In January of this year Rupert had captured Aylesbury, and early in March he set out to relieve Newark which had been invested by the Parliament. The siege was raised, and the besiegers, who were commanded by Sir John Meldrum, were forced to capitulate; but Rupert had to return his troops to the garrisons from which he had borrowed them, and almost without an army he marched back to the Welsh border, where he occupied himself with raising fresh troops to go to the assistance of the Earl of Newcastle.
As soon as his intentions for the north were known, the Earl of Derby endeavoured to persuade him to march by way of Lancashire in order to relieve Lathom House. The besieged Countess must have written to her husband in a very different tone from that of her defiant answers to Rigby; indeed if the Earl of Derby did not unduly exaggerate the position of the garrison, they must have been in imminent fear of being compelled to surrender. The petition was, however, seconded by the Lancashire royalists, and the Earl of Derby promised that if Lathom were relieved he would aid Rupert's further march with 2,000 men and a considerable sum of money. It was pointed out that the towns of Liverpool and Warrington were but weakly garrisoned, and that the reconquest of Lancashire would be a great gain for the King's cause in the north of England, "the rebellion in those parts being wholly supported from there." Liverpool would be of immense use as the port towards Ireland, and Derby and Prince Rupert had already discussed over the map the possibility of reducing it.[138]
Sir John Byron, the royalist Governor of Chester, was persuaded to support the scheme; and the Earl of Derby having personally written to the King urging its desirability, Charles' approval was given. The prospect of invasion had caused great consternation among the Lancashire Parliamentarians as early as the middle of March;[139] but it was two months after that before Rupert was able to move. Drawing his forces together he began his advance towards Yorkshire about the middle of May. On the 18th the royalists moved from Holt, Malpas, and Whitchurch, to a more easterly position at Market Drayton; and next day they crossed the River Weaver, and advanced to Audlem and Bruerton which are just over the Cheshire border. A thousand Parliamentarian troops marched out of Nantwich as far as Hatherton, but Rupert was not anxious to fight and fell back to Audlem. (Monday, May 20th.) It was feared that he would lay siege to Nantwich, but he passed to the east of that place, and on Tuesday, May 21, his troops were quartered about Haslington and Sandbach, while Rupert himself stayed at Betley. On May 24th the march to Lancashire began, and the royalists lodged at Knutsford, which is only ten miles from the Lancashire border; the following day they advanced to Stockport, only seven miles distant from Manchester. Prince Rupert's forces were estimated at 8,000 or 10,000 men, mostly cavalry, and they were said to have 50 guns. At Stockport Colonels Mainwaring and Duckenfield were posted with about 3,000 men to oppose his advance, but they seem to have made very little resistance, and after a short skirmish they broke and fled towards Manchester, leaving 800 prisoners. The royalists occupied Stockport, and were joined there by some of Newcastle's cavalry from Derbyshire. Rupert left some of these to garrison Stockport, and moved on into Lancashire with the main body of his army.[140]
The Parliamentarian leaders before York thought that Rupert ought to have been stopped at Stockport.[141] There were two ways by which the royalists might have entered Lancashire, either at Stockport or at Warrington; probably the passage of the river Mersey at Warrington was too strongly guarded for Rupert to attempt it, for he must have preferred that way if he could have chosen. Not only was it the most direct way to Lathom but it passed through country which was much better affected to the King's cause than East Lancashire. But no doubt the resistance offered at Stockport was very feeble. Rupert had certainly not more than 10,000 men, and there should have been almost an equal number available to oppose him. For the Lancashire leaders had refused in April to send 2,000 men out of the county for the relief of the Earl of Denbigh on account of the necessities of their own county.[142] Lathom House, they said, was still unsubdued; the Earl of Derby threatened invasion from Wirrall, and the Westmoreland royalists from the north. It is true that some troops which had marched into Yorkshire had been kept there to assist in the siege of York; but the two Committees of Lancashire and Cheshire ought to have had far more than 3,000 men at Stockport to oppose the royalist advance. Perhaps one reason for their failure was the acute differences which had broken out among the Lancashire leaders. Complaints were made against Colonel Dodding, Colonel Holland and others, and there was even insubordination shown to Sir Thomas Fairfax. There seems to have been no ground for the suspicions of Dodding. He had suffered considerably for the Parliamentarian cause, and he continued to serve it faithfully. As regards Holland the complaints were probably justified; he had always been a rather lukewarm supporter of his party.[143]
As soon as Rupert had entered Lancashire his forces were considerably increased, the local royalists flocking to him in large numbers. The Earl of Derby joined him with all the forces he could raise. The royalists had now to decide whether they would attack Manchester or march straight for Lathom. On the day after Rupert's victory at Stockport, Manchester was secured by Sir John Meldrum with one Scotch regiment and one of Fairfax's consisting of Lancashire men.[144] Apparently Meldrum had intended to arrive in time to prevent the royalists' advance from Cheshire, but he was too late. Rupert, however, had not much time to waste in sieges, and it was evident that Manchester could not be taken except after a long investment. Rosworm describes an attempt which was made by the royalists to induce him to betray the town by promise of a large sum of money and advancement under Prince Rupert. The intermediary was Peter Heywood. There may be some truth in the account, but Heywood's plot to betray Manchester seems to have been made about a month before this time, and Rosworm's narrative is here very inaccurate. For instance he places Rupert's advance after the siege of Liverpool in August, in which he himself was engaged.[145] Whether or not the royalists attempted to gain Manchester by treachery, they certainly made no approach on the town but keeping to the west they moved by way of Barlow Moor and Trafford Park about three miles distant from Manchester. Rupert's objective was now Bolton, the second Puritan stronghold of the county.
When the news of Rupert's coming reached the camp of the besiegers before Lathom House the only doubt was where they might escape. The terror of Rupert's name was worth a great deal to the royalists. Colonel Rigby showed great indecision; he could not make up his mind whether to stay in Lancashire, or to cross into Yorkshire. His troops were first removed to Eccleston Green, and they would then probably have been marched to Manchester but for the fear of meeting Rupert on the way. Rigby's own family were in Preston, and they at once escaped into Yorkshire. In Preston also there were about 50 royalist prisoners guarded by Captain Pateson and Captain Swarbreck; and they twice received orders which were afterwards contradicted to join Rigby at Eccleston. Finally they were directed to convey their prisoners to Lancaster Castle. Leaving Preston on the same day that Prince Rupert took Bolton they quartered one night at Myerscough Lodge; next day they were attacked by a troop of royalist horse, and but for the timely assistance of Colonel Dodding, who was quartered at Garstang on his way towards Manchester, the prisoners would probably have been released.[146]
Rigby finally made up his mind to go to Bolton, thinking that Rupert would march either to Blackburn, or to Preston and Lancaster; but as it turned out the Parliamentarians only reached Bolton on the day before the royalists. Rigby occupied the town on May 27th, and next morning Rupert appeared before the town; and finding Rigby and his men in possession they determined on an assault.
The chances were obviously in favour of the royalists. They were quite three to one in numbers, and were commanded by the dreaded Prince Rupert and by the Earl of Derby. Their opponents were disheartened by an unsuccessful three months' siege; moreover they were mostly newly raised troops, and as there had been no garrison kept in Bolton for almost twelve months the defences were considered out of repair. Nevertheless the fight was very fierce and for a time undecided. The royalists approached the town about 2 o'clock in the afternoon from the south-west, and at once delivered an attack at several quarters; but after about half an hour's hard fighting at close quarters the first assault was beaten off. The royalists state that they lost 200 men in this repulse. Colonel Rigby sent out of the town a troop of horse to stave off the second attack, but these were defeated. The Earl of Derby in person led the second attack, having requested Prince Rupert to allow him for this purpose two companies of his own soldiers then under the command of Colonel Tyldesley. After a quarter of an hour's desperate fighting the royalists effected an entrance, the Earl being the first man to enter. Some cavalry were admitted to another part of the town through the treachery of one of the townsmen, and caught between the two forces the Parliamentarian troops were routed. Each man saved himself as he might, but against the overwhelming superiority of the royalist horse in an unwalled town the defenders were helpless and the slaughter was great.[147] Little mercy was shown by the infuriated royalists, Prince Rupert having, on their own confession, at first forbidden quarter to be given to any in arms. Seacome states that 2,000 Parliamentarian soldiers out of a total of 3,000 were killed, and another royalist account puts the slain at 1,600 with 700 prisoners. Both these estimates are probably too high. It does not seem probable that Rigby had more than 2,500 men, and large numbers of these certainly escaped, while more than 200 were taken prisoners. A more reasonable estimate by a Parliamentarian writer places the total loss on both sides at 1,200 to 1,500, which is more likely to be correct. The Parliamentarians would not be likely to over-estimate their own losses. Of this 1,200 or 1,500 no doubt the larger number would belong to the town. Supposing the royalists to have lost 200 men in the first attack and 200 more during all the rest of the engagement, it would still make the losses of the town three or four times as numerous, which is credible enough; for the Parliamentarian troops would have lost very heavily in their flight, Rupert having a large number of cavalry who could be of service in the pursuit. Colonel Rigby's cleverness alone secured his own escape. Being on horseback he mingled with the royalists as they entered the town, learned their password, and posed for a time as one of their officers; then taking advantage of the general confusion he rode away with one attendant into Yorkshire.
The capture of Bolton, or "Bolton Massacre" as the Parliamentarian writers called it, was the saddest incident of the whole war in Lancashire. Nowhere else was the naturally bitter character of an intestine struggle so unhappily illustrated; nowhere else were such furious passions aroused; nowhere else was the slaughter so terrible. The account by a townsman, "An Exact Relation of the bloody and barbarous Massacre at Bolton in the Moors in Lancashire," etc., is without parallel in all the contemporary authorities for the vivid horror of its descriptions. Against the otherwise moderate conduct of the Lancashire war this terrible incident stood out in sharp contrast. It is of course easy enough for the historian, surveying it impartially at a long distance of time, to explain why this was so. No one could call Prince Rupert's methods of war merciful at any time; and in the present instance he was in haste to relieve York, and would be sure to make short work of any obstacles in his way. For the local royalist troops engaged, it was the first experience of victory after many months of defeat, and the garrison opposed to them was the same force which had besieged Lathom House, against whom naturally the Earl of Derby and his followers had a particular grudge. They were commanded by the hated Rigby, and Bolton, 'the Geneva of the north,' was especially detested by the opponents of Puritanism. All these considerations served to make the capture of Bolton more than usually terrible. It is probable, however, that the stories related by both sides of the outrages committed by their opponents, are exaggerated if not invented. The royalists assert that after their first attack had been beaten off, some prisoners taken were put to death in their sight upon the walls of the town; and they attribute their unrestrained slaughter on gaining the victory to this act of cruelty. The statement is, however, made by Seacome, who is notoriously inaccurate; and as it is quite unsupported by any other testimony, it is impossible to believe it. On the other hand, horrible stories of barbarity are related by the Parliamentarian writers as having been committed by the victors, in some cases on defenceless townsmen, and even on women and children. These are much more likely to be true than the other, but they are probably exaggerated. The gravest charge is that made against the Earl of Derby himself, that one Captain Bootle, formerly in his service, was taken prisoner and brought before the Earl at his own request to ask for mercy; and that Derby thereupon drew his sword and ran him through the body in cold blood. This story may be equally discredited.[148] Bootle was certainly killed during the siege; and the royalists state that he was killed by the Earl of Derby during the fighting, which is most probably true. Before his execution Derby denied the charge; and it seems quite incredible that a man so highminded and chivalrous, should have committed such an act even in the excitement of victory. There was perhaps great cruelty shown by the royalists, but not by Derby personally; and we must attribute the story of the manner of Bootle's death to party malice.
Prince Rupert sent all the twenty-two colours taken at Bolton to Lady Derby at Lathom House, by the hand of Sir Richard Crane, but he did not immediately march there himself. The Earl of Derby presented to Rupert a ring worth £20 as a token of his gratitude; and at Lathom there were great rejoicings. No garrison was left in Bolton, and the prisoners were taken away bound two and two together, and sent over Hale Ford into Cheshire where they were distributed between Chester, Shrewsbury, and other places.[149] After this success the county came in very fast to the royalists, and Derby soon had 5,000 men under his command.