Lucy Hutchinson was at this time living at their home at Owthorpe, but her husband, thinking that she would be safer in Nottingham than alone in a neighbourhood which abounded with Royalists, sent a troop of horse to remove her by night. It was an adventurous journey, but was accomplished safely. Finding that the citizens of Nottingham were prepared to offer a determined resistance, the Cavaliers did not attack the town, but passed on with the intention of returning later to capture it.
The citizens of Nottingham, pleased with the energy shown by Colonel Hutchinson, elected him Governor of Nottingham Castle. It was a high post for a man only twenty-seven years of age, but Colonel Hutchinson soon proved that he was well fitted for it The castle, although standing in an excellent position, was in a dilapidated condition and required much strengthening before it could be considered strong enough to withstand a determined attack. The required alterations were carried out under Colonel Hutchinson's supervision, and at length all that was needed to withstand a siege was a stock of provisions and a larger garrison. These, however, the governor could not obtain.
A period of waiting followed. Again and again the rumour spread that the Cavaliers were approaching to capture the castle, but they did not attack it. Their guns were heard in the distance, but for some reason known only to themselves they did not deliver the long-expected assault. Lucy Hutchinson had an unenviable time. Loving a peaceful, domestic life, she was compelled to live in the midst of turmoil. She saw to the feeding of the soldiers, a trying task considering that so far the Parliamentary party had allowed her husband nothing whatever towards defraying the cost of maintaining the garrison, and that the stock of provisions was running low. Moreover she was often troubled concerning the safety of her relatives. Her eldest brother, Sir Allen Apsley, of whom she was exceedingly fond, was fighting gallantly for the king, and believing that the Parliamentarians would triumph, she feared that if he escaped death on the battle-field, it would only be to suffer imprisonment and the confiscation of his estate.
At last, in 1644, the Earl of Newcastle sent a messenger to Colonel Hutchinson calling upon him to surrender Nottingham Castle to the Royalists, a demand that was promptly refused. 'If his lordship would have that poor castle,' the colonel said to the messenger, 'he must wade to it in blood.'
The messenger departed, and Colonel Hutchinson made preparations to withstand a siege. Greatly to his surprise, however, the attempt on the castle was not made, the Earl of Newcastle having been compelled to march his forces to the assistance of Royalists in another part of the country.
Before long, however, the citizens of Nottingham veered round to the Royalist party, and decided to betray the town. One night they secretly admitted 600 Cavaliers, commanded by Colonel Hutchinson's cousin, Sir Richard Byron, and before daybreak the town was in their hands. But not the castle. With only eighty men, Colonel Hutchinson determined to hold it against the enemy until not a man remained alive. His force should have been much larger, but many of his men had on the previous evening quitted the castle without permission and entered the town. While enjoying themselves the Cavaliers arrived and made them prisoners.
Among the Parliamentarians who were taken prisoners in Nottingham were the surgeons, and the defenders of the castle entered into the fight with the unpleasant belief that if they were wounded there would be no one to attend to their wounds.
They were mistaken. When the battle had been raging for some minutes, and the wounded defenders were being removed from further danger, Lucy Hutchinson came forward, and skilfully and tenderly dressed their wounds. For five days, attending to the wounded was her chief duty, and many a poor fellow's life was saved by her promptitude and skill.
One day, while resting from her labours, she saw three Royalists being led away to the dungeon. They were wounded, and had been captured in the latest assault on the castle. Seeing that they were wounded, Lucy Hutchinson at once dressed their injuries, and while thus employed one of her husband's officers angrily upbraided her for having pity on them, concluding with the assertion that 'his soul abhorred to see this favour to the enemies of God.'
'I've done nothing but my duty,' she replied. 'These are our enemies, but they are also our fellow-creatures.'