1.
Middlesex
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Middlesex is a historic county in south-east England. It is now entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and its area is now also mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in other neighbouring ceremonial counties. It was established in the Anglo-Saxon system from the territory of the Middle Saxons, the largely low-lying county, dominated by clay in its north and alluvium on gravel in its south, was the second smallest county by area in 1831. The City of London was a county in its own right from the 12th century and was able to exert control over Middlesex. Westminster Abbey dominated most of the financial, judicial and ecclesiastical aspects of the county. As London grew into Middlesex, the Corporation of London resisted attempts to expand the city boundaries into the county, in the 18th and 19th centuries the population density was especially high in the southeast of the county, including the East End and West End of London. From 1855 the southeast was administered, with sections of Kent and Surrey, the City of London, and Middlesex, became separate counties for other purposes and Middlesex regained the right to appoint its own sheriff, lost in 1199. In the interwar years suburban London expanded further, with improvement and expansion of public transport, after the Second World War, the population of the County of London and inner Middlesex was in steady decline, with high population growth continuing in the outer parts. Since 1965 various areas called Middlesex have been used for cricket, Middlesex was the former postal county of 25 post towns. The name means territory of the middle Saxons and refers to the origin of its inhabitants. The word is formed from the Anglo-Saxon, i. e. Old English, middel, in an 8th-century charter the region is recorded as Middleseaxon and in 704 it is recorded as Middleseaxan. The Saxons derived their name from seax, a kind of knife for which they were known, the seax has a lasting symbolic impact in the English counties of Essex and Middlesex, both of which feature three seaxes in their ceremonial emblem. Their names, along with those of Sussex and Wessex, contain a remnant of the word Saxon, there were settlements in the area of Middlesex that can be traced back thousands of years before the creation of a county. Middlesex was formerly part of the Kingdom of Essex It was recorded in the Domesday Book as being divided into the six hundreds of Edmonton, Elthorne, Gore, Hounslow, Ossulstone and Spelthorne. The City of London has been self-governing since the century and became a county in its own right. Middlesex also included Westminster, which also had a degree of autonomy. Of the six hundreds, Ossulstone contained the districts closest to the City of London, during the 17th century it was divided into four divisions, which, along with the Liberty of Westminster, largely took over the administrative functions of the hundred. The divisions were named Finsbury, Holborn, Kensington and Tower, the county had parliamentary representation from the 13th century
2.
Cavalier
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It was later adopted by the Royalists themselves. Prince Rupert, commander of much of Charles Is cavalry, is considered to be an archetypal Cavalier. Cavalier derives from the same Latin root as the French word chevalier, Cavalier is chiefly associated with the Royalist supporters of King Charles I in his struggle with Parliament in the English Civil War. Charles, in the Answer to the Petition 13 June 1642 speaks of Cavaliers as a word by what mistake soever it seemes much in disfavour, Cavalier was not understood at the time as primarily a term describing a style of dress, but a whole political and social attitude. Most Parliamentarian generals wore their hair at much the length as their Royalist counterparts. The best patrons in the nobility of Charles Is court painter Sir Anthony van Dyck, probably the most famous image identified as of a cavalier, Frans Hals Laughing Cavalier, shows a gentleman from the strongly Calvinist Dutch town of Haarlem, and is dated 1624. These derogatory terms also showed what the typical Parliamentarian thought of the Royalist side – capricious men who cared more for vanity than the nation at large. Although they did not share the same outlook on how to worship God as the English Independents of the New Model Army, if I forget Thee, do not forget me. However, the word was coined by the Roundheads as a propaganda image of a licentious, hard drinking and frivolous man. It is this image which has survived and many Royalists, for example Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, fitted this description to a tee. Of all his qualifications dissimulation was his masterpiece, in which he so much excelled and this sense has developed into the modern English use of cavalier to describe a recklessly nonchalant attitude, although still with a suggestion of stylishness. Likewise during Exclusion Bill crisis the term Roundhead was replaced with Whig, an example of the Cavalier style can be seen in the painting Charles I, King of England, from Three Angles by Anthony van Dyck. The mascot of Cavalier has been commonly used in the sports world. Most prominently it has been that of the professional Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA since 1970 and it has also been adopted by smaller organizations such as Johnson County Community College, Kankakee Community College, St. Gregorys University, and the University of Virginias College at Wise. Cavaliers have been represented as a class and subclass of role-playing character since 1983 in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Cavalier Generals, King Charles I and His Commanders in the English Civil War, 1642–46. Going to the Wars, The Experience of the British Civil Wars 1638-1651, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Goring, George Goring, Lord. Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of, the history of the rebellion and civil wars in England. The History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution 1688, the Concise Encyclopedia of the Revolutions and Wars of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1639-1660
3.
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex
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Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, KB, PC was an English Parliamentarian and soldier during the first half of the 17th century. With the start of the English Civil War in 1642 he became the first Captain-General and Chief Commander of the Parliamentarian army, however, he was unable and unwilling to score a decisive blow against the Royalist army of King Charles I. He was eventually overshadowed by the ascendancy of Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax, Robert Devereux was the son and heir of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, the courtier and soldier from the later reign of Queen Elizabeth I. His mother was Frances Walsingham, the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham. He was born at the home of his grandmother, Lady Walsingham, in Seething Lane and he was educated at Eton College and Merton College, Oxford, being created MA by the university in 1605. The 2nd Earl led a rebellion against Elizabeth in 1601. He was subsequently executed for treason and the family lost its title, however, King James I chose to restore it after he became King of England. In 1604, Robert Devereux became the 3rd Earl of Essex, the young earl became a close friend of Henry Stuart, Prince of Wales, who was three years Essexs junior. Essex was married at age 13 to the 14-year-old Frances Howard, he was sent on a European tour from 1607 to 1609. Meanwhile, his wife began an affair with Robert Carr, Viscount Rochester, after Essexs return, Frances sought an annulment on the grounds of impotence. Essex claimed that he was impotent with her and had been perfectly capable with other women, adding that she reviled him, and miscalled him, terming him a cow and coward. The divorce was a spectacle and it made Essex a laughing-stock at court. The annulment was granted on 25 September 1613, and Frances Howard married her lover, Both were condemned to death, but the sentence was never carried out. On 11 March 1630 Essex married Elizabeth Pawlett, daughter of Sir William Pawlett, of Edington, Wiltshire, past High Sheriff of Wiltshire and cousin of William Paulet, 4th Marquess of Winchester. Elizabeth was introduced at Court during the Great Parliament of 1628/29 just after her father died, back from travels in military service on the Continent Robert was also pressured to marry again to show the Court the humiliation from his first marriage could be overcome. This marriage was also a disaster and failed, though not as publicly and they separated in 1631, the Countess remaining at Essex House in the Strand, London, Robert playing soldiers at his estates. There was a son from the union, Robert, styled Viscount Hereford, Elizabeth, through her funeral oration by her second husband Sir Thomas Higgons vigorously denied this. It has recently suggested that Essex suffered from male hormone deficiency, leading to failure to consummate his first marriage
4.
Charles I of England
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Charles I was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles was the son of King James VI of Scotland, but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England. He became heir apparent to the English, Irish, and Scottish thrones on the death of his brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. Two years later, he married the Bourbon princess Henrietta Maria of France instead, after his succession, Charles quarrelled with the Parliament of England, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. Charles believed in the right of kings and thought he could govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent and he supported high church ecclesiastics, such as Richard Montagu and William Laud, and failed to aid Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years War. From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War, after his defeat in 1645, he surrendered to a Scottish force that eventually handed him over to the English Parliament. Charles refused to accept his captors demands for a constitutional monarchy, re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, Charles forged an alliance with Scotland, but by the end of 1648 Oliver Cromwells New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and a called the Commonwealth of England was declared. The monarchy was restored to Charless son, Charles II, in 1660, the second son of King James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark, Charles was born in Dunfermline Palace, Fife, on 19 November 1600. James VI was the first cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth I of England, in mid-July 1604, Charles left Dunfermline for England where he was to spend most of the rest of his life. His speech development was slow, and he retained a stammer, or hesitant speech. In January 1605, Charles was created Duke of York, as is customary in the case of the English sovereigns second son, Thomas Murray, a Presbyterian Scot, was appointed as a tutor. Charles learnt the usual subjects of classics, languages, mathematics, in 1611, he was made a Knight of the Garter. Eventually, Charles apparently conquered his physical infirmity, which might have been caused by rickets and he became an adept horseman and marksman, and took up fencing. Even so, his public profile remained low in contrast to that of his stronger and taller elder brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. However, in early November 1612, Henry died at the age of 18 of what is suspected to have been typhoid, Charles, who turned 12 two weeks later, became heir apparent
5.
Battle of Burton Bridge (1643)
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The Battle of Burton Bridge was fought between Royalist and Parliamentarian forces at Burton upon Trent on 4 July 1643 during the First English Civil War. The key river crossing at Burton was desired by Queen Henrietta Maria, the Queens convoy proceeded on its way south to Oxford with Tyldesley receiving a knighthood and a promotion in recognition of his victory. Burton changed hands several times during the course of the war. The county of Staffordshire, several days travel from the seat of power in London, had a long-standing disinclination to paying taxes and levies imposed by the King. The county was slow to pay Charles Is ship money which began to be levied on the inland counties in 1634. Open dissent against the Kings decrees occurred in 1640 in objection to the levying of 300 men from the county for the Kings campaign against the Scots, riots took place in Uttoxeter with an armed guard having to be formed to prevent the levy from deserting. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642 the town of Burton was largely sympathetic to the Parliamentarian cause. This was probably, in part, due to the large Puritan following in the town, despite this strategic location the town was unfortified and possessed few natural defences. Chesterfield withdrew his forces to Lichfield for the winter, garrisoning the cathedral which would be the scene of fighting during the war. East Staffordshires strategic importance was heightened by its position at the boundary of Royalist, Burton had come to roundhead attention in early 1643 after the establishment of a garrison at nearby Derby by the county committee leader, Sir John Gell. This became known to the Royalists and the Earl of Northampton was sent with two fast-moving cavalry regiments to thwart Gell and Breretons plan. Northampton met with troops led by Henry Hastings and garrisoned Tamworth before engaging Gell at the inconclusive Battle of Hopton Heath, during which Northampton was killed. During this time Queen Henrietta Maria landed at Bridlington, Yorkshire with a supply of weapons purchased abroad that she intended to bring to the King, who was then in Oxford. In advance of this the King sent his nephew, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Prince Ruperts troops evicted garrisons from Rushall and Birmingham and successfully recaptured Lichfield. Rupert placed Royalist garrison in key towns including Burton to secure the route of Henriettas convoy, the garrison at Burton was soon driven out once more by Gell, acting in co-operation with Lord Grey, commander-in-chief of the East Midlands Association. He placed his own garrison there of 200 infantry,60 dragoons, Gells garrison at Burton was commanded by Captain Thomas Sanders, who had previously commanded one of the largest companies in Gells force. Sanders held more radical views than Gell and was seen as a potential rival. Sanders may have been concerned that his deployment to such a position was a plot by Gell to be rid of him
6.
Battle of Gainsborough
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The Battle of Gainsborough was a battle in the English Civil War, fought on 28 July 1643. When the English Civil War was declared, Gainsborough in Lincolnshire lay in an area which supported Parliament, the town was of strategic importance to both sides, sited as it was on a crossing of the River Trent, lying on important roads leading south and north. In March 1643 Sir John Henderson sent a party from the Royalist base at Newark to capture Gainsborough for the King. The town was surrounded and quickly surrendered without any resistance, the town was put into the charge of the Earl of Kingston and was used as a base to harass the Parliamentarians in Lincolnshire. Royalist attacks at Louth and Market Rasen, together with the capture of gunpowder intended for Rotherham, lord Willoughby of Parham launched a surprise night attack on Gainsborough on 16 July 1643 and captured it. The Earl of Kingston was later killed by a cannonball from his own men as he was being taken as prisoner down the river to Hull, the Royalists immediately sent Charles Cavendish with a force to retake Gainsborough. Parliament sent forces from Nottingham under Sir John Meldrum and Colonel Oliver Cromwell from Cambridgeshire to relieve, the two forces met on 27 July at North Scarle, ten miles south of Gainsborough, where they were joined by a detachment from Lincoln. The next day,28 July 1643, the 1200 strong force marched north, at the village of Lea, just south of Gainsborough, they met an advanced guard of 100 horse, part of Cavendishs army. After a short skirmish the horsemen were driven back to Cavendishs main body which was drawn up on top of Foxby Hill to the east of the town, the Royalists consisted of three regiments of Horse with a further regiment in reserve, and held the tactical advantage. The Lincoln troops were ordered to advance up the steep and sandy gradient, as the Lincolners were forming up, Cavendish attacked. Cromwell, seeing this, charged with his own regiment to meet Cavendish. After some fierce mounted fighting, the Royalists gradually began to fall back, with the attacking Parliamentary cavalry gone, Cavendish took advantage by counter-attacking the remaining Lincoln troops with his reserve. However, Cromwell was still on the field with a reserve of three cavalry troops and he charged into Cavendishs rear, forcing the Royalists down off the hill and into the flat marshy land of the Trent, where 300 Royalists were slaughtered. Cavendish was knocked off his horse and killed by a sword thrust in the chest, the place where he was killed was later known as Cavendish Bog. With the battle over, Cromwell rode into Gainsborough with supplies for Willoughbys garrison, while this was being done, news arrived that a small Royalist force was marching on Gainsborough from the north. Cromwell and Meldrum, thinking this was a remnant of Cavendishs force not yet engaged, at Morton they drove off two troops of Horse. Willoughbys foot soldiers fell back in disorder, with his own men and horses exhausted by the recent battle, Cromwell ordered a withdrawal. In a disciplined rearguard action, two parties of Horse, one from Cromwells regiment and one from the Lincolners, stood firm, with the loss of only two men, they held back the Royalists until finally reaching the safety of Lincoln
7.
Siege of Basing House
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The siege of Basing House near Basingstoke in Hampshire, was a Parliamentarian victory late in the First English Civil War. Whereas the title of the event may suggest a single siege, john Paulet, 5th Marquis of Winchester owned the House and as a committed Royalist garrisoned it in support of King Charles I, as it commanded the road from London to the west through Salisbury. The first engagement was in November 1643, when Sir William Waller at the head of an army of about 7,000 attempted to take Basing House by direct assault. After three failed attempts it became obvious to him that his troops lack the necessary resolve, Parliamentary forces continued the siege by garrisons on the static approaches to Basing house to stop the Royalists foraging and relief convoys getting through. Then on 4 June 1644, Colonel Richard Norton using Parliamentary troops from the Hampshire garrisons closely invested Basing House and this siege was broken on 12 September 1644 when a relief column under the command of Colonel Henry Gage broke through parliamentary lines. Having resupplied the garrison he did not tarry but left the next day, the Parliamentarians reinvested the place but by the middle of November threatened by a Royalist army and his besieging force decimated by disease Weller ended the investment. Five days later on 20 November Gage arrived with fresh supplies, the final siege took place in October 1645. Oliver Cromwell joined parliamentary forces besieging the House with his own men and they quickly breached the defences and on morning of the 14 October 1645 the House was successfully stormed. During the assault the House caught fire and was badly damaged, what remained was totally slighted and demolished by order of Parliament, with the stones of the House offered free to anyone who would cart them away. A good description of the House as it stood before the siege is found in the Marquiss own Diary, Basing House stood on a rising ground, its form circular, encompassed with brick ramparts lined with earth, and a very deep ditch but dry. On 31 July 1643, the King, on the petition of the Marquis, sent one hundred musketeers, under Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Peake, to form a garrison. Within a few hours of the arrival of troops, colonels Harvey and Richard Norton attempted a surprise attack. Among the inhabitants of the House during the siege were a number of men of letters. William Faithorne, a pupil of Robert Peakes father was one of the besieged, yet another engraver, and a still more famous one, was in the House, was Wenceslaus Hollar engraved a portrait of the Marquis. Another man of letters found shelter at Basing House, where he lost his life, viz. Lieut. -Colonel Thomas Johnson, M. D. the editor of Gerards Herbal, and author of several botanical works. Captain William Robbins, a prominent comic actor in the Jacobean, there is little doubt that a scarcity of ammunition, as well as of provisions, was the cause of some embarrassment to the Marquis in his defence of the House. In the first year of the siege the King issued a warrant to the following effect, to our right trusty and well-beloved Henry, Lord Percy, general of our ordnance for the present expedition. Our will and pleasure is, that you forthwith take order for sending to the Marquess of Winchesters House of Basing ten barrels of powder with match, and this shall be your warrant
8.
First English Civil War
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The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War. The English Civil War can be divided into three, the First English Civil War, the Second English Civil War, and the Third English Civil War. For the most part, accounts summarise the two sides fought the English Civil Wars as the Royalist Cavaliers of Charles I of England versus the Parliamentarian Roundheads of Oliver Cromwell. However, as many civil wars, loyalties shifted for various reasons. During this time, the Irish Confederate Wars continued in Ireland, starting with the Irish Rebellion of 1641, the first and last of these motives animated the foot-soldiers of the Royal armies. These sturdy rustics who followed their squires to the war, saw the enemy as rebels, the cavalry was composed largely of the higher social orders. The rebel troops on the hand were mainly drawn from the ranks of the middle class or bourgeois. The other side of the war saw the causes of the initially as a constitutional issue. Thus, the elements of resistance in Parliament and the nation were at first confused, but the backbone of resistance was the Puritan element, and this waging war at first with the rest on the political issue, soon brought the religious issue to the front. But for a generation before the war broke out, the system had disciplined and trained the middle classes of the nation to centre their will on the attainment of their ideals, the parliamentarians had the stronger material force. They controlled the navy, the nucleus of an army that was being organised for the Irish war and they had the sympathies of most of the large towns, where the trained bands, drilled once a month, provided cadres for new regiments. Also, by recognising that war was likely, they prepared for war before Royalists did, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Essex, the Earl of Manchester, and other nobles and gentry of the Parliamentary party, had great wealth and territorial influence. On the other hand, Charles could raise men without authority from Parliament by using impressment and the Lords-Lieutenant, thus he depended on financial support from his adherents, such as the Earl of Newcastle and the Earl of Derby. Both the king and the Parliament raised men when and where they could, Parliament claimed to be justified by its own recent Militia Ordinance, while the king claimed the old-fashioned Commissions of Array. For example, in Cornwall the Royalist leader Sir Ralph Hopton indicted the enemy before the jury of the county for disturbing the peace. In effect, both sides assembled local forces wherever they could do so by valid written authority and this thread of local feeling and respect for the laws runs through the early operations of both sides, almost irrespective of the main principles at stake. Many promising schemes failed because of the reluctance of militiamen to serve outside their own county, as the offensive lay with the King, his cause naturally suffered from this far more than that of Parliament. However, the spirit of the struggle proved very different
9.
Battle of Lansdowne
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The English Civil War battle of Lansdowne was fought on 5 July 1643, near Bath, Somerset, southwest England. By late May 1643, Lord Hoptons royalist army had captured most of the south west of England, joined by the Earl of Hertford, he then advanced eastward into Parliamentarian-held territory. Sir William Wallers army held Bath, to obstruct their further advance, on 2 July 1643 the Royalists seized the bridge at Bradford on Avon. On 3 July, skirmishes took place at Claverton and at Wallers positions south, Waller retired to a strong position on Lansdown Hill, northwest of Bath while the main Royalist force moved north through Batheaston to Marshfield. Hoptons forces encountered this position on 4 July and were surprised at its strength. They withdrew 5 miles north-east to Marshfield, while their rearguard repulsed an attempt by Wallers cavalry to pursue. Early on 5 July, Waller moved to the end of Lansdown Hill, where he built crude breastworks for his infantry. They put to flight some badly-led Royalist cavalry, and the alarm caused all of Hoptons army to form up, there was indecisive skirmishing for two hours, and Hopton again tried to withdraw. Waller once again sent his horse and dragoons against the rearguard. Hoptons army turned about, and defeated the Roundhead cavalry in a confused action, with his Cornish foot regiments already advancing without orders, Hopton at last attacked Lansdown Hill. As they charged up the slopes towards the Parliamentarian position on the crest, Hoptons cavalry suffered badly. 1,400 of them fled, some as far as Oxford, under Sir Bevil Grenville, Hoptons Cornish pikemen stormed Wallers breastworks, while Royalist musketeers outflanked Waller through the woods on each side of his position. Grenville was mortally wounded in combat as Parliamentarian horse counter-attacked and were driven off. Wallers infantry fell back to a wall across the crest of the hill from where they kept up musket fire until dark fell, during the night, they withdrew silently, leaving burning matches on the wall to deceive the Royalists that they still held the position. The day after the battle, a Royalist ammunition cart exploded, Hopton was injured and temporarily blinded. The loss of the powder and the absence of most of their horses meant the Royalists could not fight another action, meanwhile, Waller had retired to Bath, where he had been reinforced and was ready to attack again. Hoptons army retreated in low spirits to Devizes, Hoptons army was in such a poor situation before their retreat that Hoptons military opponent but old friend Waller offered him hospitality in Bath, though he refused it. A Cornish officer describing the battle wrote that Waller was, the best shifter and chooser of ground when hee was not Master of the field that ever I saw
10.
First Battle of Newbury
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Following a year of Royalist successes in which they took Banbury, Oxford and Reading without conflict before storming Bristol, the Parliamentarians were left without an effective army in the field. When Charles laid siege to Gloucester, Parliament was forced to muster a force under Essex with which to beat Charles forces off, after a long march, Essex surprised the Royalists and forced them away from Gloucester before beginning a retreat to London. Charles rallied his forces and pursued Essex, overtaking the Parliamentarian army at Newbury, Essex reacted by making a surprise attack on the Royalist lines at dawn, capturing several pieces of high ground and leaving Charles on the back foot. The slowing of this counter-attack in the face of the Royalist cavalry forced Essex to send for reinforcements, in line with this, the Royalists moved forward to press the attack, but were forced to halt by the London Trained Bands. With night falling, the battle ended, and both exhausted armies disengaged, the next morning, low on ammunition, the Royalists were forced to allow Essex to pass and continue his retreat to London. On 13 November they faced the Earl of Essex at the Battle of Turnham Green, with Charless advisers persuading him to retreat to Oxford, despite this setback, the war was turning increasingly in favour of the Royalists. Despite this, Royalist forces were depleted by the battle at Bristol. Suffering over 1,000 men dead, and having exhausted their supplies, even considering this, the capture of Bristol is considered the high-water mark for the Royalist cause during the First English Civil War. With the city captured, however, a dispute occurred over who was to govern it. Upon arriving he called his council of war together to discuss their next move, the questions at hand being first, whether the armies should be united. And then, what the design should be, because of this unrest, it was quickly resolved that the western army would remain an independent fighting force and remain in Dorset and Cornwall to mop up the remaining Parliamentarians. Accordingly, the army, commanded by Lord Carnarvon, remained in the region. Prince Maurice left 1,200 infantry and approximately 200 cavalry to garrison Bristol before marching to Dorchester, the greater issues were what to do with the Oxford army and what the next design of the Royalist campaign would be. Ruperts strategy was to advance through the Severn Valley and capture Gloucester, another faction, however, argued that London could be captured with the army as it was, and that Gloucester would serve as a distraction from the main goal of the campaign. By 6 August, it was clear that Ruperts strategy would be abandoned, instead, during the early stages of the war, the loyalty of combatants on both sides, particularly that of professional soldiers, had been flexible. Gloucester was led by Edward Massie, a mercenary who only took a job with the Parliamentarians after he was refused a significant Royalist command. Given this, the council of war decided to march on Gloucester – not to besiege it or capture it by force, William Legge, who had served with Massie in the Bishops Wars, contacted him and asked him to surrender Gloucester to his lawful sovereign. As a result of this, on 7 August Charles and the Oxford army marched to Gloucester, Charless main force began marching on 7 August and reached the village of Painswick a day later, however, Ruperts cavalry screen had already advanced and taken the village
11.
Siege of Lincoln
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During the First English Civil War Lincoln was besieged between 3 May and 6 May 1644 by Parliamentarian forces of the Eastern Association of counties under the command of the Earl of Manchester. On the first day, the Parliamentarians took the lower town, the Royalist defenders retreated into the stronger fortifications of the upper town, which encompassed and incorporated Lincoln Castle and Lincoln Cathedral. The siege ended four days later when the Parliamentarian soldiers stormed the castle, taking prisoner the Royalist governor, Sir Francis Fane, early in 1644, Parliamentarian forces besieged the Royalist stronghold of Newark-on-Trent. The commander of the besiegers, Lord Willoughby, also had command of the Parliamentarian forces in Lincolnshire and had ordered the all of the garrison of Lincoln to come to his aid. The command of the Parliamentarian forces investing Newark had passed to veteran Scottish soldier Sir John Meldrum, Rupert defeated him on the banks of the Trent on 22 March 1644 and relieved Newark. With the defeat of the Parliamentarians Lincolnshire forces at Newark, the county lay open to Royalist occupation, Lincoln was occupied on 23 March, where the Royliasts found and requisitioned 2,000 muskets. The Parliamentarians abandoned Sleaford and on orders from Meldrum, Gainsborough was slighted so that it could not be garrisoned by the Royalists. However, Rupert decided that he could not consolidate the gains he had made, by 23 March, he was back in Oxford to report to the king. A month earlier however, Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and Scottish Covenanters under the Earl of Leven had laid siege to York, early in the siege, Newcastle decided that his cavalry would be of little use within the besieged city. Commanded by Newcastles lieutenant general of horse, George, Lord Goring, they out of the city. They made their way to Newark, plundering as they marched, the Parliamentarian army of the Eastern Association under the Earl of Manchester counterattacked. In the last week of April, Manchester was at Stamford and he ordered his cavalry under the command of Oliver Cromwell to advance. They cleared Lincolnshire of marauding parties of Cavaliers from Newark and drove them across the Trent, Manchester then marched to Lincoln, arriving on 3 May 1644. Manchesters army consisted of about 6,000 infantry and cavalry, the garrison of the town was about 2,000 strong. On 3 May the Parliamentarians managed to capture parts of the lower town, on 4 May the Roundheads were unable to press their attack because it rained heavily making the mound under the castle very slippery. Cromwell posted his horse so as to cover the siege from any interruption from Goring. He made his dispositions so well that, hearing on 5 May that Goring had crossed the Trent, Cromwells troopers were assembled, Goring, finding the outposts on the alert, fell back again. A contemporary Royalist report states that night the Parliamentarians attempted to storm Lincoln Close but were repulsed with about 60 killed
12.
Roundhead
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Roundhead was the name given to the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against Charles I of England and his supporters, the Cavaliers or Royalists, who claimed rule by absolute monarchy, the goal of the Roundhead party was to give the Parliament supreme control over executive administration. Most Roundheads sought constitutional monarchy in place of the absolutist monarchy sought by Charles I, englands many Puritans and Presbyterians were almost invariably Roundhead supporters, as were many smaller religious groups such as the Independents. However many Roundheads were Church of England, as were many Cavaliers, Roundhead political factions included the proto-anarchist Diggers, the diverse group known as the Levellers and the apocalyptic Christian movement of the Fifth Monarchists. Some Puritans, but by no means all, wore their hair closely cropped round the head or flat, during the war and for a time afterwards, Roundhead was a term of derision—in the New Model Army it was a punishable offence to call a fellow soldier a Roundhead. This contrasted with the term Cavalier to describe supporters of the Royalist cause, Roundheads appears to have been first used as a term of derision toward the end of 1641, when the debates in Parliament in the Clergy Act 1640 were causing riots at Westminster. The demonstrators included London apprentices and Roundhead was a term of derision for them because the regulations to which they had agreed included a provision for closely cropped hair. However, Richard Baxter ascribes the origin of the term to a made by Queen Henrietta Maria of France at the trial of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford. Referring to John Pym, she asked who the man was. The principal advisor to Charles II, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, remarked on the matter and they who were looked upon as servants to the king being then called Cavaliers, and the other of the rabble contemned and despised under the name of Roundheads. By the end of this period some Independent Puritans were again using the term Roundhead to refer to the Presbyterian Puritans. Likewise during the Exclusion Bill crisis, the term Cavalier was replaced with Tory, an Irish term introduced by their opponents, the History of England from the Accession of James II. Historical Memorials Relating to the Independents Or Congregationalists, From Their Rise to the Restoration of the Monarchy, religious Thought in England, from the Reformation to the End of Last Century, A Contribution to the History of Theology. Heavy Words Lightly Thrown, The Reason Behind Rhyme, attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Anonymous
Parliamentarians
Royalists
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Atkinson, Charles Francis (1911). "Great Rebellion". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 404.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the