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.