by volunteers, (for there was not a man pressed,) but such proportions of plate and money were voluntarily brought in, that the army was fully and constantly paid: the king having erected a mint at Shrewsbury, more for reputation than use, (for, for want of workmen and instruments, they could not coin a thousand pounds a week,) and causing all his own plate, for the service of his household, to be delivered there, made other men think, theirs was the less worth the preserving. 66 66 66 66 Shortly after the earl of Essex came to Worcester, he sent a gentleman (one Fleetwood, the same who had afterwards so great power in the army, though then a trooper in his guards) to Shrewsbury, without a trumpet, or any other ceremony than a letter to the earl of Dorset; in which he said, "he was appointed by the parliament, to cause a petition, then in his hands, to be pre"sented to his majesty; and therefore desired his lordship to know his majesty's pleasure, when " he would be pleased to receive it from such persons, as he should send over with it." The earl of Dorset (by his majesty's command, after it had been debated in council what answer to return) sent him word in writing, "that the king had always been, and would be still, ready to receive any petition from his two houses of parliament; "and if his lordship had any such to be presented, "if he sent it by any persons, who stood not personally accused by him of high treason, and excepted specially in all offers of pardon made by him, the person who brought it should be 66 welcome; and the king would return such an answer to it, as should be agreeable to honour "and justice." Whether this limitation as to messengers displeased them, (as it was afterwards said, that the messengers appointed to have delivered it were the lord Mandeville and Mr. Hambden, who, they thought, would have skill to make infusions into many persons then about his majesty; and their access being barred by that limitation and exception, they would not send any other,) or what other reason soever there was, the king heard no more of this petition, or any address of that nature, till he found, by some new printed votes and declarations, "that he was guilty of another breach "of the privilege of parliament, for having refused "to receive their petition, except it were presented "in such manner as he prescribed: whereas they "alone were judges in what manner, and by what persons, their own petitions should be delivered, "and he ought so to receive them." And so that petition, which is before set down in the very terms it passed both houses, was never delivered to his majesty. 66 There cannot be too often mention of the wonderful providence of God, that from that low despised condition the king was in at Nottingham, after the setting up his standard, he should be able to get men, money, or arms, and yet within twenty days after his coming to Shrewsbury, he resolved to march, in despite of the enemy, even towards London; his foot, by this time, consisting of about six thousand; and his horse of two thousand; his train in very good order, commanded by sir John Heydon. And though this strength was much inferior to the enemy, yet as it was greater than any man thought possible to be raised, so all thought it sufficient to encounter the rebels. Besides that it was confidently believed, (and not without some grounds of correspondence with some officers in the other army,) that, as soon as the armies came within any reasonable distance of each other, very many soldiers would leave their colours, and come to the king; which expectation was confirmed by some soldiers, who every day dropped in from those forces; and, to make themselves welcome, told many stories of their fellows' resolutions, whom they had left behind. And this must be confessed, that either by the care and diligence of the officers, or by the good inclinations and temper of the soldiers themselves, the army was in so good order and discipline, that, during the king's stay at Shrewsbury, there was not a disorder of name, the country being very kind to the soldiers, and the soldiers just, and regardful to the country. And by the free loans and contributions of the gentlemen and substantial inhabitants, but especially by the assistance of the nobility, who attended, the army was so well paid, that there was not the least mutiny or discontent for want of pay; nor was there any cause; for they seldom failed every week, never went above a fortnight unpaid. The greatest difficulty was to provide arms; of which indeed there was a wonderful scarcity, the king being exceedingly disappointed in his expectation of arms from Holland; a vessel or two having been taken by his own ships, under the command of the earl of Warwick; so that, except eight hundred muskets, five hundred pair of pistols, and two hundred swords, which came with the powder, which was landed in Yorkshire, as is before mentioned, the king had none in his magazine; so that he was compelled to begin at Nottingham, and so in all places as he passed, to borrow the arms from the trained bands; which was done with so much wariness and caution, (albeit it was known that those arms would, being left in those hands, be employed against him, or at least be of no use to him,) that it was done rather with their consent, than by any constraint, and always with the full approbation of their commanders. And therefore in Yorkshire and Shropshire, where the gentlemen very unskilfully, though with good meaning, desired that the arms might still be left in the country men's hands, there was none of that kind of borrowing. But, in all places, the noblemen, and gentlemen of quality, sent the king such supplies of arms, out of their own armories, (which were very mean,) so that by all these means together, the foot, all but three or four hundred, who marched without any weapon but a cudgel, were armed with muskets, and bags for their powder, and pikes; but, in the whole body, there was not one pikeman had a corslet, and very few musketeers who had swords. Among the horse, the officers had their full desire, if they were able to procure old backs, and breasts, and pots with pistols, or carabines, for their two or three first ranks, and swords for the rest; themselves (and some soldiers by their examples) having gotten, besides their pistols and swords, a short poleaxe. The foot were divided into three brigades; the first commanded by sir Nicholas Byron, the second by colonel Harry Wentworth, and the third by colonel Richard Fielding, sir Jacob Ashley being major general, and commanding the foot immediately under the general. For, though general Ruthen, who came to the king some few days before he left Shrewsbury, was made field marshal, : yet he kept wholly with the horse to assist prince | had made his march that way, he would have been Rupert and sir Arthur Aston, of whose soldiery entangled in the enclosures, where his horse would there was then a very great esteem, was made have been less useful; whereas there were many colonel general of the dragoons; which at that great campanias near the other way, much fitter time, though consisting of two or three regiments, for an engagement. And so, about the middle of were not above eight hundred, or a thousand at October, the king marched from Shrewsbury, and the most. Most of the persons of honour and quartered that night at Bridgenorth, ten miles from quality, except those whose attendance was near the other place, where there was a rendezvous of the king's own person, put themselves into the the whole army, which appeared very cheerful; king's troop of guards, commanded by the lord and so to Wolverhampton, Bromicham, and KillBernard Stewart; and made indeed so gallant a ingworth, a house of the king's, and a very noble body, that, upon a very modest computation, the seat, where the king rested one day; where the estate and revenue of that single troop might lord chief justice Heath, who was made chief justice justly be valued at least equal to all theirs, who for that purpose, (Bramston, a man of great learnthen voted in both houses, under the name of the ing and integrity, being, without any purpose of lords and commons of parliament, and so made disfavour, removed from that office, because he and maintained that war. Their servants, understood bound by recognizance to attend the parliathe command of sir William Killigrew, made another full troop, and always marched with their lords and masters. In this equipage the king marched from Shrewsbury, on the twelfth of October, to Bridgenorth, never less baggage attending a royal army, there being not one tent, and very few waggons belonging to the whole train; having in his whole army not one officer of the field who was a papist, except sir Arthur Aston, if he were one; and very few common soldiers of that religion. However the parliament, in all their declarations, and their clergy much more in their sermons, assured the people, "that the king's army consisted only of papists," whilst themselves entertained all of that religion, that they could get; and very many, both officers and soldiers, of that religion engaged with them; whether it was that they really believed, that that army did desire liberty of conscience for all religions, as some of the chief of them pretended, or that they desired to divide themselves for communication of intelligence, and interest. And here it is not fit to forget one particular, that, when the committee of parliament appointed to advance the service upon the proposition for plate, and horses, in the county of Suffolk, sent word to the house of commons, "that some papists offered "to lend money upon those propositions, and de"sired advice whether they should accept of it," it was answered, "that if they offered any con"siderable sum, whereby it might be conceived to proceed from a real affection to the parliament, "and not out of policy to bring themselves within "their protection, and so to excuse their delin66 quency, it should be accepted of." 66 ment, upon an accusation depending there against him,) began to sit upon a commission of oyer and terminer, to attaint the earl of Essex, and many other persons who were in rebellion, of high treason. 66 Some days had passed without any notice of that army; some reporting that it remained still at Worcester; others, that they were marched the direct way from thence towards London. But intelligence came from London, "that very many "officers of name, and command in the parlia"ment army, [had] undergone that service with a full resolution to come to the king as soon as they were within any distance; and it was "wished, that the king would send a proclamation "into the army itself, and to offer pardon to all "who would return to their obedience." And a proclamation was prepared accordingly, and all circumstances resolved upon, that a herald should be sent to proclaim it in the head of the earl's army, when it should be drawn up in battle. But that, and many other particulars, prepared and resolved upon, were forgotten, or omitted at the time appointed, which would not admit any of those formalities. When the whole army marched together, there was quickly discovered an unhappy jealousy, and division between the principal officers, which grew quickly into a perfect faction between the foot and the horse. The earl of Lindsey was general of the whole army by his commission, and thought very equal to it. But when prince Rupert came to the king, which was after the standard was set up, and received a commission to be general of the horse, which, all men knew, was designed for him, there was a clause inserted into it, which exempted him from receiving orders from any body but from the king himself; which, upon the matter, separated all the horse from any dependence upon the general, and had other ill consequences in it for when the intelligence of the enemy's motion, commanded the lord Falkland, his principal secretary of state, to direct prince Rupert, what he should do, he took it very ill, and expostulated with the lord Falkland, for giving him orders. But he could not have directed his passion against any man, who would feel or regard it less. And he told him, "that it When the king was ready for his march, there was some difference of opinion which way he should take; many were of opinion that he should march towards Worcester, where the earl of Essex still remained; those countries were thought well-af-king at midnight, being in his bed, and receiving fected to the king; where his army would be supplied with provisions, and increased in numbers; and that no time should be lost in coming to a battle; because the longer it was deferred, the stronger the earl would grow, by the supplies which were every day sent to him from London; and he had store of arms with him to supply all defects of that kind. However it was thought was his office to signify what the king bad him ; more counsellable to march directly towards Lon- "which he should always do; and that he, in don, it being morally sure, that the earl of Essex neglecting it, neglected the king;" who did would put himself in their way. The king had neither the prince nor his own service any good, much confidence in his horse, (his nephew prince by complying in the beginning with his rough Rupert being in the head of them,) which were nature, which rendered him very ungracious to all flushed by their success at Worcester; and if hemen. But the king was so indulgent to him, that 66 he took his advice in all things relating to the army, and so upon consideration of their march, and the figure of the battle they resolved to fight in with the enemy, he concurred entirely with prince Rupert's advice, and rejected the opinion of the general, who preferred the order he had learned under prince Maurice, and prince Harry, with whom he had served at the same time, when the earl of Essex and he had both regiments. The uneasiness of the prince's nature, and the little education he had in courts, made him unapt to make acquaintance with any of the lords, who were likewise thereby discouraged from applying themselves to him; whilst some officers of the horse were well pleased to observe that strangeness, and fomented it; believing their credit would be the greater with the prince, and desired that no other person should have any credit with the king. So the war was scarce begun, when there appeared such faction and designs in the army, which wise men looked upon as a very evil presage; and the inconveniences, which flowed from thence, gave the king great trouble in a short time after. Within two days after the king marched from Shrewsbury, the earl of Essex moved from Worcester to attend him, with an army far superior in number to the king's; the horse and foot being completely armed, and the men very well exercised, and the whole equipage (being supplied out of the king's magazines) suitable to an army set forth at the charge of a kingdom. The earl of Bedford had the name of general of the horse, though that command principally depended upon sir William Balfour. Of the nobility he had with him the lords Kimbolton, Saint-John's, Wharton, Roberts, Rochford, and Fielding, (whose fathers, the earls of Dover, and Denbigh, charged as volunteers in the king's guards of horse,) and many gentlemen of quality; but his train was so very great, that he could move but in slow marches. So that the two armies, though they were but twenty miles asunder, when they first set forth, and both marched the same way, they gave not the least disquiet in ten days' march to each other; and in truth, as it appeared afterwards, neither army knew where the other was. 66 top of Edge-hill;" which was a very high hill about two miles from Keinton, where the headquarters of the earl was, and which had a clear prospect of all that valley. In the morning, being Sunday the twenty-third of October, when the rebels were beginning their march, (for they suspected not the king's forces to be near,) they perceived a fair body of horse on the top of that hill, and easily concluded their march was not then to be far. It is certain they were exceedingly surprised, having never had any other confidence of their men, than by the disparity they concluded would be still between their numbers and the king's, the which they found themselves now deceived in. For two of their strongest and best regiments of foot, and one regiment of horse, was a day's march behind with their ammunition. So that, though they were still superior in number, yet that difference was not so great as they promised themselves. However, it cannot be denied that the earl, with great dexterity, performed whatsoever could be expected from a wise general. He chose that ground which best liked him. There was between the hill and the town a fair campaign, save that near the town it was narrower, and on the right hand some hedges, and inclosures: so that there he placed musketeers, and not above two regiments of horse, where the ground was narrowest; but on his left wing he placed a body of a thousand horse, commanded by one Ramsey a Scotsman; the reserve of horse, which was a good one, was commanded by the earl of Bedford, general of their horse, and sir William Balfour with him. The general himself was with the foot, which were ordered as much to advantage as might be. And in this posture they stood from eight of the clock in the morning. On the other side, though prince Rupert was early in the morning with the greatest part of the horse on the top of the hill, which gave the first alarm of the necessity of fighting to the other party, yet the foot were quartered at so great a distance, that many regiments marched seven or eight miles to the rendezvous: so that it was past one of the clock, before the king's forces marched down the hill; the general himself alighted at the The king by quick marches, having seldom head of his own regiment of foot, his son the lord rested a day in any place, came, on Saturday the Willoughby being next to him, with the king's twenty-second of October, to Edgcot, a village in regiment of guards, in which was the king's standNorthamptonshire, within four miles of Banbury, ard, carried by sir Edmund Verney, knight marshal. in which the rebels had a very strong garrison. The king's right wing of horse was commanded by As soon as he came thither, he called a council of prince Rupert, the left wing by Mr. Wilmot, comwar, and having no intelligence that the earl of missary general of the horse, who was assisted by Essex was within any distance, it was resolved sir Arthur Aston with most of the dragoons, be"the king and the army should rest in those quar-cause that left wing was opposed to the enemy's ters the next day, only that sir Nicholas Byron right, which had the shelter of some hedges lined "should march with his brigade, and attempt the with musketeers: and the reserve was committed "taking in of Banbury." And with this resolution to sir John Byron, and consisted indeed only of his the council brake up, and all men went to their own regiment. At the entrance into the field, the quarters, which were at a great distance, without king's troop of guards, either provoked by some any apprehension of an enemy. But that night, unseasonable scoffs among the soldiery, or out of about twelve of the clock, prince Rupert sent the desire of glory, or both, besought the king, "that king word, "that the body of the rebels' army was " he would give them leave to be absent that day "within seven or eight miles, and that the head" from his person, and to charge in the front quarter was at a village called Keinton on the " among the horse;" the which his majesty conedge of Warwickshire; and that it would be in his majesty's power, if he thought fit, to fight a "battle the next day;" which his majesty liked well, and therefore immediately despatched orders to cross the design for Banbury, "and that the whole army should draw to a rendezvous on the 66 66 sented to. They desired prince Rupert "to give "them that honour which belonged to them;" who accordingly assigned them the first place; which, though they performed their parts with admirable courage, may well be reckoned among the oversights of that day. ways to have scattered and dispersed them in that army, as soon as he understood they were within any distance of him. But all men were now so much otherwise busied, that it was not soon enough re not at hand; which, by that which follows, might probably have produced a good effect. For as the right wing of the king's horse advanced to charge the left wing, which was the gross of the enemy's horse, sir Faithful Fortescue, (whose fortune and interest being in Ireland, he had come out of that kingdom to hasten supplies thither, and had a troop of horse raised for him for that service; but as many other of those forces were, so his troop was likewise disposed into that army, and he was now major to sir William Waller; he) with his whole troop advanced from the gross of their horse, and discharging all their pistols on the ground, within little more than carabine shot of his own body, presented himself and his troop to prince Rupert; and immediately, with his highness, charged the enemy. Whether this sudden accident, as it might very well, and the not knowing how many more were of the same mind, each man looking upon his companion with the same apprehension as upon the enemy, or whether the terror of prince Rupert, and the king's horse, or all together, with their own evil consciences, wrought upon them, I know not, but that whole wing, having unskilfully discharged their carabines and pistols into the air, wheeled about, our horse charging in the flank and rear, and having thus absolutely routed them, pursued them flying; and had the execution of them above two miles. It was near three of the clock in the afternoon, before the battle began; which, at that time of the year, was so late, that some were of opinion, "that the business should be deferred till the next day." But against that there were many objec-membered; and when it was, the proclamations were tions; "the king's numbers could not increase, "the enemy's might;" for they had not only their garrisons, Warwick, Coventry, and Banbury, within distance, but all that country so devoted to them, that they had all provisions brought to them without the least trouble; whereas, on the other side, the people were so disaffected to the king's party, that they had carried away, or hid, all their provisions, insomuch as there was neither meat for man or horse; and the very smiths hid themselves, that they might not be compelled to shoe horses, of which in those stony ways there was great need. This proceeded not from any radical malice, or disaffection to the king's cause, or his person; though it is true, that circuit in which this battle was fought, being very much between the dominions of the lord Say and the lord Brooke, was the most eminently corrupted of any county in England; but by the reports, and infusions which the other very diligent party had wrought into the people's belief; that the cavaliers were of a fierce, bloody, and licentious disposition, and "that they committed all manner of cruelty upon "the inhabitants of those places where they came, "of which robbery was the least;" so that the poor people thought there was no other way to preserve their goods, than by hiding them out of the way; which was confessed by them, when they found how much that information had wronged them, by making them so injurious to their friends. And therefore where the army rested a day they found much better entertainment at parting, than when they came; for it will not be denied, that there was no person of honour or quality, who paid not punctually and exactly for what they had; and there was not the least violence or disorder among the common soldiers in their march, which scaped exemplary punishment; so that at Bromicham, a town so generally wicked, that it had risen upon small parties of the king's, and killed or taken them prisoners, and sent them to Coventry, declaring a more peremptory malice to his majesty than any other place, two soldiers were executed, for having taken some small trifle of no value out of a house, whose owner was at that time in the rebels' army. So strict was the discipline in this army; when the other, without control, practised all the dissoluteness imaginable. But the march was so fast, that the leaving a good reputation behind them, was no harbinger to provide for their better reception in the next quarters. So that their wants were so great, at the time when they came to Edge-hill, that there were very many companies of the common soldiers, who had scarce eaten bread in eight and forty hours before. The only way to cure this was a victory; and therefore the king gave the word, though it was late, the enemy keeping their ground to receive him without advancing at all. In this hurry, there was an omission of somewhat, which the king intended to have executed before the beginning of the battle. He had caused many proclamations to be printed of pardon to all those soldiers who would lay down their arms, which he resolved, as is said before, to have sent by a herald to the earl of Essex, and to have found The left wing, commanded by Mr. Wilmot, had as good success, though they were to charge in worse ground, among hedges, and through gaps and ditches, which were lined with musketeers. But sir Arthur Aston, with great courage and dexterity, beat off those musketeers with his dragoons; and then the right wing of their horse was as easily routed and dispersed as their left, and those followed the chase as furiously as the other. The reserve seeing none of the enemy's horse left, thought there was nothing more to be done, but to pursue those that fled; and could not be contained by their commanders; but with spurs, and loose reins, followed the chase, which their left wing had led them. And by this means, whilst most men thought the victory unquestionable, the king was in danger of the same fate which his predecessor Henry the Third felt at the battle of Lewes against his barons; when his son the prince, having routed their horse, followed the chase so far, that, before his return to the field, his father was taken prisoner; and so his victory served only to make the misfortunes of that day the more intolerable. For all the king's horse having thus left the field, many of them only following the execution, others intending the spoil in the town of Keinton, where all the baggage was, and the earl of Essex's own coach, which was taken, and brought away; their reserve, commanded by sir William Balfour, moved up and down the field in good order, and marching towards the king's foot pretended to be friends, till observing no horse to be in readiness to charge them, [they] brake in upon the foot, and did great execution. Then was the general the earl of Lindsey, in the head of his regiment, being on foot, shot in the thigh; with which he fell, and was presently encompassed by the enemy; and his son, the lord Willoughby, piously endeavouring the rescue of his father, taken prisoner with him. Then was the standard taken, (sir Edmund Verney, who bore it, being killed,) but rescued again by captain John Smith, an officer of the lord Grandison's regiment of horse, and by him brought off. And if those horse had bestirred themselves, they might with little difficulty [have] destroyed, or taken prisoner, the king himself, and his two sons, the prince [of Wales] and the duke of York, being with fewer than one hundred horse, and those without officer or command, within half musket shot of that body, before he suspected them to be enemies. When prince Rupert returned from the chase, he found this great alteration in the field, and his majesty himself with few noblemen, and a small retinue about him, and the hope of so glorious a day quite vanished. For though most of the officers of horse were returned, and that part of the field covered again with the loose troops, yet they could not be persuaded, or drawn to charge either the enemy's reserve of horse, which alone kept the field, or the body of their foot, which only kept their ground. The officers pretending, "that their "soldiers were so dispersed, that there were not "ten of any troop together;" and the soldiers, "that their horses were so tired, that they could "not charge." But the truth is, where many soldiers of one troop or regiment were rallied together, there the officers were wanting; and where the officers were ready, there the soldiers were not together; and neither officers or soldiers desired to move without those who properly belonged to them. Things had now so ill an aspect, that many were of opinion, that the king should leave the field, though it was not easy to advise whither he should have gone; which if he had done, he had left an absolute victory to those, who even at this time thought themselves overcome. But the king was positive against that advice, well knowing, that as that army was raised by his person and presence only, so it could by no other means be kept together; and he thought it unprincely, to forsake them who had forsaken all they had to serve him: besides, he observed the other side looked not as if they thought themselves conquerors; for that reserve, which did so much mischief before, since the return of his horse, betook themselves to a fixed station between their foot, which at best could but be thought to stand their ground, which two brigades of the king's did with equal courage, and gave equal volleys; and therefore he tried all possible ways to get the horse to charge again; easily discerning by some little attempts which were made, what a notable impression a brisk one would have made upon the enemy. And when he saw it was not to be done, he was content with their only standing still. Without doubt, if either party had known the constitution of the other, they had not parted so fairly; and, very probably, which soever had made a bold offer, had compassed his end upon his enemy. This made many believe, though the horse vaunted themselves aloud to have done their part, that the good fortune of the first part of the day, which well managed would have secured the rest, was to be imputed rather to their enemy's want of courage, than to their own virtue, (which, after so great a victory, could not so soon have forsaken them,) and to the sudden and unexpected revolt of sir Faithful Fortescue with a whole troop, no doubt much to the consternation of those he left; which had not so good fortune as they deserved; for by the negligence of not throwing away their orange-tawny scarfs, which they all wore as the earl of Essex's colours, and being immediately engaged in the charge, many of them, not fewer than seventeen or eighteen, were suddenly killed by those to whom they joined themselves. In this doubt of all sides, the night, the common friend to wearied and dismayed armies, parted them; and then the king caused his cannon, which were nearest the enemy, to be drawn off; and with his whole forces himself spent the night in the field, by such a fire as could be made of the little wood, and bushes which grew thereabouts, unresolved what to do the next morning; many reporting," that the enemy was gone:" but when the day appeared, the contrary was discovered; for then they were seen standing in the same posture and place in which they fought, from whence the earl of Essex, wisely, never suffered them to stir all that night; presuming reasonably, that if they were drawn off never so little from that place, their numbers would lessen, and that many would run away; and therefore he caused all manner of provisions, [with] which the country supplied him plentifully, to be brought thither to them for their repast, and reposed himself with them in the place; besides, that night he received a great addition of strength, not only by rallying those horse and foot, which had run out of the field in the battle, but by the arrival of colonel Hambden, and colonel Grantham, with two thousand fresh foot, (which were reckoned among the best of the army,) and five hundred horse, which marched a day behind the army for the guard of their ammunition, and a great part of their train, not supposing there would have been any action that would have required their presence. All the advantage this seasonable recruit brought them, was to give their old men so much courage as to keep the field, which it was otherwise believed, they would hardly have been persuaded to have done. After a very cold night spent in the field, without any refreshment of victual, or provision for the soldiers, (for the country was so disaffected, that it not only not sent in provisions, but many soldiers, who straggled into the villages for relief, were knocked in the head by the common people,) the king found his troops very thin; for though, by conference with the officers, he might reasonably conclude, that there were not many slain in the battle, yet a third part of his foot were not upon the place, and of the horse many missing; and they that were in the field were so tired with duty, and weakened with want of meat, and shrunk up with the cruel cold of the night, (for it was a terrible frost, and there was no shelter of either tree or hedge,) that though they had reason to believe, by the standing still of the enemy, whilst a small party of the king's horse, in the morning, took away four pieces of their cannon very near them, that any offer towards a charge, or but marching towards them, would have made a very notable impression in them, yet there was so visible an averseness from it in most officers, as well as soldiers, that the king thought not fit to make the attempt; but contented himself to keep his men in |