THE ^otdk^'|iorhetgilrk FDR THE USE OF THE ARMY OF oliver cno^wmM/ A D. 1643. PREFACE TO THIS EDITION. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the English Commonwealth from lGS.'i to his death in 1658, began his military career in 1642. In 1643 appeared this lit- tle manual for the English army. Though not prepared by Cromwell, it undoubted- ly had his approbation, and was in gen- eral use among his soldiers. Cromwell"* -uccess was due in no small degree to i he strict morals and rigid discipline of his army, and to th wer of r< He declared, "Truly 1 think he that prays best, rights best. T know nothing thai will give like courage and confi- dence as the knowledge of Cod in < 'hrist ' will ; and I bless God to see any even in this army able and willing to imparl the knowledge they have for the good of others." " Accordingly," he says " I i raised such men as had the fear of before them, and made some conscience of what they did. And from that dn\ ' forward they never were beaten, butwheo- ever they were engaged against .the ene- my, they beat continually/ Cromwell's Ironsides, as they are usually called, fed their faith upon Clod's word, went into battle with psalm-singing and prayer ; and fearing God only, were the best soldiers perhaps the world has ever seen. Their watchword was, u The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge." Whitelocke describing them to Christina, oueen of Sweden, said, " The officers and soldiers of the Parlia- ment held it not unlawful, when they car- ried their lives in their hands, and were going to adventure them in the high places of the field, to encourage one an- other out of His word who commands over all : and this had more weight and impression with it than any other word could have." • THE SOLDIER'S POCKET-BIBLE. A Soldier mast not do Wickedly. When the host goeth forth against thine enemies then keep thee from every wicked thing. Deut. xxiii, 9. The soldiers likewise demand- ed of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be conteut with your wages. Luke iii, 14. And if he will not for all this hearken unto me, ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. Lev. xxvi, 27, 37.- The Lord shall cause thee \o 6 be smitten before thine^nemies; thou shalt go out one way against them, and -flee seven ways before them. Deut. xxviii, 25. A Soldier must be Valiant for God's cause- Be thou valiant for me, and fighi the Lord's battles. 1 Sam. xviii, 17. Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God, and the Lord do that which seemeth. him good. 2 Sam. x, 12. For the battle is the Lord's,ai] / before he goes tofigJ'J. Nevertheless we made our pray- er unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, be- cause of them. Sell, iv, 9. And Samson called unto the Lord,' and said. Oh Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee only this once. Judg. xvi, 28. And David said, Oh Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. 2 Sam. xv, 31. If any of you lack wisdom, let Him ask of God. James i, 5. Give me understanding:, and I le shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Ps&. cxix, 34. Give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thy handmaid. Ixxxvi, 16. Plead my cause, Oh Lord, with tkem that strive with me: right against them that fight against rue, take hold of shield and buck- ler, and stand up for my help. Psa. xxxv, 1, 2. And the children of Israel said unto the Lord, We have sinned ; do thou unto us whatsoever seem- eth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day. • Hidg. x, 15. . A Soldier must Consider and Believe God'* ■ious promises. ' And thev arose early in the 11 morning and went forth into wilderness ot Tekoa, and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat st and said, Hear me, O Judali, and ye inhabitants of Jerusa- lem : Believe in the Lord \ God, so shall ye be established : believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. 2 Chron. xx, 20. For the Lord your God ia that goeth with you, to fight lor you against your enemies, to save you. Dent, xx, 4. The Lord shall fight for you. Exod. xiv, 14. The Lord your God ye shall fear, and he shall deliver you out of the hands of all your enemies. 2 Kings, xvii, 39. ," Our God whom ■ we serv- able to deliver us from the bur- 12 mng fiery furnace, and. he will deliver us out of thy hand, King. Dan. iii, 17. I will subdue all thine ene- mies. 1 Chron. xvii, 10. Thou shalt seek them and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee ; they that war against thee shall be as njo th- ing, and as a thing ot naught. Isa. xli, 12. JNo weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. Isa. liv, 17. A Soldier must not fear his enemies. When thou goest out to bat- tie against thine enemies, and seest horses and chariots and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them, for the Lord thy God is with thee. Deut. xx. 1. ):\ Ye shall not fear them; for the Lord your God he shall fight tor you. Deut. iii, 22. Be strong and courageous ; be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him ; for there be more with us than with him. With him is an arm of tiesh ; but with us is the Lord our Grod to help us, and to light our battles. 2 Chron. xxxii, T, 8. Fear not, neither be faint- hearted for the two tails of these smoking flrebands. Isa. yii, 4. And Fear not them which kil ' the body. Matt, x, 28. A Soldier must Love his enemies as they are his enemies, and Hate them as they are God's enemies. But I say unto you, Love your enemies. Matt, v, 44. 14 Sliouldest tliou help the ung ly, and love them that hate the Lord? 2 Chron. xix, 2. Do not I hate them, Lord, that hate thee, and am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred ; I count them mine enemies. Psa. exxxix. 21, 22. A Soldier must Qy unto God in his heati in the very instant of battle. When Judah looked back, be- hold the battle was before and behind; and they cried unto the Lord. Chron. xiii, 14. And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord it is nothing with thee to help with many, or with them that have no power. 2 Chron. xiv, 11. 15 When the'captains of the char- -aw Jchoshaphat, they said, it is the King of Israel. There- fore, they compassed about him to tight; but Jchoshaphat cried <>ut, and the Lord helped him ; and God moved them to depart from him. 2 Chron. xviii, 31. A Soldier must Consider that sometimes Go(Rs people have the worst in battle as well as God's enemies. The sword devoureth one' as well as another. 2 Sam. xi, 25. All things come alike to all, there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner ; as he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. Eccles, ix, 2. 10 So there went up thither of the people about three thou sand men: and they iied before the men of Ai. Josh vii, 4. And the hand of Midian pre- vailed against Israel. Judg. yi, 2. And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent; and there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thou- sand footmen. 1 Sam. iv, 10. But when he (Moses) let down his hand, Arnalek prevailed. Exod. xviil 11. My children are desolate, be- cause the enemy prevailed. Lam. i, 16. Soldiers and all of us must consider tha> though God's people have the worst, yet, it cometh of the Lord. Who gave Jacob For a spoil 17 and Israel to the robbers* did not the Lord ? Isa. xlii, 24. Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it ? Amos iii, 6. And the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin, king of Ca- naan. Judg. iv, 2. The Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up. Lam.i,14. The Lord hath cast oft' his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of hev l>alaces. Lam. ii, T. For the iniquities of God's people, they are sometimes delivered into the Hands of the'- cae.. Even all nations shall say Wherefore hath the Lord done 18 thus anto this land? what mean- eti the heat of this great anger ? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers. Dent, xxiv, 25. And the Lord said unto •Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore tiest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they also have transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. Josh, vii, 10, 11. The Lord thy God hath pro- pounced this evil upon this place: now the Lord hath, brought it, and done according as he hath -aid, because ye have sinned a- iramst the Loi'd.. Jer. xl. 2, 3. My people have been lost sheep: all that found them have devour- ]'.» ed them; and their adversa said, We offend not,because they have sinned against the Lord. Jfer. 1, 6, 7. Wherefore doth a living mar • omplain, a man for the punish- ment of his sins '( Lam. iii, 39. Therefore both Soldiers and all God's peo- ple upon such occasions must search their sins. Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. Ilpm. iii, 40. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow; for thus saith the Lord God of Israel : There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, Israel ; thou canst not stand before thine enemies, untif ye take away the accursed thing from among you. .Tosh. vii. 1- 20 Especially let Soldiers, and all of us upon suck occasions search whether we have net put too little confidence in the arm of the Lord, and too much in the arm flesh. For my people have committed two evils : they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, brokei\ cisterns, that can hold no water. Yea, thou shalt go forth from him with thy hands upon thy head ; for the Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them. Jer. ii, 13, 37. Thus saith the Lord, cursed be the man that trusteth in man ; and maketh fLesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Jer. xvii, 5. 21 And let Soldiers and all of us consider, that to prevent this sin, the Lord hath many times given victory to a /cm. And The Lord said unto Gid- eon, the people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By these three hun- dred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thy hand. Judg. vii, 2, 7. And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword. And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and (Vstroved down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men. And Benjamin went forth against the m out. of Gibeah the second day. and destroyed down to the grouin 1 of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men. And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day. They enclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trod tnein down with ease ; and there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men. And they gleaned oi them in the highways five thousand men ; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom and slew two thousand men of them. So that all which fell that day of Benja- min were five and twenty thou*' ■-;. sand men that drew the .sword. Judg. xx, 15, 17. 21, 25, 30, 43, 44, 46. And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men ; Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valor. And Abijah stood up upon Mount Zemaraim and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam and all Is- rael. Ye t£ink to withstand -.he kingdom of the Lord in the ;iand of the sons of ])avid ; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calve-, vhich Jeroboam made you for gods. But as for us, the Lord i- God, and we have not for- 24 sakcn liira ; and behold God him- self is with us for our captain. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers, for ye shall not prosper, But Jeroboam caused an ambush- raentto come about behind them. And when Judah looked back, be- holden e battle was before and be- hindhand they cried unto theLord. and the priests sounded with the trumpets. Then the men of Ju- dah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. And Abijah and his peo- ple slew them with a great slaugh- ter; so that there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. 2 Chron. xiii, 3, 4, 8, 10-17. And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hun- dred and fourscore thousand : all these were mighty men of valor. And there came out against them Zerah the Ethio- pian, with a host of a thousand thousand,and three hundred cha- riots. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley ot Zephathah at Mareshah. And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to l< lp, whether with many, or with q that have no power 1 : help us, Lord our God ; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man pre - vail against thee. 2 Chron. xiv, 8-11. And let Soldiers a?id all of its Icnoxo the very nick of time that God hath promised us help, is when we sec no help in man. In the mount of the Lord it shall he seen. Gen. xxii, 14. And Moses said unto the peo- ple, Fear ye not; stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you to-day. The Lord shall fight for you,and ye shall hold your peace, Exod. xiv, 13. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company thai oometh against ns ; neither know we what to do ; but our eyes are upon thee. 2 Chron. xx, 12. Ye shall not need to tight in this battle : set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with yon. Ver. 17. To me belongeth vengeance and recompense : their foot shall slide in due time ; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent him- self for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left. Dent, xxxii, 35, 36. For my strength is made per- fect in weakness. 2 Cor xii, 9. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts. Zach. iv, 6. For the oppression of the poor for the sighing* of the needy; now will I arise, saith the Lord ; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him. Psa. xii, 5. Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted ; now will I lift up myself. Isa. xxxiii, 10. Wherefore, if your forces be weakened, and the enemy strengthened, then let soldiers and all of us know that we have a promise of God's help which we had not xohen we were stronger ; and that therefore let vs pray more confidently. O Lord, be gracious unto ua ; we have waited for thee : be' thou their arm every morning, our ■ I salvation. also in the time of trou ble. Isa. xxxiii, 2. Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people ; let his hands be suffi- cient for him, and be thou alielp to him from his enemies. Deuf xxxiii, 7. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no mati that would know* me ; refuge failed me* no man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, Lord, I said, Thou art my refuge. Psa. cxlii, 4, 5. Be not far from me, for trouble is near; there is none to help. Psa. xxii, 11. Remember not against us for- mer iniquities : let thy tender rcies speedily prevent us ; fbr we are brought very low. Psa. ixxix, 8. Take hold of shield and buck- ler, and stand up for ray help. Psa. .xxxv, 2. Help us, God of our salva- tion, for the., glory of thy name. Psa. Ixxix, 9. /l/t'f &tf Soldiers and all of us hiow, that ij' >ve obtain any i^ctory over our enemies, it is >i.r duty to give all the glow} to the Lord, i say :-r- ' • i The Lord is a man of war; Jehovah is his name. Thy right hand, Lord, is become glo- rious in power : thy right hand, Lord, hath dashed in pieces enemy. And in the great- Uess of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose lip against thee. Exod. xv,3,6,7. This is the Lord's doing ; marvellous in our eyes. cxviii,. 23. For the Lord fought {■■Tnmpi Joshul TherJ Lord. Who a deatl Now thVreikreJ^r God, we thank ttom, ana praise thy glo rions name. 1 Chron. xxix, 13. Seeing that thou our God, hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance, as" this, should we again break thy com mandments. Ezra ix, 13, 13. great I will walk before tlio Lord In the land of the living. Psa. cxvi, 9. have sworn, and I will per- ioral it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. Psa. cxix, 106.