“The Earl of Newcastle to Mr. Secretary Windebank.
“Noble Sir,
“I beseech you to present me in the most humble manner in the world to the Sacred Majesty, and to let his Majesty know I shall as cheerfully as diligently obey his Majesty’s commands. Truly, the infinite favour, honour and trust his Majesty is pleased to heap on me in this princely employment, is beyond any thing I can express. It was beyond a hope of the most partial thoughts I had about me.”—We have seen enough to be aware that Newcastle at least departed rather widely from accuracy of statement here.—“Neither is there any thing in me left, but a thankful heart filled with diligence, and obedience to his Sacred Majesty’s will.
“It is not the least favour of the King and Queen’s Majesties to let me know my obligation: and I pray, sir, humbly inform their Majesties, it is my greatest blessing that I owe myself to none but their Sacred Majesties, God ever preserve them and theirs, and make me worthy of their Majesty’s favours!
“I have but seldom had the honour to receive letters from you; but such as these you cannot write often. But truly I am very proud I received such happy news by your hand, which shall ever oblige me to be inviolably, Sir, your most faithful and obliged servant,
“W. Newcastle.
“Welbeck, the 21st of March, 1637.”
In Lodge’s opinion, although Windebank says the King had commanded him to assure Newcastle that he did not owe his appointment “to any whatsoever,” it “was most probably with Wentworth’s advice” that the King gave it to him, which seems likely enough. It is pretty clear that, all through, Newcastle had asked for the appointment himself and had got others to ask for it for him. We have seen that he sought Wentworth’s services in the matter and suggested that Wentworth should also obtain those of Lord and Lady Carlisle. At the same time he wanted to have the credit of having been given the appointment by the King, solely on the King’s own initiative, without any begging whatever, either by himself or by anybody else. Nor is it unlikely that Strafford, knowing Newcastle’s anxiety on this point, may have inspired Windebank to write the last paragraph of his letter, in which, with very suspicious ostentation, he assures Newcastle that he does not owe his appointment to any outside influence.
Few details exist concerning Newcastle’s conduct and experiences as Governor of the future Charles II. On one occasion he seems to have had reasons for complaining of his pupil to the boy’s mother, the Queen, who wrote to the little delinquent:—
“Charles,[25]
“I am sorry that I must begin my first letter by chiding you, because I hear that you will not take phisicke. I hope it was onlie for this day, and that to-morrow you will do it; for if you will not, I must come to you and make you take it, for it is for your health. I have given order to mi Lord of Newcastel to send mi word tonight whether you will or not; therefore I hope you will not give mi the paines to goe; and so I rest
“Your affectionate mother,
“Henriette Marie.
[25] Strickland’s Queens, VIII. 73.
It may have been in sarcastic reference to this little episode that the Prince wrote the following letter in a round hand, between double lines, when his correspondent was apparently also a patient.
“Charles, Prince of Wales, to His Governor,
Lord Newcastle.
“My Lord,
“I would not have you take too much phisicke, for it doth always make me worse; and I think it will doe the like with you. I ride every day, and am ready to follow any other directions from you.
“Make haste back to him that loves you.
“Charles P.”
A letter of instructions written by Newcastle to his pupil is a curiosity in its way. It is a sort of English Il Principe. Only portions of it are given here.
“The Earl of Newcastle’s Letter of Instructions to Prince Charles for His Studies, Conduct and Behaviour.[26]
“(From a copy preserved with the Royal Letters in the Harleian MS. 6988, art. 62.)
[26] Ellis’s Letters, Series I. vol. III. p. 288.
“May it Please your Highness ...
“for your education Sir, It is fitt you should have some languages, though I confess I would rather have you study things then words, matter, then language; for seldom a Critick in many languages hath time to study sense, for words; and at best he is or can be but a living dictionary. Besides I would not have you too studious, for too much contemplation spoiles action, and Virtue consists in that. What you read, I woud have it History and the best chosen Histories, that so you might compare the dead with the living, ... and thus you shall see the excellency and errors both of Kings and subjects, and tho’ you are young in years, yet living by your wading in all those times, be older in wisdom and judgement then Nature can afford any man to be without this help.
“For the Arts I wou’d have you know them so far as they are of use, and especially those that are most proper for war and use; but whensoever you are too studious, your contemplation will spoile your government, for you cannot be a good contemplative man and a good commonwealth’s man; therefore take heed of too much book.”
Presently we find this instructor of youth also warning his pupil against too much religious devotion.
“Beware of too much devotion for a King, for one may be a good man but a bad King; and how many will History represente to you that in seeming to gain the kingdome of Heaven, have lost their owne;”—unquestionably a very serious loss! But it seems to have escaped the notice of Newcastle that to keep a kingdom on earth and to lose the kingdom of heaven might also possibly entail certain inconveniences. Newcastle continues: “and the old saying is, that short prayers pierce the heaven’s gates; but if you be not religious, and not only seeme so..., God will not prosper you; and if you have no reverence to him, why should your subjects have any to you. At the best you are accounted for your greatest honour his servant, his deputy, his anointed, and you owe as much reverence and duty to him as we owe to you; and why, nay justly may not he punishe you for want of reverence and service to Him, if you fail in it, as well as you to punish us; but this subject I leave to the right reverend father in God, Lord Bishop of Chichester, your worthy tutor.
“But Sir to fall back again to your reverence at Prayers, so farr as concernes reason and your advantage is my duty to tell you; then I say Sr. were there no Heaven or Hell you shall see the disadvantage, for your government; if you have no reverence at prayers, what will the people have, think you? They go according to the example of the Prince; if they have none, then they have no obedience to God; then they will easily have none to your Highness; no obedience, no subjects.... Of the other side, if any be bible madd, over much burn’t with fiery zeal, they may think it a service to God to destroy you and say the Spirit moved them and bring some example of a King with a hard name in the Old Testament. Thus one way you may have a civil war, the other a private treason.”
There is something decidedly Machiavellian in this advice to the Prince to worship God in order that he may himself in turn be worshipped by his people, and in the warning against any excess of piety, lest his people should fall into the terrible error of worshipping their God so much as to neglect to worship their King. Later on, Newcastle says:—
“For Books thus much more, the greatest clerks are not the wisest men; and the greate troublers of the world, the greatest captains, were not the greatest schollars; neither have I known bookewormes great statesmen; some have here to fore and some are now, but they study men more now then bookes, or else they would prove but silly statesmen....
“But Sr. you are [not?] in your own disposition religious and not very apte to your booke, so you need no great labour to perswade you from the one, or long discourses to dissuade from the other.
“The things that I have discoursed to you most, is to be courteous and civil to everybody; ... believe it, the putting off of your hat and making a leg pleases more then reward or preservation, so much doth it take all kind of people. Then to speak well of every body, and when you hear people speak ill of others reprehend them and seeme to dislike it so much, and do not look on em so favourably for a few days after.”
After this come long exhortations to courtesy, and instructions as to being agreeable to everybody without losing dignity.
In addition to all this advice, Newcastle personally superintended the riding lessons of the future Charles II. Newcastle was one of the finest horsemen of his times, and, in his standard work on horsemanship which we shall meet with later on, he says: “Our gracious and most excellent King” (Charles II), “is not only the handsomest and most comely horseman in the world, but as knowing and understanding in the art as any man”.
Very many years later, when Newcastle’s pupil became King of England, he either wrote, or caused to be written, in the Preamble to a Patent (16 March, 1664) creating Newcastle a duke: “The great proofs of his wisdom and piety, are sufficiently known to Us from our younger years, and we shall always retain a sense of those good principles he instilled into Us: the care of our youth, which he happily undertook for our good, he has faithfully and well discharged”.
We are anticipating, in the matter of time, when we say that Newcastle held the post of Governor to the Prince of Wales for about two years only; but the Governorship may as well be dealt with finally here. Her husband, says the Duchess, “was privately advertised, that the Parliaments Design was to take the Government of the Prince from Him, which he apprehending as a disgrace to Himself, wisely prevented, and obtained the Consent of His late Majesty, with His Favour, to deliver up the Charge of being Governor to the Prince, and retire into the Countrey”.
In “apprehending a disgrace to himself,” and resigning the governorship of the Prince, if Newcastle did not meet with the “downfall” spoken of by Bacon, he at least suffered the “eclipse, which is a melancholy thing,” mentioned by the same writer. For so short a time, the appointment seems hardly to have been worth all the trouble which Newcastle had taken to obtain it. How far he succeeded in it we do not know, but one historian did not take a very exalted view of his success.
In his Personal History of Charles II, published as an appendix to Bohn’s edition of Grammont’s Memoirs, Sir Walter Scott says of the Prince: “His governors, successively the Earls of Newcastle, Hertford, and Berkshire, who had the care of his education, appear to have afforded him but few helps towards his improvement”. The Duchess’s statement that Newcastle “attended the Prince, his Master, with all faithfulness and duty befitting so great an employment,” evidently did not weigh heavily in Sir Walter’s opinion. The Prince, however, must have gained little by his change of governors; since Clarendon[27] says that Hertford, “for the office of Governour, never thought himself fit, nor meddled with it”.
[27] History, vol. II, part I. book vi.
Events of greater importance than the governorship of the Prince had begun to take place long before Newcastle resigned it, events which eventually proved of more moment than that governorship even to Newcastle himself. John Hampden had been condemned for refusing to pay ship money; Prynne had been pilloried for his writings; Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, had been suspended for libel; and the Scottish Parliament, after abolishing episcopacy, was preparing for war with England. Meanwhile the English Parliament was seething with disaffection.
King Charles mobilised an army to proceed against the Scots. He was sorely in need of money, and Newcastle gave him £10,000 towards the cost of the expedition. And he did more than this. Newcastle, says Clarendon,[28] “one of the most valuable men in the Kingdom, in his fortune, in his dependence, and in his qualifications, had, at his own charge, drawn together a goodly troop of horse of two hundred, which for the most part consisted of the best gentlemen of the North, who were either allied to the Earl, or of immediate dependence upon him, and came together purely on his account; and he called this troop the Prince of Wales’s troop, whereof the Earl himself was captain”.
[28] History, vol. I, part I. book ii.
Rushworth says[29] that, on the same day as the King, “the Earl of Newcastle marched with his troop, carrying the Prince’s colours, into Berwick; and sent out parties to scout upon the Scots borders. His troop consisted of all gentlemen, most of them of very good estates, and fortunes, some £2,000, £1,500, £1,000 and £500 per annum, and the rest of good annual revenue; all gallantly mounted and armed, and well attended, with their own servants well mounted; for the maintaining of which troop the King was put to no charge at all.”
[29] Collections, II, 929.
As everybody knows, this expedition was rendered fruitless, without a blow being struck, by an ill-judged treaty; but it was not altogether without adventure to Newcastle. The King’s cavalry were under the command of the Earl of Holland, and Holland not only disliked Newcastle personally, but was jealous of him on account of the £10,000 which he had given towards the expedition, and the brilliant troop which he had raised to accompany it. On a march over the Scottish border, says Rushworth, “the Earl of Holland put the Prince’s colours, commanded by the Earl of Newcastle, in the rear, which so offended the Earl of Newcastle, and that troop, as his Lordship commanded Cornet Edward Gray (brother to the Lord Gray of Wark), to take the colours from off the staff, yet marched in order without colours”.
Some pages farther on,[30] Rushworth continues this story. “The Earl of Holland, General of the Horse, after he returned from his first expedition into Scotland, complained to his Majesty of the Earl of Newcastle taking off his colours from his staff in that march; the King being also by another noble person made acquainted with the reason of his so doing, because the Prince his colours were put in the rear. The King commended the Earl of Newcastle’s prudence in so doing, and did not attribute it to any unwillingness or neglect of that Earl in his Majesty’s service on that occasion. And his Majesty commanded that, for time to come, that troop of the Earl of Newcastle should be commanded by none but himself whilst they remained upon duty.”
[30] P. 946.
“Afterwards, when a peace was concluded, and the army disbanded, the Earl of Newcastle thought fit to require an account of the Earl of Holland for the said affront which he had put upon him, and sent a challenge to him, and time and place where to meet appointed.[31] The Earl of Newcastle made choice of Francis Palmes for his second, a man of known courage and mettle.[32] The Earl of Newcastle appeared at the time and place, with his second; but the General of the Horse, his second, came alone, by which the Earl of Newcastle concluded that the design had been discovered to the King, who commanded them both to be confined and afterwards made a peace between them.”
[31] The Duchess says: “The place and hour being appointed by both their consents”.
[32] “A gentleman very punctual, and well acquainted with those errands,” says Clarendon, “who took a proper season to mention it to him [Holland] without a possibility of suspicion. The Earl of Holland was never suspected to want courage, yet in this occasion he showed not that alacrity, but that the delay exposed it to notice; and so, by the King’s authority, the matter was composed” (Hist., vol. I, part I. book ii.).
Of this incident Kippis remarks,[33] with a great deal of sense: “Little service could be expected from an army in which an inferior officer might challenge his general, on account of a supposed slight in the giving of orders; and those persons must have had strange ideas of the laws of honour who could blame a commander-in-chief for refusing so unsoldierly a challenge”.
[33] Biog. Brit., Kippis’s ed.
Shortly afterwards Newcastle received the following letter from Sir John Suckling, who, like Newcastle, had raised a troop of horse for the King, and had also led it on the same fruitless expedition to Scotland. Like Newcastle, again, he was literary and a playwright. He had been in a good deal of active military service on the Continent, and he was generous and amusing. If his troop of horse was only half the strength of Newcastle’s, it must have rivalled it, if it did not exceed it, in splendour. Aubrey says of it (Letters, p. 546):—
“Sir John Suckling, at his own chardge, razed a troop of 100 very handsome young proper men, whom he clad in white doubletts and scarlett breeches, scarlett coates, hatts and feathers, well-horsed and armed.”
“Sir John Suckling to the Earl of Newcastle.[34]
“(1640?) January 8. London.—Are the small buds of the white and red rose more delightful than the roses themselves? And cannot the King and Queen invite as stronglie as the roiall issue?
[34] Hist. Com., 13th Rep., Appendix, part ii. p. 133.
“Or has your lordship taken up your freinds opinion of you to your owne use, so that when you are in my Lord of Newcastle’s companie you cannot think of anie other. Excuse me—my Lord—I know it is a pleasure to enioy a priveledge due to the highest excelence—which is to be extreamlie honored and never seen—but withall I beleive the goodnesse of your nature so great that you will not think yourself dearelie borrowed, when your presence shall concerne the fortune of an humble servant. I write not this—my Lord—that you should take a journey on purpose, that were as extravagant as if a man should desire—the universall benefactor—the sun, to come a month or two before his time, onelie to make a spring in his garden. I will as men doe his, wait—my Lord—your comming and in the meantime promise myself good howres without the help of an astrologer, since I suddenlie hope to see the noblest planett of our orb in conjunction with your Lordship.”
Aubrey favours us with a portrait of this correspondent, and evidently familiar friend, of Newcastle: “He was of middle stature and slight strength, brisque round eie, reddish faced, and red nose (ill liver), his head not very big, his hayre a kind of sand colour; his beard turned up naturally, so that he had a brisk and gracefull looke”.
As will soon be seen, a good service which Suckling tried to do for Newcastle, resulted rather to his detriment.
After the expedition to the borders of Scotland and the settlement of his affair with Lord Holland, Newcastle returned to Welbeck, “to his great satisfaction,” says the Duchess, “and with an intent to have continued there, and rested under his own vine and managed his own estate”. As we shall find in the next chapter, he did not rest under his own vine very long.
CHAPTER V.
“Archbishop Laud,” says the Duchess, “was pleased to tell His late Majesty, that my Lord was one of the Wisest and Prudentest Persons that ever he was acquainted with.
“For further proof, I cannot pass by that my Lord told His late Majesty King Charles the First, and Her Majesty the now Queen-Mother, some time before the Wars, That he observed by the humours of the People, the approaching of a Civil War, and that His Majesties Person would be in danger of being deposed, if timely care was not taken to prevent it.”
Perhaps a very far-reaching gift of prophecy may not have been necessary to foretell all this. Early in 1640, things were looking very threatening. Both in England and in Scotland political as well as religious disputes were causing frictions likely at any moment to produce a flame. Charles was preparing for a war against the Scots, and, in order to obtain a vote of supplies for this war, he summoned a Parliament, afterwards known as the Short Parliament.
When it had assembled, a letter from the Scots to the King of France, appealing for his assistance in a war which they were contemplating against the English, was produced in the House to stimulate the loyalty of the Commons. It had little effect. Members boldly asserted that a Scottish invasion might be a bad thing, but that invasions by the Crown upon the liberties of Englishmen at home were worse things still and that these home invasions ought to be repelled before the Scottish invasion. As to either subsidies for the proposed campaign against the Scots, or ship-money, the Commons passed a Resolution that “till the liberties of the House and kingdom were cleared, they knew not whether they had anything to give or no”. Pym urged peace with the Scots, while Sir Henry Vane asked for £840,000 to make war upon them. The Commons, and even the Lords, were in a sulky humour, the King was now being publicly defied by his Government and he dissolved Parliament on 5 May, 1640.
Charles, Strafford and Vane tried every possible means of raising funds for the war. The citizens of London refused to make a loan at 8 per cent. and they also refused to levy a rate. An appeal to the King of Spain for a loan met with no better success. There were revolutionary risings in London. Torture was used for the last time in England upon one of the leaders[35] of the malcontents. Presently the bishops were persuaded to give a few thousands; Cottington managed to borrow £50,000 from the East India Company at the usurious interest of 16 per cent., and at last the City agreed to a loan of £200,000, on the security of the Peers. Of all the Peers none was more ready to help the King financially than Newcastle.
[35] Gardiner’s History, vol. IX, p. 141.
The position of Newcastle’s great friend, Strafford, at this time, was intolerable. He was practically at the head of the King’s affairs; but those affairs were in an almost hopeless condition. There was not enough money to pay and provide for the army during a prolonged war; there was a mutinous spirit among the soldiers; their commander-in-chief, Northumberland, had no heart for the war; the high officials were trembling at the responsibility of illegal action; both the King and Strafford were in agony, the one from vacillation, the other from gout.
Conway, who was in command in the North and had been incredulous about a Scottish invasion, on discovering its reality wrote a very doleful letter early in August to Northumberland. He complained that he had only half the number of troops with which the Scots were about to cross the border and that nearly a quarter of his men were entirely unarmed. On learning the state of things in the North, Charles issued orders to all the lords-lieutenants in the Midlands and the North to call out the trained bands for immediate service, and, Northumberland’s health having broken down, Charles made Strafford Commander-in-Chief of the English army. The failure of Conway, of Northumberland, and eventually of Strafford, cleared the way for the employment of a man exceedingly unambitious of military service, namely, Newcastle.
The King left London for the North on 20 August, 1640. On the night of the same day, the Scottish army, of about 25,000 men, crossed the Tweed at Coldstream and invaded England. Charles reached York on the 23rd, Strafford joined him there four days later, and, on the 29th, the Scots took the city of Newcastle and occupied it. Before long the counties of Northumberland and Durham were completely in their power. Charles held a great council of the peers at York; he announced that he was about to issue writs for a Parliament to meet on 3 November, and he asked the advice of the council upon the situation. The upshot of much deliberation on the part of the council, and much negotiation with the enemy, was that a cessation of arms was agreed upon, the two northern counties being left in the possession of the Scots.
The Parliament—the notorious Long Parliament—met on the day appointed. Within ten days, Strafford, who had taken his seat in the Lords, was impeached and arrested. About a month later, Laud had also been impeached and, like Strafford, imprisoned in the Tower.
Charles soon discovered that he was no longer governing, but governed. The Parliament negotiated with the Scots without consulting him or even taking him into its confidence. Eventually the Commons voted that £300,000 should be given to the King’s enemies, the Scots, as a “Brotherly Assistance”.
The King’s affairs kept going rapidly from bad to worse. We cannot here deal with the trials and the executions of Newcastle’s two friends, Strafford and Laud—for Laud also was a friend of Newcastle—or the Root and Branch Bill, or the Grand Remonstrance, or the Rebellion in Ireland which is said to have cost that country nearly half its population. We shall presently have enough to do with Newcastle himself without troubling ourselves about general politics; but it has been necessary to take a brief survey of them in so far as they led up to the most important events in Newcastle’s life.
In the years 1640 and 1641, the Queen showed more energy than the King, but she was equally, if not even more, injudicious. At about the period dealt with at the beginning of the last chapter, or even earlier, by way of obtaining the advice of a sage politician, she had listened, and persuaded Charles to listen, to the proposals of Newcastle’s profligate, and light-minded friend, Sir John Suckling. That courtier recommended the King to make use of his army in the North to re-establish and maintain his regal authority: as Strafford was in the Tower and Northumberland was still invalided, he suggested that Newcastle should be put in command of that army, and that he should bring it South, to overawe the Parliament and support the King. In addition to advising the use of force, Suckling personally endeavoured to raise loyal troops in support of the Crown. His efforts, however, did more harm than good to the King’s cause; his plot was discovered by the Parliament, he fled to France and he was declared a traitor.
Although there was no proof of Newcastle’s complicity in this plot, the fact that his appointment to command the army of the North was part of its scheme made the Parliament suspect him more strongly than ever.
The effect of all this was that the Queen was now even more hateful to the Parliament than was the King. The crisis arrived when five members of Parliament began to urge that the Queen, as the prime author of the encroachments upon the liberties of the subjects, should be formally impeached. The King still hesitated; but, according to the well-known story, the Queen said to him:[36] “Go, you coward! and pull these rogues out by the ears, or never see my face again”. The Queen told Lady Carlisle of this little episode, Lady Carlisle told Essex, Essex told others, and others told the five members, who made their escape in safety.
[36] Gardiner’s History, X, p. 136.
Urged on the one side by his councillors to use the utmost caution, on the other by his Queen to be a man and to put his foot down, the vacillating and nervous King, in a moment of spasmodic courage, threatened the Parliament; whereupon the Parliament threatened the King, who then practically ran away, leaving London on 10 January, 1642.
The first actual conflict between the King and the Parliament took place in relation to Newcastle. When Charles had left York, to meet the Long Parliament in London, he had sent all the ammunition and stores which he had accumulated for his war against the Scots, to Hull. He had foreseen the likelihood of a civil war, and he had privately given Newcastle a commission, appointing him governor of Hull; but he had told him not to use it unless he received further orders.
During the morning on which the King left London, early in January, 1642, one of his first acts was to dispatch orders to Newcastle, commanding him to make immediate use of that commission, and to hurry to Hull, as the Duchess says, “with all possible speed and privacy”. Of what followed she says:—
“Immediately upon the receipt of these his Majesties Orders and Commands, my Lord prepared for their execution, and about Twelve of the Clock at night, hastened from his own house when his Familie were all at their rest, save two or three Servants which he appointed to attend him. The next day early in the morning he arrived at Hull, in the quality of a private Gentleman, which place was distant from his house forty miles; and none of his Family that were at home, knew what was become of him, till he sent an Express to his Lady to inform her where he was.”
The probable intense anxiety of his wife, which might so simply and so easily have been saved, does not appear to have occurred to him. The Duchess continues:—
“Thus being admitted into the Town, he fell upon his intended Design, and brought it to so hopeful an issue for His Majesties Service, that he wanted nothing but His Majesties further Commission and Pleasure to have secured both the Town and Magazine for His Majesties use; and to that end by a speedy Express gave His Majesty, who was then at Windsor, an account of all his Transactions therein, together with his Opinion of them, hoping His Majesty would have been pleased either to come thither in Person, which he might have done with much security, or at least have sent him a Commission and Orders how he should do His Majesty further Service.”
Unfortunately for Charles, his most intimate followers could not be trusted for secrecy, and there were spies in his train. His orders to Newcastle were betrayed to the Parliament, and, by its authority, Sir John Hotham, who lived very near Hull, was appointed its governor and ordered to seize it with the help of the Yorkshire trained bands under his command.
Newcastle had entered Hull, had proclaimed himself its governor, in the King’s name, and had found that it contained a larger quantity of munitions than the Tower of London itself; but, when Legg, on behalf of the King, and Hotham, on the part of the Parliament, brought troops to occupy the town, the Mayor—to use a very vulgar expression—uncertain as to which way the cat would jump, refused to admit the soldiers of either of them.
“Before Newcastle had been three days in Hull,” says Clarendon,[37] “the House of Peers sent for him, to attend the service of that House, which he had rarely used to do, being for the most part at Richmond attending upon the Prince of Wales, whose Governor he was.[38] He made no haste to return upon the summons of the House, but sent to the King to know his pleasure.”
[37] Hist., vol. I, part II. book iv.
[38] This, of course, refers to a past period.
As usual, Charles showed weakness. Having dispatched Newcastle in a tremendous hurry to secure his magazines at Hull against the Parliament, he now ordered him to obey the Parliament, to leave Hull and the magazines to their fate, and go to London. Newcastle, says the Duchess, “received orders from His Majesty to observe such Directions as he should receive from the Parliament then sitting: Whereupon he was summoned personally to appear at the House of Lords, and a Committee chosen to examine the Grounds and Reasons of his undertaking that Design; but my Lord shewed them his Commission, and that it was done in obedience to His Majesties Commands and so was cleared of that Action”.
Both Lords and Commons then petitioned the King to allow the magazines at Hull to be removed to the Tower of London; and when the King was slow in sending a reply, they ordered Hotham to dispatch them there at once.
Clarendon (Hist., vol. I, part II. book v.) describes Sir John Hotham as “by his nature and education a rough and rude man, of great covetousness, of great pride, and great ambition; without any bowels of good nature, or the least sense or touch of generosity; his parts were not quick and sharp, but composed, and he judged well; he was a man of craft, and more likely to deceive than be cozened.” “He had been first induced to sympathise with the Parliament against the King,” adds Clarendon, “by his particular malice against the Earl of Strafford;” he had been imprisoned, probably as he suspected at the instigation of Strafford, for complaining in Parliament at the King’s demands for large subsidies for the army; and he had formally ranged himself upon the Parliamentary side; but the Parliamentary leaders “well knew that he was not possessed with their principles in any degree,” that, although he had considered Laud guilty of treason, he was a zealous supporter of Church and State, and that he had been “terrified” by certain votes against sheriffs and deputy-lieutenants passed in the House of Commons. “Therefore they sent his son, a member likewise of the House, and in whom they confided, to assist him, or rather to be a spy upon his father. And this was the first essay they made of their Sovereign Power over the Militia and the Forts.” As will appear later, the son was in reality more royalist in his inclinations than the father upon whom he was to spy.
Against such a usurpation of the Royal Prerogative the King made a protest on 9 March. He was determined to displace Hotham, and to replace Newcastle, at Hull. In April he went North with a view to testing the powers of the Parliament by entering Hull himself. At the same time he was anxious to avoid all appearance of committing an act of war. Ostensibly, he intended merely to enter Hull as he might enter any of his other cities.
When Hotham was informed that the King was approaching, accompanied by 300 men, and that there were 400 more behind them, he was “in great confusion,” says Clarendon, “and calling some of the chief magistrates, and other officers together to consult, they persuaded him not to suffer the King to enter the town”.
Presently a messenger from Charles arrived, bringing to Hotham the information that the King would do him the honour of dining with him that day.
Bewildered almost to distraction, Hotham resolved to obey orders which he had received from the Parliament to admit no troops whatever without its special instructions. Accordingly he had his drawbridges raised, and standing upon the walls when the King arrived, he very respectfully informed him of the strict injunctions which he had received from his employers—the Commons. Then the King offered to come in with an escort of only twenty men; but Hotham, knowing that there was a strong royalist spirit within the town, was afraid of admitting him, and said that to allow even so small a number of armed men to enter would be a breach of his orders. Clarendon says: “the gentleman, with much distraction in his looks, talked confusedly of ‘the trust he had from the Parliament’; then fell upon his knees, and wished ‘that God would bring confusion upon him and his, if he were not a loyal and faithful subject to His Majesty, but, in conclusion, plainly denied to suffer his Majesty to come into the town’”. The King’s soldiers then loudly called upon the garrison to kill Hotham on the spot and throw him over the wall; and Charles, having made his heralds proclaim Hotham a traitor, rode away in a rage.
In the following month (May), the greater part of the arms and stores were shipped from Hull to the Tower of London. The Hotham incident greatly increased the irritation already existing between the King and the Parliament; and, although war had not been actually declared, both sides were collecting troops and stores.
Charles ordered Newcastle to take possession of the city bearing his name, and also the command of the four adjacent counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham and Westmoreland. On 17 June, 1642, he entered the city of Newcastle in the name of the King. He also secured Tynemouth Castle and he fortified Shields. The King had now a port on the East coast at which he could receive supplies from Holland, whither the Queen had gone to raise money for the coming war by selling her jewels and begging for loans.
It was all very well to be given the command of four counties; but it was difficult to command them without men to enforce commands. The King had indeed ordered Newcastle to make bricks without straw. As it was, when Newcastle arrived, “he neither found any military provision considerable for the undertaking that work, nor generally any great encouragement from the people in those parts”. So says the Duchess; and she adds:—
“As soon as my Lord came to Newcastle, in the first place he sent for all his Tenants[39] and Friends in those parts, and presently raised a Troop of Horse consisting of 120, and a Regiment of Foot, and put them under Command, and upon duty and exercise in the Town of Newcastle; and with this small beginning took the Government of that place upon him ... and armed the Soldiers as well as he could: And thus he stood upon his Guard, and continued them upon Duty; playing his weak Game with much Prudence, and giving the Town and Country very great satisfaction by his noble and honourable Deportment.” In short, under the circumstances, Newcastle would have found it very dangerous, when “playing his weak game,” to be anything except civil and obsequious.
[39] The tenants on the Ogle property in the North, which he had inherited from his mother.
Clarendon says that Newcastle had no sooner occupied the city of Newcastle, “without the slightest hostility (for that town received him with all possible acknowledgment of the King’s goodness in sending him), but he was impeached by the House of Commons of High Treason”.[40] Although Clarendon states that he entered the town without the slightest hostility, the following entry occurs in the catalogue of the Thomason Tracts. “1642, July 12, Sir John Hotham’s Resolution presented to the King at Beverley. Whereunto is annexed joyful news from Newcastle, wherein is declared how the colliers resisted the Earl of Newcastle.”
[40] Hist., vol. II, part I. book vi.
CHAPTER VI.
On 22 August, 1642, the King formally hoisted his standard at Nottingham, and hostilities became a reality. He made Shrewsbury his head-quarters in September, and from there he wrote:—
“New Castel,
“This is to tell you that this Rebellion is growen to that height, that I must not looke what opinion men ar who at this tyme ar willing and able to serve me.[41] Therfore I doe not only permitt, but command you, to make use of all my loving subjects services, without examining ther Contienses[42] (more than there loyalty to me) as you shall fynde most to conduce to the uphoulding of my just Regall Power. So I rest.
“Your most asseured faithfull
“frend
“Charles R.[43]
[41] He means that he must not inquire what their religion might be.
[42] Consciences.
[43] Harleian MS. 6988, art. 69, orig. entirely in the King’s hand.
In October the battle of Edgehill was fought, and in November there were encounters at Brentford and Turnham Green, after which the King took up his winter quarters at Oxford.
Essex, the Commander-in-Chief of the Parliamentary forces, commissioned Lord Fairfax to command the armies in Yorkshire and the adjacent counties; therefore henceforth Fairfax was to be Newcastle’s principal enemy.
Fairfax whose name in arms through Europe rings,
Filling each mouth with envy or with praise.
Milton.
Fairfax had a great advantage over Newcastle, having served with the English army in the Low Countries, whereas Newcastle had had no military experience. He had also the recommendation for a command in Yorkshire, that he was a Yorkshireman both by birth and by blood. On the other hand he laboured under the disadvantage of the intense dislike and contempt of his fellow-Yorkshireman and brother officer, Sir John Hotham, the Governor of Hull. There were very few “gentlemen, or men of any quality, in that large county,” says Clarendon, “who were disaffected to his Majesty”. The chief of these were Fairfax, the Hothams, father and son, Cholmondley, and Stapleton.
We must now return to him in the summer of 1642. A special charge, given to him by the King, was the Bishopric of Durham. In that diocese were many sympathisers with the Parliament, and among such were not a few of the clergy. Now Newcastle knew the Dean to be thoroughly loyal to the King; so he issued an order that no sermon was to be preached in the diocese until it had been written out and submitted to the Dean; and he ordered the Dean not only to strike out anything which he might consider savouring of disaffection, but also to put in expressions of devoted loyalty to the sovereign, wherever such sentiments were wanting. Besides this he empowered the Dean to punish any of the clergy who might be in the least contumacious about the matter. We have the Duchess’s authority for this statement.
In spite of the carefully doctored sermons, the Duchess tells us that “there happened a great mutiny of the Trainband Souldiers of the Bishoprick at Durham, so that my Lord was forced to remove thither in Person, attended with some forces to appease them; where at his arrival (I mention it by the way, and as a merry passage) a jovial Fellow used this expression, That he liked my Lord very well, but not his Company (meaning his Soldiers)”.
Then Newcastle set resolutely to work to raise an army. It would be interesting to know with what weapons he armed it. The artillery of the time was provided with very elementary guns; and the muskets, harquebuses (carbines), and petronels (heavy pistols), all left much to be desired. Pikes were then an all-important weapon; but pikemen required almost more drill and training than did any other soldiers, and it is doubtful how soon those in Newcastle’s hastily recruited army could have been of any effective service; but, at any rate, they could hardly be less experienced in military affairs than was their commander-in-chief.
Scythes, fastened to the ends of poles, we know to have been used in the seventeenth century by the defenders of fortresses, for hooking off soldiers attempting to scale the walls and for upsetting scaling-ladders. Most tempting tools to use, one would imagine. Bows and arrows were certainly carried by the Scottish army which crossed the English border, as described in an earlier chapter, and Grose (vol. II, p. 272) says that one of their uses was “to gall or astoyne the enemye with the hailshot of light arrows, before they have come within danger of the harquebuss shot”.
The Duchess says that the King of Denmark sent a ship containing arms and ammunition to Newcastle, and that, among the weapons, were “Danish clubs”. In our twentieth century superiority, we may look down with contempt upon clubs; but, in a hand-to-hand fight, heavy clubs might be weapons to which considerable respect would be due, if swung by the arms of able-bodied warriors upon the skulls of their enemies.
It was another person’s opinion that Newcastle had even more than a sufficient supply of arms and ammunition, and that he was acting the part of the dog in the manger.
“Sir Marmaduke Langdale to Sir William Savile.[44]
“1642, Nov. 9th, Newcastle.—(My Lord of Newcastle) hath plenty of arms and ammunitions, far more than he can tell what to do withal, in so much as he must be forced to have a greater guard than he intended for the safety thereof, yet I know he will not spare you either arms or ammunition.”
[44] Portland MSS., vol. I, 69.
The King was of the same opinion as to Newcastle’s superfluity of weapons, and wrote to him asking for a supply; but he did not receive any, and Newcastle pleaded that he had none to spare. Charles then wrote:—[45]
“New Castell....
“I give you free leave to disobey my warrants for issewing Armes; for what I have done in that, was in supposition that you had anow for your selfe and your frends; but having not, I confess Charity begins at home. I wonder to heare you say that there ar few Armes in that Country, for when I was there, to my knowledge there was twelve thousand of the Trained Bands (except some few Hotham gott into Hull) compleat, besydes those of particular men; therefor in God’s name inquyre what is becume of them, and make use of them all; for those who ar well affected will willingly give, or lend them to you; and those who ar not, make no bones to take them from them.”
[45] Harl. MS. 6988, art. 75. Orig.
As to men, Newcastle was also successful. The Duchess says:—
“Amongst the rest of his Army, My Lord had chosen for his own Regiment of Foot, 3,000 of such Valiant, stout and faithful men (whereof many were bred in the Moorish-grounds of the Northern parts) that they were ready to die at my Lord’s feet, and never gave over, whensoever they were engaged in action, until they had either conquer’d the Enemy or lost their lives. They were called Whitecoats, for this following reason: My Lord being resolved to give them new Liveries, and there being not red Cloth enough to be had, took up so much of white as would serve to cloath them, desiring withal, their patience until he had got it dyed; but they impatient of stay, requested my Lord, that he would be pleased to let them have it un-dyed as it was, promising they themselves would die it in the Enemies Blood: Which request my Lord granted them, and from that time they were called White-Coats;” or, sometimes, she might have added, “Newcastle’s Lambs”.
She tells us in another place that “Within a short time, my Lord formed an Army of 8,000 Foot, Horse and Dragoons, and put them into a condition to march in the beginning of November, 1642. No sooner was this effected, but the Insurrection grew high in Yorkshire, in so much, that most of His Majesties good subjects of that County, as well the Nobility as Gentry, were forced for the preservation of their persons, to retire to the City of York, a walled Town, but of no great strength.”
Before going to York Newcastle had to leave about half his army behind him. Clarendon says: “having left a good garrison at Newcastle, and fixed such small garrisons in his way, as might secure his communication with that port, to which all his ammunition was to be brought, with a body of near 3,000 foot, and 600 or 700 horse and dragoons, without any encounter with the enemy (though they had threatened loud) he entered York, having lessened the enemy’s strength, without blood, both in territories and men”. Two regiments, which had been raised for the enemy, dissolved on his approach.
Newcastle then settled down for the winter, “yet,” says Clarendon, “few days passed without blows, in which the parliament forces had usually the worst”. But not always; for, if the following statement be true, Newcastle’s forces were on one occasion repulsed in a manner of which the description reads like a page from Don Quixote.
“Sir John Hotham to William Lenthall.[46]
“1642, Oct., Hull.... Upon Sunday night last, as the neighbours of Sherborne tell our men, they” (the cavaliers) “drew certain forces out of York to have set upon my son’s men at Cawood. When they came in Sherborne, a village three miles from Cawood, they espied a windmill, which they took for my son’s colours marching to meet them, and certain stooks of beans for his men in order. Whereupon they returned in more haste than they came.”
[46] Portland MSS., vol. I, 67.
When the winter set in,[47] Newcastle, with the King’s troops, held all the country between York and the border of Scotland, while the south of Yorkshire was under the control of Fairfax and the troops of the Parliament.
[47] In 1642, Newcastle sent his friend, Sir William Savile, to take possession of the manufacturing towns in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Some interesting letters relating to Newcastle and Sir William may be found in Hunter’s Hallamshire.
As no supplies came from the Government for the army of Newcastle, he had to provide for it otherwise. The Duchess tells us how this was managed: “It was agreed, That the Nobility and Gentry of the several Counties, should select a certain number of themselves to raise money by a regular Tax, for the making provisions for the support and maintenance of the Army, rather than to leave them to free-quarter and to carve for themselves”.
The seizure of York by Newcastle had been a step of the greatest importance. Clarendon says of it:[48] “It cannot be denied that the Earl of Newcastle, by the quick march of his troops, as soon as he had received his commission to be General, and in the depth of winter,”—late autumn would have been more accurate—“redeemed, or rescued the city of York from the rebels, when they looked upon it as their own, and had it even within their grasp; and as soon as he was master of it, he raised men apace”. The Duchess says that he raised from first to last 100,000;[49] but this must surely be an exaggeration—“and drew an army together, with which he fought many battles, in which he had always (the last excepted,) success and victory”—another exaggeration.
[48] Hist., vol. II, part II. book viii.
[49] “And afterwards upon this ground, at several times, and in several places, so many several Troups, Regiments and Armies, that in all from the first to the last, they amounted to above 100,000 men, and those most upon his own Interest, and without any other considerable help or assistance, which was much for a particular Subject, and in such a conjuncture of time.”
Although Newcastle’s seizure of York was of the utmost importance, the King was somewhat premature in thinking that now “the business in Yorkshire” was “almost done”. On 15 December, 1642, he wrote (see Ellis’s Letters, series 3, vol. III, p. 293):—
WILLIAM CAVENDISH, DUKE OF NEWCASTLE.
From an engraving by Wm. Holl, after a painting by Van Dyck.
“New Castell,
“The services I have receaved from you hath beene so eminent, and is lykely to have so great an influence upon all my Affaires, that I need not tell you that I shall never forgett it, but alwais looke upon you as a principall instrument in keeping the Crowne upon my heade. The business of Yorkshire I account almost done, only I put you in mynde to make yourself maister (according as formerly but breefly I have written to you) of all the Armes there, to aske them from the Trained bands by severall divisions, to desyre them from the rest of my well affected subjects, and to take them from the ill affected, espetially Leedes and Halifax....
“Your most asseured constant
“Frend,
“Charles R.”
Something having been said already of Newcastle’s troops and weapons, it may be well to say a little about the General who was in command of them. His contemporaries shall describe him. Clarendon says: “He liked the pomp and absolute authority of a General well, and preserved the dignity of it to the full; and for the discharge of the outward state, and circumstances of it, in acts of courtesy, affability, bounty, and generosity, he abounded, which, in the infancy of war, became him, and made him, for some time, very acceptable to men of all conditions”.
Sir Philip Warwick,[50] a well-known cavalier, who knew Newcastle intimately, bears very similar witness, saying: he “was a gentleman of grandeur, generosity, loyalty, and steady and forward courage”.
[50] Memoires of the Reign of King Charles I, by Sir Philip Warwick, i. p. 235.
Clarendon continues: “But the substantial part, and fatigue of a General, he did not in any degree understand (being utterly unacquainted with war), nor could submit to; but referred all matters of that nature to the discretion of his Lieutenant-General King”. Clarendon then says that when there was a battle he was always present, if it was possible, and that, on such occasions, he “gave instances of an invincible courage and fearlessness in danger, in which the exposing himself notoriously did sometimes change the fortunes of the day, when his troops (had) begun to give way”. But “such actions were no sooner over than he retired to his delightful company, music, or his softer pleasures, to all of which he was so indulgent, and to his ease, that he would not be interrupted upon any occasion soever; insomuch as he sometimes denied admission to the chiefest officers of the army, even to General King himself, for two days together; from whence many inconveniences fell out”. As indeed may easily be imagined.
Sir Philip Warwick supports this evidence. He says that Newcastle’s “edge had too much razor in it; for he had a tincture of a romantic spirit, and had the misfortune to have somewhat of the poet in him.... This inclination of his own and such kind of witty society (to be modest in the expression of it) diverted many counsels, and lost many opportunities, which the nature of that affair”—the campaign in the North—“this great man had now entered into, required.”
CHAPTER VII.
Having said something of the Commander-in-Chief, it may be well to notice his principal officers. King, the Lieutenant-General, whom he placed over his infantry, was a soldier of considerable experience. Clarendon says that he “had exercised the highest commands under the King of Sweden with extraordinary ability and success”. We saw in the last chapter that Newcastle left a great deal to the discretion of King, and, considering our hero’s total inexperience of war, it was probably well that he did so. Some readers of these pages may feel inclined to add: Then probably, also, any merits that were earned by Newcastle’s army were due to King and not to Newcastle. This may, or may not, have been the case; but, if they were due to King, he did not get the credit for them. In fact, the result was the other way about. As everybody knows, Newcastle finally met with disaster, “when,” says Clarendon, “those who were content to spare” Newcastle blame, poured upon the head of the unfortunate General King bitter accusations of “infidelity, treason and conjunction with his country-men” (the Scots), “without the least foundation or ground for any such reproach”. “Throughout the whole course of his life,” he had “been generally reputed as a man of honour”. Elsewhere Clarendon says that, under Newcastle, King “ordered the Foot with great wisdom and dexterity”.
We will notice next the general in command of Newcastle’s cavalry, General Goring, who had obtained that appointment chiefly through the influence of the Queen. When he took it up, he was bitterly chagrined at not having been made Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the North, instead of Newcastle. Goring also owed Newcastle a grudge over the Governorship of the Prince of Wales. Goring had set his hopes upon that appointment, and, as we have seen, Newcastle got it.
Of General Goring, Bulstrode says:[51] “If his conscience and integrity had equalled his wit and courage, he had been one of the most eminent men of the age he lived in: but he could not resist temptations, and was a man without scruple, and loved no man so well, but he would cozen him, and afterwards laugh at him, as he did at the Lord Kimbolton; and of all his qualifications (which were many) dissimulation was his master-piece, in which he so much excelled, with his great dexterity, seeming modesty and unaffectedness, etc.”
[51] Memoirs and Reflections upon the Reign and Government of Charles I, by Sir Richard Bulstrode, President at Brussels to the Court of Spain from Charles II, p. 71.
Clarendon says[52] that he was a hard drinker, and that “he was not able to resist the temptation, when he was in the middle of” the enemy, “nor would decline it to obtain a victory: as, in one of those fits, he had suffered the horse to escape out of Cornwall; and the most signal misfortunes of his life in war had their rise from that uncontrollable license”. Goring “in truth, wanted nothing but industry (for he had wit, and courage, and understanding, and ambition uncontrolled by any fear of God or man) to have been as eminent and successful in the highest attempt of wickedness, as any man in the age he lived in, or before”.
[52] Hist., vol. II, part II. book viii.
We come next to a general of a very different character, the general in command of Newcastle’s artillery. It might be expected that a general would be chosen to command artillery on account of his knowledge of guns and their management; but Sir Philip Warwick says that Newcastle chose Davenant as his General of Artillery because he was a poet.
Aubrey has something to tell us about this warbling warrior. He says[53] that Shakespeare stayed “once a yeare” at the public-house kept by Davenant’s father and mother, and the old scandal-monger adds that, “when he was pleasant over a glasse of wine with his most intimate friends,—e.g., Sam Butler (author of Hudibras) etc.”—Davenant would say that he considered he wrote with the very spirit of Shakespeare “and seemed contented enough to be thought his son”. He was very intimate with Newcastle’s friend, Sir John Suckling; and, long after the time with which we are dealing in this chapter, he became Poet Laureate.
[53] Lives of Eminent Men.
Like Goring, Davenant to some extent obtained his appointment by the help of the Queen; for when she sent[54] “over a considerable quantity of military stores, for the use of the Earl of Newcastle’s army, Mr. Davenant came over with them, offered his services to that noble Peer, who was his old friend and patron, and was by him made Lieutenant-General of his Ordnance, to the no small dislike of some, who thought that a post very unfit for a poet; in which, however, they made no great compliment to their General” (Newcastle) “who wrote poems and plays as well as Mr. Davenant”.
[54] Biog. Brit., p. 1605.
To make his staff complete, Newcastle appointed, “The Revd. Mr. Hudson,” a “very able Divine,” “Scout Master General of the army,” as we learn from the same authority.
We find the army of the North, therefore, under a Commander-in-Chief who was utterly inexperienced, a General of infantry who had[55] “the unavoidable prejudice, in this conjuncture, of being a Scots-man,” a drunkard for General of cavalry, a poet for General of Artillery, and a very able divine for “Scout Master-General”. What could be expected of a campaign in which, at any critical moment, the Commander-in-Chief might have “retired to his softer pleasures” and refused to see anybody, while one of his Generals might be getting drunk, another, not exactly drunk, but “pleasant with a glass of wine,” reciting his poems or boasting of his illegitimate birth, and a third writing a sermon?
[55] Clarendon.
During the winter Newcastle was not idle. The Duchess says: “And though the season of the year might well have invited my Lord to take up his Winter-quarters, it being about Christmas; yet after he had put a good Garison into the City of York, and fortified it, upon intelligence that the Enemy was still at Tadcaster,” a town about eight miles south-west of York, “and had fortified that place, he resolved to march thither”.
The enemy had broken down part of the stone bridge which gave entrance to the town, had planted guns on the remaining part, and had also placed guns on a newly-made fort on a hill, near the town, commanding the road from York. This affair is worthy of notice because, as will presently be seen, it reflects upon the character of Goring, the Lieutenant-General of the Horse.
“My Lord ... ordered a march before the said Town in this manner: That the greatest part of his Horse and Dragoons should in the night march to a Pass at Weatherby, five miles distant from Tadcaster, towards North-west, from thence under the Command of his then Lieutenant General of the Army, to appear on the West side of Tadcaster early the next morning, by which time my Lord with the rest of his Army resolved to appear at the East-side of the said Town; which intention was well design’d, but ill executed; for though my Lord with that part of the Army which he commanded in person, that is to say, his Foot and Cannon, attended by some Troops of Horse, did march that night, and early in the morning appear’d before the Town on the East side thereof, and there drew up his Army, planted his Cannon, and closely and orderly besieged that side of the Town, and from ten in the morning till four a Clock in the afternoon, battered the Enemies Forts and Works, as being in continual expectation of the appearance of the Troops on the other side, according to his order; yet (whether it was out of Neglect or Treachery that my Lords Orders were not obeyed) that days Work was rendered ineffectual as to the whole Design.”
“Ineffectual” because Goring and his horse did not “appear on the West side of Tadcaster early the next morning”. Consequently the enemy escaped during the night and went “to another strong hold not far distant from Tadcaster, called Cawood-Castle, to which, by reason of its low and boggy Scituation, and foul and narrow Lanes and passages, it was not possible for my Lord to pursue them without too great an hazard to his Army; whereas had the Lieutenant General performed his Duty, in all probability the greatest part of the principal Rebels in Yorkshire would that day have been taken in their own trap, and their further mischief prevented”.
Although Goring is not mentioned by name, in the above account, there can be little doubt that he was the delinquent. We know the name of the Lieutenant-General who commanded “the greatest part of the horse and dragoons”. Whether his conduct was due to drunkenness, or to treachery, or to jealousy of Newcastle, does not appear. The poet, whose guns “battered the enemy’s forts and works,” may have done better than might have been expected on this occasion.
At about this period a very courteous correspondence took place between Newcastle and the younger Hotham. The relations of the Hothams to Newcastle are a matter of history concerning which the Welbeck manuscripts contain many interesting and important details. Only fragments from those manuscripts can be given here.
In December, 1642, Captain John Hotham, Sir John’s son, wrote to Newcastle[56] about an exchange of prisoners, offering to release “as many as the Earl has released, without an exchange”. On the 27th he wrote: “Your free and noble expressions of doing me so many great and real favours shall make me endeavour either to requite them or be extremely thankful for them”.
[56] Portland MSS., vol. I, 80, 84, 87.
A few days later he wrote: “With faith and honour to serve the King and the Commonwealth is all our ambition, and to leave that to posterity which our ancestors left us, an untainted name”. And he goes on to “bewail the unhappiness of these distractions, that hinder me from attending upon your Lordship”.
A week afterwards he wrote again to Newcastle: “I honour the King as much as any and love the Parliament, but do not desire to see either absolute conquerors.... If the honourable endeavours of such powerful men as yourself do not take place for a happy peace, the necessitous people of the whole Kingdom will presently rise in mighty numbers and whosoever they pretend for at first, within a while they will set up for themselves, to the utter ruin of all the nobility and gentry of the kingdom.”
We shall presently have occasion to look at some letters from Hotham to Newcastle written three months later. In the meantime several events took place of considerable importance both to Newcastle and to the Hothams.
In some “propositions for peace,” which the Parliament sent to the King in January, 1643, complaints were made at “the raising, drawing together, and arming of great numbers of Papists, under the command of the Earl of Newcastle ... whereby ... the Papists have attained means of attempting, with hopes of effecting, their mischievous designs of rooting out the Reformed Religion, and destroying the professors therefore”. Newcastle had no love for Papists. He simply took into his army any loyal men whom he met with. But the Commons were bent upon his destruction, and one of their “propositions for peace” was that, in any amnesty there should be a special “exception of William, Earl of Newcastle”.
Although both Clarendon and the Duchess tell us that Newcastle won nearly all his skirmishes in midwinter, 1642-3, there are what profess to be “True Relations” to the contrary among the Thomason Tracts.
“1643. Jan. 2. A True Relation of a Great Victory obtained by Lord Willoughby of Parham against divers forces of the Earl of Newcastle.”
“1643. Jan. 23. A True and Plenary Relation of the defeat given by Lord Fairfax forces unto my Lord of Newcastles forces in Yorkshire.”
In February, 1643, Newcastle was informed that the Queen, having sailed from Holland, would shortly land somewhere on the east coast of Yorkshire, and he was ordered to meet her and to escort her to a place of safety. One would imagine that, at this time, Newcastle must have had more than sufficient worries and anxieties on his mind, without having the care of the Queen’s precious person laid upon his shoulders.
Her Majesty had sailed from Scheveling in a fine English ship, accompanied by eleven transports laden with stores and ammunition for the King; and, as a convoy, she had the protection of the famous Dutch Admiral, van Tromp. After tossing in a storm for a fortnight, she was driven back to Scheveling; but in a few days she sailed again and anchored in Burlington (now Bridlington) Bay, on 20 February.
Two days passed without any symptoms of troops for her protection; so she remained on board; but, on the 22nd, a large body of cavaliers appeared on the hills. Newcastle, who had not known where to expect her to land, had been rambling along the east coast; and, as soon as his scouts brought him news of the arrival of the Queen’s ships, he hastened to Burlington.
Under the protection of Newcastle by land and van Tromp by sea, the Queen landed and got lodgings in the town. On reaching the shores of her husband’s kingdom, she might fairly have expected some peaceful repose after her voyage; but her rest was disturbed at five o’clock the next morning, by the sound of heavy firing.
Five small ships of war, belonging to the Parliament, had entered the bay during the night, unobserved by van Tromp, whose large ship drew too much water to follow them into the bay. It seems absurd that they should have been out of shot of the Dutch guns; but the cannon of that time did not carry far. As the Parliament had voted the Queen guilty of high treason for sending supplies from abroad to the King’s army, Batten, the Parliamentary Admiral, thought this a good opportunity of taking either her person or her life. She wrote to King Charles:[57] “One of these ships had done me the honour to flank my house, which fronted the pier, and before I could get out of bed, the balls were whistling upon me in such style that you may easily believe I loved not such music. Everybody came to force me to go out, the balls beating so on all the houses, that, dressed just as it happened, I went on foot to some distance from the village to the shelter of a ditch like that at Newmarket;[58] but, before we could reach it, the balls were singing round us in fine style and a serjeant was killed within twenty paces of me.” This must have been trying work for a lady, at between five and six o’clock on a February morning, more than an hour before sunrise, on the bleak coast of Yorkshire.
[57] Letters of Henrietta Maria, ed. Mrs. Everett Green, p. 166.
[58] As all racing men know, the Ditch at Newmarket is a long mound.
When the Parliamentary ships sailed out of the bay into deep water, on the ebbing of the tide, van Tromp had a word or two with them; but, strange to say, he failed to capture them.
The captain of one of the Parliamentary ships, however, had imprudently ventured on shore, where he was taken prisoner by some of Newcastle’s soldiers. Having been tried by court-martial and condemned to be hanged, he happened to be met by the Queen on his way to execution. She asked what the procession meant and, on being informed, she ordered him to be liberated, when he went over at once to the King’s service. This incident is mentioned in Bossuet’s famous funeral oration after the death of Henrietta Maria.
CHAPTER VIII.
According to a Yorkshire tradition, recorded by Miss Strickland in her Queens of England (viii. 98), while the Queen’s stores were being laden and put in order of march, she stayed at Boynton Hall, a place some two miles to the west of Burlington or Bridlington, belonging to Sir William Strickland who, although he had received a baronetcy from Charles I was now on the side of the Parliament. Sir William happened to be away from home, but—probably owing to the presence of Newcastle’s troops—the Queen was received as a guest, if only as an enforced guest, by either Lady Strickland, or by whatever person may have been in charge of the house. Among other efforts of hospitality for the benefit of Her Majesty, a great display was made of gold and silver plate.
When the Queen went away, she expressed her excessive gratitude for the excellent entertainment which had been provided for herself and her train, adding that, as the Parliament was granting no subsidies to the King, she regretted to be under the painful necessity of carrying away with her the plate of which there had been such a magnificent display. She said that she should look upon it only as a loan—in fact its temporary removal would be a mere matter of form—and she left a portrait of herself as a pledge for its repayment. There never was any return or repayment; but the portrait is stated to have become, in course of time, at least as valuable as the plate for which it was pledged. So says Miss Strickland who, as one of the family, should have been able to judge; but, in making this calculation, we doubt whether she sufficiently considered the increase in the value of the plate during the same course of time. Silver plate of the reign of Charles I has been sold for as much as £40 an ounce. The writer of these pages has a silver box, given to an ancestress of his own by Charles II, and it was lately valued for insurance, by a professional expert, at £30 an ounce.
The Queen then retired to York, under the protection of Newcastle. The Duchess says:—
“My Lord finding Her Majesty in this condition, drew his Army near the place where she was, ready to attend and protect Her Majesties Person, who was pleased to take a view of the Army as it was drawn up in order; and immediately after, which was in March, 1643, took Her journey towards York, whither the whole Army conducted Her Majesty and brought her safe into the City. About this time, Her Majesty having some present occasion for Money, My Lord presented Her with 3,000£ Sterling, which she graciously accepted”—Charles and Henrietta seldom “graciously refused”—“and having spent some time there in Consultation about the present affairs, she was pleased to send some Armes and Ammunition to the King, who was then in Oxford; to which end, my Lord ordered a Party, consisting of 1500, well commanded, to conduct the same, with whom the Lord Percy, who then had waited upon Her Majesty from the King, returned to Oxford; Which Party His Majesty was pleased to keep with him for his own Service,” much to the loss and inconvenience of Newcastle.
The Queen’s presence did much for the King’s cause in Yorkshire. Some time earlier, Sir Hugh Cholmley had been induced by his friend, Sir John Hotham, to take the side of the Parliament; and, as a reward, he had been made Governor of the Castle of Scarborough, a fortress of considerable importance. But, when the Queen came, says Clarendon, he “very frankly revolted to his allegiance; and waited on Her Majesty for her assurance of her pardon”. He then delivered up the Castle of Scarborough to Newcastle, who reinstated him as Governor of it, on behalf of the King. It may be worth mentioning that Clarendon says Cholmley had[59] “oftener defeated the Earl of Newcastle’s troops ... than any other officer of those parts”.
[59] Vol. II, part I. book vi.
The Queen wrote, in a letter to Charles I, on 20 March, 1643: “Sir Hugh Cholmley is come in with a troop of horse to kiss my hand; the rest of his people he left at Scarborough, with a ship laden with arms, which the ships of the Parliament had brought thither. So she is ours.”
To some extent, the propinquity of the Queen was also influencing the Hothams; although they hesitated to follow the example of Cholmley by delivering up Hull to Newcastle. Sir Philip Warwick says[60]:—
“The Queen presently after landed at Burlington Bay with good provision of arms, ordnance, and ammunition, and was by the Earl of Newcastle conveyed to York; and she so influenced Sir Hugh Cholmley, who commanded the port of Scarborough for the Parliament, and old Sir John Hotham and his son, who commanded Hull, that important garrison; that had she been as successful in the last as she was in the first, the whole North had been cleared, and that undoubtedly would have turned the scale upon the South, and restored his Majesty unto his just rights, the people unto their true liberties, and the nation unto its former profound peace. But Hotham’s timorous temper betrayed himself and the design.”
[60] Memoires, p. 237.
Cholmley immediately became very active in the King’s service; and, to some extent by his assistance, Newcastle obtained command of almost the whole of Yorkshire. The younger Hotham at about this time explained the position of himself and his father to Newcastle, in the following letters:—
“Captain John Hotham to the Earl of Newcastle.[61]
“1643. Mar. 22. I have sent this other letter to excuse me for not granting Sir Marmaduke Langdale a safe conduct, and, to deal freely with your Lordship, he shall never have one from me, I know him too well. For a letter to the Queen, that I will certainly come in and at such a time, I cannot do it. This enclosed you may show her, if you please, or burn, for your Lordship knows that I ever said to you that I would do anything which might further his Majesty’s service in the peace of the kingdom, and that if the Parliament did stand upon unreasonable terms with him, I would then declare myself against them and for him, but otherwise to leave my party that I had set up with, and no real cause given that an honest man may justify himself for so doing before God and the world, I would never do it, although I endured all the extremities in the world, for I well knew no man of honour or worth will ever think such a man worthy of friendship or trust. For the prejudice you undergo for not spoiling the East Riding truly you have put an obligation upon me by sparing it thus long, but rather than your Lordship shall suffer anything of prejudice either in your honour or affairs, I shall not desire the thing any longer, but you may take what course you please, and we shall do so for our defense. For Sir Hugh Cholmley and his manner of coming in, every man must satisfy his own conscience and then all is well! All are not of one mind.” Captain Hotham was intensely jealous of Cholmley but dared not follow his example.
[61] Welbeck MSS., vol. I, 105.
To this letter Newcastle would seem to have sent a civil reply; for within a fortnight, Hotham wrote again:—[62]
“1643. Mar. 30. I thank you for your two letters in which you are pleased so favourably to interpret the actions of your servant, and, if your Lordship knew my real intentions, you would be far from blaming me.... You have got by Sir Hugh Cholmley’s turning, when he could give no reason for it, but an old castle,” [Scarborough] “which will cost you more keeping than it is worth: his captains and soldiers are all here and have left him naked enough.”
[62] Welbeck MSS., vol. I, 109.
One would infer from the next letter that Newcastle had written too hopefully to the Hothams about the probability of a renewal of their allegiance to the King, and that, in retaliation, Captain Hotham was trying to shake the allegiance of Newcastle himself, by telling him that he was distrusted by the Royalists.
“Captain John Hotham to the Earl of Newcastle.[63]
“1643. April. Beverley.—I am very sorry you should ever harbour such an opinion of me as to think that any motive whatsoever could ever move me to betray the public trust I have ever undertaken.... My particular affection to your person was a motive to me to be glad to serve you if a way might be found to do it as befitted a gentleman, otherwise I will not serve the greatest Emperor.... But now to give you a taste that all is not as you think at Court, I shall freely tell you this, that within this four days some very near her Majesty spoke such words of contempt and disgrace of you as truly for my part I could not hear them repeated with patience, and you will plainly see, if they dare it, you will have a successor.”
[63] Ibid., 701.
Newcastle was evidently disturbed in his mind by this very disagreeable news, as well he might be; for he must have sent immediately to Hotham asking for fuller particulars. A couple of days after the preceding letter, Captain Hotham sent him these details:—
“The words were these: ‘that you were a sweet General, lay in bed until eleven o’clock and combed till twelve, then came to the Queen, and so the work was done, and that General King did all the business’. They were spoken by my Lady Cornwallis in the hearing of Mr. Portington, a fellow cunning enough; and this to my father and another gentleman with many other words of undervaluing, which he said were spoken by others.... You can expect nothing at Court: truly the women rule all.... You have now done great service; that will be forgotten when they think they can shift without you.”
How far Hotham may have been perfectly honest and sincere in his correspondence with Newcastle it is difficult to determine. That there was a good deal of truth in what he said as to Newcastle having enemies among the Royalists and the rumours of his living a too easy and luxurious life in a campaign, and leaving the work of the Commander-in-Chief to General King, is made probable by certain statements which we have already seen in the words of Clarendon. But both the Hothams were anxious to be on the winning side; they were doubtful as to which side that would be, and it seems likely that, in spite of all the high-sounding professions in the letters of the younger Hotham, the motives of both the father and the son were personal rather than patriotic.
Later in the same month, Hotham appears to have been trying to bring about peace, by interesting some of the leading supporters of the Parliament, with whom he came in contact, in favour of the King. On 14 April he wrote to Newcastle from Lincoln: “I have not been idle since I writ last to do his Majesty and your Lordship the best service I could, although to bring that about I was glad to go seemingly by the contrary. I have since I came into this town dealt with some of my friends that they would not be so violent against his Majesty’s service, and was bold (enough) to promise them a pardon if they would retire and give way, that this country might be wholly at his devotion. The gentlemen are so considerable that of my knowledge, if they desist, there shall not be a man here to hold up his hand against his Majesty.” This was very cheering news for Newcastle and was almost enough to make him fancy that the end of the campaign was in sight.
On 4 May Captain Hotham wrote to Newcastle: “I think you are mistaken in my father, for the reason of his standing a little aloof is, that he so infinitely wishes the peace of the kingdom, which he thinks the King’s last answer tends not to, that I know staggered him much.... It was said from a good hand that the Queen thought much you did not enough communicate with her and take her directions.... I confess I am in a very great strait in these businesses, your Lordship’s wisdom can best give directions in it.”
Yet the very next day Captain Hotham wrote with others to Lenthall about joining his forces to those of Cromwell. This, however, may have been with the object of throwing dust in the eyes of the Parliament; and it is the more likely because the Parliament itself seems to have thought that something of this sort was his object. Whitelock says:—[64]
“Captain Hotham, being suspected by the Parliament, was imprisoned at Nottingham, from whence escaping, he under-hand treated with the Earl of Newcastle.”
[64] Memorials, p. 67.
We may as well dispose of the Hothams once for all; albeit to do so will make it necessary to anticipate considerably beyond the period of Newcastle’s campaign with which we are now dealing. Although long, the following statement of the whole affair of the Hothams by Sir Hugh Cholmley is worth reading, especially as the writer had been on intimate terms both with the Hothams and with Newcastle. Yet it may be that the statement should be taken cum grano salis; as Cholmley probably felt considerable resentment towards the Hothams for regarding him as a base renegade from the Parliamentary cause in which he had at one time shown so much zeal.
“An Original, endorsed by Clarendon ‘Sir Hugh Cholmley’s Memorials’.[65]
“If Sir John Hotham could have been assured of what he had done or said in Parliament, and received into grace and favour,”—Cholmley seems to mean: If he could have been assured that what he had said in Parliament in the past would have been forgiven him and that he would be received into grace and favour by the King—“he might have been made a faithful and serviceable person; the denying of which (or at least answering it coldly) was a great motive to his undertaking that employment at Hull....
[65] Clarendon State Papers, 181.
“Sir John Hotham, when he departed from London, gave assurance to some of his nearest friends, that he would not deny the King entrance into Hull, and surely had not done it, but that he was informed by some person near the King, in case he permitted his Majesty entrance, he would lose his head; and it is conceived the same person did most prompt the King to go to Hull....
“The Earl of Newcastle had not been long with his forces in Yorkshire, when there began a treaty between him and young Hotham; whom together with his father they sought to draw to the King’s party.
Sir Marmaduke Langdale, a great friend of young Hotham’s,[66] was the mover between him and the Earl; and this was sooner laid hold on, in that the Lord Fairfax was now made a General for the Parliament of the forces of Yorkshire, and some adjacent counties; which discontented old Hotham, and though the son had as much as in reason he could expect (and more than fell to his share), being made Lieutenant General to Fairfax, yet he was not well pleased.
[66] But see Hotham’s letter of 22 March, to Newcastle, p. 89.
“The Queen’s army coming to Bridlington had brought such a magazine of arms and ammunition, my Lord of Newcastle’s army began to be very formidable and young Hotham having retired himself (and those forces which belonged to him and his father) from the Lord Fairfax, and being then at Beverley, began to have fresh notions of treating; and thereupon makes a journey for one night to the Earl at Bridlington, upon colour and pretences of a change of prisoners; there he demanded his father to be made a Viscount, and himself a Baron, that they might have £20,000 in money, and a Patent to the father to be Governor of Hull during his life”;—this was, indeed, the very converse of the system of purchasing peerages mentioned in an early chapter—“all which, as it would have been granted, so probably accepted, but that in this nick of time, Sir John received some assurance of the Scots coming into England, and that young Hotham (by his alliance and friendship with the Wrays) was chosen General of Lincolnshire; yet both parties made this advantage by the treaty, that as the Lord Newcastle forebore to come near Hull and Beverley, so young Hotham, though he had above 1,000 horse and dragoons, did not interrupt the Lord Newcastle’s march from Bridlington; which might easily have been done, his army being over-charged with baggage, and the season so tempestuous that his forces were very much dispersed.
“Immediately after this young Hotham goes to be General for the Parliament in Lincolnshire, so that the treaty was off the hinge, till such time as he was laid hold of at Nottingham by Cromwell, which the father did so much resent as he did not only write to the close committee in a menacing style for his son’s enlargement, but was otherwise so passionate in words and deportment that it gave the Parliament a great suspicion of him.... In the interim young Hotham breaks loose from Cromwell, and comes to Hull where the father and son think it very opportune to renew the treaty with my Lord of Newcastle; and thereupon Sir John writes that letter, which was after (at the battle of York) taken in my Lord’s cabinet,” i.e. Newcastle’s, “and cost both the Hothams their heads.”...
It is a matter of English history that Sir John Hotham and his son were arrested, imprisoned for many months in London, tried, and beheaded. And it is a somewhat remarkable fact—journalists would call it “the irony of fate”—that Sir John Hotham, who had been one of the first to express a wish in Parliament for proceedings against Archbishop Laud, should have been executed a few days before that Archbishop. Possibly a knowledge of this fact may have helped to mitigate the sadness of the last days of Laud.
During the months dealt with in a portion of the present chapter;—to be exact, on the 17th of April, 1643,—Newcastle lost his first wife. It is scarcely possible that he can have been with her when she died; but of her illness and death, the collector of these historical odds and ends has been unable to discover any details.
CHAPTER IX.
In April Newcastle learned that the enemy’s General of cavalry was going to leave Cawood Castle for the west of Yorkshire; so he dispatched Goring, with a strong body of horse, to attack him on his march. Goring, a really able General when sober, overtook the Parliamentary cavalry and surprised their rear by a sudden charge, at Bramham Moor, or, as it was sometimes called, Seacroft Moor, and completely routed them, although their numbers were greater than his and in spite of their being under the command of Fairfax himself. If the Duchess’s story is true, Goring’s Horse killed many of the enemy, and took about 800 prisoners whom, with ten or twelve colours, they carried to York.
Lord Fairfax wrote[67] of this engagement: “Here our men, thinking themselves secure, were more careless in keeping order; and, whilst their officers were getting them out of houses where they sought for drink (it being an extream hot day)”—apparently it was one of the enemy’s drunken days and one of Goring’s sober days—“the enemy got, by another way into the Moore, as soon as we,” and then he candidly acknowledges the complete rout. Indeed he says: “Some officers, with me, made our retreat with much difficulty”.
[67] Masère’s Select Tracts, p. 422.
This was an important victory to the credit of Goring; but the glory of his surprising Fairfax in April was sadly tarnished in May by his being surprised in his turn by Fairfax. Newcastle had taken Wakefield in April and had left it under the protection of Goring and his Horse. The enemy quietly approached and entered that town at night. Night is usually a bad time, and a town a bad place, for a drunkard: be this as it may, Goring was taken prisoner with most of his men and horses, and the enemy “possessed themselves of the whole Magazine, which was a very great loss and hindrance to my Lords designs, it being the Moity of his Army, and most of his Ammunition”.[68]
[68] The Duchess’s account.
Fairfax wrote:[69] “This appeared the greater mercy, when we saw our mistake; for we found three thousand men in the town, and expected but half the number.... This was more a miracle than a victory.”
[69] Masère’s Select Tracts, p. 424.
Pious Royalists, on the contrary, would probably attribute their own defeat to the machinations of the devil; and the impious modern reader may possibly consider the victory, on Fairfax’s own showing, rather a fluke.
Some time afterwards Newcastle recovered Goring by an exchange of prisoners; but the defeat at Wakefield very seriously hampered him.
Shortly before the disaster at Wakefield, Newcastle had taken Rotherham by storm, and Sheffield without opposition. Early in June he stormed and took Howly House, a place which the Duchess describes as “a strong stone house, well fortified ... wherein was a garrison of soldiers, which My Lord summoned, but the Governor disobeying the summons, he battered it with his cannon, and so took it by force”. She gives Newcastle great credit for his extraordinary humanity in not killing the Governor in cold blood, after the place had been captured.
The King was now becoming very nervous and he wished for Newcastle’s help. On 18 June, 1643, the Queen wrote to Newcastle from Newark: “The King is still expecting to be besieged in Oxford.... He had sent me a letter to command you absolutely to march to him, But I do not send it to you, since I have taken a resolution with you that you remain. There is a gentleman, Lieutenant Markham, who has received from you a letter, so angry, that I thought it could not be from you, so that I have commanded him to remain, and I hope that he will not be punished for it, moreover ... since I am yet good-natured enough not to send you your order from the King to march to him, you, on your part, must not punish one who stays by order of the Queen.... Your constant and faithful friend, Henrietta Maria.” [70]
[70] Letters of Henrietta Maria, edited by Mrs. Everett Green, p. 219.
This letter shows the conveniences likely to follow from allowing a lady to meddle in the conduct of a campaign.
Newcastle let his army rest at Howly House for five or six days. He then marched towards Bradford, “a little, but a strong town”.
Very unexpectedly, Newcastle “met with a strong interruption” on his march to the “little” town of Bradford; for the enemy had “very privately gotten out of Lancashire” “a vast number of Musquetiers,” and, as all the country about Bradford sympathized with the Parliament, Newcastle was unable to obtain intelligence of the movements of his foes. Newcastle’s greatest victory was to be won in the battle which followed and the Duchess shall act as our War Correspondent—by no means an inefficient one on this occasion.
Although written of as Alderton and Atherton and Adderton, the name of the scene of this battle is now spelt Adwalton Moor. It is immediately to the right of Drighlinton Station, on the branch line from Ardsley Junction to Bradford.
The Duchess begins by saying that in Fairfax’s “Army there were near 5000 Musquetiers, and 18 Troops of Horse, drawn up in a place full of hedges, called Atherton-moor, near to their Garison at Bradford, ready to encounter my Lord’s Forces, which then contained not above half so many Musquetiers as the Enemy had; their chiefest strength consisting in Horse, and these made useless for a long time together by the Enemies Horse possessing all the plain ground upon that Field; so that no place was left to draw up my Lords Horse, but amongst old Coalpits; Neither could they charge the Enemy, by reason of a great ditch and high bank betwixt my Lord’s and the Enemies Troops, but by two on a breast, and that within Musquet shot; the Enemy being drawn up in hedges, and continually playing upon them, which rendered the service exceeding difficult and hazardous.
“In the mean while the Foot of both sides on the right and left Wings encounter’d each other, who fought from Hedg to Hedg, and for a long time together overpower’d and got ground of my Lords Foot, almost to the invironing of his Cannon; my Lords Horse (wherein consisted his greatest strength) all this while being made, by reason of the ground, incapable of charging; at last the Pikes of my Lords Army having had no employment all the day, were drawn against the Enemies left wing, and particularly those of my Lords own Regiment, which were all stout and valiant men, who fell so furiously upon the Enemy, that they forsook their hedges, and fell to their heels: At which very instant my Lord caused a shot or two to be made by his Cannon against the Body of the Enemies Horse, drawn up within Cannon shot, which took so good effect, that it disordered the Enemies Troops.
“Hereupon my Lord’s Horse got over the Hedg, not in a body (for that they could not), but dispersedly two on a breast; and as soon as some considerable number was gotten over, and drawn up, they charged the Enemy, and routed them; so that in an instant there was a strange change of Fortune, and the Field totally won by my Lord, notwithstanding he had quitted 7000 Men, to conduct Her Majesty, besides a good Train of Artillery, which in such a Conjuncture would have weakned Caesars Army. In this Victory the Enemy lost most of their Foot, about 3000 were taken Prisoners, and 700 Horse and Foot slain, and those that escaped fled into their Garison at Bradford, amongst whom was also their General of the Horse, Sir Thos. Fairfax.”
Fairfax, after stating that the Royalist troops had been on the very point of retreating, goes on to say:[71] “Whilst they were in this wavering condition, one Colonel Skirton”—a Colonel in Newcastle’s army—“desired his General to let him charge with a stand of Pikes, with which he broke in upon our men; and, they not being relieved by our reserves (which were commanded by some ill-affected officers, chiefly Major General Gifford, who did not his part as he ought to do), our men lost ground which the enemy seeing, pursued this advantage, by bringing up fresh troops; ours being discouraged, began to fly and were soon routed.”
[71] Masère’s Select Tracts, p. 426.
Heath says:[72] “The Marquess of Newcastle ... routed the Parliamentarians, gained their five pieces of cannon, and so amazed them, that they fled to Leeds, which way was precluded and obstructed; then to Bradford, in their flight whither, he took and killed two thousand, while Fairfax hardly escaped to Leeds with the convoy of one troop of horse. The next day the said Earl came before Bradford, which after the battering of forty great shot, he took, with two thousand more of the same party the next morning, with all their arms and ammunition.”
[72] A Chronicle of the Late Intestine War in the Three Kingdoms, etc. By James Heath, London: Thomas Basset, 1676.
After the battle of Adderton Heath, Newcastle had an opportunity of showing courtesy to Fairfax,[73] “whose Lady being behind a Servant on Horse-back, was taken by some of My Lord’s Soldiers, and brought to his Quarters, where she was treated and attended with all civility and respect and within few days sent to York in my Lords own Coach, and from thence very shortly after to Kingstone upon Hull, where she desired to be, attended by my Lords Coach and Servants”.
[73] The Duchess’s account.
Of this incident Fairfax himself wrote:[74] “Not many days after the Earl of Newcastle sent my wife back again in his coach, with some horse to guard her; which generous act of his gained him more reputation than he would have got by detaining a lady prisoner, upon such terms”.
[74] Masère’s Tracts, p. 431.
Although he had captured his enemy’s wife, Newcastle unfortunately failed to capture his enemy’s far more important staff, owing to some dilatoriness on the part of a galloper,[75] “the chief Officers retiring to Hull, a strong Garison of the Enemy ... My Lord, knowing they would make their escape thither, as having no other place of refuge to resort to, sent a Letter to York to the Governour of that City, to stop them in their passage; yet by neglect of the Post, it coming not timely enough to his hands, his Design was frustrated.”
[75] So says the Duchess.
Newcastle had taken Lincoln and retaken Gainsborough, which had been captured shortly before by Cromwell; so altogether, at this part of the campaign, he was a victorious General.
It might seem pretty safe to infer that the Duchess’s account of the war was written from what she heard from her husband’s lips, and it is difficult to believe that he did not insist upon seeing it, either in manuscript or in proof, before it was published. If this surmise be correct, he intended, at the point in the campaign which we have now reached, to have gone to the South, so as to attack the enemy from the North, while the King fought them from the South. Ever afterwards he appears to have believed that, had he done so, he “would doubtless have made an end of the war”. But urgent requests reached him from the General in command at York, as well as from “the nobility and gentry” of the county, to return at once to their assistance, as they declared that the enemy was increasing in number and power every day. His General at York stated that, unless Newcastle came quickly, all would be lost in the North. Hints also reached him, that if he took his army to the South and left Yorkshire to its fate, he would be considered to have betrayed his trust.
Newcastle then hurried back to York, only to find the enemy so weak, that it retreated before him wherever he went, and his presence as well as that of his troops unnecessary.
The question presents itself whether Newcastle would have been wise to march to the South, leaving such a fortress as Hull behind him, a fortress very strongly garrisoned and containing many of Fairfax’s best officers. It is true that the younger Hotham had professed some sympathy with the Royalists, but neither he nor his father had shown any definite symptoms of deserting the Parliament. On the other hand, it might be argued that it would have been worth while to lose Yorkshire and the northern counties, if by co-operation Newcastle’s army and the King’s could have completely conquered the southern counties, subdued London, and broken the power of the Parliament.
In the early autumn of 1643, King Charles made Newcastle a Marquess. This advance in the peerage was of course an acknowledgment of his military services, and had nothing whatever to do with any purchase of the title by such a gross thing as filthy lucre: at the same time it is difficult to forget that the new Marquess had probably spent more in hard cash out of his own pocket for the King in raising his army than would have been necessary to buy the title in the ordinary heraldic market.
The gentlemen of Yorkshire were very uneasy at the presence of the recently-mentioned strong garrison in the south-east corner of their county, at Hull, and they besought Newcastle to lay siege to it and crush it, once for all, promising to raise 10,000 men to help him if he would make the attempt, a promise which was never fulfilled. Newcastle consented to their request, marched to Hull and besieged it.
The defence of Hull under Lord Fairfax was a very different thing from what it would have been if the wavering, half-Royalist Sir John Hotham had still been in command. But Hotham had lately been arrested and taken to the Tower. Newcastle threw up a good many batteries and fired red-hot shot into the town. Fairfax replied to Newcastle’s fire with water, by cutting dykes on the Hull and Humber, thus flooding the invaders, their batteries, their guns, their red-hot shot, and their camps.
And now, again, the question of marching to the assistance of the royal army in the South of England was urged upon Newcastle. According to Clarendon, while he was besieging Hull—and he besieged it for six weeks—the King ordered him,[76] if he thought he could not take it quickly, to leave sufficient troops to invest it, and to march with the remainder of his army through Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex towards London, which Charles would then approach from the opposite side.
[76] Clarendon, Hist., vol. II, part I. book vii.
Charles also told the Queen to press Newcastle on this point—evidently he had not much confidence in the power of his own commands! She wrote to Newcastle: “He” (the King) “had written me to send you word to go into Suffolk, Norfolk or Huntingdonshire. I answered him that you were a better judge than he of that, and that I should not do it. The truth is that they envy your army.” [77]
[77] Letters of Henrietta Maria, Mrs. Everett Green, p. 225.
Newcastle sent a reply back to the King, telling him that “he had not strength enough to march and to leave Hull securely blocked up,” and that the gentlemen of Yorkshire, “who had the best regiments and were among the best officers, utterly refused to march till Hull were taken”. This shows the state of discipline among the King’s faithful officers at this period.
Besides Clarendon’s account of the King’s attempt to draw Newcastle to the South, we have that of Sir Philip Warwick, who acted as Charles’s envoy in this business:—[78]
“The King, finding by these experiences in the South, how tough the business was likely to prove, sent me some time before into the North to the Earl of Newcastle. My commission was, (for I had but three or four words under the King’s hand, written on a piece of white sarsanet to give me credit with him) to try what he meant to do with his army; and whether he would (when the season was) march up Southerly and in a distinct body keep at some distance from the King, to give a check unto the Southern army. But I found him very averse to this, and perceived that he apprehended nothing more than to be joined to the King’s army, or to serve under Prince Rupert; for he designed himself to be the man that should turn the scale, and to be a self-subsisting and distinct army, wherever he was, which, when I perceived fixed in him, being left to discretion, I thought it more reasonable to wave it, than press him to the contrary.... He told me that, when he could quit Yorkshire, and leave it in a condition to defend itself against the aforementioned enemies in it, he would march through Lincolnshire and recruit himself there, and so over the Washes into Norfolk and Suffolk and the associated counties; which had been a noble design.” After mentioning a disaster which later on befell Newcastle and the prospects of King Charles, Warwick adds: “which if he had pursued that design of marching into their associated counties, it had prevented; so as he had a natural foresight, from whence his danger should arise; but not a good angel or genius to divert it”.
[78] Memoires of the Reigne of King Charles, by Sir Philip Warwick. London: Ri. Chiswell, 1701.
It was all very well for Newcastle to talk about his projects when he should be able to quit Yorkshire and leave it in a condition to defend itself; but very soon he was not in a position to do either.
On 10 October, Manchester, Fairfax, and Cromwell defeated a force which Newcastle had collected in Lincolnshire. According to Whitelock,[79] “The Earl of Manchester took in Lincoln upon surrender, and therein 2500 armes, 30 colours, 3 pieces of cannon”. The same authority states that: “The Lord Fairfax beat from about Hull part of the King’s,” i.e. Newcastle’s, “forces, took from them 9 pieces of cannon, of which one was a demy-culverin, one of those which they called ‘the Queen’s Gods,’ and 100 arms.... Colonel Cromwell routed 7 troops of the King’s horse in Lincolnshire under Colonel Hastings.” Newcastle was then obliged to raise the siege of Hull, much to the disappointment and alarm of the “nobility and gentlemen of Yorkshire”; and he marched back to York.
[79] Memorials, p. 72.
Of the state of the war after this event Clarendon says:[80] “Albeit the Marquis of Newcastle had been forced to rise as unfortunately from Hull, as the King had been from Gloucester, yet he had still a full power over Yorkshire, and a greater in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire than the Parliament had”. The latter part of this statement is rather surprising when we consider the recent defeat of Newcastle’s forces in Lincolnshire.
[80] Hist., vol. II, part I. book vii.
In ending this chapter we will notice a letter from the Queen to Newcastle, written on 7 October, just before he raised the siege of Hull, in which the old matter of the Governorship of the Prince crops up again.[81]
[81] Letters of Henrietta Maria, Mrs. Everett Green, p. 230.
“There is one thing about which I want to be informed by you before doing it. The Marquis of Hertford desires to be made groom of the stole to the King. If that be, he must cease to be governor to Prince Charles, so that we must place some one else about Prince Charles, which I do not wish to do, without first knowing whether you wish to have it again.” Presently she says (if he does not wish for it again): “there are two other places and I desire to know which would be most agreeable to you, for I have nothing in my thoughts so much as to show you and all the world the esteem in which I hold you, therefore write frankly to me, as to a friend, as I am now doing to you, which you desire;—chamberlain, or gentleman of the bedchamber. If I had chosen to act ceremoniously, I should have had this written to you by another, that is all very well where there is no esteem, such I have for you; and as this is written with frankness, I request a reply of the same, and that you believe me, as I am, truly and constantly,
“Your faithful and very good friend,
“Henrietta Maria R.”
William Cavindish Marquis of Newcastle.
From an Original by Van Dyck.
His Seals & Autographs from the original Letters in the Possession of
John Thane
CHAPTER X.
Newcastle had not been many days in York, when he heard a rumour that the enemy was advancing from the South into Derbyshire, and he marched thither at once, that is to say early in November, 1643. He posted some troops in different parts of the county, and fortunately he met with no serious opposition. On the contrary, he was able to raise a considerable force both of cavalry and of infantry. The rumour of the advance of an army from the South proved groundless, and he went peacefully to his own houses of Bolsover and Welbeck, where he stayed for a little time, making them his winter quarters.
Unfortunately, the pleasures of his hearth and home were marred by the arrival of some very unwelcome information,[82] namely, that the Scots were about to invade England with a large army, which was to fight on the side of the Parliament. This was serious news, indeed, to the Commander-in-Chief of the Royalist army in the North of England, which would necessarily be called upon to check the invasion.
[82] Kippis states that he was at Welbeck when he received this news.
“At this time,” [83] we read in Clarendon, “nothing troubled the King so much as the intelligence he received from Scotland, that they had already formed their army, and resolved to enter England in the winter season.... The circumstance of the time made the danger of the invasion the more formidable; for the Earl of Newcastle, lately created a Marquis, had been compelled with his army, as much by the murmours and indisposition of his officers, as by the season of the year, to quit his design upon Hull, and to retire to York.” Clarendon adds that the garrison at Hull had “made many strong infalls into the country and defeated some of his” (Newcastle’s) “troops”.
[83] Hist., vol. II, part I. bk. vii.
The report of the expected advance of an army from Scotland greatly alarmed the nervous “nobility and gentry of Yorkshire,” who sent to implore Newcastle to return to their assistance, once more promising to raise 10,000 men to strengthen his army. Newcastle marched back to York,—not to please the nobility and gentry of that county, who had promised, and yet failed to provide, a force of 10,000 men for him, on a former occasion—but because it was necessary to proceed to York on his way North against the Scots. When he reached York, he found that the nobility and gentry had not raised so much as a single man to add to his army. Therefore he had himself to raise what men he could for the defence of the county, when he was actually on his march towards the North against the enemy.
The military situation was now greatly changed. Hitherto the Parliamentary army had lain between the King in the South and Newcastle in the North. If Hull could have been taken and its garrison captured, Newcastle would have marched to the South and the army of the Parliament would soon have been attacked on both sides at once. Now, on the contrary, it was Newcastle who was likely to be attacked on both sides at once, by the Scots from the North and by Fairfax from the South.
On 19 January, 1644, the Scottish army of 21,000 men crossed the border and Newcastle marched to the city from which he took his title. He came there in February, and on the 13th he wrote[84] to the King, announcing his arrival there, and stating that he had had to march his army through thawing snow and floods. He added that, the day after his arrival, the Scots attacked the town; but that the town’s soldiers were very faithful and drove the enemy a mile from its walls. He lamented that he would not be able to take more than 5000 foot and 3000 horse into the field, or 8000 in all, against the enemy’s 20,000 or more; and he complained of want both of arms and of ammunition.
[84] Rupert Correspondence, Warburton’s Rupert, vol. I, p. 504.
According to the Duchess, the Scottish General was ignorant of Newcastle’s arrival, expected no opposition, consequently approached the town incautiously and was repulsed with considerable loss. She writes as to what immediately followed:—
“The Enemy being thus stopt before the Town, thought fit to quarter near it, in that part of the Country; and so soon as my Lords Army was come up, he” (i.e., Newcastle) “designed one night to have fallen into their Quarter; but by reason of some neglect of his Orders in not giving timely notice to the party designed for it, it took not an effect answerable to his expectation. In a word, there were three Designs taken against the Enemy, whereof if one had but hit, they would doubtless have been lost; but there was so much Treachery, Jugling and Falshood in my Lord’s own Army” (were the poets and the divines quarrelling?) “that it was impossible for him to be successful in his Designs and Undertakings. However, though it failed in the Enemies Foot-Quarters, which lay nearest the Town; yet it took good effect in their Horse Quarters, which were more remote; for my Lord’s Horse, Commanded by a very gallant and worthy Gentleman”—can this have been the reinstated Goring?—“falling upon them, gave them such an Alarm, that all they could do, was to draw into the Field, where my Lord’s Forces charged them, and in a little time routed them totally, and kill’d and took many Prisoners, to the number of 1500.”
Whitelock gives a slightly different account of this affair. “The Scots besieged Newcastle, and took a main outwork, and beat back the enemy sallying out upon them. The Marquess of Newcastle being in the town, burnt a hundred houses in the suburbs; the inhabitants clamour against him. Seven of the Parliamentary frigates lay in the mouth of the haven to stop their passage by seas. The Marquess ordered the firing of the coal-mines, but that was prevented by General Leslie’s surprising of all the boats and vessels.”
The Scots withdrew; but they went Southwards and got into Newcastle’s rear. Both armies manœuvred against each other in various parts of the county of Durham, for some time, without coming into actual collision, the Scots seeming anxious to avoid an engagement; indeed their failure to take an immediate initiative with their large preponderance in numbers was the cause of much discontent and grumbling among the supporters of the Parliament in London.
On more than one occasion, we have seen the King desiring that Newcastle should march his army to the support of that in the South. The tables were now turned. On 16 February, Newcastle wrote to Charles, urging him to send troops to the North against the powerful Scottish army, and expressing a strong opinion that, unless reinforcements were sent thither, and sent very speedily, the King would be in danger of losing his crown.
Some desultory fighting took place in the beginning of March, of which Newcastle gave an account to the King; and, as a specimen of his military dispatches, parts of it shall be given here. They can be read, or skipped at the reader’s pleasure.[85]
[85] Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, Charles Ist, vol. LX, pp. 42-43. March 9th, 1644. No. 13.
(Dispatch communicating the doings of the army under the Marquis of Newcastle to the King.) It is headed “A True relation of all the observable passages that have happened in these (northern) parts since my last to your Majesty; with the reason of the impossibility of making good the Tyne against the Scots.... Sir Thos. Riddell sent about 50 musketeers from Tynemouth Castle to destroy some corn in the enemies’ quarters, from whence they were drawn out, as he was informed: But it seems his intelligence betrayed them to the enemy and about 45 of them were taken prisoners, who being carried to Leslie (Earl of Leven) he sent them to me as a token, and I returned him thanks for his civility, with this answer, that I hoped very shortly to repay that debt with interest, which I did in a few days.”
“Colonel Dudley from his quarters about Prudhoe marched over the river with some horse and dragoons and fell into a quarter of the enemy’s in Northumberland, and slew and took all that was in it, 55 prisoners, and gave such an alarum to four of their quarters that they quitted them in disorder and with some loss; in which (skirmish) we should have suffered no loss at all, had not Colonel Brandling been taken prisoner through the unfortunate fall of his horse; and Colonel Dudley perceiving a greater force preparing to assult him, retreated, and in his retreat took 8 of the Scots prisoners, both horses and men, but they took 4 of his dragoons, whose horses were so weak they could not pass the river.... Upon Wednesday the 6th inst. at one o’clock afternoon our first troops passed Newbridge, and a while after the enemy appeared with some horse; when they advanced toward us with more than they first discovered, after some bullets had been exchanged, and they appeared again in greater force, we backed our party with Lord Henry (Percy’s) regiment,—Lieutenant Colonel Schrimsher (Scrimegour) commanding them—being part of Colonel Dudley’s brigade, with which he drew up after them, with whom also we sent some musketeers; which caused the enemy that day to look upon us at a farther distance.”
It would appear much to Newcastle’s credit that he was able to manœuvre for some time against an army nearly three times the size of his own, were it not doubtful whether the credit was not due to King (Lord Ethyn), to whom he is known to have left much of the work which should properly have been done by himself. As to his other generals they seem to have been Newcastle’s chief source of weakness. Here is a story of disaster told by the Duchess:—
“A great misfortune befel My Lords Forces in Yorkshire; for the Governour whom he had left behind with sufficient Forces for the defence of that Country, although he had orders not to encounter the Enemy, but to keep himself in a defensive posture; yet he being a man of great valour and courage, it transported him so much that he resolved to face the Enemy, and offering to keep a Town that was not tenable, was utterly routed, and himself taken prisoner, although he fought most gallantly.”
Of this affair, Whitelock gives a fuller account:—[86]
“The Lord Fairfax, and Sir Thomas Fairfax his son, joining together, drew up their forces at Selby,[87] where a garrison of the King’s was, and in it Colonel Bellasis the Governor of York; that night they beat in a party of the enemy’s horse and took divers prisoners.
[86] Memorials, p. 82.
[87] About a dozen miles south of York.
“Early the next morning they beset the Town in three divisions, and after a hot fight, wherein both parties performed brave service, Fairfax routed them, and entered the town, where they took 4 Colonels, 4 Majors, 20 Captains, 130 inferior officers, 1,600 common soldiers, 4 brass pieces of ordnance, powder, match, 2,000 arms, 500 horse, besides colours, and a pinnace, and ships in the river, and 500 more prisoners at Hemcough near Selby.”
“The Earl of Newcastle, troubled at the news of Selby, and his army waiting upon the approach of the Scots towards them, they left Durham to the Scots and General Leslie pursued them.”
The forces of Newcastle were hard pressed throughout their return to York. The Duchess’s account says that Newcastle’s rear had to fight the enemy every day of the journey; but that the retreat was made in excellent order.
News of Newcastle’s retreat to York caused great disappointment among the Royalists at Court, and his enemies took the opportunity of blaming his whole conduct of the war. These complaints were conveyed to him in letters by his friends. Their effect upon him was so great that he lost heart and, as is pretty evident from the following letter, he had written to the King expressing a wish to resign his command.
(MS. Harl., 6988, art. 104. Orig. Entirely in the King’s hand.)
“New Castell
By your last dispach I perceave that the Scots are not the only, or (it may be said) the least ennemies you contest withall at this tyme; wherefore I must tell you in a word (for I have not tyme to make longe discourses) you must as much contem the impertinent or malitius tonges and pennes of those that ar or professe to be your frends, as well as you dispyse the sword of an equall ennemie. The trewth is, if eather you, or my L. Ethen leave my service, I am sure (at least) all the Northe (I speake not all I thinke) is lost. Remember all courage is not in fyghting; constancy in a good cause being the cheefe, and the dispysing of slanderus tonges and pennes being not the least ingredient. I’l say no more, but, let nothing disharten you from doing that which is most for your owen honnor, and good of (the thought of leaving your charge being against booke)
“Your most asseured reall
“constant frend
“Charles R.
The question presents itself whether the tongues and pens of those who were dissatisfied with Newcastle’s conduct of the campaign in the North, spoke and wrote with no foundation for dissatisfaction. Perhaps both the blame and the praise which were his due are pretty fairly allotted on one of the pages of Hume:—[88]
“Newcastle,” he says, “the ornament of the Court and of his order, had been engaged, contrary to the natural bent of his disposition, into these military operations, merely by a high sense of honour, and a personal regard to his master. The dangers of the war were disregarded by his valour; but its fatigues were oppressive to his natural indolence. Munificent and generous in his expense, polite and elegant in his taste, courteous and humane in his behaviour, he brought a great accession of friends and of credit to the party which he embraced.”
[88] History of England, VII, 13.
Undoubtedly this is true. His own expenditure upon the war was enormous, as the Duchess assures us and as contemporary writers testify; and his personal influence brought many great men, followed by large numbers of their servants, dependants and tenants, into the Royalist army. Again, his “humane behaviour” made him and his army popular in the counties which they occupied, a condition as important as difficult of attainment in a civil war.
Hume continues: “But amidst all the hurry of action, his inclinations were secretly drawn to the soft arts of peace, in which he took delight; and the charms of poetry, music, conversation, often stole him from his rougher occupations. He chose Sir William Davenant, an ingenious poet, for his lieutenant general”—“as one of his lieutenants generals” would have been more accurate—“The other persons, in whom he placed confidence, were more the instruments of his refined pleasures, than qualified for the business which they undertook. And the severity and application, requisite to the support of discipline, were qualities in which he was entirely wanting.”
Very probably these defects were more accountable for Newcastle’s failures than “the juggling, falsehood and treachery in his army and amongst some of his officers” of which his Duchess was fond of complaining. And it is more than likely that Granger was right in saying that Newcastle “was much better qualified for a court than a camp”.[89]
[89] Biog. Hist. of Eng., 4th edition, 1804, vol. II, p. 125.
Not the less should it be remembered that Newcastle was vastly outnumbered by his enemy from Scotland and that his troops which he had left in his rear had been defeated by his enemy in the South. Under such conditions even Napoleon would have been in difficulties.
CHAPTER XI.
Early in the year 1644 five Irish regiments were landed at Mostyn, on the north coast of Wales, to join the Royalist army, and probably that part of it under the command of Newcastle. They were unopposed as they marched through Wales, Chester, and a great portion of the county of Cheshire. But when they reached Nantwich, some seventeen miles to the south-east of Chester, they found it strongly garrisoned. They had not long laid siege to it, when Sir Thomas Fairfax, the son of Lord Fairfax, arrived with a superior force, and, after a stubborn battle of two hours, routed them. Thereupon nearly half of the Irish regiments “turned their coats” and joined the Parliamentary army under Sir Thomas Fairfax, who then, considerably strengthened in numbers, was free to join his forces with those of his father in Yorkshire. This made the position of Newcastle much more precarious. He must have written to the King asking for reinforcements, for Charles replied:—
(MS. Harl., 6988, art. 106. Orig. Entirely in the King’s hand.)
“New Castell
“You need not doute of the care I have of the North and in particular of your assistance against the Scots invasion, but you must consider that wee, lyke you, cannot doe alwais what we would; besydes our taske is not litle that we strugle with, in which if we faile, all you can doe will be to little purpose; wherfor You may be asseured of all assistance from hence that may be, without laing our selfes open to eminent danger, the particulars of which I refer you to my L. Digby and rest.
“Your most asseured reall
“constant frend
“Charles R.
“Oxford 11. Ap:
“1644.”
Meanwhile, general interest was concentrated on the war in the South. Essex and Waller, each with a large force, were endeavouring either to enclose the army of the King, or to besiege him in Oxford. Knowing his inferiority in numbers, Charles avoided a battle, and partly by manœuvring, and partly owing to the mutual jealousy of Essex and Waller which prevented them from acting in concert, the King managed to escape them, after fighting one or two unimportant and indecisive actions. His position was now one of great jeopardy, and it was just then that he received the disheartening news of the defeat at Selby and Newcastle’s enforced retreat to York, with his request to be relieved of his command.
At York Newcastle soon found himself closely invested. Our female War Correspondent shall tell us what she knew about it.
“My Lord being now at York, and finding three Armies against him, viz. the Army of the Scots, the Army of the English that gave the defeat to the Governour of York, and an Army that was raised out of associate Counties,”—this is a little premature; as the army of the Associated Counties did not arrive for several weeks—“and but little Ammunition and Provision in the Town; was forced to send his Horse away to quarter in several Counties, viz. Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, for their subsistence, under the Conduct of his Lieutenant-General of the Horse, My dear Brother, Sir Charles Lucas, himself remaining at York, with his Foot and Train for the defence of that City.” Clarendon, however, says that Newcastle’s object in sending his Lieutenant-General of the Horse (Goring, of course), with a large body of cavalry, was “to remain in those places he should find most convenient, and from whence he might best infest the enemy.” In carrying out these instructions, Goring, at first, not only met with some success, but at the same time raised additional forces on his marches, and money also, as we learn from the following State Paper.[90]
[90] S. P. Charles I, Dom., May 25, 1644, vol. DI. 141 A.
“Proceedings at the Committee of both kingdoms.... To advertise the Earl of Manchester of the great damage done to cos. Leicester, Stafford and those parts, by the Earl of Newcastle’s horse, which, coming from York, have raised 1,000 horse, and £10,000.”
Lord Newcastle has “now about 3,000 horse and dragoons near Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, which we hear with 1,000 horse might have been wholly prevented. They still increase their force, raise much money, and ruin those that depend on protection from the Parliament.” Evidently Goring, to use an expression of the Duchess, “carved for himself” in the districts in which he was campaigning.
It was as much as Newcastle could do to withstand the siege of York. His biographer says:—
“The Enemy having closely besiedged the City on all sides, came to the very Gates thereof, and pull’d out the Earth at one end, as those in the City put it in at the other end; they planted their great Cannons against it, and threw in Granadoes at pleasure: But those in the City made several sallies upon them with good success. At last, the General of the associate Army of the Enemy, having closely beleaguer’d the North side of the Town, sprung a Mine under the wall of the Mannor-yard, and blew part of it up; and having beaten back the Town-Forces (although they behaved themselves very gallantly) enter’d the Mannor-house with a great number of their men, which as soon as my Lord perceived, he went away in all haste, even to the amazement of all that were by, not knowing what he intended to do; and drew 80 of his own Regiment of Foot, called the White-Coats, all stout and valiant Men, to that Post, who fought the Enemy with that courage, that within a little time they killed and took 1500 of them; and My Lord gave present order to make up the breach which they had made in the wall; Whereupon the Enemy remain’d without any other attempt in that kind, so long, till almost all provision for the support of the soldiery in the City was spent, which nevertheless was so well ordered by my Lords Prudence, that no Famine or great extremity of want ensued.”
No famine or great extremity, perhaps, for the moment. Nevertheless, Newcastle was becoming very anxious, and, at the least, foresaw both famine and great extremity facing him in the near future. Clarendon tells us that “he sent an express to the King to inform him of the condition he was in”; and to let him know “that he doubted not to defend himself in that post, for the term of six weeks or two months; in which time he hoped his Majesty would find some way to relieve him”. Newcastle was well aware that the King would know of his objection to having his army joined to that of Rupert, an objection proceeding from something near akin to jealousy; so, now that he was in a strait, and practically begging for Rupert’s help, since it was the only help available, he thought it wise to write to Charles “that he hoped his Majesty did believe that he would never make the least scruple to obey the grandchild of King James”.
Charles, in fact, had already sent Prince Rupert northwards with the relief of Newcastle as his ultimate object. Having marched for his quarters at Shrewsbury, Rupert had taken by surprise the strong Parliamentary forces that were investing Newcastle’s garrison at Newark-upon-Trent, in Nottinghamshire, and had compelled them to raise the siege. He had then marched westward and taken Stockport, Bolton, and Liverpool. The message from the King, ordering him to proceed at once to the relief of York, reached him when he had raised the siege of Latham House, which had been gallantly defended by the brave Lady Derby for more than four months.
Like Newcastle, Rupert had enemies at Court: like Newcastle again, he was anxious to be relieved of his command, and this just at the time when Newcastle was asking for his assistance. Once more, as in the case of Newcastle, Rupert’s rivals were urging the King to recall him.
Things were going badly with Newcastle. Whitelock says: “A battery was made at the Windmill-Hill at York, five pieces of ordnance planted, which shot into the town, and did much hurt. The Lord Eglinton, with four thousand Scots, entered some of the gates. A strong party sallying out of the city was beaten back with loss. General Leven with his regiment took a fort from the enemy, and in it 120 prisoners. The garrison burnt up much of the suburbs.”
According to Whitelock,[91] Newcastle made an attempt to leave York. “The Earl of Newcastle, Sir Thomas Widderington, and other chief commanders with a strong party sallied out of the town, endeavouring to escape, but were driven back into the city.” It is most unlikely that Newcastle was “endeavouring to escape” and to desert York in its extremity. The probability is that he was only making a sally upon the enemy’s forces.
[91] P. 86.
Whitelock makes another statement. He says:[92] “The Earl of Newcastle desired a treaty, which was admitted, and he demanded to march away with bag and baggage, and arms, and drums beating, and colours flying, and that all within the town should have liberty of conscience, the Prebends to enjoy their places, to have Common Prayer, organs, surplice hoods, crosses, etc.”
[92] P. 87.
It is almost incredible that in return he would have promised to take no farther part in the war. But even if he and his army were to continue to fight for the King, he would have been offering to surrender the highly important fortress of York. It is far more likely that he was endeavouring to delay the siege operations of the enemy by parleys and negotiations, while awaiting the arrival of Rupert.
His conditions, however, were “denied by the Parliament’s Generals; but they offered the Earl of Newcastle that he and all his commanders should go forth on horseback with their swords and the common soldiers with staves in their hands, and a month’s pay, and all else to be left behind them”.
This obviously meant the disarmament of the troops, which one would have expected Newcastle to have
instantly refused; but, says Whitelock, “the enemy desired four or five days to consider thereof which was granted,” and this, if true, has an ugly sound. But every day of armistice was of value to Newcastle, when a force was known to be coming to his relief, and he may have seized the opportunity for delay.
Besides the large Scottish army, and the troops under Lord Fairfax, Newcastle was to be besieged before long by the army that had been raised against the King in what were known as the Associated Counties, namely Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedford and Huntingdon. This army had been placed under the command of the Earl of Manchester who, when Lord Kimbolton, had been impeached by Charles at the same time as the Five Members. His General of the Horse—or it might almost be said his second in command—was Oliver Cromwell.
Manchester was a rigid Presbyterian. Warwick says of him:—[93]
“The Earl of Manchester, formerly known by the name of Lord Kimbolton, was a gentleman of very good parts, and of very good education, both at home and abroad, and of a debonnaire nature, but very facile or changeable.... With all his good nature, or the facility of it, he did as much harm as the worst-natured man could have done. And therefore it was supposed, though he seemed the head, he was but the instrument of Mr. Cromwell, who made great ravage in all those associated counties on the King’s party.”
[93] P. 246.
Cromwell’s character is too well known to need description here; but, as Warwick was with Newcastle, let us hear what he has to say about the most formidable enemy against whom Newcastle ever fought a battle.[94]
[94] P. 247.
“I have no mind to give an ill character of Cromwell; for, in his conversation with me, he was ever friendly; though at the latter end ... he was sufficiently frigid. The first time that ever I took notice of him was in the beginning of the Parliament held in November, 1640, when I vainly thought myself a courtly young gentleman, (for we courtiers valued ourselves much upon our good clothes). I came one morning into the House well clad, and perceived a gentleman speaking (whom I knew not) very ordinarily apparelled; for it was a plain cloth suit, which seemed to have been made by a country tailor; his linen was very plain and not very clean ... his hat was without a band, his stature was a good size, his sword stuck close to his side, his countenance swollen and reddish, his voice sharp and untuneable.... Yet I lived to see this very gentleman, whom out of no ill-will I thus describe, by multiplied good successes, and by real (but usurped) power (having had a better tailor and more converse among good company) ... appear of a great and majestic deportment.”
“... Whilst I was about Huntingdon, visiting old Sir Oliver Cromwell, his uncle and godfather, at his house at Ramsey, he told me this story of his successful nephew and godson; that he visited him with a good strong party of horse, and that he asked him his blessing, and that, the few hours he was there, he would not keep on his hat in his presence; but, at the same time, he not only disarmed but plundered him; for he took away all his plate.” As we are aware, there was a royal precedent for robbing a host of his plate.
Among the State Papers, there are a good many dispatches from the Parliamentary army in the North at this (to Newcastle) very critical time. The first to be quoted tells us the strength of the force which Rupert was said to be taking to the relief of Newcastle.[95]
[95] S. P. Charles I, Dom., 1644, May 31, Manchester vol. DI, No. 148.
“Sir John Meldrum to the Earl of Denbigh.... Sir Thomas Fairfax and Major-General (David) Leslie are in full pursuit of Prince Rupert’s Army, deeply engaged in a country full of difficult passages for ordnance and carriages. Rupert’s forces are divided into two bodies, the Marquis of Newcastle’s horse, not exceeding 3,000 as I am credibly informed, and 100 foot, without ordnance, lying upon the frontiers of Yorkshire, betwixt Woodhead and Stopford; and the Prince himself with 4,000 horse and 7,000 foot, and 14 pieces of ordnance lying about Bolton and Bury, at a great distance from each other.”
From the following it would appear that Goring must have manœuvred very skilfully to avoid being heavily outnumbered in a battle.[96]
[96] S. P. Charles I, Dom., June 1, 1644, vol. DII, No. 1.
“Selby. The Earl of Manchester to the Committee of both kingdoms ... I can assure you that I took all care to bring on an engagement with the Duke of Newcastle’s horse which came from York, but they would not stay within 20 or 30 miles of where my horse were. The time they employed in plundering about Leicester, most part of my horse were on this side Trent, unable to move by reason of the heavy rains. As soon as they had notice that Major-General Leslie and my horse were moving towards Nottingham, thinking to intercept them in their march northward, they marched in such hot haste toward Uttoxeter that they left great numbers of their horse dead on the highways, passing the Trent at Burton, and so got into Derbyshire. Sir Thos. Fairfax was sent with directions to engage Newcastle’s horse, we having intelligence that they were coming toward Sheffield and Rotherham, but as soon as our horse were within 7 or 8 miles of them, they presently marched into those parts of the country in which it would be very difficult to pursue them.”
Although Goring was not strong enough to engage his enemy at this time, he was doing good service by delaying the juncture of the army of the Associated Counties with the Scottish army before York. But a time came when he could delay that juncture no longer.[97]
[97] S. P. Charles I, Dom., June 11, 1644, vol. DII, No. 10.
“Sir Harry Vane, Junr., to the Committee of both kingdoms Leaguer before York.... It appears to me very evident that if Manchester had not brought up his foot to the siege the business would have been very dilatory, whereas the siege is now made very straight about the city, the Earl’s forces lying on the North side, where they have advanced very near the walls, and are busy in a mine of which we expect a speedy account, if by a treaty we be not prevented. The Scotch forces under Sir James Lumsdale’s (Lumsden’s) command united with those of Lord Fairfax, possess the suburbs at the East side, and are within pistol shot and less of Walmgate.”
In the later part of the same dispatch, Sir Harry Vane notices the “parley” mentioned by Whitelock. He only dwells upon a matter of etiquette, which turned upon the question whether Newcastle did not put Manchester’s name on the direction of a letter, through literal ignorance of his presence, or from a desire to ignore it.
“On the 9th inst., the Earl of Newcastle sent letters to the Earl of Leven and Lord Fairfax for a parley, not taking notice of the Earl of Manchester being there, but in that respect the treaty was refused and notice sent to Newcastle that unless he directed his letters to all three generals he could have no answer, whereupon letters were sent to all three Generals, and a civil excuse by the omission in regard, as he pretended, he did not know the Earl of Manchester in person had been there.” It is possible the mistake may have been intentional, with the object of again causing a delay.
In June, Newcastle was reported to have had a success of some sort, in which he was said to have lost his life.[98]
[98] S. P. Charles I, Dom., June 27, 1644, vol. DII, No. 30.
“Sir E. Nicholas to Sir Gervase Lucas. Oxford.... It is not believed at London that the Marquis of Newcastle is slain, but they confess the Marquis of Newcastle has given the Scots a good blow.” Possibly this may refer to the occasion on which the Duchess says that her husband “killed and took 1500” of the enemy.
CHAPTER XII.
Although Newcastle had been anxious to avoid a junction with Rupert as long as possible, lest he should lose some of the credit of defeating the enemy in the North, he had no personal dislike of that General. The two men were on good terms, and they were correspondents. Among the Rupert letters are four from Newcastle, congratulating him on different victories. In one of them he says of those victories that, “as they are too big for anybody else, so they appear too small for his Royal Highness,” and in another that, although Rupert will not allow them to be talked about in his presence, they will be talked about “to posterity, to His Royal Highness’s everlasting fame”.
Early on 1 July, Newcastle heard that Rupert with his army would arrive that very day, and he immediately wrote, and sent to Rupert, the following letter of welcome:—[99]
“May it please your Highness, you are welcome, sir, so many several ways, as it is beyond my arithmetic to number, but this I know, you are the Redeemer of the North, and the Saviour of the Crown. Your name, sir, hath terrified three great Generals, and they fly before it. It seems their design is not to meet your Highness, for I believe they have got a river between you and them; but they are so nearly gone as there is (no) certainty at all of them or their intentions, neither can I resolve anything, since I am made of nothing but thankfulness and obedience to your Highness’s commands.”
[99] The Pythouse Papers, p. 19.
Rupert arrived, as Warwick tells us, “with a very good army, Goring being joined to him with the Northern horse”. It was not without some skilful manœuvring that he was able to effect an entrance into York. Here is his enemy’s account of it:—[100]
“Leaguer before York.
“The Earls of Leven, Lindsay, and Manchester, Ferdinando Lord Fairfax, and Thos. Hatcher. Since our last the conditions of affairs is not a little changed for on Monday last, upon notice of Prince Rupert’s march from Knaisburgh (Knaresborough) towards us, we resolved and accordingly drew out the armies to have met him.” They do not say that Newcastle came after them, but Heath (Chronicle, p. 58) says, “those in York pursued their rear, and seized some provisions,” which must have been most welcome to a half-famished garrison expecting a good many thousand more hungry men who would also want food. The Generals go on to say that they “for that end did march the same night to Long Marston, about four miles west of York, but the Prince having notice thereof passed with his army at Boroughbridge,” a place about eighteen miles to the north-west of York, and quite out of his direct route, “and so put the river Ouse betwixt him and us, whereby we were disabled to oppose his passage into York, the bridge we built on the west side of the town, being so weak that we durst not adventure to transport our armies over upon it. This made us resolve the next morning to march to Tadcaster for stopping his passage southward.”
[100] S. P., Dom., Charles I, vol. LX.
According to this account, therefore, it was Rupert who put the river between himself and the enemy, and not the enemy who put the river between themselves and Rupert, as Newcastle had written.
Rupert having effected his juncture with Newcastle, the Parliamentary generals had to consider what should be their next step. It used to be held that a besieging army should be larger than that of the place invested; but the Royalist and the Parliamentary armies were pretty equal in numbers. The most probable decision of the Parliamentary Generals, therefore, would be to retire.
On the other hand, it was a question whether it would be the policy of the Royalist army to force an engagement. With a fortified town at their backs, it might have been under other circumstances; but Newcastle’s men had been much underfed of late, and Rupert’s were wearied by long marches, whereas the Parliamentary forces, although very short of provisions, were better fed than Newcastle’s, nor were they travel-worn like Rupert’s.
When Rupert went into York, on Monday, 1 July, he took about 2000 horse with him; but he left his foot, his ordnance, and the remainder of his cavalry in camp about five miles to the north of the town.
Newcastle, a dignified man of middle-age, accustomed to respect and deference, had now to receive as his superior officer that impetuous sprig of royalty, Prince Rupert, a youth of 22; and, glad as he was that Rupert had come to his relief, he can scarcely have got rid of all his previous feelings of jealousy. He told Rupert that the enemy had already raised the siege, that the Parliamentary Generals were quarrelling, that there was intense jealousy between the Scotch and the English troops, and that, in all probability, the army from Scotland would separate itself from its English allies, when, if left to themselves, the enemy would disperse in various directions, and would make no further attempts upon York.
Rupert, on the contrary, wanted to attack, stating that he had a letter in his pocket from the King commanding him to give battle to the Parliamentary army and crush it, once for all.[101] Newcastle urged that it would at least be wiser to await the arrival of Colonel Clavering, whom he was momentarily expecting with more than 3000 men, as well as that of 2000 men from the Northern garrisons. With this addition of 5000 men, the Royalist army would have considerably outnumbered that of the Parliament. Besides the reinforcements definitely expected, Newcastle had great hopes of the arrival of Montrose with some troops from Scotland. Rupert replied to Newcastle’s arguments by saying: “Nothing venture, nothing win,” and then he returned to his camp and spent the night there.
[101] Sir Philip Warwick (p. 278), who was present at the battle which followed, wrote: “Had not the Lord Digby, this year, given a fatal direction to that excellent Prince Rupert to fight the Scottish Army, surely that great Prince and soldier had never so precipitately fought them”.
Digby was supposed to have inspired the King to write the letter to Rupert here mentioned. The letter said: “If York be lost, I shall esteem my crown little less.... But if York be relieved, and you beat the rebels of both Kingdoms which are before it, then, but not otherwise, I may possibly make a shift.” Lord Culpepper, when the King told him that this letter had been sent, exclaimed: “Why, then, before God you are undone; for upon this peremptory order he will fight, whatever comes of it” (Warburton’s Prince Rupert, vol. II, p. 438).
Early on the Tuesday morning Rupert was again in York and with Newcastle. Meanwhile there had been as much diversity of opinion between the Parliamentary Generals on the question of fighting or not fighting, as between the Royalist. The English Generals were all for action, the Scotch for a withdrawal to seek some more favourable battle-field, and finally the latter over-persuaded the former.
In the Royalist council of war, Rupert was able to reply to Newcastle’s continued desire for delay until the arrival of the shortly expected reinforcements, by stating that his scouts reported the enemy to be already on the move and that, unless they were attacked that day, they would probably altogether escape a battle.
Newcastle persisted in his objections to an immediate engagement, while Rupert’s persistence in favour of it never wavered. Heated, if courteous, words are said to have passed between the two Generals—the story that they even came to blows may be safely dismissed as fiction—but finally Newcastle yielded although under strong protest, to the royal authority, saying: “I am ready and willing, on my part, to obey Your Highness, no otherwise than if His Majesty were here in person. Happen what may, I will not shun to fight: for I have no other ambition than to live and die a loyal subject of His Majesty.”
Rupert replied: “My Lord, I hope we shall have a glorious day”.[102] Orders were then given to marshal all the forces into order of battle.
[102] Such is the substance of the story as told by several contemporary writers. Clarendon, however, in his very brief account of the Battle of Marston Moor, says: “The Prince, without consulting with the Marquis of Newcastle, or any of the officers within the town, sent for all the soldiers to draw out, and put the whole army in battalia”. But Cholmley’s Memorials touching the Battle of York, which were drawn up for Clarendon’s information, and on which Clarendon most likely based his own account, were written in 1649, five years after the event, when Cholmondley may have forgotten some of the details.
The rear-guard of the Parliamentary army was just preparing to start—the advance-guard was already three miles on its road towards Tadcaster, when a body of Royalist horse appeared, pulled up, and then galloped away. Almost immediately afterwards, between ten and eleven o’clock, 5000 of Rupert’s horse entered upon the moor, near Marston village, where the rebel army had been encamped during the night and a small part of it was still remaining. On hearing of this the Parliamentary Generals thought that Rupert was manœuvring to attack them on their march. If he fell upon their rear it might be fatal, therefore Fairfax sent gallopers on the fastest horses he could find to urge the immediate return of all the Parliamentary troops then on the march.
Marston Moor lies seven miles to the west of York, about half-way between that city and Knaresborough. Although enclosed in 1767, at the time with which we are dealing much of it consisted of a large tract of open moorland, covered with whinbushes and gorse; but there were fields of rye on the southern side. The soil was marshy in some places and sandy in others. A road called Marston Lane crossed it, for about two miles from east to west, and 300 or 400 yards to the north of this lane ran “a great ditch,” almost parallel with it. This ditch separated the moor from some cultivated land.
On the south side, for the most part in some fields of rye, between the road and the ditch, the Parliamentary Generals placed the main body of their troops as they arrived. To the north of the ditch, the part of the moor on which the Royalist troops were gradually assembling, the ground was very flat; but from the road, running from east to west, the ground rises towards the south; and, upon this rising ground, the General of the Scotch ordnance placed twenty-five guns. Behind these guns, and still higher on the incline, the Generals of the Parliamentary army made their head-quarters, near which they posted their wagons and stores.
The arrival and the posting of the troops seems to have been slow on both sides. To distinguish between the two armies, the Cavaliers wore no scarves, and the Puritans wore white paper or white handkerchiefs in their hats; their watchword was “God with us,” while that of the Cavaliers was “God and the King”. “How goodly a sight,” wrote Ash, Lord Manchester’s chaplain, “was this to behold, when two mighty armies, each of which consisted of above 20,000 horse and foot, did, with flying colours prepared for the battle, look each other in the face.”
But afternoon had come on and many of Newcastle’s troops had not yet arrived. More extraordinary still, Newcastle himself had not put in an appearance. Rupert galloped back to York to find out the reason of the delay. There he found that a considerable number of Newcastle’s cavalry were in a state of mutiny, clamouring for their long over-due pay, and openly declaring that they would not leave the city to face the enemy until they got it. Both Rupert and Newcastle “played the orator” to them; but it was only after oft-repeated promises of prompt payment that they yielded and marched out of York so late as nearly five o’clock in the afternoon, with Rupert riding in the rear, and Newcastle, in his state-coach drawn by six horses, following them at a short distance.
Having once started, the hitherto reluctant cavalry rode rapidly to the front. Rupert had arranged everything for his order of battle before going into York. The accounts of that order are rather conflicting; but, roughly speaking, it was something of this sort. The centre was composed mainly of infantry under Newcastle and King, or Lord Ethyn as he was now entitled. The right wing was formed of Rupert’s own cavalry, including his regiment of “old soldiers all, gentlemen who had seen much service in France and Spain,” Lord Byron’s Irish horse, Lord Grandison’s horse, and some other cavalry, in all 7200 horse, drawn up in twelve divisions. The left wing contained about 4000 of Newcastle’s cavalry under Goring and Sir Charles Lucas, with a line of musketeers in front of them. The whole of the ditch was also lined with musketeers. A few guns were also posted in the ditch, and the rest of the artillery was placed on the flanks.
Confronting the Royalist centre was the Parliamentary infantry under Manchester and Leven. Opposite the Royalist right, the enemy’s left contained Cromwell’s “Ironsides,” other cavalry of Manchester’s and some Scottish horse; in all about 4200 horse, supported by 3000 foot soldiers. In front of the Royalist left the enemy’s right was made up of 4800 horse, consisting of Lord Fairfax’s famous cavalry and some Scottish cavalry regiments, including the Ayrshire Lancers—rather an uncommon armament at that period. In both armies reserves of cavalry and infantry were drawn up in the rear. The numbers in the opposing armies is doubtful; but probably they were pretty equal, and something over 20,000 on either side.
Rupert showed Ethyn a sketch of his position and asked him how he liked it. Ethyn replied that it was very fine on paper, but that it would not be so on the field. Rupert had placed his front rank close to the ditch, which was impassable in many places, and to this Ethyn strongly objected. Rupert replied, “They may be drawn to a farther distance”. Ethyn, probably thinking that any retreat along the whole line would draw on an immediate attack from the enemy, replied, “No, sir. It is too late.”
Rupert was very angry with Ethyn for saying this. They had not been on the best of terms beforehand, for Rupert thought that Ethyn, when General King, had not sufficiently supported him in a certain battle on the Continent. Rupert revenged himself upon Ethyn for finding fault with his order of battle on Marston Moor by twitting him when the engagement was over, for having been of very little use during the action.
In the course of the afternoon, a few shots were fired from the cannon of both armies; but without important results, although a captain was killed on each side; on one a nephew of Cromwell, on the other a son of Sir Gilbert Haughton. Some of the Puritan soldiers sang psalms, deriving considerable consolation from the psalmist’s denunciations of his enemies, which they mentally applied to what they called “the King’s cursed and cursing cormorants”. Rupert, not tolerating defeat even in devotion, ordered his chaplain to preach to his men; on hearing of which the Puritans declared Rupert to be a “jingling Machiavelian,” guilty of a blasphemous mockery.
Several showers had fallen during the day, and towards evening black clouds gathered overhead, a heavy thunderstorm set in, and rain fell in torrents. On arriving at Marston Moor, Newcastle asked Rupert whether he meant to fight that evening—it was then between five and six o’clock. Rupert said that he had no intention of doing so and that he would make his grand attack early in the morning: at the same time he recommended Newcastle to seize the opportunity of taking a rest.
A rest was only too welcome! Newcastle had had a long, anxious, perplexing day, and he was glad to return to his coach, which had been left at some little distance behind the troops. The first thing he did on getting into it was to light his pipe[103] and enjoy a soothing smoke, after which, utterly worn out by worry, he fell asleep upon the cushions of his chariot.
[103] Leadman’s Battles Fought in Yorkshire, p. 135. Clarendon also mentions the pipe incident (Clarendon State Papers, No. 1805), but he gives a rather different account of it. This opportunity may be taken of saying that the accounts of the Battle of Marston Moor are so conflicting, that, for once, the scribe has departed from his usual custom of making his witnesses speak for themselves, and has attempted to give the substance of the story as best as he can, after studying the various, and very varying, authorities on the subject.
CHAPTER XIII.
Many people may have experienced the sensation of being suddenly disturbed soon after going to sleep, when very tired. Sleep at that time is supposed to be at its deepest. On being awakened, although only ten or twenty minutes may have actually passed since sleep came on, it would seem as if it had lasted for hours; not that there is the sense of refreshment usual after long sleep, on the contrary, the feeling left is one of bewilderment combined with extreme languor.
It is probable that with some such sensations Newcastle suddenly awoke, about seven o’clock, on the evening of Tuesday, 2 July, 1644; and there was noise in abundance to disturb his slumbers. The heavy roll of the thunder was drowned by the booming of cannon, the firing of muskets, pistols and arquebuses, and the war cries of the excited soldiers; for in those primitive times soldiers fought near enough to bandy curses with each other. One naturally wonders whether, when it came to “push of pike,” the Roundhead warriors remembered how strictly they had been forbidden by Cromwell to use bad language, if indeed any language could be worse than that of the Puritan divines themselves.
Most likely the Generals on either side had had no intention of fighting that evening; certainly there is no reason for doubting the sincerity of Rupert in telling Newcastle that he did not intend to attack until the morning; but, as we have seen, the rival armies had been drawn up perilously close to each other. They were within musket-shot—a very short distance with the fire-arms of the period, and it may be that the battle was begun by some of the men without orders from their officers. Anyhow, the match had been applied to the powder; probably the Generals on either side thought that the battle had been begun by those on the other, and soon orders were given in all directions for a general engagement.
Would’st hear the tale? On Marston Heath
Met, front to front, the ranks of Death;
Florished the trumpets fierce, and now
Fired was each eye, and flushed each brow,
On either side loud clamours ring
“God and the Cause!”—“God and the King!”
Rokeby, Canto I. xix.
Newcastle armed himself as quickly as possible, mounted his horse and galloped to the front, accompanied by his brother, Sir Charles Cavendish, two other officers, and his page. The first men he came upon were some gentleman volunteers, who had formerly chosen him for their captain, and he called out to them:—
“Gentlemen, You have done me the Honour to choose me your Captain, and now is the fittest time that I may do you service; wherefore if you’ll follow me I shall lead you on the best I can, and show you the way to your own Honour”.
They were soon under fire and Newcastle led them against a regiment of Scottish infantry. By some ill-luck, or clumsiness, he lost his sword; but, although several officers immediately offered him theirs, he refused them and took his page’s little sword, which the Duchess tells us was “half leaden”. With this little weapon, however, he killed three Scots and led his company of volunteers right through the enemy’s regiment. Then he was brought to a standstill by a single brave Puritan pikeman, whom he charged three times without effect, but the courageous fellow was hacked down by the followers of Newcastle.
Meanwhile, Newcastle’s cavalry were doing splendidly on his left under Goring and Sir Charles Lucas, whose sister Newcastle subsequently married. She describes her brother as one who by nature “had a practick genius to the warlike arts, or Arts in War, as Natural Poets have to Poetry”. With regard to the Royalist cavalry, Mr. Fortescue, in his standard work, A History of the British Army,[104] writes of “the superiority of the Royalist cavalry. The long neglect of the mounted service left the supremacy to the ablest amateurs, and the majority of these, though there were hundreds of gentlemen on the Parliamentary side, were undoubtedly for the King. Nor was it only the courage, honour, and resolution of which Cromwell had spoken that favoured them; they had from the nature of the case better horses, a higher standard of horsemanship and equipment, a quicker natural intelligence and a higher natural training. The thousand lessons which the county gentlemen learned when riding with hawk and hound were of infinite advantage in the casual and irregular warfare of the first two or three years ... One fatal defect however marred what should have been a most efficient cavalry, the blot had been hit by Cromwell, indiscipline.”
[104] Vol. I, pp. 201-2.
It was with such cavalry as this that Goring and Sir Charles Cavendish charged on Marston Moor, on a day which, Mr. Fortescue says, “may indeed be termed the first great day of English cavalry”.
On the whole, Ethyn may have been right in blaming Rupert for drawing up his army close to the “great ditch,” but his having done so did him good service on his left flank; for, when Fairfax wished to charge Newcastle’s cavalry, he found the ditch impassable, and his only means of reaching his enemy to be an almost straight lane which ran at right angles to, and across, the ditch. Fairfax’s cavalry were only able to cross the bridge over the ditch “three or four” abreast, and it is surprising that they should have got over it at all, exposed as they were to the fire of musketeers lining the lane. The muskets of the period, however, could be reloaded but very slowly, and the heavy rain which was falling may have interfered with the priming and caused missfires. Nor did the Royalist artillery, likewise directed upon the bridge, but also probably hampered by the rain, very seriously cripple the invaders. Fairfax’s horse drove the Royalist gunners “from their cannon, being two drakes” (six-pounders) and a “demiculverine” (a nine-pounder).
What appears to have obstructed the progress of Fairfax’s cavalry even more than the musketeers, the drakes and the demiculverine, was a quantity of furze bushes and small ditches which they found lying between themselves and Newcastle’s horse, when they had got over the “great ditch”. The Royalist cavalry was also inconvenienced by these impediments, for both sides charged simultaneously. “We were a long time engaged with one another,” wrote Fairfax, who was unhorsed and received a deep cut across the cheek which marked him for the rest of his life. Sir Charles Fairfax and Major Fairfax were killed. “There was scarce an officer but received a hurt,” wrote Lord Fairfax. Sir William Fairfax led the Yorkshire foot across the ditch over Moor Lane Bridge; but the fire of Newcastle’s famous regiment of Whitecoats did this infantry more mischief than it had done to the cavalry; and the Yorkshire foot were driven back, thinned in numbers and completely demoralized by the gallant Royalists.
“On Marston, with Rupert, ’gainst traitors contending.” [105]
[105] “On Leaving Newstead Abbey,” Byron.
A small portion of Newcastle’s horse ran away and Fairfax, with about 400 men, made the mistake of following them for some distance towards York. Then it occurred to him that he had better return to see how the rest of his cavalry was faring; so he galloped back.
He says:[106] “Having charged through the enemy, my men going after in pursuit, and myself returning back to my other troops, I was got-in among the enemy who stood, up and down the field, in several bodies of horse. So, taking the signal out of my hat, I passed through them for one of their own commanders, and got to my Lord of Manchester’s horse.”
[106] Short Memorial. Masères’s Tracts.
During the temporary absence of Fairfax, the main body of his cavalry had fallen into some confusion, and Goring seized the opportunity of making a vigorous charge upon it. The King’s old horse, “veterans of hard service and fame,” were more than the newly hired cavalry of the Roundheads could withstand and a rout set in. Goring had a cry raised of “See they run in the rear,” on hearing which those in the van turned tail and began to run themselves. The Ayrshire Lancers and the regiments of Lord Eglinton, whose son was mortally wounded in this battle, held their ground for some time; but the stampede of the routed van at last bore them with it to the rear. Then there was a general rush for the bridge over the ditch, which some of the defeated foot had not yet crossed, and the Parliamentary cavalry and infantry became hopelessly mixed up, many men on foot being trampled upon by the horses of their own comrades.
When the Roundhead troops had returned to their own side of the ditch, the Royalist cavalry pursued them headlong. Heath says, “the Scots some of them ran ten miles on end, and a wee bit, crying quarter, with other lamentable expressions of fear”. Arthur Trevor in a letter to Ormonde, says that the Scottish cavalry kept galloping away, crying “Wae’s us! Wae’s us! We’re a’ undone.”
And many a bonny Scot, aghast,
Spurring his palfrey northward, passed,
Cursing the day when zeal or meed
First lured their Lesley o’er the Tweed.
Rokeby.
All, however, did not spur northward: some spurred to Lincoln, some to Hull, some to Halifax, some to Wakefield, all reporting the utter rout of the Parliamentary army. The news reached Newark, whence the Royalists sent an express messenger to convey the glorious tidings to Oxford. Both at Oxford and at Banbury, Church bells were rung, bonfires were lighted, and fireworks were let off in honour of the great victory of Rupert and Newcastle over the combined armies of the Parliament and the Scotch. The splendid news made happy the heart of King Charles and set his anxious mind at rest.
Reports of the victory spread to London. Vicars, the Puritan author, wrote: “Yea, our sottish and bewitched mole-eyed malignants of London also, were so led along with a spirit of lying, like their father the devil, that they mightily boasted of this robber’s vain victory over us, the vanquishing of our whole three armies, the death and imprisonment of all our three most renowned and precious Generals”.[107]
[107] Jehovah Jireh.
The defeated Roundhead Generals fled for their lives. Manchester ran away, but repented and returned: Lord Leven never drew rein till he reached Leeds, twenty miles from the battle-field; and Lord Fairfax fled for refuge to Cawood Castle, where, finding neither food, fire nor candle, he philosophically got into bed. Indeed Principal Baillee wrote in a letter to a friend, dated 12 July, 1644: “All six generals took to their heels—this to you alone”.
But let us return to the battle-field and observe a few further details of the fight: for thus far we have only been concerned with the Royalist left wing and the Parliamentary right.
At the beginning of the battle, soon after seven in the evening, the left wing of the Roundheads charged the ditch, which was passable in their front. While Manchester’s infantry attacked that of Newcastle, Cromwell’s cavalry charged Rupert’s, Byron’s and the Irish horse. “And now,” wrote Manchester’s chaplain, “you might have seen the bravest sight in the world, for they moved down the hill like so many thick clouds, in brigades of 800, 1,000, 1,200 and 1,500 each.” “We came down the hill,” says Watson, who was with Cromwell’s cavalry, “in bravest order and with the greatest resolution that ever was seen.... In a moment we were passed the ditch and on to the moor upon equal terms with the enemy.” The Royalists abandoned four drakes in the ditch. Watson continues: “Our front division charged their front, Cromwell’s division of 300 horse, in which he himself was in person, charging the first division of Prince Rupert’s, of which himself was in person,[108] in which all were gallant men”.
[108] Some accounts, however, state that, instead of leading his own men, Rupert led Newcastle’s horse on the Royalist left.
Yet it was not all plain sailing for Cromwell and his cavalry. A sword-wound[109] on the neck obliged Cromwell to leave the field and receive surgical treatment in a house hard by, and the Royalist cavalry made a splendid resistance, repelling the Roundheads several times. As was the custom in those days, both sides galloped towards each other until they were within shot, when they pulled up and fired their carbines or pistols, and then charged with their swords. It is said that at the last charge on this occasion, the rival cavalry, after firing, threw their pistols at each others heads.
[109] Mark Trevor, who is said to have given the wound, was created Lord Dungannon, for his services in this war. But Whitelock says that the wound was made by a graze from a pistol bullet, “which some imagined to be by accident and want of care by some of his own men”. General Crawford supports this account of the wound. See Masères’s Tracts. The story of the sword-wound is in Leadman’s Battles Fought in Yorkshire, p. 138; a book giving a very elaborate account of the battle.
Carlyle describes the scene as “the most enormous hurly-burly of fire and smoke and steel flashings and death tumult, ever seen in those regions. We just get a glimpse of them joining battle in complete array and the next shows them scattered, broken, straggling across moor and field on both sides in utter bewilderment.” A spirited account, but somewhat misleading, for they fought long and hard before either side was scattered.
Unfortunately for the Royalists, among Rupert’s horse were some raw levies, and although his own old troops were the bravest and most brilliant cavalry then in this country, they were lacking in that virtue in which Cromwell’s “Ironsides” excelled, namely discipline; and discipline now told its tale. This cavalry contest is said to have lasted an hour. Before the end of it Cromwell had returned to the field. The issue still seemed doubtful, when Sir David Leslie’s horse came up and attacked the Royalists in the flank, which at last wavered, broke and fled, “Cromwell scattering them before him like a little dust,” says Watson with bombastic exaggeration. Anyhow, in the end, the cavalry on the right wing of the Royalist army was thoroughly routed.
On the Royalist left Goring, after defeating the enemy’s cavalry, had followed the usual custom of attacking the flank of the enemy’s infantry with his victorious horse; but he could rally only a few troops for this purpose. The greater part of Newcastle’s cavalry had galloped far out of sight in pursuit of the vanquished Scottish fugitives. Another part had cantered up the hill and was busily engaged in looting the Parliament’s wagons and stores.
But another General was adopting the same tactics on an opposite side of the field with much greater success. Cromwell, having routed the Royalist cavalry with his own, had nearly the whole of his well-disciplined horse in hand, wherewith to attack the right flank of the Royalist infantry, and that attack Newcastle’s infantry were unable to resist. They were soon in confusion, regiment after regiment was charged and dispersed, and the King’s infantry became a rabble of scattered fugitives.
But not all! And now we come to the most heroic incident in the whole battle, an incident which did great and lasting honour to the army of Newcastle. It is thus described in a book which was published only thirty-two years after it took place.[110]
[110] A Chronicle of the Late Intestine War, etc., by James Heath. London: Thomas Basset. 1676.
“There was yet standing two regiments of the Lord Newcastle’s, one called by the name of his Lambs [or Whitecoats]: these being veteran soldiers, and accustomed to fight, stood their ground, and the fury of that impression of Cromwell, which routed the whole army besides; nor did the danger nor the slaughter round them make them cast away their arms or their courage; but seeing themselves destitute of their friends, and surrounded by their enemies, they cast themselves into a ring, where though quarter was offered them, they gallantly refused it, and so manfully behaved themselves, that they slew more of the enemy in this particular fight, than they had killed of them before. At last they were cut down, not by the sword, but showers of bullets, after a long and stout resistance, leaving their enemies a sorrowful victory, both in respect of themselves whom they would have spared, as in regard of the loss of the bravest men on their own side, who fell in assaulting them. A very inconsiderable number of them were preserved, to be the living monuments of that Brigade’s loyalty and valour.”
William Lilly says, in his Diary, that the Whitecoats, “by mere valour, for one whole hour kept the troops of horse from entering amongst them at near push of pike: when the horse did enter they would have no quarter, but fought it out until there was not thirty of them living. Those whose hap it was to be beaten down upon the ground as the troopers came near them, though they could not rise for their wounds, yet were so desperate as to get either a pike or a sword, or piece of them, and to gore the troopers’ horses, as they came over them or passed by them. Captain Coventry, then a trooper under Cromwell, and an actor,”—it is curious that there should have been a “play-actor” among the troops of Cromwell—“who was the third or fourth man that entered amongst them, protested he never, in all the fights he was in, met with such resolute brave fellows, or whom he pitied so much, and said he saved two or three against their wills.”
Heath says: “Night ended the pursuit: for it was eleven o’clock before the fight ceased, else more blood had been shed.... Here were slain to the number of 8,000 and upwards in the field and flight; which at certain was divided equally between both armies: for what slaughter was made by the prince upon the Scots and Fairfax, was requited by Cromwell on the left wing as aforesaid, and the fight was furious and bloody there. It must needs be a great carnage;” and then some horrible details follow.
Newcastle remained on the field to the end. The Duchess says:—
“His two sons had Commands, but His Brother, though he had no Command, by reason of the weakness of his body; yet he was never from My Lord when he was in action, even to the last; for he was the last with my Lord in the Field in that fatal Battel upon Hessom-moor,[111] near York; and though my Brother, Sir Charles Lucas, desired My Lord to send his sons away, when the said battel was fought, yet he would not, saying, His sons should shew their Loyalty and Duty to His Majesty, in venturing their lives, as well as Himself”.
[111] Marston Moor was sometimes called Hessom Moor.
The three Generals of the Roundhead army state in their official dispatch that the Royalists lost “all their ordnance to the number of 20 (pieces), their ammunition, baggage, about 100 colours and 10,000 arms”. Whitelock says (89): “From this battle and the pursuit, some reckon were buried 7,000 Englishmen, all agree that above 3,000 of the Prince’s men were slain in the battle, besides those in the chace and 3,000 prisoners taken, etc.”
To the “chace,” as Whitelock calls it, an end was put by darkness. Rupert escaped being taken prisoner by dismounting and hiding in a field of standing beans. Afterwards he succeeded in getting into York, as also did Newcastle. Just outside the town Newcastle met Rupert, to whom he exclaimed: “All is lost!” As well he might. Marston Moor was a defeat from which the Royalist cause never recovered, and it was one of the greatest battles ever fought on English soil.
There was little disgrace in being overcome, after an exceptionally hard-fought battle, by such a General as Cromwell, to whom the honours of Marston Moor are chiefly due. And Newcastle can scarcely be considered a defeated General in this case, for Rupert was in supreme command. His was the defeat. Newcastle had been opposed to risking the engagement; yet, finding himself in it, although against his will, he exhibited exceptional courage as also did his men.
But Marston Moor saw the destruction, almost the annihilation, of his army, the loss of his prestige, the blasting of his hopes, the ruin of his fortunes.
CHAPTER XIV.
“No, I will not endure the laughter of the Court,” said Newcastle,[112] when, on the following morning, Rupert asked him to make an effort to recruit his forces. “I will go to Holland.”
[112] Warburton’s Rupert, II, 468.
“And I will rally my men!” said Rupert.
Before we blame Newcastle for deserting the King’s service and leaving England without his permission, we ought to remember that he was in a position widely different from that of most defeated Generals. He had been publicly proclaimed a traitor by the Parliament. When any indemnity had been proposed he had been specially excepted from it by name. If he fell into the hands of the enemy, the Tower and the block were almost inevitable; although, if he had been taken prisoner in such a great battle as that of Marston Moor, there is just a bare, but unlikely, possibility that he might have been liberated in an exchange of prisoners.
The most important evidence in his favour is a letter from Charles I, dated 28 November, 1644, that is about four months after Newcastle had fled the country; for, if the King excused his conduct, no one else had a right to complain.
“Charles R.
“Right trusty and entirely beloved Cousin and Councellor Wee greete you well. The misfortune of our Forces in the North wee know is ressented as sadly by you as the present hazard of the losse of soe considerable a porcion of this our Kingdom deserves: which also affects us the more, because in that losse so great a proporcion fals upon your self, whose loyalty and eminent merit we have ever held, and shall still, in a very high degree of our royall esteeme. And albeit the distracted condition of our Affaires and Kingdom will not afford us meanes at this present to comfort you in your sufferings, yet we shall ever reteyne soe gracious a memory of your merit, as when it shall please God in mercy to restore us to peace, it shalbe one of our principall endeavours to consider how to recompense those that have with soe great an affection and courage as yourself assisted us in the time of our greatest necessity and troubles. And in the meane time if there be any thing wherein we may ex-presse the reality of our good intentions to you, or the value we have of your person, we shall most readily doe it upon any occasion that shalbe ministred. And soe we bid you very heartily farewell. Given at our Court at Oxford the 28th day of November, 1644.
“By his Mats. command
Edw. Nicholas.
beloved Cousin and Councellor
William, Marquis of Newcastle.” [113]
[113] Ellis’s Letters, Series I, vol. III, p. 303.
The Duchess says, that before leaving York Newcastle had asked Rupert “to give this true and just report of him to his Majesty, that he had behaved himself like an honest man, a Gentleman, and a Loyal subject. Which request the Prince having granted, my Lord took his leave; and being conducted by a Troop of Horse, and a Troop of Dragoons to Scarborough went to Sea, and took shipping for Hamborough; the Gentry of the Country, who also came to take their leaves of My Lord, being much troubled at his departure, and speaking very honourably of him, as surely they had no reason to the contrary.”
Quite true, in the main; but something said by Sir Hugh Cholmley in his private memoirs[114] has a bearing upon his last remark. “After the battle of Hess Moor, the Marquis of Newcastle came to Scarborough, and lodged at my house two days, till I had furnished him with a ship to go beyond sea; at his departure, he thanked me for my entertainment, and told me ‘he had some fear I should have stayed [stopped] him’; which I suppose he conceived would be some countenance to his: my answer was ‘I wish he could stay; that if he had committed an error, I knew my duty so well, I was not to call him to account, but obey, he being my general; that for my own part, though the place was in no defensible posture, I meant not to surrender till I heard from the King, or was forced to it’.” This was a broad hint to Newcastle as to Cholmley’s opinion of his conduct in flying from the country.
[114] The Memoirs of Sir Hugh Cholmley. 100 copies. Privately Printed. 1870, p. 41.
In continuing her story, the Duchess says that Newcastle, when “preparing for his journey, asked his Steward How Much Money he had left? Who answer’d, That he had but 90£. My Lord not being at all startled at so small a Summ, although his present design required much more, was resolved too seek his Fortune, even with that little; ... he embarqued with his Company, and arrived in four days time to the said City, which was on the 8th of July, 1644.”
Half a dozen lords, a bishop, and a good many of his relations and friends, including his brother and two sons, sailed with Newcastle.
“But before My Lord landed at Hamborough his eldest Son Charles, Lord Mansfield, fell sick of the Small Pox, and not long after his younger Son, Henry, now Earl of Ogle, fell likewise dangerously ill of the Measels; but it pleased God that they both happily recovered.”
Here is some news of Newcastle after he had been only a few days in Holland.
[115]“John Constable to his father, Sir Henry, Viscount Dunbar, Amsterdam. ... For the news that is here stirring, first Prince Rupert is here mightily condemned for his rashness, but the Marquis of Newcastle much more for coming away.”
[115] S. P., Charles I, July 25, 1644, vol. DII, No. 70.
[116]“John Constable to his father, Sir Henry, Viscount Dunbar (Rotterdam).... The Marquis of Newcastle is still at Hamburgh in poor condition; both his sons have had the measles; I believe he now repents his folly.”
[116] S. P., Charles I, Dom., July 30, 1644, vol. DII, No. 72.
Luckily for Newcastle, much of the blame which was due to him was thrown upon Ethyn. Clarendon says:[117] “The strange manner of the Prince’s coming, and undeliberately throwing himself and all the King’s hopes into that sudden and unnecessary engagement, by which all the force the Marquis had raised, and with so many difficulties preserved, was in a moment cast away and destroyed, so transported him with passion and despair that he could not think of beginning the work again and involving himself in the same undelightful condition of life, from which he might now be free. He hoped his past meritorious actions might outweigh his present abandoning the thought of future actions and so, without farther consideration, he transported himself out of the Kingdom, and took with him General King” (Ethyn); “upon whom they who were content to spare the Marquis, poured out all the reproaches of infidelity, treason, and conjunction with his country-men (the Scots),” an accusation which Clarendon declares to have been “without the least foundation”.
[117] Hist., vol. II, part II. p. 510.
In the next paragraph Clarendon says that “the loss of England,” which soon followed, made the loss of York comparatively little spoken of, and that Newcastle’s patient endurance of his subsequent losses “so perfectly reconciled all good men to him, that they rather observed what he had done and suffered for the King and for his country, without inquiring what he had omitted to do”.
Henrietta Maria remained a steadfast friend to Newcastle, even when he had fled from his country and from her husband’s service. I “shall assure you,” she wrote to him from Paris (20 Nov., 1644), “of the continuance of my esteem for you, not being so unjust as to forget past services upon a present misfortune. And therefore believe that I shall always continue to give proofs of what I tell you, and you will see how I shall behave, and with what truth I am, Your very good, and affectionate friend,
“Henrietta Maria R.” [118]
[118] Letters of Queen Henrietta Maria, p. 261.
Of what happened to the remains of Newcastle’s army at York, Heath tells us:—[119]
“The victor enemy being come again before York, summoned the city again: they had used before their utmost endeavours, by mines and assaults, (in one whereof they lost nearly one thousand men, and were beaten off) to have entered; to which the Governor returned answer, that he was no whit dismayed with their present success; yet nevertheless on equal conditions he would come to a treaty and surrender; which in nineteen days after the battle was concluded on.” The garrison was allowed to “march out according to the honourable custom of war”.
[119] P. 61.
If there was still a sufficient garrison at York to hold out for nineteen days—and there is nothing to show that it could not have held out longer—was Newcastle justified in deserting it? True, there was no prospect of any adequate force coming to his relief; and, in any terms of surrender, he, as a proclaimed traitor, might not have been allowed to march out, a free man, either with or without the honours of war. On the other hand, if he had held York, what honour would have been his in the case of the success of the King’s army in the South and the total defeat of the army of the Parliament, a contingency which, at that time, was still apparently possible, and would have been rendered more probable if a large portion of the army of the Parliament had been occupied in the siege of York.
To sympathisers with Newcastle, it may be consoling to reflect that recriminations and reproaches for neglect of duty or courage, at or after the battle of Marston Moor, were not confined to the Royalist side, as both Rushworth and Clarendon bear witness. Manchester and Cromwell disliked each other; and another General, Crawford, a bitter enemy of Cromwell, pretended that Cromwell, after receiving a very slight wound in the neck given accidentally by one of his own men, at the beginning of the battle of Marston Moor, had made it an excuse to escape from the field until the fighting was practically over.[120] Cromwell seized opportunities of bringing counter-charges against both Crawford and Manchester, accusing the latter of disaffection to the Parliamentary cause.
[120] “Lieutenant-General Cromwell had the impudence and boldness to assume much of the honour of that victory to himself.... My friend Cromwell had neither part nor lot in the business. For I have several times heard it from Crawford,” [Crawford was Major-General to the Earl of Manchester’s Brigade] “that, when the whole army at Marston Moor was in a fair possibility to be utterly routed, and a great part of it was still running, he saw the body of horse of that brigade standing still, and to his seeming doubtful which way to charge, backward or forward, when he came up to them in a great passion, reviling them with the names of poltroons and cowards, and asked them if they would stand still and see the day lost? Whereupon Cromwell showed himself, and said in a pitiful voice: ‘Major-General, what shall I do?’ Crawford replied: ‘Sir, if you charge not, all is lost’. Cromwell answered that he was wounded and was not able to charge (his great wound being a little burn in the neck by the accidental going-off behind him of one of the soldier’s pistols), then Crawford desired him to go off the field, and sending one away with him ... led them on himself, which was not the duty of his place and as little for Cromwell’s honour.”—Memoirs of Denzil Lord Hollis.
Welbeck, Newcastle’s home, received a visit from the enemy, about a month after its owner had sailed from England. The guest shall tell his own story:—[121]
“Edward Earl of Manchester to the Committee of both Kingdoms. ... Upon my coming near Welbeck, I sent a summons to the place and they with great civility sent to parley with me. The next day, Friday, they rendered the house to me upon composition. I was willing to give them large terms, because I was not in a condition to besiege a place so well fortified as that was. I therefore gave the officers and soldiers liberty to march out with all their arms and colours flying; but when I came to take possession of the house most of the soldiers came to me to lay down their arms, desiring tickets of me to return to their own homes, the which I granted them, so as I had 350 muskets in the house, 50 horse arms, 11 pieces of cannon great and small, whereof the Governor had liberty to carry away one: I had likewise 20 barrels of powder and a ton of match. The house I preserved entire, and put a garrison into it of Notts men, until I know your Lordship’s resolutions whether you will have it slighted or no. The place is very regularly fortified; and the Marquis of Newcastle’s daughters and the rest of his children and family are in it, unto whom I have engaged myself for their quiet abode there, and to intercede to the Parliament for a complete maintenance for them; in the which I beseech your Lordships that they may have your favour and furtherance.”
[121] S. P., Charles I, Dom., Aug. 6, 1644, vol. DII, No. 82.
TRAINING WITH THE RIGHT HAND.
Manchester seems not only to have “engaged” himself for the quiet abode of Newcastle’s children in the home at Welbeck, but eventually to have left it ungarrisoned by Parliamentary troops; for, some thirteen months later, Welbeck entertained a very different visitor, in the person of the King himself. Charles went there under most depressing circumstances. There was no banquet costing £5000 awaiting him there now, nor a masque of welcome written by Ben Jonson. The total defeat of his army in the North at Marston Moor had recently been followed by as complete a defeat by Cromwell of his army further South at Naseby, when his baggage was captured and his compromising letters to and from the Queen and the Irish rebels were seized and published by the Parliament. Newcastle’s late General, Goring, had been defeated by Fairfax at Langport; and Rupert had surrendered Bristol to the enemy. The last battle fought in the open field on behalf of the King was lost at Rowton, near Chester, on 23 September.
Charles’s only hope now lay in succour by Montrose, whose only hope, again, lay in succour from the King. Wandering from place to place, Charles, Clarendon tells us,[122] “had made haste from Ludlow, that the Scottish army might no more be able to interrupt him; and with very little rest, passed through Shropshire, and Derbyshire, till he came to Welbeck, a house of the Marquis of Newcastle in Nottinghamshire, then a garrison for his Majesty; where he refreshed himself and his troops, two days”. But what a contrast must such gloomy refreshment have been to the magnificent hospitality which he had received there on two former occasions.
[122] Hist., vol. II, part II. book ix.
This was probably one of the saddest visits ever paid to Welbeck. The Governor of Newark and the Royalist gentry of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire waited upon the King during his short visit at Newcastle’s home. At first it was decided that Charles should proceed direct to Scotland and join Montrose; but afterwards it was thought better that he should take up his quarters at Doncaster and raise troops in Yorkshire. However, it is no part of our duty to follow the footsteps of that ill-fated King.
Here is a pathetic letter from Newcastle to the Prince of Wales:—[123]