246. OLIVER CROMWELL AND THE CIVIL WAR, 1642-1649 A.D.
OUTBREAK OF THE GREAT REBELLION, 1642 A.D.
Thus far, the Long Parliament had acted along the line of reformation rather than revolution. Had Charles been content to accept the new arrangements, there would have been little more trouble. But the proud and imperious king was only watching his chance to strike a blow at Parliament. Taking advantage of some differences in opinion among its members, Charles summoned his soldiers, marched to Westminister, and demanded the surrender of five leaders, including Pym and Hampden. Warned in time, they made their escape, and Charles did not find them in the chamber of the Commons. "Well, I see all the birds are flown," he exclaimed, and walked out baffled. The king's attempt to intimidate the Commons was a great blunder. It showed beyond doubt that he would resort to force, rather than bend his neck to Parliament. Both Charles and Parliament now began to gather troops and prepare for the inevitable conflict.
"CAVALIERS" AND "ROUND-HEADS"
The opposing parties seemed to be very evenly matched. Around the king rallied nearly all of the nobles, the Anglican clergy, the Roman Catholics, a majority of the "squires," or country gentry, and the members of the universities. The royalists received the name of "Cavaliers." The parliamentarians, or "Roundheads," [22] were mostly recruited from the trading classes in the towns and the small landowners in the country. The working people remained as a rule indifferent and took little part in the struggle.
[Illustration: OLIVER CROMWELL
A painting by Robert Walker, in the National Portrait Gallery, London.]
OLIVER CROMWELL, 1599-1658 A.D.
Both Pym and Hampden died in the second year of the war, and henceforth the leadership of the parliamentary party fell to Oliver Cromwell. He was a country gentleman from the east of England, and Hampden's cousin. Cromwell represented the university of Cambridge in the Long Parliament and displayed there great audacity in opposing the government. An unfriendly critic at this time describes "his countenance swollen and reddish, his voice sharp and untuneable, and his eloquence full of fervor." Though a zealous Puritan, who believed himself in all sincerity to be the chosen agent of the Lord, Cromwell was not an ascetic. He hunted, hawked, played bowls, and other games, had an ear for music, and valued art and learning. In public life he showed himself a statesman of much insight and a military genius.
THE "IRONSIDES" AND THE "NEW MODEL"
At the outset of the war fortune favored the royalists, until Cromwell took the field. To him was due the formation of a cavalry regiment of "honest, sober Christians," whose watchwords were texts from Scripture and who charged in battle while singing psalms. These "Ironsides," as Cromwell said, "had the fear of God before them and made some conscience of what they did." They were so successful that Parliament permitted Cromwell to reorganize a large part of the army into the "New Model," a body of professional, highly disciplined soldiers. The "New Model" defeated Charles decisively at the battle of Naseby, near the center of England (1645 A.D.). Charles then surrendered to the Scotch, who soon turned him over to Parliament.