Memorials of Old Lincolnshire

by Unknown

LINCOLNSHIRE AND THE GREAT CIVIL WAR

By Rev. Edward H. R. Tatham, M.A.

In three successive centuries Lincolnshire has been the scene of civil disturbances, which were closely connected with the general history of the country. The rebellion against Edward IV. headed by Sir Robert Welles of Belleau, the “Lincolnshire Captain,” was closed by the defeat of his force of 30,000 men on March 12, 1470, near Empingham in Rutland. The rising at Louth and Horncastle, which followed on the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, was quelled within a fortnight; and the only lives lost were those of officials who were killed by the mob, and of the mob-leaders, who were promptly executed. But in the Great Civil War of the seventeenth century, Lincolnshire played a great part, though in ordinary English histories, and even in Clarendon, the struggle within its borders is passed over lightly. It was the debatable ground between the Royalism of the North and the stern Puritanism of the Eastern Association. “From the summer of 1643 to the summer of 1644,” says Lord Morley,[110] “the power of the northern army and the fate of London and the Parliamentary cause turned upon Lincolnshire, the borderland between Yorkshire and the stubborn counties to the south-east.” Here, in the first two years of the war, Cromwell found a favourable training-ground for his invincible Ironsides.

Before the war actually began, the temper of this county, as of some others, was rather hesitating and uncertain. It is doubtful whether, out of the twelve members for the shire and its boroughs, the proportion of ten to two against the King truly represented the popular feeling. Under the then existing system an altogether unfair preponderance was given to the towns, which returned ten out of the twelve members; and in London and the eastern towns Puritanism was for the moment all-powerful. The Militia Ordinance of Parliament, which brought matters to a crisis, and was doubtless an encroachment on the King’s prerogative, raised a constitutional question that few could understand. In March 1642, when the dispute on this point had reached an acute stage, a deputation from the Lincolnshire gentry in sympathy with the Parliament presented a petition to the King at Newark on his journey north, in which the question of the moment is not even mentioned. This petition simply prayed the King to reside near his Parliament and listen to their counsels; and in view of their determination to wield the power of the sword, it is not surprising that the King in his reply, delivered at York, asserted that Lincolnshire had been misled, and that he was being driven from his Parliament. The city of Lincoln, though it returned two reforming members, was probably not so Puritan as the other boroughs. It has been well pointed out[111] that a large number of the county gentry, many of whom were Royalists, then possessed houses in Lincoln; and their opinions would naturally be reflected among the tradesmen, who benefited by their presence. At this time the two sides were evenly matched among the members of the City Council; but the Mayor, John Beck, was a Parliamentarian, though his father, Robert, who preceded him in the office, belonged to the opposite camp.

A crisis was reached in April, when Sir John Hotham, the Governor of Hull, refused the King admittance to the town. In Lincoln, which had much trade with Hull, the King’s attempt upon that place was not viewed with favour; and on April 27, Parliament appointed a committee of the county members of both Houses (on which of course no Royalist sat) to carry out the Militia Ordinance in Lincolnshire. Francis, Lord Willoughby of Parham, a young noble of under thirty, with Presbyterian sympathies, had just been appointed Lord-Lieutenant of the county, and proceeded, with an alacrity which might well arouse the King’s suspicions, to call up the militia for training. He summoned the constables to meet him at Lincoln on May 31, and render an account of the arms in their district, and all but two or three responded; but he complains that the King’s proclamation forbidding the muster had been “officiously fixed” upon the door of the inn where the committee met. On June 6 he arranged to review the militia from Lincoln and the adjoining villages; and on the same morning received a letter by express messenger from the King at York, dated two days before, charging him upon his allegiance to take no further action, and warning him that if he did so, he would be proceeded against as a disturber of the public peace. Lord Willoughby’s answer, which he penned on the spot, is a curious mixture of humility and defiance. He alleges the opinions of certain eminent lawyers (which they afterwards disavowed) in favour of the legality of the ordinance, and trusts that, if he has offended, his “want of years” may excuse his “want of judgment.” “Nothing,” he says, “hath yet passed by my commands here, or ever shall, but what shall tend to the preservation of the peace of your kingdom.” And yet, within three months, he had accepted the command of a troop of horse in the Parliamentary army. The Mayor and Corporation attended the Lincoln muster; and about eighty of the hundred members of the trained band appeared. When the constable was asked to explain the absence of the remainder, he gave the excuse that they durst not venture down hill owing to the prevalence of plague in the lower city. The committee, however, attributed their non-appearance to the influence of the Royalist Recorder, Mr. Charles Dalison. Volunteers were obtained to supply their place; and at Boston the Lord-Lieutenant was met on arrival by 100 well-armed volunteers, who showed that they had profited by their self-imposed training. But other musters were not to pass off without incident. Lord Willoughby had taken the strong measure of removing William Booth of Killingholme from the command of a company in the Caistor contingent on account of his Royalist views. But Booth, though related to the Lord-Lieutenant, was not disposed to take his supersession tamely. On the day of the muster at Caistor he read the King’s proclamation against the ordinance to the soldiers at a tavern, and dissuaded them from showing their arms. He also said openly that things would never go on well “while King Pym governed,” and expressed a hope that King and Parliament would be separated. For this conduct he was put under arrest, and taken to Louth in custody. On his appearance before the committee next day at Horncastle, he was dismissed upon making submission; but he drew up a petition to the King, supported by an affidavit, protesting against the whole proceeding as illegal; and the King’s reply promised him full satisfaction if his statements were true. This petition was brought to the notice of the Commons by Sir Christopher Wray, one of the members for Grimsby, who disputed some of its allegations; and on his evidence, and that of others present at Caistor, the House found that Captain Booth “had abused His Majesty” with a petition that was “false, scandalous, and malicious.” This incident, though it had no further consequences, shows that a situation, in which King and Parliament were contradicting each other in rival proclamations, was rapidly becoming impossible.

Other events of the same fateful month of June illustrate this still more plainly. The King had appointed Robert Earl of Lindsey Lord-Lieutenant of the county, and directed the High Sheriff, Sir Edward Heron, not to suffer any stores of ammunition to pass out of his custody without an order from himself or Lord Lindsey. The latter ignored the direction of Parliament to bring in his patent of Lieutenancy, and was forthwith declared by the Lords a public enemy, and orders were issued for his apprehension (June 8). The Lincoln magazine, which lay in the outer Exchequer Gate opposite the Castle, was in the custody of the Mayor, and he, upon request, handed the key to Lord Willoughby, who placed a guard over it. The Mayor was at once summoned by the King to York to account for this, and for his refusal to read the King’s proclamation. The royal messenger was promptly put under arrest, and sent with the Mayor under a military escort to Parliament. But on reaching Grantham the messenger persuaded the Mayor to change his mind; they escaped from the guard and proceeded to York, where on June 17 the Mayor made his submission to the King. He received pardon on condition that he at once returned to Lincoln and published the proclamation, which he did. It does not appear whether Parliament called him to account for this; but on July 5 they made an order restraining the publication of royal proclamations, and on the 7th they declared that the King might not require the attendance of any of his subjects except such as were bound to him by special service. The King’s reply to this was to order the arrest of two Lincoln Aldermen for exercising the militia, and they were actually taken in custody to Beverley, but afterwards released under Habeas Corpus. Meanwhile, on June 19, Lord Willoughby reported to Parliament that he had completed his inspection of the county militia, at which “very few or none” failed to appear. He reports them deficient in arms, but this defect he proposed to supply from the magazine at Hull. With his report he forwarded a copy of an address signed by “many thousand hands” of the gentry freeholders, &c., of Lincolnshire; it was of a rather colourless complexion, but protested against any separation of King and Parliament. On the 24th he received fresh orders from the King to desist from his proceedings “as he would answer the contrary at his utmost peril.” In forwarding this letter to Parliament Lord Willoughby complains that a certain captain from York (Edward Middlemore of Lusby) is trying to “aliene” the hearts of the county from Parliament, assuring the people that His Majesty would shortly come among them.

This report proved true, though Charles’s decision was somewhat sudden. After visiting Newark on July 12, he arrived at Lincoln on Wednesday, July 13, with the Prince of Wales, the Earl of Lindsey, and a numerous suite. His progress for the last four miles along the road was “a throng,” and the people rent the air with “peals of shouts and vocal acclamations,” such as “A King, a King!” The attendant gentry drew their swords, and the clergy, who attended to the number of two or three hundred, redoubled their gratulatory salutations with “Vivat Rex!” The Mayor and Corporation, with their Recorder and the trained bands, came out to meet the Sovereign, so that in the opinion of the local pamphleteer, “Wednesday was the funeral of the new militia.” In some large open space, which is not specified, Mr. Charles Dalison, the Recorder, made a speech of welcome to the King, in which he alluded to his promise to defend the established Protestant religion, and offered, on his own behalf and that of the civic body, their “persons, estates, and fortune.” The King in his reply, which was read by Sir John Monson, states as the object of his coming to assure the people of his intention to defend their religion, laws, and liberties, and to certify them that the pretended Militia Ordinance is unwarranted by his authority. If any should presume to execute it, he should treat them as actual rebels and in arms against himself. He speaks most bitterly of the action of Sir John Hotham in excluding him from Hull, but bids the people still their fear that their county will be the seat of war. “The seat of war will be only where persons rise in rebellion against me; that will not, I hope, be here, and then you shall be sure of my protection.” For that end he announces that he has appointed Commissioners of Array for the county, and promises to “live and die” in defence of their religion, and the just privilege and freedom of Parliament.

The King’s Commission of Array included a number of the loyal knights and gentry who had assembled to greet him—its principal members being the Earl of Lindsey and his son Montagu Lord Willoughby D’Eresby (already a baron in his own right), the Earl of Newcastle, Sir Francis Fane, and Sir Peregrine Bertie. On Thursday, July 14, a body of the gentry, headed by Lord Willoughby D’Eresby, sought an audience of the King, who was probably staying at Deloraine Court, and requested permission to form a regiment of horse within the county in support of his cause. In reply the King renewed his protest that he only desired their assistance in defence of their “religion, laws, interests, and the just rights of Parliament.” On the withdrawal of the deputation a written undertaking was drawn up, in which it was declared that Parliament, having put the kingdom “into a posture of war,” had given occasion to the signatories of the document to furnish a number of horse “for the defence of His Majesty’s person, the true Protestant religion, and the just rights of Parliament against all opposition whatsoever.” These horse were to be disposed of within the county for three months from the 20th July. The document was signed by seventy-five persons, who volunteered to contribute 172 horses; but the regiment was ultimately to consist of 400. Among the signatories were the Dean, Dr. Topham, promising four horses, the Precentor and the Chancellor three each, and the Archdeacon two. There were to be four captains of troops, who were probably Sir Peregrine Bertie, Dr. Farmery, Chancellor of the diocese, Mr. John Hussey, and the City Recorder, now Sir Charles Dalison, for on this visit the King conferred upon him the honour of knighthood.[112] On Friday, the 15th, the King left for York by way of Beverley, where he had arranged to meet a deputation from the two Houses.

But before his departure his chief supporters had met to decide on the terms of a petition to Parliament, which was described as from the baronets, knights, &c., of Lincolnshire. Among other suggestions it proposes—(1) That Hull be given up to the King; (2) that all forces be disbanded and the Militia Ordinance waived; (3) that Parliament issue no orders without the King’s consent; (4) that Church government as it stands be put in execution and a national synod summoned; (5) that the licentiousness of press and pulpit be restrained and tumultuous assemblies forbidden; and (6) that Parliament adjourn to some other place where the King can come. The signatories especially desire the retention of “the Protestant religion as now established among us.” This petition, it seems, was, after general discussion, drafted by the two lawyers, Sir John Monson and Sir Charles Dalison. Its proposals, although they have been described as “more bold and audacious than had hitherto been ventured upon by any county,”[113] differ little, except in being more moderate, from the conditions laid down by the King at Beverley the following week in replying to the two Houses. It was addressed to the House of Commons, and ought, of course, to have been presented by a member; but the only county member available, Mr. Gervase Holles, M.P. for Grimsby, had recently been “disabled” from sitting, and therefore the petition was addressed to the Speaker, and sent up by one of the serving-men of the High Sheriff. On Monday, July 18, the Speaker informed the House that he had received a letter from the Sheriff of Lincolnshire, enclosing a petition “of a very strange nature and language,” from divers gentlemen, “most of whom were papists.” This description, unless the term was then considered applicable to all members of the Church of England, was, in face of the wording of the petition, a flagrant abuse of language. A special committee was appointed the same day to consider the petition, and on the 21st reported that it was “false, scandalous, and malicious, and a high breach of the privilege of Parliament.” The High Sheriff was ordered to be sent for as a delinquent, and as he did not appear, a warrant for his arrest was issued on August 30.

Before the King left Lincoln, he had directed the Sheriff to search for concealed arms and to make himself master of all the county magazines. The Lincoln magazine had been secured by Lord Willoughby of Parham, who had wisely removed it before the King came. In many cases the local magazines were in the charge of the county gentry; and two of these—Sir Philip Tyrwhit of Stainfield and Sir William Pelham of Brocklesby—had declined to deliver them up to Lord Willoughby according to Parliament’s injunctions. The Sheriff now proceeded by warrant to search the houses of members of Parliament opposed to the King; and a store of muskets was seized at the house of Sir Edward Ayscough at South Kelsey and sent to the Bishop’s Palace. A warrant was also issued to seize Captain Lister of Coleby, who had accepted a commission in the Parliament’s forces; and he was taken by a troop of horse, who forced an entrance into his house, to the King at Nottingham. Shortly after, while the Sheriff was engaged in conveying a magazine to Lincoln, he was himself arrested by a superior force under Sir Anthony Irby, M.P. for Boston, and carried to London, where, being examined at the bar of the House on October 8 as to his late proceedings and his part in the petition, he was committed to the Tower on the charge of high treason. Here he remained for over three years, being unable to pay the fine of £2000 which was imposed upon him; but in 1645 he obtained his liberty under an exchange of prisoners.

If the Sheriff was arrested near the end of September (the date is uncertain), his taking a magazine to Lincoln would imply that the city remained Royalist for over two months after the King’s visit. Clarendon says that Charles passed through it once more about August 20, two days before he set up his standard at Nottingham, and that he helped himself to some of the arms of the Lincoln trained bands. Apparently the increasing certainty of war was doing much to cool the ardour of some of his supporters. The force which he had raised on his first visit was limited, no doubt by the stipulations of the more cautious, to three months’ service, and that only within the county. But his more eager partisans saw from the first that this would be useless, and presented a petition to him at York that Lincolnshire might co-operate with other counties in his support. This petition was published as a tract with a view to committing the subscribers of the undertaking to more extended service; but it was answered by a counter-tract,[114] in which the writer pleads the necessity for the formation of a regiment (1) to keep order in a time of slack government; (2) to protect the sea-coast against foreign invasion; and (3) to ward off incursions from soldiers in neighbouring counties. He states that Sir John Hotham’s Hull garrison had already committed acts of violence in the north of the county; but protests that those like-minded with himself were not “malignant, either against the King or Parliament.” A similar tract[115] of the same month expresses the views of those who, like the Corporation of Lincoln, after supporting the measures of Parliament, joined in the acclamations of welcome to the King. It declares that the commonalty of the county would “march with the King” and loyally obey his just commands; but if he should command them to “put anything in execution against the Parliament,” they would not only forbear themselves, but “hazard their lives” in opposing him. Of the reservations of these sitters on the fence Charles, at the time of his two visits, probably knew nothing; and when his presence was withdrawn, this party gradually gained the upper hand. We do not know the exact date of Lincoln’s second change of mind. While the King was in the neighbourhood, Lord Willoughby and his friends were content to lie low; but at the Michaelmas election of Mayor, that office was filled by William Marshall, a strong Parliamentarian, who probably carried the city with him.

The fen country about Boston was most devoted to the cause of Parliament. Even at the end of July a band of volunteers was diligently training in the fields near Boston; and that town, so “eminent in disloyalty,”[116] sent reinforcements to Sir John Hotham at Hull. On August 29 the Boston troops seized a Royalist sloop, which had put into a creek near Skegness with arms and stores—Sir William Ballingdon and ten other Cavaliers who were in charge being taken. The King’s party threatened revenge upon Boston, and King’s Lynn sent over for its defence five pieces of ordnance and 1000 volunteers, but no attempt was made upon the town. A month later (September 30) Lord Willoughby received orders from Parliament to arrest and bring to London sixteen of the Royalist gentry, who are described as “divers Popish and ill-affected persons, who have armed and assembled themselves within the city and county of Lincoln.” Of these all but three had been signatories of the Lincoln Petition in July; but many of them were out of reach, having armed their dependants and joined the King’s forces. Lord Willoughby was directed to disarm all “Popish recusants”; he was also to requisition tents, waggons, horses, &c., from all “dangerous and ill-affected persons, as well clergymen as others,” who had sent money and stores for the King. The Lord-Lieutenant’s exertions kept him so long in the county that he was too late for the battle of Edgehill (Sunday, October 23), in which he should have commanded a troop of horse. The general of the King’s army was at first a Lincolnshire peer, the Earl of Lindsey; but as Charles foolishly exempted Prince Rupert and the cavalry from his orders, he declined the position, telling his friends that he would lead his own regiment “and there find his death.” His forecast was too true, for he was mortally wounded and died the next day. A Lincolnshire knight, Sir Gervase Scrope of Cockerington, who commanded a troop by his side, received sixteen wounds and was left for dead upon the field from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday evening, when he was found by his son, tended by the famous Dr. William Harvey, and conveyed to Oxford, where he wonderfully recovered.

During the winter following this indecisive battle, the air was full of rumours of peace; but neither side was disposed to yield upon the real points at issue. On January 9, 1643, Parliament appointed Lord Willoughby Sergeant-Major-General for the county, and ordered the removal of the prisoners in Lincoln Castle to the Bishop’s Palace for greater security, placing the Castle in the keeping of the Earl of Lincoln. Early in the year a stand was made for the King in the heart of the Parliament’s country. The men of Crowland, who were royal tenants, set to work in January to fortify their watery stronghold. They were undeterred by a friendly warning sent them by Mr. Ram, the Puritan minister at Spalding; and, being unmolested for two months, they made a raid on March 25 upon the defenceless town of Spalding, and carried off their censor and two or three more as prisoners to Crowland. Mr. Ram, in his account of the proceedings, shows much ill-feeling towards his captors, and not without reason if his statements can be trusted. When the prisoners were brought into the place, all the people were gathered together to triumph over them, “which put me in mind of Samson’s entertainment when he was taken by the Philistines.” Mr. Ram has to admit that their “usage was indifferent good” during their five weeks’ imprisonment, but complains of some “insolencies” that were offered them. The chief officers of the garrison were Captain Stiles and a Captain Cromwell (one of Oliver’s cousins); but Parson Stiles of Crowland, a very zealous Royalist, himself held command on the western front. On April 13 some Parliamentary forces beleaguered the place, and the prisoners were carried to the point of attack and pinioned in the line of fire. This is said to have happened more than once, but they were not hit, although the bullets flew fast about their ears. Many of the garrison were armed with “hassock knives, long scythes, and such-like fennish weapons”; and a “great water, broad and deep,” surrounded the works, except where it was crossed by three approaches or banks. On the failure of the first attack, the besiegers retired; and the garrison assembled in the Abbey Church to return thanks for their success. But on April 25 a much larger force appeared under the command of Colonels King, Dodson, and Oliver Cromwell, and attacked the town on three sides. Heavy rains, which made the place unapproachable, delayed their success for the moment; but the assault was renewed on the 27th, and next day the garrison laid down their arms. It was scarcely worthy of Mr. Ram to accuse his foes of using “poisoned bullets”; no charge of the kind seems to have been preferred against the leaders, who “were clapt in prison” at Ipswich, Colchester, and other places.

Near the western border of the county the important fortress of Newark was held by Sir John Digby for the King; and it proved a thorn in the side of Parliament throughout the struggle. Early in February a combined attack upon it was made by the forces of Notts, Derbyshire, and Lincolnshire; and, according to Mrs. Hutchinson,[117] this was only foiled by the suspiciously half-hearted conduct of one Ballard, who commanded the Lincolnshire contingent of 1000 men. He refused to follow up the first successes of the besiegers, and ordered a retreat when the other two counties were anxious to attack. We may perhaps see here an indication of the unwillingness of the Lincolnshire troops to take service beyond the borders of the county. Encouraged by this success, the Newark garrison, about a month later, decided to take the offensive. Among their number were some troops of horse commanded by Colonel Charles Cavendish, a brave cavalry officer and a general favourite. On March 22 he appeared before Grantham, which yielded to his summons; he took 360 prisoners (with officers) and three loads of ammunition. This exploit opened the way into the county for the King’s Commissioners of Array, who had spent an inactive winter at Newark. On April 4, with a military escort, they left that place for Stamford, and held another session on April 11 at Grantham. Here, while business was proceeding, a “rebel” force was reported to be approaching, and Colonel Cavendish drew out his troops and faced them half a mile from the town with the river between. The enemy, who had 800 horse and 200 dragoons (a kind of mounted infantry) were in superior strength; but Cavendish, leaving three troops to cover the town, crossed the Witham by a neighbouring bridge and forced the enemy to retreat. On Ancaster Heath, five miles from Grantham, they made a stand, dismounting their dragoons and drawing up the horse in three divisions. But on Cavendish charging with his best cavalry, the dragoons threw down their arms and begged for quarter. Thereupon the horse took to flight, and were pursued for six miles, over 300 prisoners with twelve officers being taken. The Royalist pamphleteer[118] says that they were commanded by Captain Hotham (son of Sir John), who had arrived at Lincoln the previous day from Yorkshire with four troops of “grey-coats,” and had boasted that he would surprise Grantham and capture the King’s Commission. If this were so, it can hardly be true (as stated) that Lord Willoughby of Parham was present and escaped only by the speed of his horse; for, as his rank was higher than Hotham’s, he would necessarily have been in command.

This skirmish probably had two important results. It hastened the arrival of Cromwell in West Lincolnshire, and it impelled Hotham, whose influence over his father was unbounded, to meditate treachery to the Parliament. On May 3 Cromwell, who had been scheming for a combined movement with Lord Grey of Groby and others against Newark, wrote from Stamford to the Lincoln Committee, entreating them to send their forces for that purpose to rendezvous at Grantham. But his efforts were fruitless. Lord Grey was anxious to protect Leicester, and the Lincoln troops were slow to move. Early in May Colonel Cavendish gained another small success near Grantham, surprising the “rebels” in their quarters and taking many prisoners; but within a week he suffered a reverse at the hands of Cromwell and his newly-trained cavalry, though they had but twelve troops to his twenty-five. The encounter took place on the Grantham and Newark road, and is thus described by Cromwell himself:—

“After we had stood a little above musket-shot, the one body from the other, and the dragoons had fired on both sides for the space of half an hour or more, they not advancing towards us, we agreed to charge them. And advancing the body after many shots on both sides, we came on with our troops at a pretty round trot—they standing firm to receive us, and our men charging fiercely upon them, by God’s providence they were immediately routed and ran all away, and we had the execution of them two or three miles. We took forty-five prisoners ... and rescued many prisoners whom they had lately taken of ours, and we took four or five of their colours.”[119]

One consequence of this fight seems to have been that Grantham, whose real sympathy had been shown by its electing two of the stoutest Puritan members, returned to its allegiance to Parliament. With some of the wisdom that is born of the event, Dr. Gardiner says that “the whole fortune of the Civil War was in this nameless skirmish.”[120] But the statement of a biographer of Cromwell,[121] in magnifying the victory, that “never again did the Newarkers range the country with impunity,” is plainly false. The “wasps’ nest” itself remained unattacked; and a month later (June 11) we find Cavendish and his men in Mid-Lincolnshire taking toll of the household stuff, deer, and cattle of Sir William Armyne, one of the Grantham members, and “damnifying him” to the extent of £500.[122] In the same month they had a brush with the enemy at Louth, where the parish register records the burial of “three strangers, being souldgeres slaine at a scrimish”; and perhaps this was the occasion when Sir Charles Bolle of Thorpe Hall, an ardent Cavalier, only escaped capture by hiding under the bridge near the gaol, over which the Roundhead troopers galloped in search of him.

Cromwell remained only about a fortnight near Grantham, and was then ordered to Nottingham to concert measures with the Midland commanders for the support of the Fairfaxes, who were hard pressed by the Earl of Newcastle in Yorkshire. He found a concealed traitor in the camp. Within four days of his defeat at Ancaster (April 15), young Captain Hotham had opened a correspondence with Newcastle, in the course of which he volunteered to betray Hull and Lincoln to the King. But he seems to have been a bad conspirator. When the news arrived of a small success of Sir T. Fairfax at Wakefield, he persuaded the other commanders to send Fairfax a message that their help would not now be needed. He began to correspond directly with the Queen, who arrived at Newark on June 16; but Cromwell and Colonel Hutchinson, who had long suspected him, procured an order for his arrest (June 18). He was committed to a guard for conveyance to London, but on the way succeeded in escaping to Lincoln, where he evidently had supporters, and whence he wrote to the Speaker to complain that Cromwell had employed an Anabaptist against him. On June 27 the Queen wrote to the King that she was delaying two days for the fulfilment of “young Hotham’s” promise to render up Hull and Lincoln; but, before the two days were over, the conspirator and his father were both arrested at Hull and sent up by sea to London, where they were executed on Tower Hill early the next year. Three days later (July 2) the attempt upon Lincoln was made, and completely failed. Two brothers named Purefoy, agents of the Hothams, introduced sixty Cavaliers disguised as “market-folk” into the city, where they were concealed in the Deanery. In the nick of time a letter from the Mayor of Hull caused the arrest of the Purefoys, but their accomplices sallied out and endeavoured to secure the magazine. However, the discharge of a cannon by an inexperienced countryman killed some of them, and the rest were dispersed or taken.

In the month then opening events followed thick and fast. On the last day of June the Fairfaxes were badly beaten at Adwalton Moor; and on July 4 Sir Thomas, whose wife had fallen into the enemy’s hands, arrived at Barton-on-Humber, hotly pursued and with the enemy in sight, but fortunately found a vessel to convey him into Hull. The way now lay open for the advance of Newcastle’s large force of over 6000 men into Lincolnshire. The town of Gainsborough, which was moderately fortified, had been occupied by the Earl of Kingston for the King. This nobleman had long hesitated which side to choose, and in the winter had openly declared that, when he joined either party, “let a cannon-ball divide me between them!” He had but just descended on the royal side of the fence, when Lord Willoughby of Parham, whose home was at Knaith, three miles from Gainsborough, surprised the town with a small force on July 20, and made him prisoner, though he fought till his house was in flames around him. Being a person of importance, he was at once put on board a pinnace and sent down the Trent to Hull for safe custody. On the way the boat was challenged by a Royalist party of horse; and upon his showing himself on deck, “a cannon-bullet,” in Mrs. Hutchinson’s words, “divided him in the middle, according to his own unhappy imprecation.”[123] Lord Willoughby’s position, however, was none too secure, for he was threatened not only by the advance of Newcastle, but by a strong body of the Newark troopers under Colonel Cavendish. Orders were therefore at once sent to Sir John Meldrum at Nottingham and to Cromwell in South Lincolnshire to join forces and advance to the relief of Gainsborough. Cromwell had just been gaining fresh laurels. He had forced a body of Cavaliers, who had taken Stamford, to retreat into Burleigh House, and there, after a single day’s siege (July 19), he received their unconditional surrender, and sent them under guard to be interned at Cambridge. A week later (July 26), by executing a forced march from Stamford, he joined the Nottingham troops at Grantham the same day, and a body from Lincoln at North Scarle on Thursday, and on Friday (28th) he encountered at Lea the mounted troops under Cavendish. Thereupon ensued a cavalry action, which, as described by himself,[124] severely tested the mettle of his newly-trained troops. The fight took place on a sandy plateau, overlooking a marshy tract of low land called the Humble Car. Up the steep ascent to the plateau, which was riddled with rabbit holes, and had to be gained in face of the enemy, the Lincolners led the van. After a hand-to-hand contest with the advanced guard, Cromwell routed them; but seeing a large body of horse under Cavendish in reserve, he kept back part of his men from the pursuit, and on Cavendish routing the Lincolners, charged him in the rear and forced him down the steep into a quagmire, where Captain James Berry slew him “with a thrust under his short ribs.” This description of the end of the dashing young leader does not sound too chivalrous, and to his own side his loss was great. His body was conveyed to Newark, where he was universally lamented.

After bringing a store of powder into Gainsborough, Cromwell drew out his force to reconnoitre from an adjoining hill, and suddenly found himself faced by the whole army of Newcastle. His foot regained the town with some loss; and the retreat of his few squadrons of horse, which were holding the enemy, was accomplished in masterly fashion by Major Whalley. As Cromwell’s horse could be of no service behind defensive works, he at once drew them off and retreated with such speed that his letter of the following Monday (31st) was dated from Huntingdon. After his departure Lord Willoughby made but a faint show of resistance, and surrendered the town on Sunday, the 30th. He had liberty to withdraw his men, but they were first disarmed—contrary, as he alleged, to the terms of surrender, though it is difficult to believe that such terms would be accepted by a far superior force. The Royalist prisoners, on being set free, began to plunder the town, in which they were joined by Newcastle’s soldiers against the express orders of their commander, who soon drew off his army, leaving Colonel St. George as governor of the place. Lord Willoughby retreated on Lincoln; but he decided that the defences of the city were too slight for successful resistance, and so retired to Boston, whence he wrote despairingly to Cromwell:—

“Since the business of Gainsborough the hearts of our men have been so deaded that we have lost most of them by running away.... If the enemy get this town, which is now very weak for defence for want of men, I believe they will not be long out of Norfolk and Suffolk.”

On receiving this letter Cromwell withdrew his cavalry from Stamford, and made Peterborough his headquarters; but he stationed some companies of foot at Spalding as a support to Boston. Lincoln was very soon occupied by the Cavaliers, who appointed Sir William Widdrington of Blankney governor, and made Richard Somerby mayor in place of Marshall. The troopers are said to have plundered the city, and tried to seize Mr. Reyner, the Sunday lecturer in St. Peter at Arches, but he escaped by the vestry window.

At this juncture, if Newcastle could have thrown his whole force upon the Associated Counties in concert with an advance of the King from the West after the capture of Bristol (July 26), the issue of the war might have been different. But his Yorkshire levies objected to leaving Hull unsubdued in their rear. So, after dallying unaccountably during August, he laid siege to that town on September 2—a fatal error, for it was impossible to reduce it by blockade, as the Parliament commanded the sea. On land, however, they were in woeful plight. The town of King’s Lynn, in the very heart of the Association, revolted against them in August; and the Earl of Manchester, newly appointed General of the Eastern Army, laid siege to it and took it on September 16. But all the commanders were in dire straits for money; and the reasons for adding Lincolnshire to the six Associated Counties by an ordinance of September 20 were probably in part financial. The weekly assessment for the county was fixed at £812, 10s., though in the following year this was raised to £1218. The cruelty of such a tax upon Royalists, who were perhaps secretly supplying the King with funds and yet had to pay this tax or suffer sequestration of their estates, is evident enough. Those landlords who were absent with the King did not escape, for the money was exacted from their tenants who were to deduct it from the rent. The ordinance was to be administered by a county committee sitting either at Lincoln or Boston, and consisting at first of 70, afterwards of 105 members. But the practical work was done by a “standing committee,” which might meet anywhere—five to be a quorum and fresh members to be summoned every fortnight.

At the date of this ordinance the hold of Parliament on the county was most insecure. But a change was at hand. News had come from Hull that the cavalry of Sir Thomas Fairfax was useless within the walls, and that their horses were dying from the brackish water. It was determined to bring this body of twenty-one troops across the Humber into Lincolnshire; and Cromwell, with Lord Willoughby, executed a daring march through the Wolds, then infested with Newarkers, to Barton, whither some of the cavalry were transported on September 18. But it seems to have been thought inadvisable to bring across the whole body in full view of the besieging army. On the 23rd both commanders were in Hull, bringing powder and provision for the garrison; and on the 26th the greater part of the cavalry were put on shipboard and landed, apparently the same evening, at Saltfleet Haven. At this old-world seaport there still stands a manor-house, then the property of Lord Lindsey, but somehow—by sequestration or otherwise—at the disposal of his kinsman of Parham, where Cromwell and Fairfax passed the night with their host. It is full of ancient furniture, and “Cromwell’s bed” is still pointed out to the credulous. With the dawn the troops were on the move, and had some difficulty in eluding a force of 5000 Cavaliers, who endeavoured to intercept them. At Louth, where Cromwell is said to have slept on the 27th, he would be joined by the contingent from Barton; and here, perhaps, a few troops were detached with Fairfax for scouting purposes round Horncastle. On the 28th Cromwell was in Boston, “weeping” that there was no money for his soldiers, and pushed on to Lynn to hasten the advance of Manchester and his infantry.

On Monday, October 9, that commander drew out from Boston; and his advanced guard of foot, under Major Knight, summoned Bolingbroke Castle, but received for answer that “bugbear words must not win castles and should not make them quit the place.” That night the foot was quartered in three detachments at Stickney, Stickford, and Bolingbroke; and in the morning preparations were made to mount a mortar on Bolingbroke church tower, which would have rendered the castle untenable. During the day its defenders fired upon their assailants to some purpose, for some of the latter were killed, and Quartermaster Vermuyden, son of the famous Dutch engineer, was bruised by a shot. The cavalry, whose troops were scattered throughout the neighbouring villages, were ordered by Manchester to rendezvous at Horncastle; but Fairfax, who commanded that way, had his outposts at Thimbleby and Edlington driven in. The former troop tried to get into Horncastle, but found it barricaded by the Royalists; and on their joining Fairfax at Kirkby, whither Manchester rode that day, the first order was countermanded, and the rendezvous fixed at Kirkby and Bolingbroke. On Wednesday the 11th, the foot was drawn up at the latter place; but the horse under Fairfax and Cromwell—who was unwilling to fight on account of the hard duty of the last few days—advanced two miles through Asgarby to the higher ground at Winceby, five miles south-east of Horncastle. The Cavaliers, under Sir John Henderson, arrived at the same point from Horncastle by the hill road through High Toynton, their object being the relief of the besieged castle; and it is said that neither party expected to meet its opponents so soon. The King’s troops had seventy-four colours of horse and twenty-one of dragoons, with some infantry in the rear; and the “rebel” horse were as numerous, though their companies were fewer. The passwords for the two sides are variously given as for the King “Cavendish” and “Newcastle,” and for the Parliament “Religion” and “Truth and Peace.”[125] The armies met on a high plateau—one of the highest points of the Southern Wolds; on the north-east was a deep ravine, now called the Ramshaw, which prevented the free manœuvring of the Royalist cavalry. A strategist like Cromwell would see his advantage at a glance; and about midday, with the vanguard singing their battle-psalm, he charged the Royalist left wing under Henderson, after their dragoons had fired the first volley. He was received, however, with a second, which killed the horse under him; and as he rose to his feet he was knocked down by Sir Ingram Hopton,[126] who called to him to yield. But his assailant was speedily killed in the rush, while he himself secured another horse from a trooper. The fight had lasted about half-an-hour, when the Royalist right and centre under Sir W. Saville were seized with panic at a charge from Fairfax, and broke in flight. The disadvantage of the ground was now apparent. The Royalist horse were driven back upon the foot, which had no room to deploy and let them pass; and tradition says that at the boundary between Winceby and Scrafield—along what is still known as “Slash Lane”—a closed gate intercepted their headlong flight, and here the Roundhead troopers, pressing upon the confused multitude, did terrible execution. Their victory was complete; and the pursuit was continued, in spite of the tired horses, beyond Horncastle. Eight hundred prisoners were taken, and the number of the dead, some of whom were drowned in crossing the fens, is variously placed between 500 and 1000. The Parliament’s loss was trifling, and included but a single officer. The affair was entirely a cavalry action, for Manchester’s foot was not engaged, and the Royalist infantry seem to have run away without striking a blow. If the scythes now displayed on the walls of Horncastle Church were carried, as tradition says, by some of the foot at Winceby, it seems that many of them were peasant levies, indifferently armed.

The consequences of the victory, for the moment at least, were far-reaching. A Puritan chronicler[127] could truthfully exclaim: “Yorkshire is discouraged, Lincolnshire is delivered, Cambridge is secured.” On the very day of Winceby some of Newcastle’s forts at Hull were captured by the garrison; and the following day he raised the siege and retreated to York. On the 20th Lincoln capitulated to Manchester, who soon after laid siege to Gainsborough.[128] Manchester did his best by persuasion to win back the county to Parliament; and a number of Royalist gentry changed sides from a rumour that the King was bringing over an army of native Irish. The scare of “Popery” was always the Parliament’s strongest card. Their own alliance at this time with the equally foreign Scots, which really changed the fortune of the war, aroused no such feeling. Late in the year a force of 800 Danes, sent by the King’s uncle, Christian IV., landed on the Lincolnshire coast, and met with a warmer reception than their pirate forefathers. The trained bands were called out, and killed about fifty of them, forcing the rest back upon their ships. Winter set in early, and there was much snow in November. The force besieging Gainsborough suffered much privation; and an Essex officer among them writes:[129] “Our lying in the field hath lost us more men than have been taken away either by the sword or bullet.” He adds that at the time of writing he had only two shillings, and his troop was without money, even for shoeing their horses, repairing saddles, &c. The perseverance of Fairfax, who was in command, was at length rewarded by the surrender of the town on December 20.

In the following month (January 1644), the Newark people addressed a “remonstrance” to the King on the condition of Lincolnshire. They represented that the whole county “is now in possession of the Rebels,” mentioning in particular “that seditious town of Boston,” and urged that, unless a diversion was made by his Majesty’s troops elsewhere, the whole force of the county, which was “above 5000 foot and twenty troops of horse,” would be “poured down” upon them. About the same time a hot dispute arose in Parliament about the Lincolnshire command. Lord Willoughby had much resented his supersession by the Earl of Manchester, which in his opinion lacked the authority of Parliament. Cromwell, as usual, was ready with the first blow. He moved that Lord Willoughby cease to be Major-General in Lincolnshire, as he had abandoned Gainsborough and Lincoln in the summer without necessity, and had permitted loose and profane conduct among his soldiers. These charges caused much ill-feeling. Sir Christopher Wray warmly defended Willoughby, who challenged Manchester to a duel; and three of Wray’s sons went so far as to cudgel one of the Earl’s officers. Cromwell’s motion, however, was carried; and with much difficulty Willoughby was induced to serve under Manchester. With the Lincolnshire levies he appears to have taken part in the siege of Newark in March; and, according to Mrs. Hutchinson, the brilliant feat of Prince Rupert in relieving the place and capturing most of the besieging force (March 22), was only rendered possible by the cowardly flight of the Lincoln men. This exploit caused such a panic that within three days Lincoln, Sleaford, and even distant Crowland were abandoned by their garrisons, and the defences of Gainsborough were dismantled. In his remonstrance to the House of Lords on April 8 the Earl of Essex himself used the words—“Lincolnshire is lost.” Two days before, however, Crowland had been recovered; and in three weeks Manchester and Cromwell were advancing against Lincoln. On May 3, with his army drawn up at Canwick, Manchester summoned the city by trumpet, and, on being denied, sent two regiments of foot against it, while Cromwell with 2000 cavalry held in check a relieving force. The garrison were expelled from the lower town and retreated into the Castle, after attempting to set fire to many houses. The assault on the Castle, which was delayed two days by heavy rain, took place on Monday, the 6th; and the infantry came on with such ardour that, despite the slippery state of the hill, the works were taken in a quarter of an hour. The Royalist loss was 900 in killed and prisoners—the latter including the governor, Sir Francis Fane, and Sir Charles Dalison. The upper town, having been taken by storm, was given over to the soldiers for pillage. It was on this occasion that the Cathedral suffered most at the hands of Puritanism. Pleading a recent ordinance of Parliament, the troopers tore up all the sepulchral brasses, damaged the carvings, and smashed the painted windows. If we are to believe “Aulicus,” the Oxford newswriter, whose statements are disputed, they even stabled their horses in the nave. Other churches were much injured in the assault. St. Swithin’s was destroyed by fire; St. Martin’s and St. Michael’s were much damaged by cannon; and St. Botolph’s fell down two years later through the injuries which it now received. Two extra-mural churches, St. Nicholas’ and St. Peter’s Eastgate, had already been demolished by Lord Willoughby’s order as interfering with the city’s defences.

The whole county had now been reoccupied for the Parliament; and Manchester, throwing a bridge across the Trent at Gainsborough, marched with the army of the Eastern Association to besiege Newcastle in York. The victory of Marston Moor on July 2 decided the fate of the North and East of England. But in the next few weeks the King gained marked successes in the West; and on the return of Manchester to Lincoln on August 6, there were divided counsels among the Parliamentary commanders, which developed later into an open breach between Cromwell and Manchester. For four weeks the latter lay inactive at Lincoln, though Cromwell vehemently urged him to besiege Newark. When at length he moved southwards on September 4, the Newark garrison resumed their activity, and appeared before Sir Robert Carr’s fortified house at Sleaford, the defenders of which had to retire upon Lincoln. On October 5 a force of 500 Cavaliers captured and taxed Stamford; and perhaps it was part of the same band which, a day or two later, once more occupied Crowland for the King. This daring move brought the Fen men out in strength, though at the time the pay of the Boston garrison was four months in arrear; and by October 12 a force of 4000 men of the trained bands, under Sir T. Fairfax and Fleetwood, had assembled to block up the watery citadel. But rain fell in torrents, and most of the besiegers had to be sent back to their counties, although the approaches to Crowland were carefully guarded. On October 29, the water having subsided, a closer investment became possible; and a body of horse under Colonel Hacker was detached to confront a relieving force from Newark. The two bodies came into collision at Denton, when, in Colonel Hacker’s words, his men “shouted as if the skies would have fallen” and fell upon the enemy, who fled, leaving 400 prisoners. Three weeks later another attempt at relief was frustrated by a Royalist repulse near Grantham; and on November 6 an ordinance of Parliament provided for the erection of three forts against Crowland at a cost of £600. In the first week of December the famished garrison of 275 men, whose besiegers had been subsisting comfortably on fish and wild fowl, were allowed to march off to Newark without their arms.

The campaign of 1645 was almost wholly unfavourable to the King. When the two armies faced each other at Naseby on June 14, for the decisive struggle, Colonel Rossiter, with the Lincolnshire troops, arrived just in time to take part in Cromwell’s charge on the Royalist left wing. The King retreated eastward after his defeat; but in August he was again approaching the Associated Counties with an army of about 3000 men. In that month the Newarkers made two raids upon Stamford, and carried off some of their opponents; and on the 23rd the King himself passed through the town. But his cause was declining rapidly; and on April 27, 1646, he left Oxford in disguise to take refuge with the Scots before Newark. The night of May 3—his last as a free man—he passed at Stamford in the house of Mr. Wolph; and with the surrender of Newark by his command on May 6, two days after he reached the Scots, the first Civil War ended.

In the second Civil War of 1648 Lincolnshire took little part. Early in June an attempt was made by Michael Hudson, rector of Uffington—the chaplain who had guided the King in disguise through the eastern counties—to raise a Royalist force. Accompanied by Stiles, the Crowland parson, he occupied Woodcroft House, near Stamford, where he was soon besieged. On the surrender of the place he was denied quarter, and, having been thrown into the moat, was “barbarously knocked on the head.” A more serious rising took place at the end of the month. A body of Cavaliers from Pontefract, 600 strong, entered the Isle of Axholme and pushed on to Lincoln, where they doubtless hoped to find arms and ammunition, but the magazine had been removed to Hull. After plundering the houses of the chief Parliamentarians, they attacked the Bishop’s Palace, whither the little garrison of a hundred had retired, and reduced it in three hours; they then wrecked and burnt the building, leaving it in ruins. But their commander, Sir Philip Monkton, found it impossible to hold the town, and on July 4 his force was defeated and dispersed near Nottingham by Colonel Rossiter, who commanded for the Parliament in Lincolnshire.

At the outset of the struggle the feeling of Lindsey inclined towards the King; but the insecurity produced by the constant forays from Newark turned the balance the other way. Holland and Kesteven, especially the fen district, supported the Parliament. The nobility and gentry were about evenly divided. Of the two chief peers, Montagu Bertie, second Earl of Lindsey, followed the King through all his misfortunes, and was one of the few who attended his funeral; Theophilus Clinton, Earl of Lincoln, who held Tattershall Castle for the Parliament throughout the war, changed sides, like Lord Willoughby, in 1647, and with him was impeached and thrown into the Tower, when the Independents gained the upper hand. Of the principal county families (besides those already mentioned), the Dymokes, Heneages, Husseys, Nevilles, Skipwiths, and Thorolds were for the King; the Brownlows, Fitzwilliams, Massingberds, Nelthorpes, Trollopes, and Whichcotes for the Parliament; and the Andersons, Cholmeleys, Harringtons, Listers, and Pelhams were divided. According to one list,[130] the number of persons in the county compounding for their estates was 180, and the total amount of their compositions was £80,800. This, however, does not include the sums set aside for the maintenance of ministers in parishes where the compounder possessed an impropriation. In some instances where the composition-fine could not be paid in full, the estates were either let or sold outright to some supporter of the Parliament at a ruinous loss. This happened to the estates of the Earl of Lindsey near Alford; his mansion and lands at Belleau were sold below their value to Sir Harry Vane the younger, who was residing there in 1655, when he was sent for by Cromwell and imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle. Nor was it only persons of influence and large holders of property who were subject to fine. Anthony Gurley of the Close, Lincoln, had to pay £1, which was assessed upon “his books and apparel.” Sutton Dalton, who had some landed property, was fined £100 for spending only two days in Newark garrison. Sir William Clarke, of North Scarle, used to go to Newark on market-days, and for this offence was imprisoned for six months and had to pay £21. Of the seven Associated Counties, Lincolnshire, which had suffered the most heavily by the war, contributed to the Treasury by far the greatest sum in fines inflicted upon Royalist estates.

The Church history of the county would require a separate chapter; but much of the material has been lost beyond recall. When Walker was compiling his “Sufferings of the Clergy,” in Anne’s reign, he could not get proper returns from Lincolnshire; and the number of ejected clergy which he gives (37) must be far below the true figure. Bishop and Dean-and-Chapter had been abolished in November 1643, and the cathedral was served by a Sunday-lecturer, who, though he may have been episcopally ordained, yet in sympathy, like Hudibras,

“Was Presbyterian true blue.”

In 1644 the Earl of Manchester, who presided over a commission for purging the Association of “scandalous” ministers, appointed committees for the separate counties; but the minutes of the Lincolnshire Committee have not survived; perhaps they were not kept; for the business was done by sub-committees of five, who would not allow the accused clergyman to be present “lest it should discourage the witnesses,” and made him pay even for a copy of the depositions. The clergy of Stamford were all deprived for Royalism; and when Paul Prestland, the rector of Market Deeping, fled to avoid arrest, his wife and children had to spend many months first in a barn and then in the belfry of the church. Thomas Gibson, vicar of Horncastle, a man of exemplary piety, was imprisoned five times, once spending four months in Tattershall Castle, and on his release had to maintain himself by teaching. Several clergy were ejected simply for going to His Majesty’s garrisons; against one, the rector of Hykeham, it was even made a charge that he had by him many copies of the Oxford “Aulicus” gazette. Some were deprived for using the prayer book, or complying strictly with its directions; the rector of Hareby lost his living for “preaching but seldom, and not being above half-an-hour in the pulpit, and having no books.” Though many of the clergy must have taken the Covenant, there is little trace that the Presbyterian “Classis” system was ever adopted within the county. In fact, the ease with which Anglicanism was restored, after eighteen years of persecution, is strong proof that even the most Puritan districts were weary of ecclesiastical chaos.