to Ireland should he disbanded, and further sent 
 Fairfax to the army, in the hope of bringing it to reason. 
 But the power of the General over the army had been 
 lessened by the efforts of the Presbyterian party, of which he 
 was a prominent member, to put down all religious sects, 
 to punish preaching by any who were not ordained, and to 
 arrange the government of the Church by Presbyters ; accord- 
 ingly the soldiers persisted in their dissatisfaction, in spite of 
 a letter which Fairfax sent to every regiment, and which was 
 favourably received by some few of the Presbyterian officers. 
 At the end of May Fairfax called a council of war at his 
 headquarters at Bury St. Edmunds, at which he endeavoured 
 to persuade the army to disband quietly ; but Ireton and 
 others drew up in return a paper for the General, in which 
 they demanded a rendezvous of the whole army before 
 disbandment, stating that, if this were not granted, the 
 soldiers would without their officers hold such a meeting, in 
 which case disorders must occur. The letter in which 
 Fairfax announced this fact to the House so alarmed it, that 
 it at once erased from the books the declaration against 
 the army. 
 
 But it was now too late, for the army, determined to 
 act, having taken the King from Holmby House, where he 
 had been ordered to reside, came to a rendezvous at Triplovr 
 Heath, near Cambridge, where on the 8th of June it was 
 decided to advance on London. Upon the receipt of the 
 news of this action, the House endeavoured to raise militia 
 to protect the city, and sent an order to Fairfax not to come 
 within fifteen miles of the capital. On the 12th of June the
 
 1646, 1647, AND 1(548. 173 
 
 army arrived at St. Albans, Fairfax saying that he had 
 advanced so far before he had received the message of the 
 House. On the 14th the militia and trained bands were 
 called out of the city to form a guard for the Commons ; 
 at the same time an order was sent to Fairfax calling upon 
 him to deliver up the King. 
 
 The army, now beginning to feel their true strength, 
 demanded next the suspension of eleven of the members of 
 the Presbyterian party who had been most hostile to them ; 
 among these were Sir Philip Stapleton (the commander of 
 Essex's bodyguard), Sir "William Waller, Hollis (who had led 
 a regiment at Edgehill, and who was one of the five members 
 demanded of the House by Charles at the commencement of 
 the war), and Massey (the defender of Gloucester). Thus had 
 the victors already commenced to quarrel over the spoiL 
 The army now sent in a long list of demands to the House, 
 in which, abandoning the purely military questions to which 
 up to this time they had confined their attention, they 
 pressed for triennial parliaments and other political changes. 
 This document was drawn up by Ireton, with the assistance of 
 Cromwell and Lambert. In answer to this, the Commons 
 on the 21st passed a vote agreeing to some of the demands 
 of the army, but refusing others. The latter not being 
 satisfied, after a further remonstrance, advanced to Berk- 
 hampstead, and on the 26th to Uxbridge. 
 
 As a sign of the manner in which political power was pass- 
 ing from the Parliament to the army, it is worthy of note 
 that at about this time we have the first notices of addresses 
 and petitions being made to the latter instead of to the 
 former. 
 
 Alarmed at the near approach of the arm} r , the Commons 
 now began to threaten proceedings against the eleven pro- 
 scribed members, who, having received timely notice of their
 
 174 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 danger, fled from the House. Having thus unseated their 
 most prominent adversaries, and having caused some of the 
 troops who favoured the Presbyterian party to be disbanded, 
 the army satisfied retired to Wycombe. On the 2nd of July 
 the following were named Commissioners of the army to treat 
 with the Parliament : Cromwell, Ireton, Fleetwood, Rains- 
 borough, Harrison, Sir Hardress Waller, Rich, Lambert, and 
 Hammond. In these we recognise the names of the principal 
 leaders of the Independents. On the 3rd the headquarters 
 moved to Reading, whence on the 8th they were transferred 
 to Aylesbury, their distance from London serving as a 
 measure of the degree of satisfaction which the army felt 
 with the proceedings of Parliament. 
 
 But the truce was not to be of long duration, for the 
 Commons, relying on the support of the City gave way to the 
 demand of the latter, that the command of their militia 
 should be in their own hands ; while a mob of apprentices 
 forced a not unwilling House to recall the eleven members. 
 After this act, which took place on the 26th, both Houses 
 adjourned to the 30th, and immediately after the adjourn- 
 ment many of the Independent members fled to the army, 
 which on receipt of the news of the action of the Parliament 
 moved at once on London. 
 
 The City, for its part, ordered the trained bands to man the 
 fortifications around London, while so much as remained of 
 the Commons passed votes in favour of resistance. Massey 
 was appointed to command the militia, who were ordered to 
 muster at St. James's. This they did on the 31st of July, 
 on which day also the exiled members returned to the 
 House, which passed a declaration to the effect that the 
 militia of London was independent of the command of 
 Fairfax. 
 
 The army in the meantime advanced directly on the capital;
 
 1646, 1647, AND 1648. 175 
 
 on the 2nd of August it was at Colnebrook, and on the 3rd 
 held a rendezvous, 20,000 strong, on Hounslow Heath, the 
 headquarters being on the same day at Isleworth. The pre- 
 parations of the City and of the Houses now collapsed with 
 an almost ludicrous rapidity, for Fairfax, having learnt that 
 the feelings of the inhabitants of Southwark were opposed 
 to those of the citizens of London, ordered Rainsborough to 
 march thither with a brigade, and to force his way into 
 London from the south. 
 
 Accordingly at about 2 a.m. this force entered Southwark 
 without opposition, and in a few hours received the sur- 
 render of the fort which guarded London Bridge. The City 
 now gave way, yielded all forts on the south and west of the 
 capital, while their representatives, at a meeting with Fairfax 
 on the 5th of August at his headquarters at Hammersmith, 
 professed their satisfaction at his proceedings. On the fol- 
 lowing day the Speakers of both Houses and the members 
 who had fled, returned to Westminster in procession, and at 
 once annulled all Acts passed since the 26th of July. On the 
 7th of August the army, after marching through London for 
 the purpose of overawing the citizens, bivouacked at Croydon; 
 whence on the llth they moved to Kingston, the King 
 being then at Oatlands. The army, in order to complete 
 the discomfiture of their opponents, demanded that those 
 members of the House of Commons who were hostile to its 
 .pretensions, should be debarred from sitting in the House ; 
 upon this the eleven members fled, many of them across the 
 seas. Orders were issued that proceedings should be taken 
 against the officers of the City militia, and that the fortifica- 
 tions which lay around London should be demolished ; the 
 Lord Mayor was also removed from office, while Yice- 
 Admiral Batten, having permitted some of the proscribed 
 aneinbers whom he captured at sea to escape, was replaced
 
 176 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 by Kainsborough, who, though now a colonel, had at one 
 time served at sea; of this latter change the after effects 
 were considerable. 
 
 Affairs between the Parliament and the army now took 
 the form of a series of addresses from the latter to the 
 former, in which directions were given as to the changes 
 desired by the soldiery. But matters were by this time, in 
 the opinion of some of the leaders of the army, going too far, 
 since Cromwell, Ireton, and others, who had intended to 
 guide every movement of the troops, found that much of 
 their power was gradually passing into the hands of the 
 adjutators. 
 
 Behind all this confusion lay another mystery, for there 
 can be no doubt but at this time negotiations were in 
 progress between the foremost Independents and the King, 
 which, had the latter possessed the power of inspiring or 
 deserving trust, might have brought all difficulties to a good 
 end. But Charles was, unfortunately, impressed with a 
 belief in his power to manage men and to rule events, and 
 thus proposing to himself to balance each party by another 
 to his own ultimate advantage, undertook to conduct the 
 threads of an intrigue in which he was, not as he imagined 
 the head, but the instrument. Thus he was, at the very 
 moment when he pretended to be listening to the proposals 
 of Cromwell and Ireton, engaged in negotiations with the 
 Scots, the Irish, the Cavaliers in England, the Parliament, 
 and even with foreign Powers. 
 
 Insincerity could go no farther, and such chicanery could 
 not be concealed. After a scene in which some very plain 
 speaking passed between Ireton and the King, all hope of a 
 composition with the army was lost to Charles, who, finding 
 that such was the case, fled from them in November, only to 
 fall, as had no doubt been previously arranged, into the hands
 
 1646, 1647, AND 164S. 177 
 
 of Colonel Hammond, who had in September, as if in 
 anticipation of the event, been appointed Governor of the 
 Isle of Wight. 
 
 The army at once broke into almost open mutiny, and at a 
 rendezvous at Ware gave an opportunity for which not im- 
 probably some of its leaders had been waiting, for signs of 
 insubordination becoming evident in the ranks, the ring- 
 leaders were at once seized, and one of them was shot on the 
 spot as a warning to the others. This mutiny, which was 
 the first sign of the rising of the new sect of Levellers, 
 was judiciously suppressed by a mixture of severity and 
 mercy, and though in after times both they and the Fifth 
 Monarchy men gave some further trouble, yet neither of 
 these sects became at any time a real danger to the 
 State. 
 
 The officers of the army, of whom Cromwell was the true 
 head, since Fairfax on account of his Presbyterian tendencies 
 lost ground daily, thus roughly asserted their power over 
 their men ; and having now both soldiery and Parliament 
 at their command, proceeded to determine their course of 
 conduct with regard to the King, who had so deceived tl.em 
 that it was impossible that they should ever trust him more. 
 On the 22nd of December a solemn fast was kept at Windsor, 
 during which Cromwell, Ireton, and others prayed and 
 preached. But worship was not the sole object of this 
 meeting, for there is ground for strong presumption that it 
 was at this gathering, or at some more private assembly at 
 about the same time, that it was determined to obtain the 
 ends of their party without reference to the King's will ; a 
 determination which was in all probability supplemented by 
 the intention to bring about the death of the King, since the 
 latter could be but useless to them after their new departure, 
 while for those opposed to them he might be a valuable
 
 178 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 instrument. Thus in strife and confusion, after a very 
 narrow escape from the renewal of civil war, ended the 
 year 1647. 
 
 The result of the Council mentioned above is apparent in 
 the first of the actions of the new year, for on the 3rd of 
 January the Commons, obedient to the army, voted that no 
 more addresses should be made to Charles, while on the llth 
 a declaration from the troops was presented to the House by 
 Sir Hardress "Waller, in which it was stated that, seeing " no 
 further hopes of settlement or security" by the King, the 
 army declared that it was resolved to settle the kingdom 
 "without the King and' against him." This declaration was 
 approved by the Commons. 
 
 But this cordiality between the nominal and the real 
 rulers of England was to be rudely interrupted, for already 
 rumours had arisen of an intended invasion by the Scots, who, 
 dreading the rise of the Independents and the consequent 
 loss of power among the Presbyterians, had driven Argyll, 
 the friend of Cromwell, from his position as the head of 
 their Government, and in his place had set up the Duke of 
 Hamilton who, though he had suffered many things at the 
 hand of the King, was yet inclined rather to him than to 
 the Parliamentary party. There was yet more than this to 
 give promise of coming danger, for the officers serving in 
 South Wales under Langhorne were extremely dissatisfied, 
 as indeed were all troops who were not included in the New 
 Model; while the fleet, strongly protesting against the ap- 
 pointment of Piainsborough to command them, were on the 
 eve of mutiny. Throughout all England the Presbyterians 
 were roused against the dominating sectarians, and the 
 country at large was weary of the rule of the army, who 
 however were so strong in their unanimity, that but little 
 hope of success could exist for their opponents. Nevcrthe-
 
 1646, 1647, AND 1648. 179 
 
 less, the Presbyterian members of the Commons did not 
 cease from agitation, and were quick to seize any oppor- 
 tunity which might offer itself of effecting a reconciliation 
 with the King, in which they saw their best chance of 
 recovering the ascendency. With those who were thus 
 inclined, under certain conditions not impossible of fulfil- 
 ment, to favour Charles, joined such of the Cavaliers as had 
 escaped imprisonment, and the result was a party which 
 included men formerly so opposed to each other as Massey 
 and Langdale, Langhorne and Glenham. 
 
 At the beginning of March matters came to a crisis, by 
 the action of Poyer, a drunken but capable colonel, who 
 refused to deliver Pembroke to a new governor appointed by 
 the Parliament, and who finally declared for the King. 
 -Orders were at once sent for the'disbandment of the forces 
 which under Langhorne held South "Wales, and of whose 
 fidelity there were grave doubts, with no other result than 
 to send them to Pembroke, where they joined Poyer in his 
 revolt. 
 
 In the month of May the difficulty caused by the dis- 
 affection in Wales was further complicated by risings in the 
 north, in Kent, and in Cornwall, which last was however 
 promptly suppressed by Sir Hardress Waller. The Scots 
 also, apparently intent on war, sent such a list of demands 
 as the Parliament could not possibly grant, while the fleet in 
 a state of mutiny sent their new Admiral Eainsborough 
 ashore, declared for the King, and set sail to Holland, where 
 lay the Prince of Wales. 
 
 It was evident that matters were now growing serious, 
 but such men were at the head of affairs as were accustomed 
 to act swiftly and boldly ; the army was strong and confi- 
 dent in its strength, while the Parliament, though divided 
 -against itself, was yet as a body entirely opposed to the
 
 180 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 restoration of the King, except under such conditions as he 
 refused to accept ; and to crown all, Charles himself was a 
 prisoner. 
 
 Under such circumstances, in May, 1648, began the Second 
 Civil War.
 
 CHAPTEE VL 
 
 THE SECOND CIVIL WAR. 
 1648 AND 1649. 
 
 THE action of this contest divides itself naturally into three 
 parts, of which the scenes were distant, and the events, 
 though in some cases contemporaneous, quite unconnected. 
 It will therefore be well to divide the narrative in a similar 
 manner, and relate in order 
 
 1. The Campaign in Kent and Essex. 
 
 2. The Campaign in South Wales. 
 
 3. The Campaign against the Scots and the Cavaliers 
 under Langdale. 
 
 The affairs of the fleet scarcely fall within the compass 
 of this work, and moreover its action, though troublesome 
 to trade, produced little or no effect on the country, since 
 the only enterprise of which the result would have been 
 important, namely, an effort to carry away the King from 
 the Isle of "Wight, was not even attempted. 
 
 1. The Campaign in Kent and Essex. 
 
 Though the people of Kent were generally inclined to- 
 wards the King's party, and many of the gentry had every 
 intention of exciting at the first opportunity a rising in that
 
 1S2 TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 county, yet it had been determined to attempt nothing until 
 the entrance of the Scottish army into England should have 
 drawn off the principal forces of the Parliament towards the 
 north. 
 
 But action was precipitated in a remarkable and almost 
 ludicrous manner. One L'Estrange, a Norfolk gentleman, 
 who had been imprisoned by the Parliament for his share in 
 the late war, urged a young gentleman named Hales to de- 
 clare for the King, saying that if he should succeed in 
 restoring him he would gain great honour, and would 
 further ensure his succession to a large estate, which was 
 at this time in the possession of his grandfather. Hales, 
 being in addition influenced by his wife, "who was full 
 of zeal for the King," readily consented to this romantic 
 proposal, whereupon L'Estrange issued warrants in his own 
 name (which was quite unknown in the county), calling 
 upon all men to meet for the purpose of delivering the King 
 from prison. Contrary to what might have been expected, 
 large numbers obeyed this extraordinary call, and having 
 been addressed in a wild speech by L'Estrange, agreed to 
 march under Hales as their general. A second meeting, at 
 which even larger numbers attended, followed the first, 
 and the insurrection daily grew in importance ; but as the 
 force which they had raised increased in size, both L'Estrange 
 and Hales were found wanting in influence and in skill, and 
 they, upon the assumption of the command by Lord Goring, 
 fled together to Holland from the storm which they had 
 raised. 
 
 On the first alarm of the invasion of England by the 
 Scots, Fairfax had been directed to advance into the north 
 to the assistance of Lambert, who had there but few troops 
 under his command. As from his religious opinions the 
 General was favourably inclined to the Scots, he was most
 
 1648 AND 1649. 183 
 
 averse to the performance of this duty, and "was pro- 
 portionately relieved when the outbreak of the insurrection 
 in Kent enabled him to leave the former task to other 
 hands. 
 
 Hearing that Goring had advanced to Blackheath, Fairfax 
 with four regiments of horse and three of foot left London, 
 and passing by Eltham marched on the 1st of June by Dart- 
 ford on Gravesend, the insurgents retiring before him as far 
 as the bridge over the Darent at the former place. Three 
 hundred horse, of whom one hundred carried infantry 
 soldiers behind them, were sent to clear the bridge. This 
 was done with little difficulty, as the horse swimming the 
 river turned the flanks of the defences of the bridge. After 
 having driven off the defenders, 1,600 in number, this small 
 force pushed two or three miles beyond Gravesend without 
 meeting with any opposition, and thence returned to the 
 main army. The latter now moved on Maidstone, to which 
 town the lesser body (about 2,000) of the insurgents had 
 retired, the larger (about 7,000) having fallen back on 
 Rochester. 
 
 At 7 p.m. on the 2nd of June orders were given to storm 
 the former town, but the resistance offered was so determined 
 that this was not effected until midnight, when the insur- 
 gents retreated with the loss of 200 killed and 400 
 prisoners. While the fight was in progress a large force* 
 from Rochester approached within two miles of Maidstone, 
 but Fairfax having sent out against them three regiments 
 of horse and one of foot, they remained idle during the 
 engagement. 
 
 After the defeat of their friends at Maidstone the insur- 
 gents at Rochester began to disperse, many of them with 
 Goring marching on London under the impression that the 
 citizens, who at heart wished them well, would join them
 
 184 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 but finding no response to their call, while 500 cavalry sent 
 by Fairfax caught them up on Blackheath, the Kentish men 
 dispersed to their homes without further resistance. Goring 
 and the leaders, with a few hundred followers, passed 
 the Thames about Greenwich, crossing into Essex in lighters 
 and boats. 
 
 The gentlemen of Essex, who had intended to join Goring 
 in Kent, flocked to him as soon as he landed, and he very 
 shortly found himself in command of a force of 4,000 men, 
 including many officers of great ability and renown, such as 
 Lord Capel, Sir Charles Lucas, and Sir Bernard Gascoigne. 
 With these troops he seized Colchester, and at once proceeded 
 to throw up fortifications around it. 
 
 Whalley, who commanded in Essex, had no force capable 
 of coping with the Royalists : but Kent being now almost 
 pacified, Fairfax crossed the Thames at Gravesend in pursuit 
 of Goring, leaving a few regiments on the southern side to 
 obtain the surrender of Canterbury and of the castles which 
 yet held out. On landing in Essex he was joined by Whalley 
 with 2,000 men, and about the 15th of June, having shut up 
 the Cavaliers in Colchester, commenced the long and weary 
 siege of that town by the capture of Mersea Island at the 
 mouth of the Colne, thus cutting off the garrison from all 
 hope of escape by, or succour from, the sea. The be- 
 sieged used every effort to prepare for defence, and know- 
 ing the advantage which the possession of Mersea Island 
 would give them, made two gallant attacks on it, which 
 were however both repulsed ; while some of the remaining 
 ships of the Parliament came from Harwich to complete the 
 blockade. 
 
 On the 24th of June the Suffolk forces, amounting to 
 2,000 foot and five troops of horse, joined the besiegers, and 
 completed the line of investment to the east of Colchester.
 
 1648 AND 1649. 185 
 
 In the beginning of July the artillery of the besiegers com- 
 menced to arrive and, in spite of constant and determined 
 sallies, the besieged were gradually beaten back, while the 
 investing force crept closer and closer to the town. Pro- 
 visions soon began to fail, and the garrison were driven 
 to eat horseflesh; before the end of July the supply of 
 even that food fell low, while the inhabitants were 
 starving. Goring ordered the suburbs to be burned, lest in 
 them the besiegers might find cover and, in spite of the 
 distress of his garrison, scornfully rejected a summons which 
 Fairfax sent in on the 17th; on the 26th the supply of 
 water having been cut off, the besieged could get none that 
 was not muddy or contaminated with the bodies of dead 
 animals. 
 
 . On the 5th of August the daily allowance of bread to the 
 Koyalist soldiers was reduced to ten ounces for each man, 
 and they then began to desert at the rate of twenty to thirty 
 per diem. By the 19th all the dogs and cats and most of 
 the horses in the town had been eaten, and women with 
 starving children prayed on their knees to be allowed to pass 
 through the besiegers' lines ; but they were all pitilessly 
 turned back, in order that so much misery might hasten the 
 surrender of the town. By the 21st the approaches were 
 so close to the walls that besiegers and besieged laid aside 
 their muskets and threw stones at each other, and at this 
 date the inhabitants petitioned for leave to quit the town ; 
 this the General granted, with an exception as regarded the 
 families of such men as remained to fight. Five hundred 
 women having however left the gates, the soldiers of the 
 Parliament refused to allow them to pass, and the defenders 
 equally denying them re-admittance, they remained between 
 the two forces without shelter or food. 
 
 Proposals made by Goring on the 25th of August were 
 
 o
 
 186 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 refused by Fairfax, but after an abortive effort to induce the 
 garrison to fight their way out, the former surrendered on the 
 28th, on conditions which, while they offered quarter to the 
 inferior officers and soldiers, promised nothing with regard to 
 the lives of the superior officers. On the completion of the 
 surrender, Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George L'Isle were 
 shot as an example, while Lords Goring, Capel, and Lough- 
 borough were sent as prisoners to London, where the second 
 was beheaded in March, 1649. Thus ended this most ill- 
 advised rising which, begun without an object, was carried 
 through without hope, and ended as it could only end, in 
 disaster and death. 
 
 Another effort, yet more senseless, in favour of the King, 
 was made by the Earl of Holland in the early part of July, 
 when that nobleman, with Lord Peterborough, the Duke of 
 Buckingham and his brother Lord Francis Villiers, having 
 collected about 500 horse, called on the country to 
 rise with them for King Charles, their primary object 
 being the relief of Colchester. The first gathering was 
 at Kingston, as was also the last; for after being repulsed 
 from an attack on Keigate, the Earl returned to the former 
 town, and confidently awaited the junction of the City troops 
 from London. Rich's regiment was hastily called out of 
 Kent to repress this rising, and a skirmish ensued near 
 Kingston between the two parties, in which Holland was 
 driven into and through the town, and thence fled, pursued 
 by the Parliamentary horse towards Harrow. Here the 
 pursuers were joined by a detachment of cavalry who had 
 'been summoned from Colchester, and at St. Neot's in 
 Huntingdonshire the Earl with most of his officers was 
 captured. Buckingham escaped to the Netherlands, but Lord 
 Francis died of a wound received in the skirmish, while 
 Holland himself was beheaded in company with Capel in
 
 1648 AND 1649. 187 
 
 March, 1649. With the fall of Colchester every effort of 
 the King's party in the south came to an end, and the 
 Parliament employed the opportunity afforded by the absence 
 of the main army with Cromwell in the north, in recalling 
 the eleven members (or such of them as were within reach), 
 and in endeavouring to arrange a treaty of peace with 
 Charles, proceedings which on the return of the troops with 
 their great leader were at once annulled. 
 
 2. The Campaign in South Wales. 
 
 Major-General Langhorne, who had been foremost in the 
 reduction of South Wales into obedience to the Parliament, 
 was after the surrender of the King left in command in those 
 parts, while under him were two Colonels, Powell and 
 Poyer. These being all three discontented with their treat- 
 ment by the Parliament, agreed to declare for Charles on the 
 arrival of the Scots, but owing to bad management and to 
 some want of faith on the part of Prince Charles, to whom 
 they had sent for support, they allowed their plans to be 
 discovered before they were ready to take action in the 
 field. Poyer being Governor of Pembroke, the others, after 
 having received orders to disband their troops, threw them- 
 selves into that town and castle, in the hope of being able to 
 raise the country. In this they were only partially success- 
 ful, but the forces of the Parliament in South Wales being 
 few in number, were in various small actions disconcerted 
 and defeated, while supplies were without difficulty drawn 
 by the garrison from the whole neighbourhood around 
 Pembroke. On the 1st of May, the Parliamentary troops 
 under Colonel Horton having suffered another defeat, 
 Cromwell received orders from Fairfax to march into Wales 
 with three regiments of foot and two of horse. This was in 
 effect the first independent command which Cromwell had 
 held, for when detached in 1645 on Winchester and Basing, 
 
 o 2
 
 188 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 he had still been directly under the orders of Fairfax, where- 
 as on this occasion, the distance between them being so 
 great and the General being fully employed in Kent and 
 Essex, Oliver was at liberty to use his troops as he should 
 best please. 
 
 The Lieutenant-General started from London on the 3rd or 
 4th of May, and on the march received information of the 
 defeat of 8,000 of the Welsh troops under Langhorne by 
 Horton, who had but 3,000 men. On or about the 14th 
 Cromwell arrived at Chepstow, which some days earlier had 
 been surprised by a party of Cavaliers ; he sent a force under 
 Colonel Pride against the town, which was stormed without 
 difficulty, but no impression could be made on the castle 
 in the absence of artillery. Since the march of events in 
 Wales would not permit him to make a long stay, Cromwell 
 was content to send for guns from Bristol, and to leave a 
 detachment before Chepstow, while he himself moved on to 
 Pembroke. On the 20th of May news arrived in London 
 that he had captured Caermarthen, and that Langhorne with 
 his associates, quitting the open field, had withdrawn into 
 Pembroke. Before the end of the month Chepstow was 
 retaken, while early in June Tenby surrendered to the 
 Parliamentary forces. 
 
 In June also Cromwell commenced the siege of Pembroke, 
 against which he placed in battery six guns drawn from the 
 Lion, a ship of war which lay in Milford Haven. About the 
 middle of the same month, a breach having been made, an 
 assault was attempted, which was however repulsed with 
 loss ; but shortly after, the Parliamentary troops having cut 
 off the water supply of the castle, and the daily rations 
 of the garrison having been reduced to half-a-pound of meat, 
 Poyer's soldiers mutinied and obliged him to make terms. 
 On the llth of July the castle was surrendered, Langhorne
 
 1648 AND 1649. 189 
 
 and Poyer * yielding at mercy, while the other officers were 
 forced to leave the. kingdom, and the soldiers, about 2,000 
 in number, were allowed to return to their homes. Thus 
 Pembroke Castle, one of the strongest fortresses in England, 
 was taken almost without the use of artillery, for the wind 
 being unfavourable, the guns could not be brought up in 
 time from Bristol ; no ordnance save the Lion's guns 
 was therefore available, beyond a few mortars, which were 
 used to throw shells into the town. 
 
 On the 14th of July Cromwell prepared to move from 
 Pembroke, and on that day dispatched 600 horse and 
 dragoons by way of Chester, to serve as reinforcements to 
 Lambert, who was as far as lay in his power retarding the 
 advance of the Scots. With the remainder of his force 
 Cromwell, being as yet uncertain as to whether his aid 
 might not be even more needed about London than in the 
 north, marched on Gloucester, where for the present we 
 must leave him, in order to bring up to date the narrative of 
 the Scottish invasion. South Wales was now subdued, but 
 some further fighting took place in Xorth Wales, where in 
 June, Mytton, the Parliamentary Major-General, had been 
 besieged in Carnarvon Castle by Sir John Owen ; on the 
 receipt of relief from Chester a skirmish ensued, which 
 resulted in the capture of Owen and the raising of the siege. 
 In August Lord Byron, having levied a force for the King, 
 pushed with it on Anglesea, which he succeeded in occupy- 
 ing without difficulty, but which was in October retaken by 
 Mytton, whereupon Byron fled to France. 
 
 3. The Campaign against the Scots. 
 
 It was known in London on the 3rd of April that the 
 Scots proposed to raise an army of 40,000 men, for the 
 
 * Powell, who was at first reported to have been killed in action, 
 was taken prisoner at a later date.
 
 190 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 purpose of rescuing the King and of putting down the- 
 sectaries, but the first hostilities were commenced by the 
 English Cavaliers who, on the 28th of April, under Sir 
 Marmaduke Langdale, succeeded in surprising Berwick. 
 
 On the 3rd of May letters were received from Scotland, 
 demanding the safety, honour, and freedom of the King, a 
 personal treaty with him, the disbanding of the army, the 
 suppression of the Independents, the enforcement of the 
 Covenant, and the establishment of Presbyterian government, 
 and more than hinting that the rejection of these demands 
 would be followed by an invasion of England. Most, if not 
 all, of these points were such as the Presbyterians would 
 have been but too happy to grant had it been in their power 
 to do so, and they may indeed be considered to express the 
 wishes of the majority in the Parliament, who took early 
 advantage of the absence of the army to pass votes releasing 
 those of the eleven members who were still in prison (June 
 3rd), to annul the vote not to treat further with the King 
 (June 30th), and to reopen negotiations with the latter for 
 agreement (August 2nd). 
 
 But at the time of the receipt of the letters from the 
 Scots, the army was still in and around London, and the 
 only answer returned to the demands was an order to send 
 reinforcements to the north, where in the meantime further 
 complications had arisen. Glenham about the 5th of May 
 captured Carlisle, whereupon Langdale declared himself to 
 hold a commission from Prince Charles as General of the 
 five northern counties. The Scots, when reminded that 
 Berwick and Carlisle had both been taken by troops which 
 had found a refuge and a base in their country, refused to 
 give any explanation of their intentions, and matters 
 rapidly moved towards war, which became certain when 
 the latter town was delivered by Langdale into the hands of
 
 1648 AKD 1649. 191 
 
 a Governor appointed by the Duke of Hamilton, the Scottish 
 General. 
 
 Lambert, who commanded for the Parliament in the north, 
 hurriedly threw garrisons into Appleby and Eaby, while the 
 majority of the opponents of the King found refuge behind 
 the fortifications of Newcastle. On the 9th of May Fairfax 
 was directed to march to the north, but this order was, as 
 has been already noted, countermanded by reason of the 
 insurrection in Kent. 
 
 During June various causes delayed the equipment of the 
 Scottish army, while Langdale, who had by that time raised 
 a force of about 5,000 men, received direct orders from 
 Hamilton to refuse to engage the enemy until their arrival ; 
 orders to the same effect, based on his comparative weakness, 
 were despatched by the Parliament to Lambert. He, however, 
 being reinforced from Lancashire advanced towards Carlisle, 
 into which city Langdale, obeying the orders which he had 
 received, retired before the Koundhead troops. 
 
 Pontefract Castle, having been seized by stratagem by the 
 Cavaliers, was at once closely besieged by 800 of the Parlia- 
 mentary party ; but the garrison, daily gathering strength, 
 sallied out in all directions and continually beat up the 
 quarters of the besiegers. Colonel Rossiter, while advancing 
 with assistance to Lambert, engaged these raiders and com- 
 pletely defeated them at "Willoughby Field. In such 
 skirmishes, attended with varying success, passed the month 
 of June and the first half of July, but about the middle of 
 the latter month information of the approaching advance of 
 Hamilton compelled the concentration of the Parliamentary 
 detachments upon Lambert's command. 
 
 On the 14th of July news arrived in London that Hamilton 
 with 10,000 men was at Carlisle, where he was joined by 
 Langdale with a force of 3,000. As the Scots moved forward
 
 192 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 Lambert, by order of the council of war, retired before 
 them, but lost no opportunity of delaying their advance by 
 the skilful use of his cavalry ; in one of the skirmishes thus 
 brought on, Colonel Harrison was wounded, and a Captain 
 Cromwell * killed. 
 
 On receipt of information of the invasion, orders were 
 at once given by the Parliament to reinforce Lambert, and 
 Cromwell, having despatched a small body of horse by way 
 of Chester, moved himself to the north from Gloucester on 
 the 26th of July; about the same date the former troops 
 succeeded in reaching Lambert, who received further re- 
 inforcements from the counties of Nottingham, Leicester, and 
 Derby. 
 
 The Scots advanced but slowly for the same reason as 
 induced them to delay their original departure, namely, that 
 they were anxious to restore the King by their own unaided 
 efforts, and thus to obtain the right to shape the policy 
 of the replaced Government to their own wishes on a purely 
 Presbyterian basis, without any interference by the Royalists 
 
 * It is an undoubted fact that Oliver Cromwell lost a son in the 
 Civil War, but when and where he was killed is uncertain. Carlyle 
 considers, on the ground of some words in a letter to Colonel Walton 
 written after Marston Moor, that young Oliver had been killed be- 
 fore that date, but it is possible that the expression there used, 
 "you know my own troubles this way" (Colonel Walton's son 
 having been killed in action), may have referred to the death of 
 Robert, the Protector's eldest son, who died in 1639 ; and this more 
 especially since Cromwell himself referred on his death-bed to the 
 misery which that loss occasioned to him : (" my ^eldest son died, 
 which went as a dagger to my heart, indeed it did.") The proba- 
 bility that the Captain Cromwell mentioned as being killed at this 
 time was Oliver, the eldest surviving son of his father, and a cornet 
 of Cavalry at the commencement of the war, gathers strength from 
 the fact that the event is recorded in Whitelocke (p. 322) who is 
 not in the habit of mentioning the loss of officers of low rank unless 
 they were remarkable for some special reason.
 
 1648 AND 1640. 193 
 
 or Episcopalians. With this object they purposely held 
 back until the conclusion of the contest in Wales, and were 
 now desirous not to commence action until the surrender of 
 Colchester should render them the only force in arms 
 for the King. This delay was deservedly as fatal to them- 
 selves as to those whom they failed to aid. The manner of 
 march also of the Scottish troops invited disaster, for 
 they straggled on in such loose order, that a distance 
 of twenty miles frequently separated the headquarters from 
 other parts of the force ; the advanced guard was invariably 
 formed by Langdale who, with 4,000 foot and 700 or 800 
 horse, preceded the main army by at least a day's march. 
 
 Cromwell, having determined to move to the north, pushed 
 on from Gloucester to Warwick, whence, on the 31st July, 
 he marched on Leicester; on August the 3rd he was at 
 Nottingham, and thence advanced by Mansfield and Rother- 
 ham on Pontefract, to which place he came with the object 
 of adding to his force the troops who were besieging that 
 town, leaving the siege to be conducted by the county 
 militia. On his arrival at* Pontefract Cromwell ordered 
 the town to be stormed, which operation was conducted 
 with such success, that most of the Royal infantry failed 
 to secure their retreat into the castle, the gates being 
 shut to prevent the entrance of the enemy, who were press- 
 ing in closely behind. Having organised the force of 
 militia which was to contain the garrison, Cromwell con- 
 tinued his march on Leeds, where he met Lambert, who had 
 fallen back from Ripon for the purpose of joining him. 
 
 Cromwell was now at the head of a body of about 8,600 
 men, and found himself on the flank of the long column of 
 the Scots, who were straggling on towards London. On the 
 16th of August the position and numbers of Hamilton's 
 army were as follows : The main body, consisting of about
 
 194 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 10,500 foot, was at Preston, about to cross the Ribble on its 
 southward march on Wigan, where lay, at a distance of 
 sixteen miles, the Scottish horse, which were 3,500 strong; 
 in rear, moving by Lancaster from the north, was Monro 
 with the Irish contingent, 1,200 horse and 1,500 foot, Avhile 
 on the left flank of this chain of scattered troops stood 
 Langdale, with the English Cavaliers, 2,500 foot and 1,500 
 horse, in a position in the upper valley of the Kibble about 
 Longridge. It remains only to add that Hamilton, having 
 no system of scouting, was entirely unaware of the advance 
 or the position of Cromwell, who on the night of the 16th 
 was on the Hodder, a small river which divides Yorkshire 
 from Lancashire. 
 
 The Lieutenant-General of the Parliament at once saw the 
 advantage which his position gave him, acting as he did 
 with a concentrated force on the flank of a column, of which 
 the head was separated from the rear by a distance of about 
 thirty miles, and determined to strike at that portion of the 
 enemy which was nearest to him, to cut the straggling mass 
 in half, and, having done so, to hold back if necessary so 
 much of the hostile army as lay to the north of him, while 
 with his main force he should drive the remainder farther 
 and farther from their native country and from relief. It 
 was not defeat but disaster which he proposed to inflict on 
 Hamilton's army, and the vigour which he showed in the 
 execution of his project was equal to the boldness of its 
 conception. 
 
 On the morning of the 17th, having passed the previous 
 night on the Lancashire bank of the Hodder, Cromwell 
 moved on Preston, pushing forward an advanced party of 
 200 horse and 400 foot to clear the way, and to detain the 
 enemy until the main body of the army could come up. 
 This " forlorn hope " was soon engaged, and was at first held
 
 1648 AND 1649. 195 
 
 back by superior numbers, but the whole force being pushed 
 into action an attack was made on Langdale's troops, who 
 gallantly resisted, though Hamilton refused any assistance 
 to them, being still obstinate in his belief that the Par- 
 liamentary army could not yet have arrived at a position 
 so near to his line. After four hours of hard fighting, 
 in which almost all the loss suffered by his force during 
 the three days of battle was incurred, Oliver pushed back 
 Langdale into the town of Preston. Hamilton, finding that 
 matters were going against him, then proposed to draw off 
 his foot to a junction with the cavalry at AVigan, and with 
 this object passed the bridges over the Kibble and the 
 Darwent. By this retirement of the Scots the flank of 
 Langdale's position was left exposed to attack, and the 
 Parliamentary horse at once charged it, while their foot 
 held him in front; under this stress the English con- 
 tingent broke and fled, some over Kibble with the Scots, 
 others towards Lancaster to join Monro. The latter were 
 pursued for about ten miles, many prisoners being made in 
 the chase, while Monro, in place of advancing to the 
 assistance of his leader, fell back into Cumberland without 
 a blow, and thus relieved the Parliamentary army from the 
 chief risk which attended Cromwell's plan, namely, the 
 chance that they might, while attacking one half of the 
 column, be themselves attacked in rear by the remainder. 
 By nightfall on the 17th Cromwell had taken Preston, had 
 obtained possession of the bridges over the Kibble and the 
 Darwent, and had beaten back the tail of the enemy's 
 column beyond striking distance, with a loss to it of 1,000 
 killed and 4,000 prisoners. During the night Hamilton 
 retired on Wigan with the remainder of his force, amounting 
 to about 7,000 or 8,000 foot and 4,000 horse, and was on 
 the morning of the 18th pursued by Cromwell with 3,000
 
 196 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 foot and 2,500 horse and dragoons, the rest of the army 
 having been left at Preston to guard against any attack 
 from Monro, whose flight was not yet known. Oliver's 
 cavalry under Lambert were pushed to the front, and 
 during the whole day harassed the rear of the retreating 
 enemy, taking many prisoners ; but the infantry being slow 
 in movement did not arrive in time to prevent the Scots 
 from occupying "Wigan in front of which the Parlia- 
 mentary army passed the night, being "very dirty and 
 weary," but full of fight, as was shown on the following 
 day. 
 
 On the 19th Hamilton, either in ignorance of the only end 
 which could be to such a retreat, or in despair of any better 
 fate, fell back towards Warrington, and, in order probably 
 (though it is not expressly so stated) to gain time for the 
 passage of his disordered army over the river Mersey, 
 attempted to hold Winwick with a rear-guard. This force 
 fighting well contrived, at the cost of 1,000 killed and 
 2,000 prisoners, to detain Cromwell's advanced guard until 
 the arrival of his main body, but were then beaten in before 
 the infantry of the Scottish column had succeeded in cross- 
 ing the river. Finding further resistance useless, Lieutenant- 
 General Baily, who commanded the Scottish foot, now about 
 4,000 strong, begged for terms, and surrendered with his 
 whole force. 
 
 Hamilton with the remnant of his army, about 3,000 
 horse, fell back on Nantwich ; but being hotly pursued by 
 Lambert with the English cavalry, while the whole country 
 was roused by letters from Cromwell, he turned, after losing 
 about 1,000 men on his way, into Staffordshire, where before 
 the end of the month he and all his companions, including 
 Langdale, were captured by their pursuers. The Duke, 
 having been tried as a traitor, under his English peerage
 
 1648 AND 1649. 197 
 
 the Earldom of Cambridge, was found guilty, and executed 
 with Capel and Holland in March, 1649. 
 
 All resistance by the Scottish main army being thus at an 
 end, Lambert was recalled by Cromwell, who now turned to 
 the north with the intention of driving Monro from England. 
 With this object Lambert was despatched with orders to 
 march by way of Carlisle, while Oliver himself moved by 
 Durham and Newcastle on Berwick, detaching as he went 
 some troops to press the siege of Scarborough Castle. 
 
 Having driven Monro and his force of 7,000 men over the 
 border, Cromwell now proposed to follow him into Scotland, 
 where, by the destruction of Hamilton's army, opportunity 
 had been given to the party of Argyll of which they were 
 not slow to take advantage, for the Marquis, having collected 
 about 2,000 men and having been joined by Lesley with 
 1,500 more, marched from his own country upon Edinburgh, 
 whence he drove the Committee of Estates, and thus regained 
 the whole of his former power in Scotland. To him 
 Cromwell now applied for the recall of Monro (who indeed, 
 on hearing of Argyll's advance, had sent troops to Edinburgh 
 to oppose him), and himself moved forward to assist the 
 Marquis to recover his position in the kingdom. 
 
 On the 14th of September Oliver was at Alnwick, whither 
 he had collected all troops within reach, leaving only four 
 regiments of horse with Lambert, and whence he shortly 
 after marched towards the border. On the 20th he was at 
 Norham, from which place, on hearing of a defeat of Argyll 
 by Monro which occurred near Stirling, he had on the 
 19th despatched Lambert with three regiments of horse to 
 the aid of the Marquis ; he himself set out with the remainder 
 of his force on the following day. Before crossing the border 
 Oliver issued a proclamation in which he declared that death 
 should be the punishment for any attempt to rob the Scots
 
 1-98 TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 of money, cattle or food, and further stated that he entered 
 Scotland for the sole purpose of subduing those who had 
 lately counselled the invasion of England. 
 
 As Cromwell advanced into Scotland, he detached from 
 his force two regiments of foot and one of horse, for the 
 purpose of carrying on the blockade of Berwick. This town 
 was surrendered on the 30th of September, in obedience to 
 the order of Argyll who, coming from Edinburgh, met 
 Cromwell at a short distance from the border on the 22nd. 
 A firm alliance was concluded between the Scottish and the 
 English leaders, and by the action of the latter peace was 
 arranged between the Marquis and Lord Lanark, the brother 
 of the Duke of Hamilton, who had previously joined his 
 forces to those of Monro. 
 
 Every event in the north now tended to peace, for Carlisle 
 soon followed the example of Berwick, while all forces in 
 Scotland, with the exception of 1,500 horse under the 
 command of Leven, were by treaty disbanded. In the early 
 part of October, Cromwell went in person to Edinburgh, for 
 the purpose of concluding an agreement with the principal 
 representatives of Scotland, by which it was determined, 
 that none of those who had favoured the late invasion of 
 England should be allowed any share in the government of 
 that country. Lambert being left with a small force to 
 assist in this settlement, Cromwell with the remainder of 
 the army returned into England by way of Newcastle, where 
 he arrived on the 19th of October, marching thence on the 
 20th to Durham. 
 
 On the 29th forty horsemen, sallying from Pontefract Castle 
 made a raid upon Doncaster, where they seized Eainsborough, 
 who commanded the besieging force, in his quarters, and on 
 his refusal to follow them as a prisoner, murdered him in 
 the street. This outrage, together with the complaints of
 
 1648 A*D 1649. 199 
 
 the neighbourhood as to the excesses of the garrison, brought 
 Cromwell to the spot. He on the 9th of oSTovember de- 
 manded the surrender of the castle, and on their rejection 
 of his demand, dismissing the Yorkshire militia (to whom 
 the siege had been before entrusted), gave the conduct of it 
 to Lambert, who, having completed his task in Scotland, 
 had arrived at Pontefract on the 20th. Cromwell himself 
 moved south ward, and reached London on the 6th of December. 
 His arrival was most welcome to the Independents, for during 
 his absence the tide of events had, owing to the strength of 
 the Presbyterians in the House, moved steadily and swiftly 
 in opposition to their wishes. 
 
 As has been already mentioned, the Presbyterian members 
 of the Commons had taken advantage of the absence of the 
 army, in which the Independents found their chief support, 
 and had in June recalled the ten * members, whom the latter 
 had formerly driven from the House, and had proposed a 
 personal treaty with the King. In July, the Commons 
 having annulled the vote by which all negotiation with 
 Charles was forbidden, the Common Council of London 
 undertook to protect the King and Parliament during such 
 time as might be needed for the completion of a treaty, 
 while petitions praying for such an agreement flowed in 
 from all sides. 
 
 By the 2nd of August matters had advanced yet farther, 
 for on that date the Commons voted that a message should 
 be sent to the King, desiring a treaty with His Majesty; 
 while evidence was received by the House against Cromwell 
 and Ireton from Major Huntington, who had been a close 
 adherent of the former, but who now stated that, finding 
 that the aims and designs of the two leaders were directed 
 
 * Stapleton had died in Calais of the plague.
 
 200 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 against the Parliament, he desired to resign his commission.* 
 Though this matter looked at one time as if it might be- 
 pressed to an impeachment of Cromwell and his son-in-law r 
 yet the signal victory gained by the former over the Scots, 
 and the consequent depression of the Presbyterian party, 
 caused it to be allowed to fall out of sight, and we hear no 
 more of the likelihood of any action upon it. 
 
 But the treaty was still possible, and proof of the sincerity 
 of the intentions of the Parliament may be found in the fact 
 that at the commencement of September the treatment of 
 the King was entirely changed ; for after that date, in place 
 of being confined in Carisbrook Castle, he was permitted to 
 live in Newport under parole not to attempt to escape, while 
 large sums of money were voted for his use, and for the 
 maintenance of a sufficient retinue. It was at first deter- 
 mined that the time to be allowed for the completion of the 
 treaty should be forty days, but this limit was considerably 
 extended at a later date, and negotiations did not finally 
 cease until the 27th of November when, it having been 
 found impossible to induce the King to consent to the sale 
 of the Church lands, the commissioners of the Parliament 
 returned to London. On the same day Hammond was 
 ordered to headquarters, and Colonel Ewers was sent by the 
 army in his place to serve as the custodian of the King, 
 upon whom a strong guard was now kept. 
 
 The army, though unable to act while still engaged in 
 the field, had not seen unmoved the tendency of the King 
 and the Parliament towards reconciliation. The first sign 
 of their feeling of irritation was shown on the 13th of 
 November, when Fairfax, in a letter to the Commons, declared 
 
 * The space at our disposal will not permit of a full analysis of 
 Hnntington's papers (Masere's Tracts, page 397), though the subject 
 is of great interest and well worthy of study.
 
 1648 AND 1649. 201 
 
 the dissatisfaction of the troops with the course which 
 events were taking; this letter was followed on the 18th 
 by a petition from Ireton's regiment, which in veiled terms 
 demanded the trial of the King; on the 20th a remon- 
 strance was presented to the House which distinctly desired 
 that the King should " be brought to justice." Petitions 
 to this effect began to flow in from the troops in all parts of 
 the kingdom, while letters from headquarters at St. Albans 
 related that the officers " spent yesterday wholly in prayer," 
 always an ominous sign for their opponents. 
 
 On the 30th it was decided in the House, by a majority of 
 ninety, that no notice should be taken of the remonstrance, 
 while on the same day the army formulated a declaration 
 which, after complaints of the neglect of the Parliament and 
 threats of an appeal to the people, ended with the statement 
 that for these ends they were "drawing up to London." 
 But already before this declaration the soldiery had shown 
 the tenor of their wishes, for on the 29th the King was 
 carried off from Newport to Hurst Castle, where he remained 
 a close prisoner. On the 1st of December the Commons 
 forbade the army to advance on London, an order which had 
 but little result, for on the 2nd Fairfax and his troops 
 occupied St. James's and Whitehall. On the 5th the 
 Commons voted that the King's concessions formed a good 
 ground for a treaty, a proceeding which was answered on 
 the following day by the occupation of Westminster by 
 Rich's horse and Pride's foot, and by the arrest of forty-one 
 members of the majority. This high-handed act, generally 
 known as Pride's Purge, at once changed the tone of the 
 . Parliament, which henceforth voted exactly according to the 
 wishes of the army. 
 
 However, on the oth the remainder of the House sat to 
 receive a proposal from the army, in which complaints were 
 
 p
 
 202 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 made of the readmission of the suspended members, and 
 justice was demanded upon some of them by name. On the 
 7th (on which day Cromwell received the thanks of the 
 House for his late action against the Scots) the treasuries of 
 the City were seized by the troops. 
 
 On the llth first appears the "Agreement of the People," 
 a document which was supposed to have been drawn up by 
 Ireton, and the contents of which included the dissolution 
 of the Parliament, a new distribution of seats, and other 
 changes, while opposition to it was to be punished with 
 death. On the following day the Commons revoked the 
 recall of the suspended members (who were all made 
 prisoners), and annulled the vote of agreement with the 
 King, while on the 13th they passed a resolution against 
 any further addresses to him. 
 
 Petitions now came in from various parts of the country 
 calling for justice upon the " chief delinquents," and on the 
 23rd a committee of thirty-eight was chosen to draw up a 
 charge against such, which by the 28th had become a 
 charge against the King. Charles had in the meantime been 
 brought from Hurst Castle to Windsor, at which place he 
 arrived on the 24th under the care of Colonel Harrison, 
 while orders were now given that he should no longer be 
 served upon the knee, and that all expenses respecting his 
 attendance, etc., should be reduced. 
 
 Thus ended the year 1648, which saw the King courted by 
 each party in turn, only to be finally surrendered by the 
 one to the hatred of the other. As regards the military 
 history of the year, it is remarkable principally for the 
 advancement of Cromwell to independent command, and for 
 the consequent adoption of that system of war which in 
 after days became characteristic of that leader. Oliver was 
 a general capable not only of appreciating the smaller details
 
 1648 AND 1649. 203 
 
 of war, but also of forming such plans as in their execution 
 should imply, not merely the momentary confusion of a 
 beaten enemy, but also the infliction of blows so heavy and 
 so well directed, that none could avoid them, while they 
 destroyed those on whom they fell. To Cromwell war was 
 no light evil, of which the misery might be remitted or 
 inflicted at the will of the general ; it was, on the contrary, 
 the scourge of God entrusted by Him to righteous hands for 
 the punishment of sinners, and thus in him we shall find none 
 of that mistaken philanthropy, of which in war the result 
 is the infliction of suffering on a multitude of innocent 
 heads ; for by the terror of his unsparing arm he spared him- 
 self the need to strike, with the result that his soldiers, 
 whose name became a word of fear, both shed and lost less 
 blood when once that fear had been established. To prove 
 the truth of this we have but to compare the casualties 
 and the results of, let us say, Edgehill and Preston. There 
 is probably nothing in war which leads to unnecessary 
 slaughter with such absolute certainty as mistaken mercy. 
 
 The early part of the year 1649 contained but few military 
 events, yet it may be well, in order to maintain the sequence 
 of the narrative, to mention a few of the leading features 
 of that season. On the 16th of January the first Act 
 (as distinguished from an Ordinance) of Parliament was 
 passed; on the 18th Massey, the whilom gallant defender of 
 Gloucester, and lately one of the " secluded " members, 
 escaped from his prison in St. James's ; of him we shall hear 
 again. The latter part of the month saw the trial and death 
 of the King, an act which was so hated by the majority of 
 Englishmen, that it had probably a very large share in 
 causing the restoration of his son, when once the restraining 
 hand of Cromwell was cold, and the sympathies of the 
 nation could find open expression. It had, moreover, at 
 
 p 2
 
 204 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 once an effect on the constitution of the army, for Fairfax, 
 on his refusal to approve of the sentence on the King, lost to 
 a great extent the confidence of his soldiers, a fact of which 
 the consequence was plainly foreshadowed by the dismissal 
 of the Earl of Warwick, for a similar reason, from the office 
 of Lord High Admiral, which he had held since the 
 commencement of the war. 
 
 Another result of the execution of the King was to be 
 seen in the ill-feeling aroused by it between the Scots and 
 the English Parliament, a sentiment which found its vent in 
 a paper presented by the former to the latter, in which the 
 Scottish Commissioners condemned in strong language the 
 treatment by the Commons of the King, the House of Lords, 
 and the banished members. As a reply to this rebuke the 
 Parliament at once dispatched guards in quest of the Com- 
 missioners, who were apprehended at Gravesend, a high- 
 handed proceeding which did not tend to smooth matters, and 
 of which the result was seen at once in the acceptance by the 
 Scots of Charles II. as their King, and in the consequent 
 campaigns of 1650 and 1651. It perhaps may be permitted 
 to us to doubt whether some part of this indignation of the 
 Scots may not have been caused by the refusal of the 
 English Parliament to make good the second sum of 200,000 
 which was due for the payment of their army for their ser- 
 vices in the war against Charles I. For since the commence- 
 ment of Hamilton's campaign in 1 648, all money raised for 
 this purpose had been diverted to the support of the navy. 
 
 In the month of March the Marquis of Ormond, the 
 Royalist Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, sent an invitation to 
 Charles II. to pass into that country, promising him there 
 support and loyalty; but the Parliament, alarmed at this 
 prospect and being further weary of the condition of anarchy 
 in which that island was, appointed Cromwell General of
 
 1648 ASD 1649. 205 
 
 the Forces in Ireland ; Fairfax being, however, retained as 
 Commander-in-Chief. In March also Pontefract Castle sur- 
 rendered, after a siege of which the details (for which we 
 have not sufficient space) have more the air of a romance 
 than of reality. 
 
 In this month Capel, Hamilton, and Holland were tried 
 and beheaded for their shares in various attempts against the 
 Parliament; while in April the leaders of the revolt in 
 Wales, Poyer, Langhorne, and Powell, were condemned to 
 death by court-martial, but having been permitted to draw 
 lots for their lives, the two latter were reprieved, Poyer who 
 had lost the cast being alone put to death ; he was shot 
 in Covent Garden. Goring and Owen, the other two Koyalist 
 prisoners of importance, were released. 
 
 In May affairs again came to a crisis in Ireland, Dublin, of 
 which Colonel Jones was Governor, being then in great 
 danger on account of the advance of Ormond (who was now 
 in league with the original rebels) with an overwhelming 
 force against the capital, and it became obvious that aid 
 must be sent, and that speedily, to the Parliamentary 
 troops. But any such relief was for a time delayed by the 
 mutinous action of the Levellers, who in May broke out into 
 open revolt. The first signs of this movement were, as usual, 
 so trifling as almost to escape notice. A soldier having been 
 shot for mutiny, his funeral was made the occasion for 
 a demonstration which was attended by some thousands of 
 his comrades as a protest against discipline and law. This 
 proof of sedition was however allowed to go unpunished, and 
 thus encouraged the mutineers soon ventured on stronger and 
 more open revolt. Scroope's regiment having been ordered to 
 Ireland refused to march until the Parliament should have 
 performed its promises to them. In this act of insubordina- 
 tion thev were joined by many discontented men from
 
 206 TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 other regiments, and the movement gaining ground, their 
 discontent at length found voice in a declaration against 
 the Parliament and its policy, which was published at 
 Banbury by a Captain Tomson, who had collected about 200 
 horse. Troops were at once sent to put down the Levellers, 
 and after a short fight at Banbury the majority of them 
 surrendered, while Fairfax moving in person in pursuit of 
 a yet larger party, defeated them and forced them to yield 
 at Burford in Oxfordshire, where they were brought to trial, 
 and being all found guilty, were decimated. 
 
 Tomson fled to Northampton with the remnant of his party, 
 and having been driven thence, was discovered by his 
 pursuers in a wood near Wellingborough where, despairing 
 of quarter, he charged three times on the troops which were 
 sent to apprehend him, and died fighting desperately. 
 
 Similar troubles arose in many parts of England, but the 
 Levellers being everywhere in a minority, were invariably 
 suppressed without difficulty, and were without exception 
 punished with an iron hand. 
 
 In the meantime Ormond was pressing yet closer on 
 Dublin, in consequence of which Ireton, as second in com- 
 mand under Cromwell, was ordered to Ireland in the early 
 part of June. On the 30th of June arrived the news that 
 Dublin was actually besieged, and there being thus no time 
 to spare if it was to be saved from capture, Cromwell started 
 for Ireland on the 2nd of July, travelling in great state, with 
 a life-guard of eighty, "who had all been officers." 
 
 We must here for a time leave the narration of events in 
 England, and pass to the record of the Irish campaign of 
 Cromwell, surely one of the most remarkable in his history, 
 since in nine months he reduced to almost entire peace a 
 country in which war had scarcely ceased during eight 
 years ; it is true that in so doing he made his name such
 
 1648 AND 1649. 207 
 
 a curse as is not yet forgotten, tut it was perhaps scarcely 
 to be expected that the proceedings of the conqueror should 
 be appreciated by the conquered, while from a soldier's point 
 of view he is entitled to the highest praise, since that which 
 lie had to do he did, and did efficiently.
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN IN IRELAND. 
 1649 AND 1650. 
 
 IT will be necessary, before entering upon the narrative of 
 the campaign of Cromwell in Ireland, to relate, in as few 
 words as possible, the events which had led to the miserable 
 condition in which that country was in 1649. In the latter 
 part of the year 1641, only six months after the death of 
 Strafford, an event closely followed by the disband ment of 
 the army which he had collected in Ireland, the whole of 
 that country burst into a blaze of rebellion. The first notice 
 which the rulers of Ireland received of the approach of such 
 a catastrophe was given by one O'Conolly, who betrayed to 
 the Lord Justice Parsons the existence of a plot, of which 
 the object was the seizure by surprise of Dublin Castle and 
 the arsenal within it. 
 
 Acting on his information measures were taken to prevent 
 the success of this enterprise, and Lord Maguire, one of the 
 leaders of the plot, having been made prisoner was sent to 
 London, where he was afterwards beheaded. 
 
 But although Dublin was thus saved, no time existed for 
 any effort for the safety of the remainder of the country,
 
 1649 AND 1650. 209 
 
 since on the very day on which the plot was revealed 
 (October 23rd, 1641), the Irish rose in every part and 
 massacred all Protestants, English and Scottish, under cir- 
 cumstances of the most revolting barbarity. The total 
 number of victims amounted to about 40,000 ; men, women 
 and children being indiscriminately murdered in a manner 
 of which the details recall those of the massacre of 
 Cawnpore. 
 
 The principal leader of the Irish was Sir Phelim O'Neale 
 (or O'Xeill), a member of the family of the Earls of Tyrone, 
 who, having caused all the Scots and English in Ulster to 
 be put to death, maintained an absolute rule in that 
 province. 
 
 Of the whole of Ireland but little remained in the hands 
 of the English beyond Dublin and Drogheda (then called 
 Tredagh), and even the Irish of the Pale, who had at first 
 been believed to be loyal, and had in consequence been 
 supplied with arms, joined with the rebels and rivalled them 
 in their worst cruelties; of these half-English Irish Lord 
 Gormanston took the chief command. 
 
 The first enterprise attempted by the rebels was the siege 
 of Drogheda, and a defeat inflicted by them on a small 
 party which had been sent to relieve that town added greatly 
 to their repute and numbers. The first engagement of note 
 occurred on the 15th of April, 1642, at Kilrush in County 
 "Wexford, where the Marquis of Ormond the King's Lieu- 
 tenant-Gen eral, defeated Lord Mountgarret the leader of the 
 Irish ; this action had no very decisive result at the time, 
 but Drogheda having been shortly before relieved, the 
 English now began to hold their own, aided by some scanty 
 help from England, where indeed there were but few troop 
 to spare. 
 
 Our space will not permit of an account of the many
 
 210 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 engagements which took place during this war, up to the 
 time when, in April, 1643, the King proposed to the rebels 
 a cessation of arms for one year, an act which, as before 
 mentioned, greatly increased his unpopularity and diminished 
 his chance of success. This proposal was renewed by further 
 letters in May and July of the same year, and was finally 
 concluded on the 15th of September, at which date an order 
 was issued that all officers and soldiers who were not abso- 
 lutely required for garrisons should be transported to 
 England. 
 
 The truce appears to have been well observed by each 
 party, and resulted in a treaty of peace which was signed in 
 July, 1646, by which the Roman Catholics obtained every 
 demand which they put forward. This peace was neverthe- 
 less at once broken, and Ormond (who had been appointed 
 Lord Lieutenant in January, 1643) was closely besieged in 
 Dublin by a force, headed by Cardinal Kinuccini, the Papal 
 Kuncio, who had assumed the command of the Irish 
 Catholics. Finding himself in so dangerous a position, 
 Ormond, by express direction from the King, offered his 
 submission to the English Parliament, to whom he surren- 
 dered Dublin, Drogheda, Dundalk, and such other garrisons 
 as remained in his hands. This transaction was completed 
 on the 25th of July, 1647, when Colonel Jones took com- 
 mand of Dublin for the Parliament, and was made by them 
 Commander-in-Chief in Ireland; his total force however 
 amounted to but 5,000 men. 
 
 The war now continued with varying success, the com- 
 manders for the Parliament being, in addition to Jones, 
 Monk in Ulster and Lord Inchiquin in Munster. The latter 
 in 1648 joined Ormond, who in September, upon the invita- 
 tion of the Catholics, returned to Ireland, the Papal Nuncio 
 having been driven from the country by his own party, who
 
 1649 AND 1650. 211 
 
 were alienated from him by his folly and insolence. At the 
 -end of 1648 there were therefore two parties in Ireland ; the 
 Parliamentary, which had been the English, holding Dublin 
 and a few garrisons, and the Catholics, who formerly rebels, 
 were now held as Koyalists, and whose new leader Ormond, 
 on the death of Charles I., proclaimed the Prince of Wales, 
 on the 16th of February, 1649, at Carrick, as King of 
 England, Scotland, France, and Ireland. 
 
 The English Parliament now at last resolved to put an 
 end to disorder in Ireland, and with this object, in March, 
 1649, appointed Cromwell to the supreme command; to him 
 this command gave great satisfaction, as in it he found not 
 only an opportunity for further distinguishing himself, but 
 also a means of uniting all soldiers, of whatever denomina- 
 tion, in such affection and regard to himself as always attends 
 a general who leads an army to successful battle. 
 
 On the other hand Ormond's position was by no means an 
 easy one, for not only did Owen O'Neale (the son of Sir 
 Phelim) and the Irish army whom he led refuse to join in 
 the peace or to serve under the Marquis, but the Scots also, 
 to whom he had sent for aid, though sufficiently willing to 
 assist the King, declined absolutely to make any terms with 
 the Roman Catholics whom Ormond commanded. Jones in 
 the mean time received some little succour from England, 
 but there was as ever very great difficulty in inducing any of 
 the English army to volunteer for Ireland, or even to proceed 
 there when ordered. 
 
 At length in May, 1649, Ormond, having collected 8,000 
 foot and 2,000 horse, advanced on Dublin, near which he 
 arrived on the 19th of June, while shortly after Inchiquin 
 captured Drogheda. Information having been now received 
 of an agreement between O'Ueale and Monk, who held 
 Dundalk, Inchiquin at once marched to the north, defeated
 
 212 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 part of the forces of the former, and forced the latter to 
 surrender that town. In a few weeks all the smaller garri- 
 sons which the Parliamentary party held had been reduced, 
 and there remained in their hands in the early part of 
 August, only Dublin and Londonderry, while the safety of 
 the latter place was due entirely to the action of O'Neale, for 
 seeking alliance with whom, the Governor, Sir Charles 
 Coote, was censured by the Parliament, who refused to 
 recognise as possible any alliance with Papists. The same 
 blame for the same reason was also lavished on Monk who, 
 on his return home after the surrender of Dundalk, though 
 well received at Chester by Cromwell who was then on his 
 way to Ireland, was so treated by the House of Commons, 
 that men believed that he never either forgot or forgave his 
 reception. 
 
 Milford Haven was appointed as the rendezvous for the 
 forces ordered to Ireland, whence, ere the main body was 
 prepared to start, reinforcements to the extent of 2,000 
 men were sent to Jones, thus bringing up his strength, 
 after deducting all losses, to a total of about 5,000. On 
 the other hand Ormond was weakened by the departure of 
 Inchiquin, who had been detached to Munster in con- 
 sequence of a report that Cromwell intended to land in 
 that province. Being acquainted with this fact Jones on 
 the 2nd of August sallied from Dublin, completely defeated 
 Ormond at Kathmines, and forced him to raise the siege of 
 the capital, inflicting upon him a loss of 4,000 killed and 
 2,500 prisoners. 
 
 Ormond after adding to the garrisons of Drogheda and 
 Trim, fell back himself to Kilkenny, whereupon Jones 
 undertook the siege of the former place, but was, upon the 
 return of Ormond to Trim, shortly afterwards obliged to 
 abandon that enterprise. The Marquis, satisfied with this
 
 1649 AND 1650. 213 
 
 effort, and having heard of the landing of Cromwell, fell 
 back about the 15th of August to his former position. 
 
 It had originally been intended that Ireton, with his 
 troops, should land at Kinsale, but this project being 
 abandoned on account of the weather, he sailed to Dublin, 
 and there united his force to that of Cromwell. The new 
 Lord Lieutenant was enthusiastically received at Dublin, 
 which city, now that its garrison was reinforced with the 
 9,000 men whom Oliver had brought with him, at last felt 
 itself safe from attack. 
 
 The total force at Cromwell's disposal amounted to seven- 
 teen regiments of foot and 5,000 horse, in all about 15,000 
 men ; with 10,000 selected from these, after issuing a pro- 
 clamation against swearing and lawlessness, he on the 30th 
 of August marched directly upon Drogheda, intending 
 either to take that town or to fight Ormond should he 
 attempt to relieve it. Sir Arthur Aston, who it may be 
 remembered was Governor of Reading in 1643, was in com- 
 mand of the garrison of Drogbeda, which consisted of 2,000 
 foot and one regiment of horse ; every effort had been made 
 to put the place into a good condition for defence. 
 
 Cromwell, on his way to Drogheda, detached 1,000 foot and 
 500 horse under Colonel Venables to reinforce the garrison 
 of Londonderry ; this force marching to the north success- 
 fully effected a junction with Sir Charles Coote, the 
 Governor, who with its assistance sallied from the town, 
 and cleared the enemy from the adjacent country for a 
 distance of fourteen miles. 
 
 On the arrival of the English army before Drogheda, which 
 took place on the 2nd of September, Ormond with 5,000 
 men again advanced to Trim, but confident in the strength 
 of the former place, made no effort to come thence to its 
 aid. On the 9th of September Cromwell summoned the
 
 214 TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 town, and on the 10th, having made a breach on either side 
 of St. Mary's Church, he ordered a storming-party of 1,000 
 men under Colonel Castle to commence the assault. The- 
 storm began at 5 p.m., while a second party of forty or fifty 
 men, under Captain Brandly (of the Navy), attacked a tenaille, 
 which by its fire flanked one of the breaches. This latter 
 work was carried at once, but the postern to the tenaille- 
 through the curtain was found to be blocked by the corpses 
 of the slain of the garrison, to such an extent that no entrance 
 could be forced by that way. The main attack, after having 
 carried the breaches was stopped by entrenchments, which 
 the besieged had made on either side, and was finally driven 
 out by a counter-attack with the loss of its leader. The day- 
 was now drawing to an end, while it was essential, above 
 all for moral reasons, that the Parliamentary army should 
 not appear to have received a check from the Irish ; for these 
 reasons Cromwell immediately ordered a fresh attack, which 
 ho led in person, and which stormed the breaches, the 
 retrenchments, and the church. 
 
 The cavalry, which were at first unable to enter the town> 
 owing to the fact that the breaches had not been cut down 
 sufficiently low, now poured into the streets, from which 
 they quickly drove the enemy, who fled across the Boyne, 
 or into the Mill-mount, a defensive palisaded work on an 
 eminence, which formed apparently a species of citadel. 
 The victorious troops pressed on, the Mill-mount was stormed,, 
 and all whom it contained, including the Governor, were put 
 to the sword. Those of the garrison who had escaped across 
 the river, however, still held three points, namely, the 
 steeple of St. Peter's Church, the West Gate, and a tower 
 near the latter called St. Sunday's. Since these men 
 refused to surrender, the steeple with all in it was burnt, 
 while a strong guard was set to watch the towers; these
 
 1649 AND 1650. 215 
 
 both surrendered on the following day, when the officers and 
 every tenth man of the defenders of one tower, whence 
 the troops had been fired on, were shot at once, while the 
 remainder of that garrison, as well as the whole of those 
 in the other tower, were made prisoners and sent eventually 
 as slaves to Barbadoes. Of the entire force of the Royalists, 
 not fifty men escaped from death or captivity, direct orders 
 having been given by Cromwell to spare none who might be 
 found in arms ; the loss of the English army was 1 00 killed, 
 which, following the ordinary ratio of casualties, would 
 imply an addition of about 200 wounded. 
 
 Much has been said with respect to the slaughter which 
 Cromwell ordered on this occasion (a slaughter certainly not 
 without a parallel in our own day), and while his detractors 
 point to it as an instance of his cruelty and intolerance, his 
 admirers lament it as unworthy of his greatness, and en- 
 deavour to find excuse for it in that, by his own statement, 
 we know that it was ordered " in the heat of action." 
 
 But no blame or excuse is really needed, for war cannot 
 be made on humanitarian principles, and Cromwell, being a 
 soldier and having specific work to do, did that work in the 
 way that seemed to' him, and was, the most effectual and 
 complete. He. says himself, " Truly I believe this bitterness 
 will save much effusion of blood ; " and that this was its 
 true tendency is shown by the immediate surrender of 
 Dundalk and Trim, due almost certainly to the warning 
 taken from the terrible fate of the defenders of Drogheda. 
 That war is an awful and horrible thing those who have 
 seen it most often testify most distinctly, but it is unfortu- 
 nately still as unavoidable as disease, and like disease must 
 bring with it suffering and death ; so long as these attend- 
 ants upon war strike only the actual combatants, pity is 
 wasted on the fate of those who endure only that which
 
 216 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 they strive to inflict. But the true sadness of the matter 
 lies, not in those details of it which affect the paid and pro- 
 fessional ministers of war, hut in such as ruin, starve, and slay 
 the innocent inhabitants of the theatre in which the deadly 
 tragedy is played out. 
 
 After reading Cromwell's graphic account of the storm of 
 Drogheda, the mind, though fully realising the horror of 
 such slaughter, finds a yet more awful horror behind this, in 
 the thought of the hideous sufferings of the inhabitants of 
 the town, who, Protestants and Catholics, were harried in 
 turn by the Catholics of Ormond and by the Puritans of 
 Cromwell, and this in an age when less pity was shown by 
 each to any form of heresy, than to the most heinous and 
 devilish crime. 
 
 After the fall of Drogheda Ormond fell back to Kilkenny, 
 while Cromwell returned to Dublin, whence, about a fort- 
 night later, the English army marched to the south, with 
 the object of reducing Wexford ; it was compelled however 
 to leave garrisons in Drogheda, Dundalk, and Trim, by 
 which detachments the strength of the field army Avas much 
 reduced. The army moved, paying, by special order of 
 Cromwell, for all provisions, along the sea-shore to Killin- 
 carrig, where a post which had been abandoned by the 
 enemy was garrisoned with a company ; thence they passed 
 through a country desolated by the war to the river 
 Darragh,* near Arklow, where a castle (query Clenart 
 Castle 1 ?), which was the property of Ormond, received a 
 similar 'garrison. There leaving the sea, to which they 
 had probably clung on account of the convenience of supply 
 from their ships, the army marched on Limerick, a small 
 
 * So says Carlyle, but it seems more probable that it was the 
 Berry water, a stream which runs into the Avoca.
 
 1649 AKD 1650. 217 
 
 town where the enemy had a strong garrison, \vhich how- 
 ever retired before the approach of Cromwell and burnt 
 their post; the next point was Ferns, of which the castle 
 surrendered on summons, and was garrisoned, as was also the 
 castle of Enniscorthy. 
 
 Thus after a march of eight days Cromwell arrived in 
 front of Wexford on the 1st of October. On the 3rd he 
 summoned the town, but Colonel Simcott, the Governor, who 
 had but lately occupied it with a garrison, endeavoured to 
 temporise, until, having received a reinforcement of 500 foot 
 from Lord Castlehaven, he should be in a position to refuse 
 to conclude any treaty without the consent of that nobleman. 
 In the meantime Jones, who was now Cromwell's Major- 
 General, had been sent with troops to the mouth of the 
 harbour, where he captured a fort, and further, with the 
 assistance of some of the sailors of the fleet, compelled a 
 frigate of twelve guns which lay near it to surrender. 
 
 On the receipt of Simcott's answer Oliver abruptly broke 
 off all negotiations, and the guns having arrived on the 6th, 
 had by the 10th of October armed the whole of his batteries. 
 He directed that the fire of his ordnance should be concen- 
 trated on the castle, which stood 300 or 400 paces outside 
 of the walls at the south-east angle of the town, being 
 convinced that should the castle fall the town would soon 
 follow. 
 
 On the llth Simcott asked for terms of surrender; in 
 answer to him, Cromwell offered quarter for all, the officers 
 to be prisoners, the non-commissioned officers and soldiers to 
 be allowed to go to their homes, and the townspeople to 
 be protected from violence and plunder. But before this 
 answer could be accepted, the Governor of the castle, " being 
 fairly treated," basely surrendered his charge. The defenders 
 of the town walls, seeing their enemy on the battlements 
 
 Q
 
 218 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 of the castle, were seized with a panic and deserted their 
 posts ; observing this a storming party at once escaladed the 
 walls and pushed into the town. A stand which was made 
 by the garrison in the market-place served only to inflame 
 the passion of the assailants, who " put all to the sword that 
 came in their way," and finding that most of the townspeople 
 had fled, plundered their houses of everything portable. The 
 loss of the English did not exceed 20 men, while about 2,000 
 of the enemy perished. 
 
 Having placed a garrison in Wexford, Cromwell marched 
 to Eoss, which he summoned on the 17th of October, but 
 the Governor, having received a reinforcement of 1,500 men 
 from Ormond, hesitated to ask for terms. On the 19th, 
 therefore, the English batteries opened fire, but when a 
 breach had been made and all things had been prepared for 
 a storm, the Governor evacuated the town and retired with 
 his garrison to the west across the river Barrow. 
 
 During the whole of this time Ormond was lying quiet at 
 Kilkenny where, having now come to an agreement with. 
 O'Neale, he was awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from 
 the north. But the Royal or Catholic party was fast losing 
 heart, having found that their troops were no match for 
 those of Cromwell, and from all sides flowed in offers of 
 surrender and submission. Before the middle of November 
 Cork and Youghal were in the hands of the Parliament and 
 duly garrisoned. All was thus going well in the south 
 of Ireland, while in the north Coote, with the assistance of 
 the reinforcements sent to him by Cromwell, had almost suc- 
 ceeded in driving the enemy from Ulster. On the 14th of 
 November Cromwell was still at Ross, engaged in con- 
 structing a bridge across the Barrow, with the intention of 
 marching up the Nore, and of endeavouring to force Ormond 
 to give battle.
 
 1649 AND 1650. 219 
 
 About this time Prince Rupert, who was in command of a 
 remnant of that portion of the fleet which had, upon the 
 appointment of Rainsborough to their command, deserted the 
 cause of the Parliament, but who had been cooped up in the 
 harbour of Kinsale by Admiral Blake (the defender of Lyme 
 Kegis and Taunton), succeeded with the loss of three ships 
 in breaking through the blockading squadron, and sailed for 
 Portugal, thus for ever passing from the history of the war ; 
 of Maurice also we shall hear no more, for he, towards the 
 end of the year 1649, disappeared in the West Indies with 
 his ship and his whole crew, no trace of their fate having 
 been ever found. 
 
 At this period occurred one of the few actions in which 
 the Irish ventured to meet the English troops in the open 
 field, which for other reasons is not without some little 
 interest. A column composed of soldiers who, having been 
 left sick at Dublin, had been on convalescence Bordered to 
 rejoin the army, was on the 1st of November at Arklow. 
 Its total strength amounted to only 800 foot and 350 horse, 
 and the enemy, having heard from the country people of its 
 approach, determined to cut it off from the main army. With 
 this object, Inchiquin was ordered to attack it with a force 
 of 3,000 men, but, directions having been sent to the 
 commander of the little column requiring him to march 
 as quickly and in as close order as possible, the Irish leader 
 succeeded only in overtaking him with the cavalry of his 
 force, who came up with the English at about seven miles 
 from Wexford. On the receipt of a report from their scouts 
 that the enemy was in pursuit, the Parliamentary troops 
 were drawn up on the sands, between the sea and the cliffs, 
 thus securing their flanks and preventing any possibility 
 of an attack on their rear ; in this position they awaited the 
 onset of their opponents. The Irish force consisted of about 
 
 Q 2
 
 220 THE PAELIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 1,500 cavalry, who overwhelmed the English horse with 
 their numbers and at once drove them back in disorder ; but 
 the foot, though "miserably weary," stood fast, and with- 
 holding their fire until the enemy were within pistol-shot, 
 repulsed them with severe loss. The horse, which had 
 in the mean time been rallied, gallantly charged again, and 
 drove off the Irish in confusion. This trifling skirmish has 
 a certain value in military history from the fact that a 
 similar affair at the present day might be reported in almost 
 the same words ; and further, because it proves that, even in 
 those days when the foot were badly armed, cavalry not of 
 the best were unable to break really good infantry ; but on 
 the other hand, Cromwell himself owns that, had the enemy's 
 dismounted troops arrived before the conclusion of the action r 
 the English column must have been destroyed. At about 
 the middle of November it was determined to advance upon 
 Ormond, and to endeavour to force him to accept battle. 
 "With this object Lieutenant-General Jones and Major- 
 General Ireton, leaving Cromwell sick at Ross, moved to 
 Inistioge, which was abandoned on their approach ; at this 
 point they had hoped to be able to cross the river, but, 
 finding it so swollen by rain as to be unfordable, they passed 
 on to Thomastown, where there was a bridge. This, however, 
 the enemy broke down before retiring from the town, after 
 which check, since nearly all their supply of food was ex- 
 hausted, the English troops returned to Koss. 
 
 This expedition was not, however, altogether a failure, 
 for a force consisting of twelve troops of horse and three oi 
 dragoons, detached under Colonel Reynolds from the main 
 column, succeeded in surprising Carrick-on-Suir. On coming 
 near the town in the early morning of the 20th, Reynolds 
 divided his command into two parties, of which he sent one 
 openly against the enemy, while the other, their attention
 
 1649 AND 1650. 221 
 
 being thus diverted from it, made a dash at one of the gates ; 
 this they surprised and occupied and, upon the threat 
 of a further advance into the town, all those of the garrison 
 who could escape fled ; 100 prisoners were taken, while the 
 occupants of the castle, about 90 Welshmen, joined the 
 Parliamentary army. Thus with hut little loss of life was 
 captured a town of such strategical importance that Cromwell 
 at once (on the 21st and 22nd) occupied it with his entire 
 force ; its value lay in the fact that it afforded a point of 
 passage over the Suir, thereby giving free access to Waterford, 
 and, which was perhaps for the moment even more important, 
 offering a means of communication with the fleet, and thus 
 ensuring a supply from them of ammunition and food. Of 
 these the former was at the time much needed, for the reason 
 that, Waterford Harbour being held by the enemy, no ships 
 could come up the Barrow to Ross. 
 
 On the 23rd Cromwell moved on to Waterford ; on the 
 following day Reynolds, who had been left at Carrick-on-Suir 
 with 150 foot, six troops of horse and one of dragoons, was 
 attacked by the enemy, who fully appreciated the advantage 
 which had accrued to the English by the capture of this 
 town. The little garrison defended itself with great 
 bravery against th attack of a far superior force, and the 
 assailants, though they succeeded in burning the gates and 
 sprang a small mine under the walls, failed to effect an 
 entrance, and were, after four hours of hard fighting, re- 
 pulsed with the loss of some hundreds of men. 
 
 The garrison of Waterford, having been lately reinforced, 
 was too confident to yield without a struggle, while Cromwell, 
 on account of the approach of winter, decided not to com- 
 mence the siege. He however sent Jones, with a regiment 
 of horse and three troops of dragoons, to gain possession, if 
 possible, of the fort at Passage ; this was surrendered by the
 
 222 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS, 
 
 Governor without difficulty, and the English thus obtained' 
 the power to use Waterford Harbour, which was commanded 
 by the guns of the fort. 
 
 Immediately after this success (on December the 3rd) the 
 army went into whiter quarters ; these included Bandon 
 Bridge, Kinsale, Cork, and Wexford, the headquarters 
 being at Youghal. At Dungarvan, on or about the 10th of 
 the month, died Lieutenant-General Jones, to whom the 
 present favourable position of the Parliament was largely due. 
 One only episode varied the monotony of the winter quarters; 
 this was an effort made by Colonel Wogan, the Governor of 
 Duncannon, to join with Ferral (or Farrell), the Governor of 
 Waterford, in an attempt to retake the fort at Passage. On 
 obtaining information that such an enterprise was intended, 
 Cromwell ordered Colonel Zanchy, whose troops lay on the 
 northern bank of the Blackwater, to advance with his regiment 
 of horse and two guns to the relief of the garrison. With 
 this small body (in all 320 men) Zanchy entirely defeated 
 the Irish, of whom about 100 were killed, while the prisoners,, 
 among whom was Wogan himself, were 350 in number, and 
 thus actually exceeded their captors in numerical strength. 
 One incident with regard to this skirmish is interesting, as 
 showing how remarkable were the terms on which Ormond 
 stood with the Irish who nominally served under his com- 
 mand ; the townsmen of Waterford in their mistrust of their 
 leader, who was present in the town during the action, 
 absolutely refused to permit any of his troops to pass through 
 their streets to the assistance of their discomfited friends, nor 
 would they accept, even in their hour of need, of the addition 
 of any fraction of the Marquis's force to their garrison. 
 Owing to their rejection of all such aid Wogan's regiments 
 were entirely routed, while Ferral was driven hastily back 
 into Waterford.
 
 1649 AND 1650. 223 
 
 In the early part of the month of January, 1650, Ireton was 
 appointed by the Parliament President of Munster, while a 
 few days later, on the 12th, a letter was written by the 
 Speaker to Cromwell, by which he was recalled to England, 
 in consequence of the proposed reception of Charles II. by the 
 Scots, and of the threatening attitude of that nation, against 
 whom, as was well known, Fairfax was unwilling to fight. 
 Rumours of the above proposal had on the. 8th of February 
 already reached Ireland, but the actual letter did not come 
 into Cromwell's hands until a considerably later date. 
 
 At the end of January, 1650, the weather being favourable, 
 the English army again took the field. Oliver now deter- 
 mined to divide his force into two parts, of which one, 
 consisting of 2,000 infantry and fifteen troops of horse and 
 dragoons, was to march under Colonel Reynolds, followed by 
 Ireton with a reserve, by Carrick into Kilkenny ; the other 
 under his own leadership, and containing twelve troops of 
 cavalry, three of dragoons, and between 200 and 300 foot, 
 was to attack Tipperary. It is interesting to note how, 
 having now obtained a firm footing in the country, Cromwell 
 does not hesitate to leave the sea-coast, to which, and to the 
 shifting base afforded by the ships, he had formerly clung 
 closely. 
 
 Following first the fortunes of Cromwell's column, we find 
 that he marched from Youghal on the 29th of January, 
 crossing the Blackwater, and inclining to the right at 
 Clogheen, passed the Suir with much difficulty. Thence 
 coming to Fethard, he after nightfall occupied a portion 
 of the suburbs and summoned the town ; the garrison in 
 answer, fired angrily upon the English forces, saying, " that it 
 was not a time of night to send a summons," but, after the 
 negotiations had continued until the morning, the Governor 
 surrendered upon such terms "as we usually call honour-
 
 224 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 able." Cromwell, hearing that Keynolds was now at Callan, 
 marched to [that place, which though guarded by three 
 castles, had been taken before he arrived; leaving in the 
 town a garrison of one company and one troop, he returned 
 by the middle of February to Fethard and Cashel, having 
 previously despatched Eeynolds to take the Castle of 
 Knocktopher, which lay about half-way between Callan 
 and Eoss, and interrupted the communication of one with 
 the other; this service was efficiently performed. Ireton's 
 column had taken for the object of its action the occupation 
 of some passage over the Suir, which at present the English 
 were unable to cross except by boat, or in weather sufficiently 
 dry to make the fords passable ; they therefore attacked 
 Ardfinnan, where was a bridge defended by a strong work, 
 and after a short struggle, in which they lost only two men 
 killed, possessed themselves of that town. The conquest of 
 this post was of the very greatest utility, since in all the 
 course of the Suir, this was the nearest bridge to Cappoquin, 
 where the English lines of communication with Youghal 
 crossed the Blackwater. 
 
 One point only remains to be noted ; it was considered 
 that during the absence of the English army, the enemy 
 might very probably make an inroad into County Cork. To 
 prevent any such danger Lord Broghill was left with a force 
 at Mallow, from which position he could guard the county 
 against any attack from Limerick or Kerry. He, finding 
 himself idle in consequence of the failure of Inchiquin to 
 advance, employed his time in capturing Castletownroche, 
 of which the surrender placed all the country between the 
 Mallow and the Suir in the hands of the English. 
 
 In the course of March the whole County of Tipperary 
 submitted to the Parliament, and agreed to pay a monthly 
 contribution of 1,500; while a letter from Cromwell, dated
 
 1649 AND 1650. 225 
 
 March the 5th, relates how he has " taken in " all the castles 
 on the upper waters of the Suir, and had also gained a strong 
 hold on Limerick County, in which Broghill and Colonel 
 Henry Cromwell had defeated Inchiquin near the town of 
 Limerick. 
 
 The Irish forces, under Lord Castlehaven, had by this 
 time been driven back on Carlow, Leighlin Bridge, and 
 Kilkenny. Cromwell intending to besiege the latter place, 
 which he knew to be of great strength, called Colonel 
 Hewson from Dublin to his aid. The Colonel, marching 
 with a body of 3,000 men, succeeded without much difficulty 
 in effecting this junction, since he met with no resistance of 
 importance, except from the castle which guarded Leighlin 
 Bridge. This he carried, and thus rendered unnecessary 
 the assistance which might have been afforded to him by a 
 detachment of 800 horse and dragoons with 500 foot, which, 
 under the command of Colonel Shilbourne, Cromwell had 
 sent to meet him, in case the enemy should attempt to delay 
 his march. It was fortunate that their aid was not needed, 
 for by some accident they failed to find him, and therefore 
 returned to Wexford, taking on their way Thomastown and 
 two other castles on the iNore. 
 
 Ireton with his forces now passed to "Waterford in order 
 to continue the siege of that place, while Cromwell, having 
 met Hewson near Gowran, secured that town, and on the 
 52nd of March, advanced on Kilkenny, upon which move- 
 ment Castlehaven fell back up the river Nore by Ballyragget 
 to Castletown. 
 
 Cromwell at once commenced the attack on Kilkenny, 
 against which he threw up a battery, which on the 25th 
 opened fire from three guns. These in about 100 rounds made 
 a breach, which appeared practicable, but which was so swept 
 by the fire from some retrenchments, that the storming
 
 226 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 party Avas repulsed from the assault with the loss of an 
 officer and twenty or thirty men. A simultaneous attack 
 made on the Irish town, a suburb of the place, was, however, 
 completely successful. Another suburb situated on the 
 opposite side of the river was captured without difficulty by 
 eight companies, which were sent for that purpose ; but the 
 officer in command having ordered an attack on the city, to 
 which the only road lay across the bridge, the troops which 
 attempted this dangerous operation were repulsed with the 
 loss of fifty men, for the bridge up to the gate, which he 
 desired to burn, was fully exposed to the fire of the defenders. 
 After this failure Cromwell, wishing to have recourse to 
 surer if slower means than that of open assault, commenced 
 to prepare a second battery ; but on the 28th the garrison 
 surrendered upon terms. 
 
 The Speaker's letter, by which Cromwell was recalled to 
 England, was received by him on the 22nd of March ; but 
 not finding its message confirmed by another letter of a later 
 date, he wrote on the 2nd of April from Kilkenny to ask for 
 further instructions. 
 
 Munster and Leinster being now practically subdued, 
 Ireton was sent into Connaught with the object of preventing 
 the junction of Lord Clanricarde, who commanded there, 
 with Castlehaven, who was General in Leinster ; Cromwell 
 himself in the meantime prepared to reduce Clonmel, which 
 was, with the exception of "Waterford, the last important 
 garrison of the Irish in the south. 
 
 On the 27th of April the English army, which had been 
 employed in the interval between this and the last date 
 mentioned in the reduction of many lesser posts, took up its 
 position before Clonmel ; on the 30th the guns arrived, and 
 by their fire a practicable breach was made by the 9th of 
 May. But the garrison, which numbered about 2,000
 
 1649 AND 1650. 227 
 
 infantry, in nowise dismayed, retrenched the breach with 
 parapets, which were flanked from the adjacent houses, with 
 the result that, on the attempt of an assault, after four hours 
 of hard fighting the storming party was driven back with 
 heavy loss. Thus ended the day of the 10th; during the 
 night the garrison contrived, without being perceived, to 
 escape from the farther side of the town; while in the 
 morning, before their departure had been discovered, articles 
 of surrender had been agreed upon with the few who 
 remained. Finding themselves thus tricked, the English at 
 once sent cavalry in pursuit of the fugitives, but they had 
 obtained too long a start to allow of their being caught, and 
 thus escaped with the loss of but 200 of such as straggled 
 from the column. 
 
 With this success ended Cromwell's share in the reduction 
 of Ireland ; the President frigate having been specially sent 
 to convey him to England, he left Ireland towards the end 
 of May, and arrived in London, by way of Bristol, on the 
 31st of that month, having left behind him Ireton as his 
 Lord Deputy. During his short stay in Ireland of barely 
 nine months, Cromwell had succeeded in regaining possession 
 of Leinster and the greater part of Munster, while Coote and 
 Venables, acting under his orders, had almost driven the 
 Irish from Ulster. Connaught alone remained in the posses- 
 sion of the Catholics and Royalists. 
 
 The cause of the King in Ireland was now lost, but it 
 may be of interest to relate shortly the farther history of 
 that country up to the date of the final extinction of the 
 war. 
 
 "We have first to take notice of some minor actions. A 
 short time after Cromwell's departure, Ormond, Clanricarde, 
 and Castlehaven met at Ballymore, in West Meath, for the 
 purpose of consulting on the progress of events. Their
 
 228 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 meeting was, however, disturbed by the coining of Colonel 
 Reynolds, who, having been informed of the intended gather- 
 ing of the Irish leaders, attacked their guards with a force 
 of 2,500 men, dispersed them, and forced the members of 
 the Council to fly in all haste into Connaught. After this 
 exploit, Reynolds, having been reinforced by troops from 
 Dublin, devoted his attention to the reduction of the isolated 
 strongholds which still remained in the hands of the Irish. 
 An effort made by the Bishop of Ross to relieve Clonmel, 
 while that place was being besieged by Cromwell, was 
 disastrously repulsed by Lord Broghill, who at Bandon 
 utterly defeated the Irish forces, and, having captured the 
 person of the Bishop, hanged him without ceremony as a 
 rebel. 
 
 Ormond now began to find his position intolerable, though, 
 in addition to the Province of Connaught, many large towns 
 and forts still held out against the Parliament, for the 
 jealousy of the Irish in the fortified towns against the 
 English Royalists was so great, that they refused altogether 
 to receive them into their garrisons. The Marquis was thus 
 totally unable to arrange any organised system of defence, 
 from which it resulted that the several fractions of the Irish 
 force were destroyed in detail. 
 
 In the north of the island the Parliamentary party ob- 
 tained similar success to that which attended their arms in 
 the south, for Sir Charles Coote, having been attacked near 
 Londonderry by the Bishop of Clogher, wh'o led a force 
 of 5,000 men, entirely defeated him on the 20th of June. 
 The Bishop, flying from the battle, was taken prisoner near 
 Inniskillen, and at once hanged. 
 
 The fortified towns now fell fast from the hands of the 
 Irish. Carlow surrendered on the 1 9th of August, Waterf ord 
 a few days later, as also did Charlemont, Coleraine, and
 
 1649 AND 1650. 229 
 
 twenty others. In August also, Ireton, sweeping all the 
 cattle from "VVicklow County as provision for the siege, and 
 calling Sir Hardress "Waller to his aid, advanced to Limerick, 
 while he sent Sir Charles Coote to hesiege Athlone. With 
 the view of interrupting the siege of Limerick, Lord Clan- 
 ricarde, gathering together such forces as he could command, 
 advanced from Connaught towards the borders of Leinster, 
 but was on the 25th of October entirely defeated, upon 
 which his troops dispersed. As the weather now began to 
 change rapidly for the worse, while Limerick showed no 
 signs of any intention to yield, the Lord Deputy withdrew his 
 troops from the siege of that place and took up his winter 
 quarters at Kilkenny. 
 
 By the end of the year 1650 Onnond's position became 
 untenable ; on the one hand the Irish refused to obey him, 
 being at one time even threatened by their bishops with 
 excommunication should they do so; on the other, Charles II., 
 being under the influence and in the hands of the Scots, 
 was compelled to publish a declaration against the peace 
 of 1648, and to declare that void which formed the sole 
 bond, even in name, between the different parties who 
 professed to be allied under the Marquis against their com- 
 mon enemy the Parliament of England. All action being 
 thus rendered impossible, Ormond, in the middle of Decem- 
 ber, embarked at Gal way and retired to France, leaving to 
 Lord Clanricarde the task which had proved too hard for 
 himself. Inchiquin also at about the same time, abandoning 
 all hope of ultimate success, fled to Holland. Towards the 
 end of February, 1651, the English troops again took the 
 field; in May Ireton having sent Coote into Connaught 
 by way of Sligo, himself crossed the Shannon, and on the 
 4th of June recommenced the siege of Limerick. An effort 
 was made by Lord Muskerry to relieve the town, and with
 
 230 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 this object he advanced with a considerable force from 
 County Kerry, but Broghill on the 22nd of June fell upon 
 him at midnight near Dromagh, drove the Irish across the 
 Blackwater, and, on their attempting to make a stand on the 
 farther bank, utterly routed and dispersed them. 
 
 The line of the Shannon now formed the boundary be- 
 tween the possessions of the English and the Irish, and 
 on this line, towards the end of May * was fought the last 
 serious battle of the war. Clanricarde having heard that 
 Coote was advancing from Athione, called Castlehaven to 
 him, with the intention of attacking the Parliamentary 
 leader with their combined forces; but Coote, by a forced 
 march of thirty miles, succeeded in reaching Castlehaven's 
 troops before the latter had completed his junction with 
 Clanricarde, having previously delayed this junction by 
 blocking every passage of the river which ran between the 
 two Irish armies. Having fallen upon Castlehaven, who 
 was thus isolated, Coote entirely routed and dispersed his 
 force, and then, after receiving some reinforcements from 
 Ireton, turned upon Clanricarde, whose troops fled in a panic 
 without a blow. Thus the last field army of the Irish 
 ceased to exist, for never again could any such force be 
 reassembled.. 
 
 In July, 1651, on the arrival of a messenger from the 
 Duke of Lorraine, the Irish endeavoured to conclude a treaty 
 with that Prince, who was offered the title of Protector 
 Koyal of Ireland; this proposal had, however, no effect, 
 owing to the success of the Parliamentary party, which made 
 any such office impossible. 
 
 The siege of Limerick dragged on slowly, its monotony 
 being relieved only by a few sallies on the part of the 
 
 * Not only is the date of this action very uncertain, but the scene 
 of the battle is doubtful.
 
 1649 AND 1650. 231 
 
 garrison, until the 23rd of October, when at a meeting in 
 the Town House it was decided to treat with Ireton. This 
 decision was naturally much, opposed by those who knew 
 that their names were on the list of persons excepted 
 from mercy, and the Bishops of Limerick and Emly, who 
 were in this condition, solemnly excommunicated any who 
 should negotiate a surrender ; but nevertheless, one Fennel, a 
 colonel of the Irish, having seized by force one of the gates 
 of the city, yielded it, with a fort which formed part of 
 the defences, to the Parliamentary forces, who marched in on 
 the 29th. 
 
 But Limerick, though captured, proved fatal to Ireton, 
 who died there on the 26th of November, from a fever which 
 had been brought on by the fatigue of the siege and the 
 unhealthiness of the camp of the besiegers. He was suc- 
 ceeded for the time by Major-General Ludlow, under whose 
 command Galway was attacked by Sir Charles Coote. This 
 town however held out its defence until the 12th of May, 
 1652. 
 
 After this latter date there was but little further effort at 
 resistance on the part of the Irish, though the Kebellion was 
 not officially declared to be at an end until the 26th of 
 September, 1653. 
 
 Thus did this war, begun with murder, and continued in 
 strife more sanguinary than skilful, end in quarrels, disunion, 
 and treachery among the Irish, who, being incapable of 
 combination, were likewise incapable of success, since their 
 distrust of each other enabled their enemy to crush each 
 faction in turn. 
 
 After the funeral of Ireton, who was buried in Henry 
 VII.'s Chapel, on the 6th of February, 1652, Lambert was 
 declared Deputy in his place ; but this appointment not 
 meeting with the approval of Cromwell (who well knew that
 
 232 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 Lambert was a bold, capable, and ambitious man), advantage 
 was taken of the termination of Oliver's commission as Lord 
 Lieutenant, in April, 1652, to announce that that of the Lord 
 Deputy must cease at the same time, and Lambert therefore 
 retained only the office of Commander-in-Chief in Ireland. 
 
 Of this post also he was deprived in July, 1652, when the 
 appointment was given to Fleetwood, a good soldier, but a 
 weak man and no politician, who had married Ireton's widow, 
 Bridget, the daughter of Cromwell. 
 
 In 1656 Fleetwood was succeeded by Henry, the son of 
 the Protector, who laid down his office in 1659, at about the. 
 same time as his brother Richard resigned the Protectorate.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE CAMPAIGNS IN SCOTLAND, 1650, AND OF 
 WORCESTER, 1651. 
 
 THE Scottish people, yet full of shame for the part which 
 their army had taken in the surrender of Charles I., were 
 fiercely agitated by the news of his death. Not all the 
 power of Argyll, now as ever the firm friend of Cromwell and 
 the Independents, could prevent the nation from declaring 
 Charles II. the King of Scotland. But the sovereignty thus 
 offered to -him was not such as he desired, hampered as it 
 was by the necessity of taking the Covenant, and by the 
 consequent abandonment of his position as King by divine 
 right. For this reason Charles was rather inclined to trust 
 those who heartily supported his cause because it was the 
 cause of the King, and preferred the assistance of Montrose 
 and Middleton to that of the rigid Presbyterians, who wearied 
 even when they did not insult him. After some hesitation 
 as to whether he should land in Scotland or Ireland, on 
 finding that the latter was closed to him by the success of 
 Cromwell, Charles reopened negotiations with the Scottish 
 Government, but, desiring to have it in his power rather to 
 demand than to entreat their assistance, he, while in com- 
 munication with them, favoured the unfortunate efforts of 
 Montrose. 
 
 R
 
 234 TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 The latter landed in Caithness in April, 1650, but, being- 
 met by Colonel Strahan with the vanguard of Lesley's army, 
 he was defeated at Corbiesdale on the 28th of April, and, 
 having been betrayed by one of his former adherents, was 
 two or three days later taken prisoner. After the semblance 
 of a trial, the Marquis was hanged at Edinburgh on the 
 21st of May. 
 
 On hearing of the defeat and disaster of Montrose, Charles 
 had the meanness to deny to the Scots that he had in any 
 way favoured his enterprise, and, their invitation to him 
 being renewed, set sail from Holland, and arrived in Scotland 
 on the 16th of June. 
 
 The Parliament of England had long foreseen the certainty 
 of war with Scotland, since the latter country had not spared 
 their protestations of horror at the death of the King, while 
 it was an open secret that many of the Presbyterians in 
 England were willing to join with the Scots, and even to 
 accept Charles II., if only by such means the power of the 
 Independents and of the army might be broken. It was 
 therefore determined by the House of Commons not to 
 await the advance of the Scots, but to strike the first 
 blow, a mode of proceeding which would have the addi- 
 tional advantage of transferring the theatre of war into 
 Scotland. 
 
 But Fairfax was known to be averse to any quarrel with 
 the Scots, and, as a Presbyterian with a yet more bigoted 
 wife, was believed to be rather favourable to them than 
 the reverse; in this difficulty it was determined to recall 
 Cromwell from Ireland, and a letter to this effect was written 
 to him in January by the Speaker. As has been already 
 mentioned this letter was long in arriving at its destination, 
 and Cromwell himself did not return to London until 
 the 31st of May. On the 4th of June he received the
 
 1650 AND 1651. 235 
 
 thanks of the House for his success in Ireland ; but this 
 honour, though great, was not the most important gain which 
 he had obtained in that war, for he had won the esteem and 
 respect of the army, no less by his powers of administration 
 than by his talent as a general in the field. Recognised now 
 as the first soldier in the country, he required only the 
 nominal rank to be the leader of the army ; nor had he long 
 to wait for this addition to his position. At a meeting of 
 the Council of State, held at the latter end of June, it was 
 decided, for the reasons given above, to invade Scotland, and 
 thus to force on war. Fairfax, though at the moment he 
 appeared inclined to agree with this decision, finally declared, 
 tinder the influence of his wife and her Presbyterian ministers, 
 against such an invasion, though he professed his willingness 
 to engage the Scots, should they enter England. 
 
 When this feeling on the part of Fairfax became known, 
 a committee, consisting of Cromwell, Harrison, Lambert, and 
 two others, was directed to endeavour to induce the General 
 to change his opinion ; but after a long discussion, he still 
 stated that such action against Scotland would be contrary to 
 his conscience, and so impossible to him. 
 
 For this reason he at once resigned his commission, and 
 Cromwell was, on the 26th of June, appointed Captain- 
 General and Commander-in-Chief of all the Parliamentary 
 forces. 
 
 Oliver, having obtained his rank, did not long delay action, 
 for he at once ordered all available troops to the north, and 
 himself left London on the 29th of June ; by his orders 
 bodies of cavalry were pushed forward to watch the border, 
 and preparations were made for the defence of Carlisle and 
 Berwick against a sudden attack. 
 
 The Scottish forces were estimated at from 7,500 to 10,000 
 infantry, and from 2,700 to 3,000 horse, and rumour further 
 
 R 2
 
 236 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 said that already they were advancing towards the border. 
 Cromwell moved to the north by way of York and Durham, 
 and at the latter place was met by Sir Arthur Haselrigge, 
 the Governor of Newcastle, who accompanied him to that 
 town, whence a letter was addressed to the " Saints " in 
 Scotland, explaining the reasons for the advance of the 
 English. On the 22nd of July the army crossed the border, 
 on which occasion Cromwell issued a proclamation, declaring 
 that no harm should be done to any who stayed quietly at 
 home, while at the same time he promulgated a strict order 
 against straggling and marauding. 
 
 But the country, as the army advanced, was found to 
 be deserted, for the Scottish Government had warned the 
 inhabitants that the coming of the English would be the 
 signal for the murder of all between sixty and sixteen. The 
 army marched by Mordington, Cockburnspath (26th July), 
 and Dunbar (27th), to Haddington, and as they advanced 
 the people in rear rose in arms and cut off all communication 
 with England, except such as could be kept up by sea. 
 
 On the 28th of July Cromwell moved westward from 
 Haddington, in expectation to find the enemy, who were 
 reported to be 36,000 strong, in position on Gladsmuir; after 
 a forced march, made with the object of seizing this line 
 before the arrival of the Scots, he found that the latter 
 were retiring before him towards Edinburgh. Pushing 
 forward therefore a body of 1,400 horse, under Lambert and 
 "Whalley, he advanced his main army to Musselburgh. 
 
 At this point the English force found itself in front of the 
 enemy, who were drawn up in a strong position between 
 Edinburgh and Leith, the line being flanked by the fire of 
 the latter place. On the 29th an effort was made to bring 
 the enemy to action, but after some slight success on the part 
 of the English, who captured a small post, it was found that
 
 1650 AND 1651. 237 
 
 the hostile position was proof against an assault. After 
 having waited during the remainder of the day and through 
 the succeeding night in front of the Scots, with the hope of 
 drawing them on to fight, Cromwell was forced hy the severe 
 weather, and by the want of provisions, to fall back on 
 Musselburgh, whence he could communicate with the ships, 
 and could thus supply his army. 
 
 Now, according to the proposed plan of the Scots, occurred 
 their opportunity, for they had no intention of committing 
 their troops to an engagement except at a decided advantage, 
 but wished by the strength of then: position to force the 
 English to halt, to oblige them to retire by starvation, and 
 then to fall upon their rear and harass the column on its 
 retreat, while holding the passes in front on the road to 
 England. 
 
 Accordingly, as Cromwell drew off on the 30th, the 
 Scottish horse dashed upon the column, but were met by 
 Lambert and Whalley, and so decisively repulsed that they 
 gave no more trouble that day. The fight while it lasted 
 was severe, and Lambert having had his horse killed and 
 being himself wounded, was made prisoner, but was soon 
 rescued by his own men. 
 
 During that night the English army lay at Musselburgh, 
 where it is impossible to say that they "rested," for in 
 addition to the discomfort caused by the constant rain, 
 an attack was made by the enemy between 3 and 4 a.m. 
 Their cavalry, about 1,500 strong, led by Montgomery and 
 Strahan, drove in the outposts and defeated a regiment of 
 English horse, but were soon repulsed, and were pursued to 
 within a quarter of a mile of Edinburgh, with the loss to the 
 Parliamentary troops of only one officer and four men. 
 Lesley, the Scottish leader, now fell back on his old position, 
 giving out, although he had a force of 6,000 or 7,000 horse, and
 
 238 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 about 16,000 foot, that he would not attack until reinforce, 
 ments had come up. It is more probable that, as Cromwell 
 suggested in a letter, he hoped either that the English would 
 run their heads against his impregnable position, or would be 
 starved into retreat and surrender. Cromwell's troops lay 
 quietly at Musselburgh until the 6th of August, at which 
 date, the ships on account of the bad weather not being able 
 to get to that port, they were compelled to fall back on 
 Dunbar, whence, having received from the fleet a supply 
 of tents and provisions, they returned oa the 12th to 
 Musselburgh. 
 
 The General, having thus refreshed and revictualled his 
 army, now proposed another plan by which he hoped to force 
 the enemy to attack him, and with this object, marching 
 round the south side of Edinburgh, took up a position on 
 the lower slopes of the Pentland Hills, within sight of 
 the capital, and so placed that it commanded the road to 
 Stirling, by which the Scottish army received its supplies. 
 At this point the English arrived on the 14th, and the Scots 
 at once drew off the greater part of their force from Leith 
 towards the west, but still resolutely refused to fight. On 
 the 27th, in further hope of making them move against him, 
 Cromwell pushed yet more to the west and towards Stirling. 
 The Scots followed his movement, and, after some skirmish- 
 ing of the advanced guards, the English troops, desiring to 
 bring matters to a final issue, attempted to attack, but soon 
 found that this was impossible, on account of the boggy 
 ground which divided the two armies, and thus the engage- 
 ment died out in a cannonade which was kept up with vigour 
 by either party. 
 
 The supply of bread again falling short, and reports 
 arising of a movement of the Scots on Musselburgh, 
 Cromwell, careful of the safety of his line of com muni-
 
 Saltish Army 1 
 
 ,.,_/, 
 
 THE SCENE OP THE BATTLE OP DUNBAB, 
 SEPTEMBER 3RD, 1650. 
 
 [Page 239.
 
 1650 AND 1651. 239 
 
 cations, returned to the latter town, where he arrived on 
 the 29th, the enemy having at the same time made a parallel 
 march on interior lines, but not having attempted an attack. 
 The weather being very bad, and there being much sickness 
 in his army, Cromwell, fearing lest his ships might not be 
 able to come to Musselburgh, determined to retire to Dunbar, 
 at which place there was a convenient harbour. 
 
 Charles had by this time signed the declaration, which the 
 Scots had demanded as the price of their assistance, and in 
 which he -"confessed his mother's idolatry and professed his 
 father's blood," and had thus, at the price of his honour, 
 bound to his service many who were on the point of opening 
 negotiations with Cromwell. 
 
 On the retirement of the English from Musselburgh on the 
 31st, the Scots at once fell upon their rear, and fighting con- 
 tinued during the whole night as the army fell back on 
 Haddington. On the 1st, after a demonstration to the south 
 of Haddington, Cromwell retired to Dunbar, while the Scots, 
 leaving the coast road, took up a position on the Boon Hill, 
 a spur of the Lammermoor Hills, which commanded the 
 English line of retreat, while to make the intended action 
 yet more fatal to his enemy, Lesley had occupied the Pass of 
 Cockbumspath, by which alone any retreat was possible or 
 any succour could arrive to the English. The nearest hope 
 of the latter lay with Haselrigge at Newcastle at a distance of 
 about 100 miles. 
 
 Cromwell's force, deducting 500 sick who had been em- 
 barked at Musselburgh, amounted to about 12,000 men, and 
 was posted in line facing south, on the undulating ground to 
 the south of Dunbar, being divided from the Scottish army 
 by the Broxburn, which, running in a channel cut by its own 
 waters, formed at this time a ditch forty feet wide and as 
 many deep.
 
 240 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 The Scots, who numbered about 23,000, were posted on 
 the lower slopes of the Boon Hill, in such a position that 
 Cromwell, should he attempt to move towards England, must 
 of necessity either attack them in front at every disadvantage 
 of ground, or must march by their right flank between their 
 army and the sea, a movement which was almost certain to 
 entail disaster. The Scots, fully realising the advantage of 
 their position, looked upon the English army as already lost, 
 and spoke of them with contempt, arranging even the terms 
 of surrender which should be demanded of them. 
 
 There were, it is true, some wiser heads about Lesley, who 
 urged the advisability of offering a golden bridge to an 
 enemy whom they knew to be more than their equals in war; 
 but this advice was overborne by the exhortations of the 
 ministers, who urged on their General in strains resembling, 
 when they were not culled from, those of the old prophets 
 of Israel. 
 
 On the 2nd of September, Lesley moved his whole army 
 down the hill towards the Broxburn, hoping that by so doing 
 he might induce Cromwell to risk the disadvantage which 
 he must suffer from being obliged to pass the ravine, and 
 might draw him on to attack; the Scots further threatened 
 an advance of their troops to the north of the burn, for 
 pushing forward a party in that direction, they seized the 
 garrison of a small cottage which lay in front of the English 
 army. 
 
 But Cromwell stood fast, for indeed it would have been 
 madness to have sent his small force, which must have been 
 disordered by the passage of the obstacle, against the strong 
 front of the Scots. 
 
 At about 4 p.m. Lesley threatened an attack on the English 
 left, for reinforcing his right wing with two-thirds of the 
 cavalry of his left, he edged down towards the sea, with the
 
 1650 AND 1651. 241 
 
 intention of occupying the only easy passage of the ravine, 
 which lay where the road now crosses the Broxburn. The 
 Scottish foot and train also took ground to their right, and 
 it became obvious that, unless forestalled, they would in the 
 morning assault the English flank, and would thus, if suc- 
 cessful, cut the army completely from its base, and drive them 
 back upon the sea. 
 
 But Cromwell, from the grounds of Broxburn House, saw 
 this movement, and at once realised the use which he might 
 make of Lesley's mistake. For the Scottish leader had com- 
 mitted the capital error of abandoning a position on the 
 flank of the defile, in order to take up one in rear of 
 it, and had thus exposed his right, which had originally 
 threatened the march of the English from ground on which 
 it was itself absolutely secure. The Scots were, in con- 
 sequence, now so placed that no advantage of position 
 remained to their right wing, to which again it was extremely 
 difficult to bring up reinforcements since, the army being 
 in occupation of the comparatively level ground at the 
 edge of the ravine, any movement of troops to their 
 flank must be conducted over the rocky and broken side 
 of the bill. There thus existed to the Scots on their 
 right flank only such hope of victory as might be found in 
 a fight, in which they were, as far as regarded their position, 
 on equal terms with their enemy, and that hope Cromwell, 
 knowing the worth of his own men and despising the Scots, 
 fel* with certainty to be but forlorn. 
 
 It was true that, should the Scots succeed in passing the 
 burn without opposition, they would be at once in a position 
 to roll up his line by an attack on his left flank, but this, 
 substituting only the word "right" for "left," was exactly 
 the advantage which he proposed to gain for himself by 
 attacking at the break of day,
 
 242 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 Lambert and Monk, on being consulted, at once agreed to- 
 the plan of their leader, and it was decided that the former 
 with Fleetwood and Whalley, should lead six regiments 
 of horse across the ravine, while Monk should command the 
 three regiments and a half of foot, who were to make good 
 the advantage gained by the charge- of the cavalry. The 
 force named above was directed to advance at daybreak 
 across the burn, and was to clear a passage for the remainder 
 of the army ; this done, the whole were to push in upon the 
 right flank of the Scots, and were to roll it back upon the 
 raiin army. Lambert further added to Cromwell's plan a 
 suggestion that, before the commencement of the advance, 
 the English artillery should open fire on the Scottish left, in 
 order to attract attention to that flank, and thus to delay the 
 despatch of support to the right. 
 
 On the morning of the 3rd of September the troops 
 accordingly paraded before it grew light ; but Lambert being 
 detained on the English right while giving the necessary 
 orders to the artillery, the attack did not commence until 
 six o'clock, greatly to the annoyance of Cromwell, who knew 
 well how much depended upon the assumption of the- 
 initiative. At 6 a.m. the foremost of the troops named 
 above crossed the stream, and the cavalry, who led the way, 
 were at once engaged with the enemy's horse, from whom 
 they met with a stout resistance ; the first attack of the 
 infantry was also checked for a time, though the issue of the 
 struggle between the half-trained Scots and the veteran 
 English was never for a moment doubtful. 
 
 In rear of the leading regiments passed two brigades of 
 infantry and two regiments of cavalry ; these, after crossing 
 the ravine, bore away a little to their left, in order that their 
 advance might not be disordered by the fight which wa*
 
 1650 AND 1651. 243 
 
 raging in their front ; when clear they wheeled up to their 
 right and fell directly upon the enemy's flank. 
 
 For awhile the fight was hot ; but after the leading 
 Scottish troops had been repulsed, each successive body as it 
 advanced against the English was broken by the weight of 
 the fugitives, who were flying in disorder towards the hills ; 
 thus each force in turn was thrown into confusion before the 
 critical moment of the contest, with the result that each in 
 turn added to the number of the flying. 
 
 The action had not lasted for more than an hour before 
 the Scottish army was entirely routed, and the scattered 
 troops were in full flight in every direction, some seeking 
 refuge in Edinburgh, while others, finding their retreat on 
 that city cut off, fell back upon the detachment at Cock- 
 burnspath, which was to have destroyed the last remnant of 
 the English army. 
 
 The pursuit extended over a distance of eight miles, and the 
 total loss of the Scots amounted to 3,000 killed and 10,000 
 prisoners, while 30 guns and 15,000 stand of arms were 
 taken ; the casualties of the English army did not exceed 20 
 men. Of the prisoners, 5,000, being wounded, old men or 
 boys, were allowed to return home ; the remaining 5,000 
 were sent into England, whence, after enduring terrible 
 hardships, they were, as had been the prisoners taken at 
 Preston, sold either as slaves to the planters or as soldiers to 
 the Venetians. 
 
 On the day following that of the battle, Lambert pushed 
 on to Edinburgh with six regiments of horse and one of foot ; 
 Cromwell himself, after a rest of a few days, advanced on 
 the capital, which at once surrendered to the victors. The 
 example thus set was followed by Leith, but Edinburgh 
 Castle still held out against the English.
 
 244 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 The remnant of the Scottish army (but 1,300 horse re- 
 mained of the 6,000 who took part in the battle) retired on 
 Stirling, while Charles himself took np his residence at Perth. 
 To the King the effect of this defeat was, strange to say, not 
 unwelcome, as by it he obtained some relief from the weari- 
 ness of his position ; for since the blow inflicted by Cromwell 
 had fallen most heavily on the Ultra-Presbyterians, of whom 
 Argyll was the chief, the result of the battle tended to 
 increase the influence of the more moderate party, of whom 
 the representative was Lord Lanark, who had now, by the 
 death of his brother, become Duke of Hamilton. About this 
 date the more bigoted of the extreme Presbyterians seceded 
 from that portion of the Scottish army which attended the 
 King, and under the leadership of Strahan and Ker com- 
 menced independent action in the south-western counties. 
 
 Having made Colonel Overton the Governor of Edinburgh, 
 and having arranged for the blockade of the castle, Cromwell 
 on the 14th of September marched towards Stirling with his 
 main army, which had been recently reinforced with 1,500 
 foot and 1,000 horse. On the 15th, though much delayed 
 by bad weather and worse roads, he reached Linlithgow; 
 thence on the 16th he passed to Falkirk, of which the 
 garrison, when summoned to surrender, returned for answer 
 that they would follow the fate of Stirling. At the latter 
 place the army arrived on the 17th, but it, upon being sum- 
 moned, refused to accept any terms ; whereupon Cromwell, 
 doubtful of his ability to storm so strong a fortress, fell back 
 on the 19th to Linlithgow, which he now fortified and held 
 as an advanced position in front of the capital. On the 20th 
 the English returned to Edinburgh and sat down to a formal 
 siege of the castle, which ran its course without much 
 incident. 
 
 Ker and Strahan were in the early part of October about
 
 1650 AKD 1651. 245 
 
 Dumfries, and Cromwell, possibly with a view to some 
 arrangement with them, for they were known to be but ill- 
 satisfied with the King, marched from Linlithgow at the head 
 of seven regiments of foot and nine of horse, and moved in 
 the direction of Glasgow ; at that city he arrived on the 18th, 
 and there remained until the 21st, when, hearing that the 
 Scottish leaders, far from wishing to conclude an agreement 
 with him, proposed to move upon Edinburgh in his absence, 
 he hastily returned to the capital, and had arrived there by 
 the 25th. 
 
 During the remainder of October and the greater part of 
 November little of note occurred j the siege of Edinburgh 
 Castle dragged on, while the army, which was cantoned in 
 the capital, in Leith, and in the villages within a radius of 
 eight miles, was principally occupied in throwing up fortifi- 
 cations for the purpose of rendering its position impregnable. 
 
 Towards the end of November it was decided to under- 
 take an expedition against the moss-troopers, who, hanging 
 on the outskirts of the army, plundered and murdered all who 
 fell into their power. The task of suppressing these robbers 
 was entrusted to Lambert and Monk, who quickly reduced 
 them to submission. On their return from this expedition 
 the former was sent in company with Whalley, and in 
 command of 3,000 horse, under orders to move on Glasgow 
 by way of Peebles, along the south bank of the Clyde; 
 Cromwell himself marched on the north bank of that river, 
 and had arranged to meet Lambert at Hamilton on the 29th 
 of November, with the intention that the combined forces 
 should search for and defeat the Scottish western army. The 
 General arrived punctually at the appointed spot, and not 
 finding Lambert, waited for him at Hamilton until 7 a.m. 
 on the 30th ; thinking that some unforeseen floods must have 
 delayed the march of his subordinate, Cromwell on the latter
 
 246 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 day retired on Edinburgh, while on the same date Lambert 
 arrived at Hamilton. The Scottish army under Ker (for 
 Strahan had already submitted to the Parliament) hastened 
 to seize the opportunity thus given of falling upon Lambert's 
 force while it was still at a distance from any succour, 
 and with this object, marching all the night of the 30th, 
 attacked the quarters of the English troops at 4 a.m. on 
 the morning of the 1st of December. The Scots at first 
 succeeded in entering Hamilton, but the soldiers of the 
 Parliament, in no way dismayed, formed up their ranks in 
 the dark, in their turn attacked their enemy, and drove them 
 in confusion from the town. The Scottish troops lost 100 
 killed, 100 prisoners (among the latter was Ker himself), 
 and were soon scattered in headlong flight before their pursuers. 
 
 Thus was destroyed the western army, which, but for their 
 ill-advised attack upon Lambert, might without difficulty 
 have baffled for months the pursuit of Cromwell. It never 
 again rallied as a whole, but the soldiers which had com- 
 posed it spread abroad over the country in small bodies, 
 robbing and murdering the inoffensive and unprotected 
 peasantry. 
 
 The batteries of guns and mortars in front of Edinburgh 
 Castle being now ready to open fire, Cromwell on the 12th 
 of December summoned the garrison to surrender; after 
 negotiations, which continued until the 18th, the Governor 
 agreed to yield, and the defenders accordingly marched 
 out on the 24th, leaving as trophies to the victors a total 
 of 52 guns, among which was the "great iron murderer called 
 Muckle Meg." 
 
 The year being now too advanced to allow of movements 
 in the field, the English army took up its winter 
 quarters around Edinburgh and Leith. Here they re- 
 mained quiet throughout January, 1651, the 1st of which
 
 1650 AND 1651. 247 
 
 month saw Charles crowned, "but not with much state," 
 at Scone. About the middle of January rumours reached the 
 General of the intention of the Scots to " slip into " England, 
 while reports were rife of an expected increase of their army, 
 which, being now composed of 8,000 horse and an equal 
 number of foot, was to be raised to 50,000 before giving 
 battle to the English. Of this force the King was, it is said, 
 to be the Captain-General, Hamilton the Lieutenant-General, 
 and Lesley the Major-General, while Middleton was to com- 
 mand the cavalry, and Massey to lead the contingent of 
 English Royalists. 
 
 Cromwell broke up his winter quarters on the 4th of 
 February, on which date eight regiments of foot and nine of 
 horse set out towards Stirling, and were on the 5th at Falkirk ; 
 but the season was not yet sufficiently advanced to allow of 
 the opening of. the campaign, and the army, after much 
 suffering from cold and wet, returned on the 8th to their 
 cantonments. 
 
 This excursion cost the English something more than dis- 
 comfort, for Cromwell, having caught cold from over-exposure, 
 fell sick with fever and ague, and became at one time so ill 
 that he was even reported to be dead ; about the middle of 
 March his health improved, and by the end of that month he 
 was, though still weak, at length able to take the field. 
 During his illness the army as a whole remained idle ; but a 
 detachment captured Tantallon Castle, which, lying at the 
 mouth of the Forth, had much disturbed the communication 
 with England; a little later Blackness Castle, which lay a 
 short distance to the north of Linlithgow, also surrendered to 
 a force which was sent against it. 
 
 Great activity now began to reign in the Scottish quarters; 
 the King went north, as far as Aberdeen, for the purpose of 
 seeking for recruits, while Middleton was reported to be also
 
 248 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 stirring with the same object. On the receipt of information 
 in London of an intended rising in Lancashire, which was- 
 supposed to have been caused by the rumour of an ap- 
 proaching invasion by the Scots, Harrison was sent to the 
 North of England by the House of Commons, in command of 
 a strong force of horse and foot. So general indeed was the 
 belief in the probability of a Scottish inroad on England, 
 that on the llth of April an Act was passed to press 10,000 
 men during the current year ; while Fleetwood, who held the 
 command at home during the absence of Cromwell, published 
 an order that all officers and soldiers should at once join their 
 respective regiments. 
 
 On the 16th of April a parade of the whole of the English 
 army in Scotland was held at Musselburgh, on which occasion 
 their strength was found to be 8,000 to 9,000 horse, and an 
 equal number of foot ; this number did not, however, include 
 a force which had been sent to attack Burntisland, an expe- 
 dition which had been undertaken with a view of gaining a 
 footing in Fife, in order thence to act against the Scottish 
 army from the east. 
 
 After this parade the troops moved on Glasgow, either with 
 the object of drawing Lesley out to fight by threatening him 
 also from the west, or with a view of preventing any intended 
 advance of the Scots into England ; this march was altogether 
 uneventful, and the army, having reached Glasgow on the 
 19tb, was again in Edinburgh by the first week in May. 
 
 About the middle of the latter month Cromwell suffered a 
 serious relapse, brought on in all probability by the fatigues 
 of the above march ; and news of this illness having been 
 received in London, a letter was written on the 27th, desiring 
 him if necessary to resign the command, while two physicians 
 were sent by the House to take charge of his health ; but by 
 the 3rd of June he was sufficiently recovered to write a letter
 
 1650 Aim 1651. 249 
 
 of thanks for the offer, and by the 24th was able to again 
 take the field. 
 
 During the pause in hostilities, caused by the illness of 
 the English leader, the Scots had pushed to the south from 
 Stirling, and in June occupied a position at Torwood, from 
 which Cromwell now proposed to drive them. With this object 
 the English field army, consisting of twelve regiments of 
 foot and thirteen of horse, moved on the 25th of June from 
 Edinburgh, and encamped that night on the Pentland Hills; 
 thence they pressed on to the west, and leaving Linlithgow 
 on the 2nd of July, marched on that day, skirmishing all 
 along the line with the enemy, beyond Falkirk towards 
 Torwood ; but the position of the Scots being found on a 
 nearer approach to be too strong to permit of a successful 
 attack, the army fell back again on Linlithgow. On the 
 3 3th of July a similar movement was made with a similar 
 ending, except that, some annoyance having been received 
 on the march from Callerider House, in which was a Royal 
 garrison, this post, after having been summoned, was on. the 
 15th bombarded, breached, and stormed in full sight of the 
 enemy, who made no effort to relieve it. 
 
 Finding that the Scots were not to be drawn- from their 
 position, which was itself too strong to admit of the certainty 
 'of success should he attack it, Cromwell now determined to 
 offer his enemy such advantage as might induce even them 
 to assume the offensive, and thus to bring matters to a crisis. 
 With this object he voluntarily weakened his numerical 
 force by detaching troops into Fife, whence they might 
 attack the Scottish left flank, which was not so well defended 
 as was the right, and might thus, should the enemy decline 
 to be tempted from his position, carry their lines of defence 
 from the weaker side. 
 
 Accordingly on the 17th of July, Colonel Overton with 
 
 s 2
 
 250 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 1,600 infantry and four troops of cavalry, a force which was 
 intended as an advanced guard to a larger body, crossed the 
 Forth at Queensferry, and with the loss of six men secured 
 a footing on the north bank ; in order to cover this move- 
 ment Cromwell threatened an attack on Torwood, but the 
 enemy held fast in their position. The Scots, however, sent 
 five regiments of horse and the same number of infantry against 
 Overton, who was in some danger of being swept into the 
 sea; but Lambert, crossing on the 19th, with two regiments 
 of horse and two of foot, brought the total of the Parlia- 
 mentary forces up to 4,600 men, while the Scots had but 
 4,000. Under these circumstances the English, who had at 
 first stood on the defensive, advanced against the enemy, 
 who posted their troops on a hill a little to the north of 
 Inverkeithing. Finding the Scots unwilling to attack, 
 Lambert ordered his troops to storm the hill, and after a 
 short but sharp fight entirely routed his opponents, killing 
 2,000 of them and taking 1,400 prisoners, among the latter 
 being Browne, the Royal general, the same who in the earlier 
 war had served the Parliament in conjunction with Waller. 
 Lambert, after the action, received further reinforcements 
 from Cromwell, which brought the total of his force up to at 
 least 7,000 men. 
 
 On the 21st of July, on the receipt of the news of this 
 victory, Cromwell pressed on to the west, while the Scots, 
 abandoning two of their defensive lines, fell back on their 
 main position about Stirling. This advance was made in 
 the hope of forcing the enemy to assume the offensive either 
 to the east or to the west. In the former case Cromwell 
 intended to push at once across a ford and attack, while in 
 the latter Lambert was to pursue the same tactics ; but the 
 Scots, realising this plan, had, though at one time on the 
 point of marching towards Fife, on seeing the movement of
 
 1650 AND 1651. 251 
 
 Cromwell's army, returned to their original impregnable 
 position. From this it became evident to the English 
 general that, unless the war was to be permitted to drag 
 on unsatisfactorily into another winter, some more active 
 measures must be adopted. 
 
 For this reason he determined to pass his main army over 
 the Forth into Fife, leaving only four regiments of horse and 
 as many of foot on the southern side, and interposing his 
 forces between Stirling and Perth to vigorously attack the 
 Scottish position from the east. By the 26th of July 13,000 
 to 14,000 men had crossed the Frith, and the campaign had 
 entered upon a new phase. 
 
 Cromwell evidently realised the possibility of a movement 
 of the Scots in the direction of England (though the contrary 
 might be imagined when we consider how small was the 
 force which he had left in front of Edinburgh), for before 
 commencing the transport of his army across the Forth he 
 had sent a message to Colonel Kich, who lay in the north of 
 England under Harrison's command, directing him to close 
 xip his troops towards the border. 
 
 By the 28th Cromwell himself was in Burntisland, which 
 had been abandoned by the enemy ; thence he determined 
 to advance on Perth in order thereby to cut off all supplies 
 from the Scottish army about Stirling. But the latter, 
 having completed their levies, and having brought their 
 strength up to 15,000 foot and 6,000 horse, suddenly 
 abandoning their position, marched on the 31st of July to 
 Hamilton, and so burst, by way of Biggar, upon Carlisle, 
 which they reached on the 6th of August. Cromwell had 
 in the meanwhile taken Perth, which, after a short bom- 
 bardment and the delay of one day wasted in negotiations, 
 surrendered on the 2nd of August, on which day news 
 arrived of the sudden outburst of the Scots on England.
 
 252 TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 There is much that is difficult to unravel in the state of 
 affairs at this time, and it is a hard question to answer 
 whether Cromwell was surprised at this movement or had 
 intended it to take place. On the one hand it was a daring, 
 not to say a rash step, to thus permit his enemy to interpose 
 in force between himself and his base, more especially since 
 that base was London, where all were not friendly to him, 
 and where the near approach of the King might probably ex- 
 cite a counter-revolution ; on the other it may be urged that 
 Cromwell had the delight which all strong men take in 
 thorough .measures, and had so great confidence in his army 
 that he felt that any battle must result in a victory to them, 
 while he further knew well that such a victory in Scotland im- 
 plied the slow hunting down of fugitives in the then pathless 
 wilderness of the Highlands, whereas in England it must be 
 followed by the absolute destruction of the entire Scottish 
 army. 
 
 On the whole we are inclined to believe that this ap- 
 parently desperate piece of strategy was intentional, for a 
 general who would dare to deliberately weaken his army for 
 the purpose of inducing his enemy to fight, as 'Cromwell had 
 already done when he detached Lambert into Fife, would 
 certainly not hesitate to lure his foe into destruction by, as 
 it were, making him a present of a distinct strategical advan- 
 tage. It is further not unlikely that, in addition to his 
 military plan, Cromwell had also political reasons for per- 
 mitting, and even inviting, the Scots to thus plunge into the 
 heart of England, for the Parliament and city might be 
 assumed to be in all probability inclined in the future to 
 show gratitude as great as their present fear, while decisive 
 success in such a campaign as this could leave no possible 
 competitor with him for the position of the leader of 
 England.
 
 1650 AND 1651. 253 
 
 Cromwell spared no pains to ensure that the success 
 should be decisive; he had already provided a force of 
 3,000 men, with which Harrison and Rich might delay the 
 march of the enemy. Lambert was at once despatched, with 
 all the cavalry that could be got together, under orders 
 to harass the Scottish column; while the General himself, 
 crossing the Frith on the 6th of August, with the remainder 
 of the horse and nine regiments of 'foot, hurried by. the 
 shortest road to the border, leaving Monk and Overton, with 
 five regiments of horse and four of foot, to continue the 
 subjugation of Scotland, which noAV, in the absence of her 
 army, must become an easy prey. As a matter of fact the 
 town of Stirling surrendered at once, and Monk sat down 
 undisturbed to the siege of the castle. 
 
 By the 10th of August the Scots, reported to be about 
 12,000 in number, were in Lancashire (probably near Pres- 
 ton, a name of evil augury), and were much disappointed at 
 finding no disposition among the English people to join 
 them. On the other hand Lambert was but a few hours 
 behind them ; Harrison, whose force had been swelled by 
 troops from Cheshire and Lancashire, was in front, and 
 Fairfax, willing to act now that England was actually in- 
 vaded, was raising troops in Yorkshire, while 3,000 infantry 
 stood ready to defend the passage of the Mersey at Warring- 
 ton ; Oliver in the meantime was hastening from Scotland 
 with a force estimated at 10,000 men. 
 
 By the 16th of August Lambert had completed his 
 junction with Harrison, and stood with 6,000 horse in front 
 of the enemy's column, proposing to defend "Warrington 
 Bridge, of the possibility of which defence he had, however, 
 much doubt. Indeed, on the approach of the Scots, the 
 position was abandoned after a short struggle, and as there 
 had not been time to entirely destroy the bridge, the in-
 
 254 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 vading army passed on it and endeavoured to pursue 
 Lambert's retiring cavalry. Their attack was, however, met 
 by the rear-guard, who charged three times upon them and 
 compelled them to desist from their enterprise. 
 
 The object of Lambert's action was to delay and " amuse " 
 the enemy until Cromwell should come up, and though his 
 force, amounting as it did to 9,000 horse and 3,500 foot, 
 might have been sufficient to defeat the Scottish army, he 
 had distinct instructions to avoid battle until the main army 
 had come up into line. For these orders there were probably 
 two reasons ; Cromwell had no wish that England should be 
 saved by another hand than his, while the greater the distance 
 from the border at which the foreseen victory should be 
 gained, the more certain would be the absolute destruction of 
 the doomed Scottish army. 
 
 During this time Cromwell was advancing at the highest 
 possible speed, his men marching twenty miles a day " in 
 their shirt sleeves," while their arms and clothes were 
 carried for them by the country people. By the 19th he 
 was at Ferrybridge near Pontefract, where he was met 
 by Fairfax, who " went with him three miles in his coach." 
 At this point Cromwell decided to leave such of his foot as 
 were tired or sick after the long hot march, and to move yet 
 more quickly with the remainder. 
 
 Information having been received that the Earl of Derby 
 had landed in Lancashire from the Isle of Man, Colonel 
 Lilburne was detached with ten troops of horse to prevent 
 him from recruiting his forces, which were at present too 
 small to be of much effect, for he had only 250 foot and 
 60 horsemen with him, having trusted in his influence in 
 the county to raise more. 
 
 By the 21st the Scots were at Nantwich, or on the road 
 thence by Newport on Lichfield, but were so worn out with
 
 1650 AND 1651. 255 
 
 the length and the heat of their forced marches that the King, 
 it is said, " came to them cap in hand desiring them to march 
 a little farther ; " for he had yet the mad hope that lie might 
 reach London and find help there, though at this very time 
 14,000 of the City trained bands had been called out, and now 
 stood paraded against him. 
 
 Lambert and Harrison looked on quietly from Uttoxeter. 
 Pressing on still through the heat of the August weather, 
 Charles about the 23rd arrived at Worcester, and his troops 
 having without difficulty driven out the few defenders, occupied 
 that city. Beyond this point his men could not be persuaded 
 to march, and it was perforce determined to repair the forti- 
 fications, which had been broken down after the surrender in 
 1646, and to endeavour to hold them against Cromwell. 
 Efforts were further made to secure the passages of the Severn 
 , above and below the city, with the object probably of fight- 
 'ing on the line of that river, and of thus preserving com- 
 munication with Wales, whence Charles might hope for re- 
 inforcements. 
 
 Cromwell pushing on in haste was near Mansfield in 
 Nottinghamshire about the 21st, at Nottingham on the night 
 of the 2 2nd, and at Coventry by the 25th. At this latter 
 place he was joined by Lambert and Harrison. 
 
 Moving thus in a direction parallel to that of the Scots, 
 and outmarching them, he was able, as was his object, to 
 interpose. between them and London. The line of the King's 
 march, on the other hand, was probably influenced, now that 
 he realised that England as a whole was not well disposed 
 towards him, by a wish to keep near to loyal Wales, and if 
 possible to draw troops from yet more loyal Cornwall, on the 
 Avay to which Massey proposed to raise a party in Gloucester, 
 where his popularity, as he hoped, might not yet be 
 exhausted.
 
 256 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 Since Charles had halted at Worcester the problem became 
 easy for Cromwell, for he had only to place his far superior 
 forces between the Scots and London, in order to ensure 
 safety to the capital, and proportionate gratitude from its 
 citizens to himself, and could then at his own time crush the 
 prey which he held in his toils. With this object he marched 
 by Warwick (where he met Fleetwood and Desborough) 
 through Stratford-on-Avon to Evesham, where he was on the 
 27th, and where he was joined by Fleetwood's London forces, 
 who had moved by way of Banbury. On the 28th the 
 greater part of the army was in front of Worcester on the 
 eastern bank of the Severn ; that portion of it which had 
 followed Cromwell from Scotland had therefore marched 
 about 350 miles in twenty-four days, for, as the crow flies, 
 it is 260 miles from Edinburgh to Worcester. 
 
 On this same date Cromwell received news that Whalley, 
 to whom at his request he had despatched reinforcements, 
 had before their arrival completely defeated the Earl of 
 Derby at Wigan, after a smart fight, which lasted about an 
 hour, and had there taken about 400 prisoners ; orders were 
 at once sent to the colonel to hold Bewdley Bridge on the 
 Upper Severn, with the object of cutting off the retreat of the 
 fugitives from the intended battle. . . 
 
 Cromwell now found himself at the head of the largest 
 force which had been assembled during the whole of the 
 Civil War, for lie had at least 30,000 (some say 40,000) 
 men under his command ; being in such strength, he was in 
 no mood to allow any formed body of the enemy to escape ; 
 and the road to the north being sufficiently provided for by 
 Whalley's position, it remained only to close Wales to the 
 remnants of the defeated army. 
 
 In order to effect this, it was first necessary to obtain 
 possession of a passage across the Severn, over which the
 
 Of! 
 
 3 Mile* 
 
 THE COUNTRY NEAR WORCESTER, 
 
 WHERE THE BATTLE OP WORCESTER WAS FOUGHT, 
 
 .SEPTEMBER 3RD, 1651. 
 
 (Page 257
 
 1650 AND 1651. 257 
 
 only available bridge lay at Upton, about eight miles below 
 Worcester ; thither Lambert marched on the 28th of August, 
 and on arriving about 10 a.m., found the bridge broken 
 down, a plank serving as the only means of passing the 
 river. Attacking at once he surprised the enemy, and his 
 horse and dragoons, partly swimming and partly fording the 
 Severn, crossed it, and posted a small detachment in the 
 church at the foot of the bridge. The enemy, who were 
 under the command of Massey, at once swarmed down upon 
 them, but were repulsed by musketry fire, their leader 
 having his horse shot under him, and being himself wounded 
 in the hand and arm. The remainder of the Parliamentary 
 cavalry having crossed, the enemy drew off towards Worcester, 
 and Lambert, sending word of his success to Fleetwood, who 
 was four miles in rear, set his men to work to repair the 
 bridge. Fleetwood mounted 300 infantry behind as many 
 troopers, and pushed on to Lambert's help ; all working well, 
 and the enemy not interrupting, the bridge was soon in a fit 
 state for use, and the whole force marched over it before 
 nightfall. On the following day Fleetwood's cavalry wero 
 pushed three miles towards Worcester, their scouts being a 
 mile-and-a-half yet further in advance ; on the march 
 Maxfield (Madresfield) House was taken and occupied. On 
 the 29th Cromwell reviewed his troops, and assembled a 
 council of war for the purpose of deciding upon a plan of 
 attack. 
 
 Before entering into a description of this plan, we must 
 for a time return to the Scots. Their army stood astride 
 the river, the horse being for the most part in the suburb 
 of St. John's on the right bank, while the foot held the 
 defences of the town. These consisted of an old wall 
 with towers, which had been partially demolished, and of 
 a line of earthworks, having somewhat of a bastioned trace,
 
 258 TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 which lay to the south of the town ; to the south-east, on 
 rising ground, stood the Fort Royal, a quadrilateral, bas- 
 tioned work with very acute salients, which connected the 
 line before mentioned with a second line which trended back 
 to the walls of the city. With the exception of the Fort 
 Royal, which appears to have been for the times a formidable 
 work, the fortifications could not have been of. any great 
 strength, since there had not been sufficient time in the ten 
 days of the occupation of the city by the Scottish army to 
 make them storm-proof, especially when we consider that the 
 cavalry, being for the most part gentlemen, were little likely 
 to put their hands to the work, while the infantry were 
 mostly Highlanders, who may be presumed to have been of 
 small use as sappers. Forced labour of the country-people 
 was indeed resorted to, but even that must have been in a 
 military sense unskilled. In addition to the works above 
 mentioned, the bridge between St. John's and the city was 
 covered by a redoubt on the western side, while each of the 
 gates in the city walls was protected in a similar manner. 
 
 Many sallies took place during the first days after Crom- 
 well's arrival, but they were all repulsed, with loss, and the 
 spirits of the defenders were further damped by the coming 
 (on the 31st) of the Earl of Derby, who was himself wounded, 
 with the news of his own defeat by "Whalley. He was 
 accompanied by only about 30 horse, the sole represen- 
 tatives of the reinforcements which he had been expected 
 to bring. Charles, it is reported, despairing of success, would 
 have marched away with his cavalry, but a hint of this inten- 
 tion roused the infantry to mutiny, and they stoutly declared 
 that all should fare alike. 
 
 According to the plan arranged by the Parliamentary leaders 
 Fleetwood was to open the battle by an attack on the western 
 side of the city, which if successful would drive in the enemy
 
 1650 AND 1651. 259 
 
 on that flank, and would thus confine the remainder of the 
 struggle to the other bank of the river ; there the action was 
 to be taken up by Cromwell, with whom it lay to storm the 
 enemy's works, to assault the town, and to drive the defenders 
 through and out of it. On the 1st or 2nd of September, a 
 party of the Scottish horse, sallying from St. John's, destroyed 
 two bridges on the Teme, hoping thus to render an attack on 
 the western side of the city an impossibility, but Cromwell 
 had already given orders for the collection of boats and of 
 the material for the immediate construction of any temporary 
 bridges which might be needed. On the 3rd of September, 
 between 5 and 6 a.m., Fleetwood, who had on the 2nd 
 passed 10,000 men over the Severn at Upton, advanced from 
 that village towards Worcester ; but before he could reach 
 the city he was of necessity obliged to force the passage of 
 the Teme, over which there was now but one bridge, that 
 at Powick. Owing to some unexplained delay, Fleetwood 
 did not arrive at the Teme until between 2 and 3 p.m., and 
 his left wing, which he had intended to pass at Powick, 
 found the enemy at that point in strength, and was by them at 
 first repulsed with some loss. But at about the same hour, 
 boats having been brought up the Severn, Cromwell threw a 
 bridge across the latter river just above the junction of the 
 Teme. Over this he in person led three regiments of foot and 
 one of horse, which were followed after a time by four or 
 five other regiments. 
 
 The enemy, being thus taken in flank, began on their left 
 to give way, and Fleetwood's right wing at once passed the 
 Teme on a second bridge of boats ; but the bridge at Powick 
 having been broken down, and the ground being suitable for 
 defence, the Scots at that point still held their own even 
 after their left had been routed. From this it followed that, 
 when they were at length driven in after severe fighting from
 
 260 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 hedge to hedge, they at first retired towards Hereford, but 
 eventually, not being closely pursued, wheeled off into 
 Worcester and took refuge behind the fortifications of that 
 city. 
 
 No sooner had this portion of the action come to an end 
 than the Scots, imagining that most of the English force was 
 by this time on the western bank of the Severn, poured out 
 from the Sudbury gate and from the Fort Royal. At the 
 first onslaught the Parliamentary troops gave ground, but 
 Cromwell rapidly brought back his regiments from across the 
 river, and after three hours of "as stiff a contest as ever I 
 have seen " drove back the enemy into Worcester. By 7 
 p.m. the Fort Royal had been stormed, and the guns within 
 it were at once turned on the fugitives who, blocking Sud- 
 bury Gate with a waggon of hay, managed thus to gain 
 sufficient time for the escape of such of them as were 
 mounted. 
 
 Fleetwood, having in the meanwhile fought his way up to 
 the city on the opposite side of the Severn, had by this time 
 carried the suburb of St. John's, and his men, pouring over 
 the bridge, pushed on through the streets until they had 
 effected a junction with their comrades. 
 
 The whole of the baggage and of the artillery of the Royal 
 army was captured, as were also a large number* of prisoners, 
 while strange to say, in so severe a battle, "much of it 
 at push of pike," the Parliamentary loss was reported as 
 amounting only to 200 men, while that of the Scots was 
 stated to be nearly 3,000. 
 
 ' On the morning of the 4th the pursuit was taken up 
 by Harrison with about 4,000 cavalry, with such success that 
 no formed body of troops crossed the border, while of the 
 
 * The number of prisoners taken is variously estimated ; some 
 a ithorities say 6,000, while others give a total of 10,000.
 
 1650 AND 1651. 261 
 
 chiefs of the Scottish army Charles was almost the only one 
 who escaped. The force at Bewdley secured 1,200 prisoners, 
 while a detachment from it which was at Shifnall in Shrop- 
 shire captured the Earls of Derby and Lauderdale, with 
 others of the leaders, who surrendered without a blow to a 
 captain of horse. The Duke of Hamilton, whose leg had 
 been broken in the action, died of his wounds ; Massey took 
 refuge with the Countess of Strafford, who delivered him to the 
 Parliament, while Middleton, who escaped from the battle 
 with a considerable body of troops, was routed and captured 
 before he had made his way into Scotland. The story of the 
 escape of the King is too well known to need repetition. Of 
 the captives the Earl of Derby alone suffered death on the 
 scaffold, being beheaded at Bolton about the 16th of October, 
 but 1,500 of the rank and file who were taken, were given to 
 the Guinea merchants as slaves to work in their mines ; 
 better by far for these had they been killed at "Worcester or 
 by the axe. 
 
 After this " crowning mercy " the hopes of the Royalists 
 were at an end, and before the year was out, the islands of 
 Jersey, Guernsey, and Man, which had up to this time held 
 out for the King, passed into the hands of the Parliament. 
 Ireland, as has been already mentioned, was shortly after 
 completely subdued, while Scotland practically lost its 
 independence before the end of 1651. 
 
 Of the doings of Monk it is necessary to say a few words. 
 Having been left in command after Cromwell's departure, he 
 succeeded by the middle of September in securing the sur- 
 render of Stirling Castle, of which the garrison, scared by 
 the to them novel fire of mortars, mutinied against the 
 Governor, and commenced to sack the castle, upon which 
 the former yielded it to Monk, who found in it the records 
 and regalia of Scotland. After dispersing some forces which 
 
 T
 
 262 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 the Scots were endeavouring to organise about Perth, Monk 
 stormed Dumfries and Dundee, in which latter place, follow- 
 ing the example of Cromwell at Drogheda, he put almost the 
 whole of the garrison to the sword, and in addition gave up 
 the town to be plundered. St. Andrews and Montrose 
 shortly afterwards sent to ask for terms, while Aberdeen was 
 abandoned by the enemy, and the spirit of resistance died 
 quickly away throughout the country. 
 
 The party of the Kemonstrants, of which Argyll was the 
 head, having anew gained the upper hand, owing to the 
 result of the battle of Worcester, the Marquis in November 
 assembled a Parliament for the purpose of offering terms of 
 submission to that of England. Lambert and Deane were 
 accordingly sent to Edinburgh to act with Monk and others as 
 Commissioners to arrange a treaty of peace, and on the 1st 
 of May, 1652, the union of England and Scotland was 
 proclaimed at Edinburgh Cross. This union was extremely 
 unpopular in Scotland, coupled as it was with a declaration 
 of submission to the authority of the Parliament of England. 
 
 Thus at length, after nine years of almost continuous war, 
 which had spared but few spots in either Great Britain or 
 Ireland, the three nations agreed (if that can be called an 
 agreement which was forced upon the two weaker) upon 
 such union as may be possible between the lord and the serf, 
 jarred and riven by such hatred as divided the Independent, 
 the Presbyterian, and the Eoman Catholic. War indeed 
 ceased, resistance being crushed down by the strong hand of 
 Cromwell, but the materials for confusion were ever present; 
 and unhappy England, though outwardly powerful, knew no 
 true peace under his rule who, if he relieved his country 
 from a tyranny, substituted for it a yoke no less harsh than 
 that of the Stuarts, while it altogether lacked so much right 
 as law and custom can give to an abuse.
 
 AFTER YEAES. 
 
 IT is proposed to detail briefly the fate of the several leaders 
 of the Parliamentary party, whose names have been promi- 
 nently mentioned in the foregoing pages. 
 
 Of these, three had passed away before the termination of 
 the Civil Wars. 
 
 Essex died on the 14th of September, 1646, at the age of 
 fifty-four, having lived sufficiently long to feel that the 
 storm, which he had proposed to rule and guide, was too 
 fierce for such as he, and that the men whom oppression had 
 forced to arm against their King, were no tools to serve the 
 purpose of one who intended to lay them aside as soon as they 
 had done their work for him. 
 
 The Earl of Essex died in outward honour, but from the 
 date of the Self-denying Ordinance had lost all influence and 
 power. 
 
 Ferdinand, Lord Fairfax, whose repute has been over- 
 shadowed by the fame of his son, was a man of another 
 type ; well as he served his party in the north, his name was 
 but little known beyond his own county, and on his death in 
 March, 1648, the event was noticed solely on the ground 
 that he was the father of His Excellency the Lord General. 
 
 T 2
 
 264 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 The death of Ire ton, as has been already mentioned, was 
 an event of great political importance, on account of the 
 influence which he possessed over his father-in-law, the 
 future Protector. 
 
 He died at Limerick on the 26th of November, 1651, and 
 was buried in Westminster Abbey, Avhence at the Restoration 
 his bones, together with those of Cromwell and Blake, were 
 removed and burnt at Tyburn. 
 
 Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, has 
 made far too deep a mark on the history of his country t*> 
 render it necessary for us to enter into the details of his 
 accession to that rank. 
 
 The first of the rulers of England, as he was one of the 
 foremost of her generals, his name will never be forgotten, 
 for though to a superficial examiner it may appear that at his 
 death the work of his life was levelled with the dust, yet the 
 principles which he invoked still rule, and will ever rule, the 
 people of England. 
 
 He died on the 3rd of September, 1658, on the anniversary 
 of his victories of D unbar and "Worcester. 
 
 After the resignation by Sir Thomas Fairfax of the com- 
 mand of the army, we hear of him on only two occasions ; 
 one when, as already mentioned, he raised troops in Yorkshire 
 for the purpose of repelling that invasion of the Scots which 
 led to the battle of Worcester; and the second when in 1659, 
 after the death of the Protector, he called out levies to assist 
 Monk against Lambert, at which time he found that sufficient 
 of his old reputation had survived his retirement to induce 
 1,200 cavalry to desert from the latter to his leadership. 
 
 He died in the 60th year of his age, on the 12th of 
 November, 1671, having passed all his later years in 
 retirement-
 
 AFTER YEARS. 265 
 
 Sir "William "Waller survived his repute, and outlived the 
 animosity or the recollection of the Koyal party, for, after 
 sitting for Middlesex in the Parliament of the Restoration, 
 he died in obscurity in 1668. 
 
 Fleet-wood, "who, after the death of Ireton, was appointed 
 Lord Deputy of Ireland, held that post until November, 
 1655, when he was displaced in favour of Henry Cromwell, 
 on the occasion of the renewal of the office of Lord Lieu- 
 tenant. He was then made Lord General of the Forces, and 
 was in 1657 created a peer in the Protector's new House of 
 Lords. After the death of Oliver and the resignation of 
 Richard Cromwell, Fleetwood was by station the foremost 
 man in England; but he was of a disposition too vacil- 
 lating and feeble to hold the reins of power with a firm 
 hand. 
 
 In December, 1659, it was suggested to him that he should 
 restore the King, but he had no heart for work of such diffi- 
 culty, and refused to move in the matter without the consent 
 and the aid of Lambert. With the commencement of 1660 
 all his authority departed, and at the Restoration, he sunk 
 into obscurity so complete, that it is uncertain whether he 
 died in America or in Stoke Newington. 
 
 Lambert, whose energy, determination, and lack of scruples 
 were well known to Cromwell, was early marked by the 
 latter as a capable but dangerous man. For this reason 
 he was deprived of the position of Lord Deputy in Ireland, 
 which had been at first granted to him on the death of 
 Ireton, and for this reason did the Protector, while denying 
 him all power, keep him always near him and under his own 
 eye. In 1657, being suspected of the knowledge of one 
 of the many plots which embittered the later years of Crom-
 
 266 TEE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 well's Protectorate, Lambert was deprived of his commission, 
 and forced to retire into private life ; but after the death of 
 Oliver, he was, on the resignation of Eichard, held to be a 
 possible claimant for the succession. 
 
 In 1659 Lambert crushed with ease a premature Eoyalist 
 rising, which, under Sir George Booth, took place in 
 Cheshire, but having a little later quarrelled with the 
 Parliament, was by them cashiered ; in answer to this act of 
 the Commons, he marched to Westminster and dissolved 
 the House. 
 
 On hearing of Monk's advance from Scotland, he moved 
 against that leader with a force of 10,000 men, but owing to- 
 the opposition of Fairfax, was deserted by his troops and fled 
 into hiding. 
 
 On the 9th of January Lambert was made a prisoner, and 
 was on the 25th carried to Holmby House, which had at a 
 former period served as a place of confinement for Charles I.; 
 escaping thence, he was proclaimed as an outlaw, and having 
 been recaptured, was committed to the Tower. On the 9th 
 of April he again escaped and raised a few horse, of whom 
 half deserted on the approach of Colonel Ingoldsby, who had 
 been sent to apprehend him ; upon this his wonted courage 
 abandoned him, and he surrendered himself without a blow. 
 
 He was after the Restoration tried and condemned to death ; 
 but, being reprieved, was confined during the remainder of 
 his life as a prisoner in Guernsey, where he devoted himself 
 principally to gardening. He died about 1690. 
 
 Elake, the defender of Taunton and Lyme Eegis, is the 
 next to present himself to our notice. He became a soldier 
 at the age of forty-eight, and a sailor eight years later, yet he 
 succeeded in obtaining an assured position as the one, while 
 as an Admiral his name will be remembered for ever.
 
 AFTER TEAES. 267 
 
 After a succession of engagements with the Dutch, he raised 
 the flag of England to supremacy at sea ; he terrified 
 Algiers, then a formidable power; he bombarded Tunis, and 
 in 1657 cut out a Spanish fleet from the harbour of Vera 
 Cruz. But this was his last action, for, while on his return 
 home from this victory, he died, August 17th, 1657, as his 
 ship, the St. George, entered Plymouth harbour. 
 
 The history of Monk deserves narration at greater length 
 than our space will permit, for his career was one of the 
 most remarkable of the times. 
 
 In 1644 we find him a Koyalist colonel; taken prisoner 
 at Nantwich, he remained in confinement until 1646; at 
 that date he was appointed a colonel in the Parliamentary 
 army ; in 1649 he fell into disgrace on account of his treaty 
 with the Irish rebels; yet, he was in 1650 selected by 
 Cromwell to command a regiment in the army which in- 
 vaded Scotland in that year; there, as appears from the 
 fact that he was consulted by Cromwell with regard to the 
 plan for the battle of Dunbar, he attained considerable im- 
 portance, as is farther proved by his selection as commander 
 in Scotland on the advance of the General into England. 
 
 In Scotland Monk remained until 1653, when he was, 
 after the manner of the time, which assumed that a man 
 who could perform one duty well was equally capable of all, 
 recalled from his military command to serve under Blake in 
 the English fleet. As a naval officer he was present at the 
 actions of February the 18th and July the 31st, 1653, in the 
 latter of which he acted as Admiral, Blake being at the 
 time sick on shore. 
 
 On the death of Oliver, Monk, being then again in Scot- 
 land, proclaimed Eichard Protector; on the resignation of 
 the latter he joined the party of the Parliament against
 
 263 THE PARLIAMENTARY GENERALS. 
 
 Lambert, and marched his troops into England to their 
 support. But his own inclination, urged on by the advica 
 and arguments of his wife, who was an ardent Royalist, was 
 towards the Eestoration of the Monarchy ; this in due time, 
 as is a matter of history, he effected. 
 
 Eor this high service he was created Duke of Albemarle, 
 under which title he distinguished himself in 166 6 in a 
 series of successful actions at sea against the Dutch. He 
 died in 1669, aged 61 years. 
 
 The fate of most of the minor leaders of the Parliamentary 
 forces is lost in the obscurity from which their deeds for a 
 time raised them. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 CHIILES DICKEHS AND EVANS, CBYStAL IMLiCB PBESS
 
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