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This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copy order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. AUTHOR: ADAMS, WILLIAM TITLE: ENGLAND AT WAR: THE STORY OF THE PLACE: LONDON DA TE : 1886 I COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT Master Negative # BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARHFT Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record Restrictions on Use: 942 Adl4 Adams Wniiam Henry Davenport, 1828-1891. ^England at war: the st.ry of ^^l,^^^^'':,':^^ ^l fJavenport IdTms ' London, Remington & co., 1886. 2v. 23«. From 150^1855. 1. Gt. Brit.— Army.— «*«^^—^'*^^ I. Title. Library of Congress O DA03.A21 [aSOdli V 2—10749 TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: Ji^^^v REDUCTION RATIO: //r IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA (11^ IB IIB DATE FILMED:_^-j^'_£;i INITIALS /Vi±/ HLMEDBY: RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS. INC WOODBRlDGEyCT h\ c Association for information and image iManagement 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1100 Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 301/587-8202 i*"*" Centimeter 12 3 4 5 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliii TTT I I I I Inches r 1 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 mm Imi lMNlllllllMllllNlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^ rrr T 1 I 1.0 Ui 28 US, t^ |3.2 u 1^ u UUU. 1.4 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 I.I 1.25 TTT I X MflNUFnCTURED TO RUM STRNDRRDS ^ BY RPPLIED IMRGEp INC. ■HMU ? ' , t y ' ': i : I; > . ^^ iTif ' I mm m^m m ^mmmmmmmmmmmm mn mmm -'iX m mmm ¥.' O^ ^ t%» ad 14 in the ©tit of ?.lcut l)ovU Otr.'tvxi ms'^^?m - ♦ )*. ^ ENGLAND AT WAR ■•m> m '^-L*-9p. By the same Author THE MERRY MONARCH OR (Ettglanb itttbcr Charlca I£ ITS ART, LITERATURE, AND SOCIETY Two Vols., Demy 8w., 835 Pages, 2ls ' There is not a dull page in these bulky volumes ; they are brightly and amusingly written, and furnish an admirable picture of Society in the days of the Merry Mondivch: —Standard. Remington & Co., Henrietta Street, Covent Garden i^ i ENGLAND AT WAR: INCLUDING A HmTORICAL SKETCH OF THE RISE AND GROWTH OF A MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT IN ENGLAND BY W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS IN TWO VOLUMES VOL I. REMINGTON & CO., PUBLISHERS HENKIETTA STREET, CO VENT GARDEN, W.C. 1886 All RiylUs Reso'ved 1 Id ^3 ""TIF** nr yy cO DEDICATED (by special permission) TO 1. S. S. (§tovQt, ^nkt of (Eambribge, ETC., ETC., ETC. IN RESPECTFUL RECOGNITION OF THE VALUABLE SERVICES HE HAS RENDERED TO THE BRITISH ARMY AS ITS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 175448 r. i : ^ CONTENTS -JoS- BOOK I— ORIGIN OF A STANDING ARMY- TUDORS AND THE STUARTS THE CHAPTER I Military System of England in the Reign of Henry viir CHAPTER II Reign of Edward VI . • • y* CHAPTER III Reign of Queen Elizabeth CHAPTER IV r Reign of James I • • CHAPTER V Reign of Charles I • • CHAPTER VI Cromwell's Campaign in Scotland CHAPTER VII The Army under the Protectorate CHAPTER VIII From the Restoration to the Revolution • • 15 20 35 40 46 66 76 "^1 I VUl CONTENTS BOOK II— THE HOUSE OF HANOVER CHAPTER I The War of the Succession CHAPTER II The War of the Austrian Succession CHAPTER III The Seven Years' War CHAPTER IV The British Soldier in India CHAPTER V The War with Mysore CHAPTER VI SUKJUfiATION OF THE MaRATHIS CHAPTER VII The Peninsular War: Campaigns of 1804-5, 9, 10, 11, 102 165 187 200 223 239 261 PREFACE In these stirring times, when a new spirit of patriotism is being so rapidly developed, and a fresh and profound interest exhibited in the achievements of our ancestors, a book which aims at setting forth in a popular form the successful campaigns of the British Army will probably be acceptable to the general public. I have tried to tell the story of its origin and progress, and of its enterprise in many lands, with a plainness and a simplicity which may recom- mend it to the general reader. The limits within which it has been necessary to confine it have rendered unavoidable some omissions and occasional compression ; but, on the whole, it will be found to include, I think, all that is most memorable and i It Hi k i X F HE FACE interesting in the extensive field which it attempts to survey. It was an essential object to bring it within a moderate compass, so that it might prove available for the behoof of that very numer- ous class who have little leisure for special studies, and yet may reasonably desire to know something more of our military annals than is to be gathered from the ordinary histories. There are, as I am well aware, several compilations in existence which furnish descriptions of the great battles that illus- trate these annals. But from such the present narrative differs, I think, in its continuity— in its introduction of full particulars of the establishment of our national force — and in its endeavour to explain, as concisely as possible, the direct and immediate causes of the wars in which our soldiers have carried the British flag victorious from the Seine to the Indus, from Calcutta to Quebec, from Madrid to Cairo. A complete Military History of Great Britain could not be compressed within a couple of volumes. Such a work has yet to be written when another Napier arises to combine the requisite professional knowledge with the literary skill essential to its general acceptance. Meanwhile, there is room, let us hope, for a modest effort to place within the PREFACE XI reach of the public a comprehensive relation, carefully based upon the best authorities, and relieved of technicalities, of some of the great campaigns, from the days of Flodden to those of Tel-el-Kebir and Tamanieb, which show the might and majesty of ' England at War.' I I » i 4 It ENGLAND AT WAR BOOK I— ORIGIN OF A STANDING ARMY— THE TUDORS AND THE STUARTS CHAPTER I I MILITARY SYSTEM OF ENGLAND IN THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII What is now known as the ' Conscription ' practically existed in Feudal England, and its existence explains the large armies which our kings employed in their continental wars, as well as the duration of the struggle between the rival Houses of Lancaster and York. Every male inhabitant was a soldier, and at all times equipped with the arms suitable to his position. He was always ready for service. By the great Statute of Winchester, passed in the reign of Edward the First, and in later reigns frequently repeated and enlarged, it was enacted that every man should have 'harness in his house to keep the peace after the antient assise.' That is to say, every man between fifteen and sixty years of age was to provide himself with armour according to the quantity VOL I A I I * I F i I 2 ENGLAND AT WAR of his lands and goods : namely, for fifteen pounds in land and forty marks in goods, a hauberk, a helmet of iron, a sword, a dagger, and a horn. For ten pounds lands and twenty marks goods, a hauberk, a helmet, a sword, and a dagger. For five pounds lands, a doublet, a helmet, a sword, and a dagger. For forty shillings lands, a sword, a bow and arrows, and a dagger. And all others, bows and arrows. And to see that these provisions were carried out, a review of armour was held twice every year by two constables for every hundred and franchise thereunto appointed ; and to justices assigned for that purpose they were to present * such defaults as they do find.' * . As the Hundred Years' War dragged its slow length along, and the bow came into vogue as the Englishman's special weapon, regular practice was ordered, and shooting became at once ' the drill and the amusement of the people,' as it is now, in a more limited degree, of our volunteers. Every village had its pair of butts, and on Sundays and holidays all able-bodied men were required to appear in the field, to employ their leisure ' as valyant Englishmen ought to do, utterly leaving the play at the bowls, quoits, dice, kails, and other unthrifty games.' f Magistrates, mayors, and bailifis were held responsible for the observance of these statutes, under penalty, if they neglected their duty, of a fine of twenty shillings for each offence. On the same days the tilt-yard at hall or castle was thrown open, and the young men of rank joined in similar exercises. We have numerous illustrations of the importance that was attached to the practice of archery. Follo^ving up his grandfather's statute, Edward IV, in 1349, addressed an epistle to the Sheriffs of London, in which he required them to make public proclamation that * every one of the said city, strong in body, at leisure hours 13 Edward I, cap. 6 (anno 1285), repealed by 21 James I, cap. 128 (in 1623). t 11 Henry IV, cap. 4. MILITARY SYSTEM IN REIGN OF HENRY VIII 3 or holidays, use in their recreations, bows and arrows, or pellets or bolts, and learn and exercise the art of shooting, forbidding all and singular on our behalf, that they do not after any manner apply themselves to the throwing of stones, wood, or iron, handball, football, bandyball, cambuck, or cockfighting, nor such-like vain plays which have no profit in them.' The magistrates of London seem always to have done their devoir in this direction, and at a later date we find them giving their attention to the due training of the children in this admirable exercise, and the Common Counsel Book contains an order that * for the avoiding: of idleness, all children of six years old and upwards shall, on week days, be set to school, or some virtuous labour, whereby they may hereafter get an honest living ; and on Sundays and holy days they shall come to their parish churches and there abide during the time of divine service, and in the afternoon all the said male children shall be examined in shooting with bows and arrows, for pins and points only ; and that their parents furnish them with bows and arrows, pins and points, for that purpose, according to the statute lately made for the maintenance of shooting in lono: bows and arrows, beino- the ancient defence of the kingdom.' In the reign of Edw^ard IV, it was enacted that every Englishman, wuth the exception of the clergy and judges, should own a bow of his own height,* and keep it always ready for use, and also make provision for his sons' exercise in the art from the age of seven. But the carnage of the civil war had provoked a reaction in favour of the pastimes of peace, and in the early years of Henry VIII, the butts and the tilt-yard were largely deserted. This is the more remarkable because the King was himself both partial to and skilful in the archer's craft. * On the May -day in the foot. The rule was that it should exceed the archer's stature by the length of his 5.-t^ 4 ENGLAND AT WAR second year of his reign,' says Holinshed, ' his Grace being young, and willing not to be idle, rose in the morning very early to fetch May or green boughs ; himself fresh and richly apparelled and clothed, all his knights, squires, and gentle- men in white satin, and all his guard and yeomen of the Crown in white sarcenet, and so went every man with his bow and arrows shooting to the wood, and so returning again to the Court, every man with a green bough in his cap. Now at his returning, many hearing of his going a-Maying, were desirous to see him shoot, for at that time his Grace shot as strong and as great a length as any of his guard. There came to his Grace a certain man with bow and arrows, and desired his Grace to take the master of him and to see him shoot, for at that time his Grace was contented. The man put then one foot in his bosom, and so did shoot, and that a very good shot, and well towards his mark, whereby not only his Grace, but all others greatly marvelled. So the King gave him a reward for his so doing, which person after of the people and of those in the Court was called Foot-in-Bosom.' In 1511, when Henry had been King only three years, the Winchester Statute was re-enacted, the severity of its provisions being increased. The preamble must be quoted liere : — ' The Kinor's Hiorhness callinor to his gracious remem- brance that by the feats and exercise of the subjects of his realm in shooting in long bows, there had continually orrown and been within the same ofreat numbers and multitudes of good archers, which hath not only defended the realm and the subjects thereof against the cruel malice and designs of their enemies in times heretofore past, but also with little numbers and puissance in regard of their opposites, have done many notable acts and discomfitures of war against the infidels and others ; and furthermore reduced divers regions and countries to their due obeysance, to the great honour, fame, and surety of this MILITARY SYSTEM IN REIGN OF HENRY VIII 5 realm and subjects, and to the terrible dread and fear of all stronger nations, anything to attempt or do to the hurt or damage of them. Yet, nevertheless, that archery and shooting in long arrows is but little used, but daily does vanish and decay, and abate more and more ; for that much part of the commonalty, and poor people of this realm, whereby of old time the great number and substance of archers had grown and multiplied, be not of power nor ability to buy them long bows of yew to exercise shooting in the same, and to sustain the continual charge thereof, and also because by means and occasions of customable usage of tennis play, bowls, claish, and other unlawful games, prohibited by many good and beneficial statutes, much impoverishment hath ensued : Wherefore, the King's Highness, of his great wisdom and providence, and also for zeal to the public weal, surety, and defence of this, his realm, and the antient fame in this behalf to be revived by the assent of his Lords, Spiritual and Temporal, and his Commons in this present Parliament assembled, hath enacted and established that the Statute of Winchester for archers be put in due execution ; and over that, that every man being the King's subject, not lame, decrepit, or maimed, being within the age of sixty years, except spiritual men, justices of the one bench and of the other, justices of the assize, and barons of the exchequer, do use and exercise shootino- in lonf^ bows, and also do have a bow and arrows ready continually in his house, and to use himself in shooting. And that every man having a man child or men children in his house, shall provide for all such, being of the age of seven years and above, and till they shall come to the age of seventeen years, a bow and two shafts, to learn them and bring them up in shooting ; and after such young men shall come to the age of seventeen years, every of them shall provide and have a bow and four arrows continually for himself, at his proper costs and charges, or else of the f 6 ENGLAND AT WAR gift and provision of his friends, and shall use the same as afore is rehearsed.' Thirty years later this statute was re-enacted* with some additional provisions. It was ordered that no person above the age of twenty-four should shoot with a light flight arrow at a distance under two hundred and twenty yards, — which would seem to show that this was the fighting range of the heavy war arrow. t There were regulations also for keeping up the village butts and for cheapening the cost of the bows, so as to bring them within the reach of the poor. The prices of the war bows, which were always made of yew, depended on their quality. We may note that in the reign of Elizabeth the best foreign yews cost 6s 8d, second best, 3s 4d, English yews and * wing ' bows (of the coarsest foreign yew), 2s. That these statutes and the royal example did not have the desired effect we know from Ascham's ' Toxophilus,' published in 1566, which is an elaborate eulogium on the bow, and an appeal to English gentlemen to use no other weapon. ' How fit shooting is for all kinds of men ; how honest a pastime for the mind ; how wholesome an exercise for the body ; not vile for great men to use, nor costly for poor men to sustain ; not lurking in holes and corners for ill men at their pleasure to misuse it, but abiding in the open siglit and face of the world, for good aim if at fault by their wisdom to correct it.' Such is the argument of the scholar's famous treatise. For the sake of chronological convenience we shall anticipate the course of our narrative, and trace at once the rapid decline of Archery. It was inevitable that bow • 33, Henry VIII, cap. 9. t Drey ton records the exploit of an English archer at Agincourt : — * Shooting at a Frank twelve score away. Quite through the body stuck him to a tree.' Shakespeare says, — ' A good archer would clap in the dart at twelve score, and carry a forehand shaft fourteen and a fourteen-and-a-half. ' MILITARY SYSTEM IN REIGN OF HENRY VIII ^ and arrow should give way to the arquebus and musket when these, by successive improvements, were rendered portable and easy to fire. That was as late as 1583. The art was so far flourishing that at a great shooting match held in Hoxton Fields on the 17th of September, London mustered no fewer than 3000 archers. Charles I appointed two special commissioners in order to revive and enforce the practice of England's ancient weapon ; but it was as vain as his attempt to revive and enforce the absolute prerocratives of the Tudors. Archery, for all military purpol^es, was dead and gone ; and in the Civil War neither party relied upon the bow. The old military system had also died out. The general disarmament which took place in the reign of Edward VI had finally broken up the feudal tradition. The nobility, moreover, were few and weak, and as the landowners no longer felt themselves bound to send an armed contingent for the King's service, the Eno-lish peasantry gradually lost their skill and familiarity with bow and bill, while no one taught them the use of carbine and pistol. England ceased to be an armed nation, and, as we shall see, it therefore became indispensable to provide her with an army. For the defence of the English coast, Henry VIII made careful provision, studding the shores of Kent and Surrey with small forts— circular towers of solidbuild, and mounting two or three guns, and accommodating a small garrison. In the Isle of Wight, which was then considered an important strategic position, forts of this kind were erected at East and West Cowes, Sandown, Yarmouth, and Freshwater. In the first year of Edward VI, a return of the condition of these insular defences was made to the Crown, and from its data we may infer the general strength of the fortifications of the kingdom. At Yarmouth were two guns of brass and eight small guns of iron, nineteen hagbuts, and one hundre'd and forty-one bows. At Sharpnode, two brass 8 ENGLAND AT WAR jnif r guns. At Carisbrook Castle, five iron slynges, fowler, and double basses, one hundred-and-forty hagbuts, and a store of powder, bows, arrows, javelins, and bills. At Sandown were three pieces of brass, and eight of iron, seventy-eight hagbuts, one hundred-and-twenty bills, and a chest of bows and arrows. And at West Cowes were two brass guns, eleven of iron, several basses (' not liable to serve '), and a small supply of bow^s, bills, and pikes. A later record shows us how completely, at the begin- ning of the Civil War, bow^ and arrow had ceased to be in vogue. The militia of the island then numbered nearly 2000 men, divided into fourteen companies. Of these, 1100 were armed with arquebuses, 196 with pikes, 10 with halberds, 297 were unarmed, 133 were officers, and 33 had charge of the culverins or small cannons. Not one of them carried bow and arrow. The reign of Henry VIII does not contribute any important chapter to our military history, but some of its events are too interesting to be passed over without notice. In June, 1512, a force of 1000 men, under the Marquis of Dorset, was despatched to Spain to co-operate with Kino- Ferdinand of Navarre in his invasion of France, but they accomplished nothing memorable, and according to a con- temporary authority,* were not likely to have done any credit to England's flag. ' The army,' he says, ' doeth earthly nothing, but feed and sleep ; they w^ere not practised how we should behave as in wars, as all other men do, and, as all that ever I read of have done, especially when the army is untrained, and hath not seen the feats of war.' In the following year an expedition of 25,000 men was sent to France in two divisions, in May and June respectively, carrying out the terms of an alliance against MILITARY SYSTEM IN REIGN OF HENRY VIII 9 France, which Henry VIII had concluded with the Emperor Maximilian and Pope Leo X. Henry's war minister was his Master-Almoner, Thomas Wolsey, then rapidly pushing his way towards a cardinal's hat and an archiepiscopal mitre. He had seen no service ; he had never handled a sword, or fired falconet or culverin; but such was the natural genius of the man, such his versatility and energy, that he organised the expedition in every branch with consummate success. ' Though holding no higher rank than Almoner, says Mr Brewer,* ' it is clear that the management of the war, in all its multifarious details, has fallen into his hands. He it is who determines the sum of money needful for the expedition, the line of march, the number and arrangement of the troops, even to the fashion of their armour, and the boarding of their horses. It is he who superintends the infinite details consequent on the ship- ment of a large army. . . . Ambassadors, admirals, generals, paymasters, pursers, secretaries, men of all grades, and in every sort of employment, crowd about him for advice and information. By the unconscious homage paid to genius in times of difficulty, he stands confessed as the master and guiding spirit of the age.' The two divisions, under Lords Shrewsbury and Hubert, had begun the investment of Terouenne, a strongly fortified town near the Flemish frontier, when Henry, with a splendid retinue, embarked at Dover ; and ' took leave of the Queen and of the ladies, which made such sorrow for the departing of their husbands that it was great dolour to behold.' Such sorrow was out of place, as the King and his courtiers went on a military promenade rather than on a serious campaign. For three weeks Henry delayed at Calais, exhibiting the splendours of his wardrobe, his ' garments of white cloth of gold, with a red cross,' and * Dr Knight, in letter to Wolsey ; Ellis's ' Original Letters,' 2nd series, i. 191. « J. S. Brewer, ' Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henrj- VIII,' i. xliv., xlv. II , to ENGLAND AT WAR surrounded by the archers of his guard, six hundred strong, looking very brilliant in their * white gaberdines.' This was the corps of Gentlemen Pensioners, which he established soon after his accession. He reached the camp before Terouenne on the 9th of August, and a few days later was joined by the Emperor Maximilian. There was much inter- change of courtesies between the two sovereigns, and Maxi- milian flattered the splendid young King of England by calling himself his soldier, and wearing the cross of St George and the red rose. On the 16th a large force of French men-at-arms advanced to the relief of Tournay. Maximilian, with his German horse and the English mounted archers, moved out against them, followed by Henry with the infantry. The collision took place near the town of Guinegate ; and at the first move, the French gendarmes, though superior in number to Maximilian's divi- sion, were panic-stricken, and fled from the field in con- fusion, leaving the illustrious Bayard, the knight sans peitr et sans reproche, and their chief officers, prisoners in the hands of the two royal allies. From the rapid flight of the French cavalry, this skirmish was epigrammatically named ' The Battle of the Spurs.'* Terouenne surrendereM^-«ii^«|'S^-i^-'i--s: 1 i; 12 ENGLAND AT WAR narrow field for any man to ascend up the said hill to him, and at the foot of the hill Jay all his ordnance. On the one side of his army lay a great marsh, and compassed with the hills of Cheviot, so that he lay too strong to be approached of any sMe, except the English would have temerariously run on his ordnance.' Surrey, to draw the King from his position, rapidly passed the Till— a tributary of tie Tweed, which ran between the two armies— and placed his host in the rear of the Scots, so as to cut off their communication with Scotland. He then ordered his van to seize the hill of Branksome on their flank, whereupon James set fire to his tents, [descended from the heights of Flodden, and in the open field drew out his rauks before the English. ' The English line stretched east and west, And southward were their faces set ; The Scottish northward proudly prest, And manfully their foes they met.' The English army was drawn up in four divisions : the centre, counnanded by Surrey in person ; the right wing, by his two sons, Thomas Howard, Admiral of England, and Sir Edward Howard, Knight-Marshal of the Army; the left wing, by Sir Edward Stanley ; and the reserve, composed chiefly of cavalry, by Lord Dacre. On the side of the Scotch, the left wing was under the Pearls of Home and Huntly ; the right, chiefly made up of Highlanders, under the Earls of Argyle and Lennox ; while James himself led the centre. The archers of Lancashire and Cheshire who formed the English left, quickly broke down the opposition of the Highlanders, ' Though there the western mountaineer Hushed with bare bosom on the spear. And flung the feeble targe aside, And with both hands the broadsword plied. 'Twas vain.' But the Scottish left attacked the two Howards with a MILITARY SYSTEM IN REIGN OF HENRY VIII 13 vigour which threw their ranks into disorder, and had not Lord Dacre brought up his men, the battle might there have gone against the English. Meanwhile, in the centre, tne light was most vehemently waged ; and James showed such a brilliancy of daring that it was with no small difficulty Surrey maintained his ground, until Stanley, flushed with his victory over the Highlanders, broke like a thunderbolt on the rear of the Scottish centre. Rather than survive defeat, James fought desperately to the last refusing quarter, and falling dead within a spear's length ot England's general. None of his division were made prisoners, they perished with their King. At nightfall, Surrey led back his victorious army weakened by the loss of seven thousand men. The Scots^ who had lost ten thousand, melted away under cover of th J darkness, not attempting to form again in military order. The flower of the Scottish nobility fell upon this fatal lield ; ' Scarce a family of eminence,' says Scott, ' but has an ancestor killed at Flodden,' and the blow was felt by Scotland for several generations. ' Their king, their lords, their mightiest low, They melted from the field— as snow, When streams are swoln, and sweet winds blow, Dissolves in silent dew. Tweed's echoes heard the ceaseless splash, While many a broken band, Disordered, through her currents dash, To gain the Scottish land ; To town and tower, to down and dale, To tell red Flodden's dismal tale, And raise the universal wail. Tradition, legend, tune, and song Shall many an age that wail prolong : Still from the sire the son shall hear Of the stern strife and carnage drear Of Flodden's fatal field, When shivered was fair Scotland's spear. And broken was her shield.' -si'^Sap^^^'^ffi^t^*^*?^!^!. , -^M)"'«l',''$W) i i 14 ENGLAND AT WAR 1. I ' By this overwhelming blow,' says Froude * ' the Scots were prostrated, and Henry VIII, returning from victory in France with an ample exchequer and the martial spirit of the English thoroughly roused, might with no great diflSculty have repeated the successes of Edward I. He could have overrun the Lowlands, have stormed or starved all the fortresses and placed southern garrisons in them, and thus have, for the time, provided one solution of the Scottish difficulty. But Henry profited by Edward's ultimate failures. He was aware that he might succeed for a time, but he was aware also that such success was really none ; and he took advantage of the depression of the nation which followed Flodden rather to conciliate their friendship by forbearance than to pursue his advantage by force. The dead King had left two sons — the eldest, James V, then but two years old, the second, an infant. In a Parliament, held after the battle, the widowed Queen Margaret was de- clared Regent ; the government was re-established without interference from England, yet indirectly under English influence, and by a judicious temperance at a critical time, the nucleus of a southern party was formed at the Court, which never after was wholly dissolved.' f * Froude iii, 348. t For a minute account of Flodden Field see the ' Archaeologia ^liaua,' new series, iii, 197 et sqq. CHAPTER II REIGN OF EDWARD VI Our historical record passes on to the reign of Edward VI, when war ao^ain broke out between the two nations, and the Duke of Somerset, the Lord Protector, crossed the Tweed with 14,000 foot, 4000 horse, and fifteen cannon, on Sunday, the 4th of September, 1547. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday he marched steadily forward along the coast, keeping touch, as it were, with the fleet under Lord Clinton, demolishing such small fortresses as lay in his route, but turninir neither to the rio-ht nor to the left. On Wednesday he passed by Dunbar, and on the same day the English ships sailed into the Firth of Forth. On Thursday he advanced over the ground where, fourteen years later, Queen Mary Stuart practised archery with Bothwell ten days after her husband's murder. ' The route lay along a ridge, with the sea on one side ; on the other, a low range of marshy meadows ; nothing happening of consequence on that day, except that an English officer, observing a party of the enemy hiding in a cave, stopped the opening, threw in fire, and smothered them. The march was short. Soon after the Protector had passed Prestonpans, famous also i6 ENGLAND AT WAR IN THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI I = I in Stuart history, he came in sight of the whole Scottish army, encamped on the slopes of Musselburgh, the English vessels lying in the Forth, just out of gunshot of their tents.' Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, Musselburgh, September 10, 1547 The battle which followed has been told by Mr Froude,* with a fulness and a picturesque energy which no one can hope to surpass ; we shall, therefore, adopt his narrative. *In numbers, the Scots almost doubled the English. The following morning Clinton sent boats on shore to communicate. Fifteen hundred Scotch cavalry, and a few hundred pikemen came out to cut off the landing party, and provoke a skirmish. Sir Ralph Bulwer and Lord Grey, with some companies of Italians in the English service, dashed forward to engage them, and after a sharp scuffle of three hours, the Scots were driven back. In these bloody combats neither party cared to encumber themselves with prisoners, except where there was a likelihood of ransom, and thirteen hundred bodies were left dead upon the ground. The Duke, when the skirmish was ended, rode forward to examine the enemy's position. The sea was on their left, on their right a deep impracticable marsh. Between the two armies ran the Esk, low, and half dry after the summer heat, but with high steep banks, and passable for horse or cannon only by a bridge, distant something less than a quarter-of-a-mile from the marsh. Across the bridge, from camp to camp, there ran a road twenty feet wide, enclosed between turf hedges, along which Somerset advanced with his escort. The Scots fired upon him, and killed the horse of an aide-de-camp at his side ; but he crossed the bridge, rode within two bowshots of the * Froude, iv, 291-294. 17 Scottish lines, and was returning at his leisure, when he was overtaken by a herald bringing him a challenge from the Earl of Huntly to light out the quarrel, either by themselves alone, or ten to ten, or twenty to twenty. ' The time was passing away when disputes of nations could be settled by duels. Somerset's courage was unim- peachable, but he refused : the Earl of Warwick offered to take his place, but it could not be; the herald retired, and as the night closed, the English artillery was ordered forward to command the road. The enemy's position was dangerously strong ; the morning would shew if there was a practicable mode of assaulting it ; but if the Scots had sat still to receive the attack, the defeat of Flodden mio-ht, perhaps, have been revenged at Musselburgh. As soon, however, as they had ascertained the extent of the force which the Protector had brought with him, confident in their numbers, their cause, and their enthusiasm, they began to think less of defeating the English than of preventing their escape. They persuaded themselves that, conscious of their inferiority, the invaders thought only of retreat, and that the fleet was in attendance to take them on board. When the day broke (September 10) Somerset found them already across the water, their tents thrown down that not a loiterer might remain concealed there; the main body covering the hills between himself and the land to the south, the four thousand Irish archers in front of him towards the sea. The latter, as soon as daylight permitted, were fired into from the ships, and were rapidly scattered. The Scots, on the other side, pushed on in force, intending, evidently, to seize the ridges in the rear, where they would have the advantage of ground, wind, and sun, and, if victorious, would destroy the entire English army. 'Their horse they had left behind them, their heavy guns they had dragged up by hand, and they were moving with the greatest speed that they could command ; but the Protector was in time to alter his dispositions, and secure VOL I B I* i8 ENGLAND AT WAR IN THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI 19 t I the hills immediately behind him. His cannon was brought back and placed to cover the ground over which the Scots would pass to attack the camp, and Grey, with the English horse, prepared to charge. The Earl of Angus, with the "Professors of the Gospel," the pikemen of the Lowlands, eight thousand strong, was leading ; Arran was behind on the low ground with ten thousand men ; and Huntly, with eight thousand Highlanders and the remains of the Irish, towards the stream, out of range of the fleet. On Angus the brunt of the battle was first to fall. He halted when he discovered that the English intended not to fly but to fight; but he could not fall back; the ground was un- favourable for cavalry— a wet fallow recently turned— and the pikemen formed to receive the charge, the first rank kneeling. Down upon them came Grey, with a heavy, plunging gallop, but the horses were without barbs, and the lances were shorter than the Scottish pikes. Down, as they closed, rolled fifty men and horses, amidst the crash of breaking spears. Grey himself was wounded in the mouth ; Sir Arthur Darcy's hand was disabled, and the English standard was saved only by the flight of the bearer. The men turned, reeled, scattered, and rallied only when Grey and Lord Edward Seymour fought back their way to them out of the melee. They might as well charge, they said, upon a wall of steel. * But the line of the Scots which the enemy could not break was broken by victory. As they saw the English fly, they rushed on in pursuit, and found themselves face to face with Warwick, the men-at-arms, and the Italian musketeers. Checked by the volleys of the matchlocks, and thrown into confusion, they were assailed next by the archers, and forced to cross the fire of the artillery ; and the cavalry once more forming, swept again upon their dis- ordered lines, and drove the struggling mass back upon their comrades. Ill-trained and undisciplined, the reserves were seized with panic ; Arran and Huntly turned bridle, and rode for their lives, and the whoops and yells of the Irish increased the terror ; there was no thought of fightino- more— it was only who could fly first and fly fastest. They flung away their arms ; swords, pikes, and lances strewed the ground where they had been drawn up, " as thick," it was said, "as rushes in a chamber." Some crept under the willow pollards in the meadows, and lay concealed like otters with their mouths above the water ; some made for Edinburgh ; some along the sands to Leith, under the fire of the fleet ; some up the riverside towards Dalkeith ; some lay as if dead, and let the chase pass by them.* The High- landers held together, and saved themselves with an orderly retreat ; but the crowd fell unresisting victims under the sabres of the avenging cavalry. It was a massacre more than a battle ; for, of the English, at most, not more than two hundred fell, and those chiefly at the first charge, under the lances of the pikemen ; the number of Scots killed was from ten to fourteen thousand. Fifteen hundred prisoners were taken, but in general no quarter was given. Gentle- men might have been spared for their ransoms ; but, for some unknown cause, the noble and the peasant were dressed alike in white leather or fustian— there was little to distinguish them— and they were cut down in indis- criminate heaps along the roads and fields to the very walls of Edinburgh. . . . When at last the retreat was sounded, and the pursuers, weary with killing, gathered again into their camp, they sent up a shout which legend said was heard in Edinburgh Castle.' Such was the Battle of Musselburgh, otherwise called Pinkie Cleugh or Slough— the last field in which England and Scotland as nations were arrayed against each other. * Dalzell, in his * Fragments of Scottish History,' prints the narrative of one Patten, a Londoner, who fought in the battle, and was an eye-witness of the slaughter that followed it. »' f III [ i i CHAPTER III IN THE REIGX OF ELIZABETH No glory attended the arms of England in the reign of Queen Mary.* So far as that of Elizabeth is concerned, the honours won by our seamen, by Hawkins and Drake and Frobisher, by Cavendish and Fenner, have bulked so largely in the eyes of posterity that the gallant deeds of our soldiers, of Sir Francis Vere, Sir John Norris, and Lord Grey of Wilton and many others, have escaped due atten- tion. In the time of Mary was consummated that great change in the art of war which had been in operation since the close of the War of the Roses, and was due partly to- the break-up of the feudal system, and partly to the intro- duction of firearms. The English peasantry had ceased from the exercise of bow and bill, but had not been accustomed in their stead to the use of arquebus and pistol. When Elizabeth ascended the throne she found * On the contrary they were sullied with ilefeat at Calais, which was captured by the French on the 20th January, 1558. IN THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 21 the country without any adequate means of defence. Its ancient organisation had everywhere broken down. From Falmouth to Berwick the fortresses were half in ruins, dismantled, and ungarrisoned. The arsenals were empty, the population was without training, and had lost the military spirit. In an address to the Council (December, 1558), the distresses of the Commonwealth are told with forcible frankness : — ' The wars,' says the petitioners, ' have consumed our captains, men, money, victuals, and have lost Calais. The axe and the gallows have taken away some of our captains. It is necessary that in every shire, at the town's charge, there might be discipline and exercise to prepare and form the rude men into captains and soldiers, to serve in case of need. All other plagues that before and since the death of good King Edward have happened unto us, have been in respect tolerable, and as it were but preludes of one great and grievous plague to come. The loss of Calais is the be- ginning of the same great plague, for it has introduced the French King within the threshold of our home ; so as now or else never your honours must bestir you and meet with this mischief. Else, if God start not forth to the helm, we be at the point of greatest misery that can happen to any people, which is to become thrall to a foreign nation.' When Elizabeth, in 1560, gave her support to the Scottish reformers, she was able to place under Lord Grey's command an army of 6000 foot and 2000 horse, which crossed the border and marched upon Leith, then held by a French garrison in the interest of the Queen Regent. The siege was closely pressed, but the French offered so gallant a resistance that it lingered on for several months, nor did they surrender until famine dogged their footsteps. ' All this time,' says Hayward, ' the English army was well furnished with victuals from all parts of Scotland, and that upon very easy prices. But the French were so straitly girt up within Leith, that no supplies were brought into them. II K ■ : 1 1 if » u 22 ENGLAND AT WAR Whereupon they grew very short in strength of arm, and no less in provision of food for those men which they had ; the one happening to them by the force of their enemies, the other, either by disability or negligence of their friends : so, their old store being spent, they were enforced to make use of everything out of which hunger was able to draw nourishment. The flesh of horses was then more dainty than ever they esteemed venison before ; dof^s, cats, and vermin of more vile nature were highly prized ; vines were stripped of their leaves and tender stalks ; srass and 7 ^5 weeds were picked up, and being well seasoned with huncrer. were reputed among them for dainties and delicate dishes.' This brief spasm of warfare was terminated by the treaty of peace concluded at Edinburgh on the 6th of July. Ireland proved to Elizabeth, as it has proved to her successors, a chronic difficulty, and a considerable armed force was at different times employed in putting down rebellion. For three or four years an army of 20,000 men was maintained there, at a cost of not less than £800,000 per annum*— an expenditure which Elizabeth's depleted treasury could ill aflbrd. It was not a war, however, in which England gained any military repute, and the engage- ments between her troops and the wild Irish kernes do not call for detailed notice. Military assistance was given, somewhat grudgingly, it must be confessed, to the brave patriots of HoHand in^ their long struggle against the tyranny of Spain, and this led to the one memorable battle which shed a lustre on the arms of England during Elizabeth's reign. In 1585 it was of vital importance to England that the power of Philip of Spain should be weakened by en- couraging the cause of independence and religious freedom in the United Provinces. The assassination of William the Silent, Prince of Orange, by the fanatic, Balthazar Gerard, IN TEE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 23 who was incited to the act by the reward which Philip had set on his great enemy's head, awakened a passionate indignation in the heart of England, which prevailed over Elizabeth's policy of parsimony and caution. She was reluctant to engage in the war in the Netherlands on many grounds, and specially because she regarded it as treason against the rights of the crown to support a people in revolt against their sovereign, but she was com- pelled to yield and give her sanction to an expe- dition. It was strongly supported by Lord Burleigh, who, writing to the Earl of Leicester, upon whom the military command had been bestowed, says, with more emphasis than that wary statesman often employed,* ' For the avancement of the action, if I should not with all the powers of my heart continually both wish and work avance- ment thereto, I were to be an accursed person in the sight of God ; considering the ends of this action tend to the glory of God, to the safety of the Queen's person, to the preservation of this realm in a perpetual quietness.' But the expedition of which so much was hoped accomplished little more than to illuminate our English history with one of those heroic deeds which tend to ennoble and purify the character of a people. It did nothing for the reputation of its leader, but it crowned with undying fame the memory of Sir Philip Sidney. Leicester, indeed, was without military capacity, and a better soldier than he might have failed when pitted against the Prince of Parma, the greatest captain of his time. He never struck a blow until it was too late ; he was unable to profit by the occasional successes of his lieutenants ; he lost fortress after fortress, and if he gained here and there an advantage, it was attended with no permanent result. His raw levies, when brought into action, fought with a courage worthy of their ancestors. Naunton, ' Fragmenta Regalia,' pp. 88 et sqq. * See the minute and interesting narrative in Mr Lothrop Motley's most valuable * History of the Unite Netherlands.' 24 ENGLAND AT WAIi IN THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 25 ! i i i II but they were not held together by any firm discipline, and half-starved and badly clothed, they deserted by scores and hundreds. The campaign closed in failure, if not in disgrace. Battle of Zutphen, September 22, 1586 No one more earnestly deprecated the mismanagement of the expedition than Sir Philip Sydney, who in November 1586, had been appointed Governor of Flushing, with the rank of General of the Horse. He was the nephew of the Earl of Leicester, and between him and his uncle arose an active correspondence, in wliich he vehemently denounced the ill conduct of the war, and the ijjnorance and incom- petency with which the bravery and endurance of the English soldiers was wasted. He was not less frank and earnest in his remonstrances with Elizabeth and her ministers ; warmly complaining that his troops were badly clotlied, badly fed, and badly paid.* The year 1585 was spent in marches and countermarches which availed nothing, in attempts unwisely planned and ineffectively carried out. In the following year Sydney justified his high repute by his brilliant surprise of Axil, and by his valour and presence of mind at Gravelines. Joining Leicester's army as a volunteer, he took part in the siege of Doesburg, a fortified town on the road to Zutphen. Doesburg quickly surrendered, and Leicester then advanced upon Zutphen, a fort of much greater importance. The Prince of Parma at once prepared to send a large convoy of stores and pro- « A correspondent of "VValsingliam's writes to him, — ' Most part of the bands that came over in August and September are more than half wasted, dead, and gone, and many that remain are sick, lame, and shrewdly enfeebled. Of our own soldiers many be paid with earth in their graves, the rest so discontented that, if pay come not speedily before they may be drawn to deal with the enemy, I doubt some ill adventure. ' Lord North writes, — ' The havock which has been made of the soldiers first sent over is lamentable.' — Froude, xii, .55. visions to its relief, which Sir William Stanley and Sir John Morris, with 500 troopers and pikemen, were ordered to intercept. The prospect of adventure was so pleasing to the bold spirits of the English army that about fifty of them, including Sir Philip Sidney and his brother Robert, the Earl of Surrey, Sir William Russell, and others, secretly stole out of their quarters and joined Stanley and Morris's detachment. A cold dense fog prevailed, but our troopers rode on merrily, until a sudden break in the clouds revealed to them some 3000 Spaniards posted on either side of the causeway, near Wansfeld. Involved in this dangerous ambush, the Englishmen had no resource but to clear a path with sword and spear, and they laid about them so vigor- ously, that the Spanish cavalry were fain to seek shelter behind the serried array of their pikemen, against whom our warriors made a succession of desperate charges ; but each time they broke through the ranks, those ranks w^ere re-formed with fresh troops, and a heavy fire of musketry rolled incessantly over the field. Sooth to say, Sidney had no right to be mingling in this bloody quarrel. His squadron lay at Deventer, and it was only that romantic courage of his which bordered upon recklessness that had brought him thither. He was not even half-armed, but like a true Paladin of old, spurred, in his daily undress, into the sharp contention. His horse was shot under him. He mounted another, and was gallopping forward, when he was hit in the thigh by a musket-shot, a little above the knee, shattering the bone, and cruelly tear- ing the flesh. He was fain to have continued his charge, but found himself unable to control his horse. Slowly, therefore, and in terrible pain, which he struggled to con- ceal, he returned to the English entrenchments. As he rode along, the incident immortally associated with his name occurred. ' Being thirsty,' writes Lord Brooke, ' with excess of bleeding, he called for drink, which was presently 26 ENGLAND AT WAR IN THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 27 1 I brought to him, but as he was putting the bottle to his mouth, he saw a foot soldier carried alonor, who had eaten his last at the same feast, ghastly easting up his eyes at the bottle, which Sir Philip perceiving, took it from his head before he drank, and delivered it to the poor man, with these words : " Thy necessity is yet greater than mine." He afterwards pledged the soldier in what remained of the refreshinof drauofht.' Continuing on his way, he met his uncle Leicester, who was advancing to the scene of action with a considerable reinforcement. ' Oh, Philip ! ' exclaimed the Earl, ' I am sorry to see thy hurt,' ' Oh, my Lord ! ' replied Sidney, ' this have I done to do you honour, and Her Majesty some service.' When he reached the camp, Sir William Russell, observing his sad condition, burst into tears, and sicrhed — * Oh, noble Sir Philip ! there was never man attained hurt more honourably than you have done, nor any sword like unto you.' Sidney, in the submissive spirit of a Christian, replied, ' God directed the bullet ' ; and desired the soldiers to examine his wound at once, while he had strength to bear the pain. They set the bone, but were .unable to extract the bullet. He was then conveyed in Leicester's own barge to Arnheim on the Rhine, where he was joined by his loving wife, whose tender watchfulness soothed his pain, and cheered his dying hours. Yes ; his dying hours, for, from the first, only very faint hopes of his recovery were entertained. By the people of England, his grave illness was regarded with deep anxiety. The Queen wrote to him with her own hand, and desired that reports of his condition should be forwarded to her every day. His uncle and his comrades waited upon him assiduously, and would fain have persuaded themselves that there was no real danger of their losing their beloved friend. Sidney himself was not to be deceived. He knew that he was dying; and calling around him the Dutch and English chaplains who ministered in the camp, made an open profession of his Christian belief. He invited them to pray with him ; but expressed a wish to lead the devotions, because, he said, the secret sins of his heart were best known to himself, and he, therefore, was best instructed how to plead his cause before his Saviour. He much bewailed what seemed to him the vanity of his past life, and had even some prickings of conscience because he had written his romance of ' Arcadia.' Then he made his will. ' I, Sir Philip Sidney, knight, sore wounded in body, but whole in mind, all praises to God, do make this my last will and testament in manner and form following.' He bequeathed half his property to his wife ; to his daughter and only child, 4000 crowns, to be invested for her benefit, but not to be put to usury, and he desired that his debts should be faithfully discharged. The remainder of his property was left to his brother. His thoughts then turned to his old and favourite pursuit, and he wrote a lyric upon his wound, of which nothing but the title, ' La Cuisse Rompue,' has been preserved. His sufferings, meanwhile, were terrible. From lying so long in bed, his skin was completely worn by the shoulder blades, nor did the pain decrease until morti- fication set in, which he composedly recognised as a certain sign of approaching death. ' I fear not to die,' he said ; ' but I am afraid lest the pangs of death may be so grievous that I shall lose my understanding.' On the 17th of October it was evident that he was dying, and he took a last farewell of his friends and kins- men. To his brother he said, as he bade him adieu,— * Love my memory ; cherish my friends ; their faith to me may assure you they are honest; but, above all, govern your will and affections by the will and word of your Creator, in one beholding the end of this world with all her vanities.' These were his last words. He soon afterwards fell into so deep a calm that his attendants, William Temple, 28 ENGLAND AT WAR his secretary, and Gifford, one of his uncle Leicester's chap- lains, thought him insensible. Gifford, bending over him, tenderly said, — ' Sir, if you hear what I say, let us by some means know it ; and if you have still your inward joy and consolation in God, hold up your hand.' At these words Sidney lifted up his hand, and like a hero in the moment of victory, raised it over his head exultantly. Then he folded palm in palm, placing them together on his breast in an attitude of prayer, like those old crusaders whom in our churches we see in monumental show recumbent on their ancient tombs. And this position they maintained until they grew cold and rigid. It was on the 18th of October that Sir Philip Sidney died. Six weeks more and he would have completed his thirty-second year. His body was removed from Arnheim to Flushing, and thence across the seas to the England he had loved so well. After lying in state for nearly four months, it was interred in St Paul's Cathedral, on the 16th of February, 1587. The funeral procession was headed by thirty-two poor men, answering to the years of his age. Then came a company of his friends, including Sir Francis Drake. No part of the melancholy but picturesque ceremonial which usually attends a soldier to his grave was wanting. One page led the dead knight's horse ; another bore his broken lance. Five heralds carried severally his gilt spurs of knighthood, his gauntlets, his helmet and crest, his shield, and his coat-of-arms. The pall was upheld by four young men, the dearest of his friends, who were followed by his brother, Robert Sidney, as chief mourner. Knights and nobles helped to swell the procession. The Seven United Provinces of Holland were each represented. So was the city of London by its Lord Mayor and Aldermen ; and the mournful train was closed up by a large body of musketeers, pikemen, and halberdiers. IN THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 29 Defence of the Country At various times during the reign of Elizabeth measures were projected for strengthening the national defences, and guarding the shores of England against invasion. In 1573 a commission was issued, directed to the Justices of the Peace, ' for general musters and training of all manner of persons liable for the wars, to serve as well on horseback as on foot.' But as the training and exercise of a multitude of people might seem costly and chargeable, and it might not be necessary in many places to arm and equip all the able-bodied, discretion was given to the commissioners to determine what might be a sufficient quota, meet to be * sorted in bands ' — here we have the origin of the trained bands, who afterwards played so conspicuous a part — and to be trained and exercised in such sort as might reason- ably be borne by a common charge of the whole country. In the sorting of these bands care was to be taken that in every hundred footmen there should be at least forty arquebusiers and twenty archers. Public games and matches were to be encouraged, so that the archers might be men of strength, and, therefore, the better able to shoot with the long bow. Attention was to be given to the provision of horses and horsemen, ' one of the best strengths to be required for the defence of the realm, and that which is thought to be most decayed and imperfect, and most necessarily to be increased.' Sir Henry Ellis reprints* a set of Instructions addressed to the Earl of Bedford, as Lord-Lieutenant of the South- western District, which we shall here transcribe (abridged) : — * Because at this present Her Majesty is specially occasioned, by reason of the doubtful proceedings of the * Archaeologia, xxxv. i\^ i i I 30 ENGLAND AT WAR French, many manner of ways, to the annoyance and danger of this realm, to put the same, with all speed, in good order for defence thereof, and specially all parties thereof lying upon the sea-coasts, against attempts or invasions as may be made. Therefore Her Majesty required the earl immediately, with all speed, upon the receipt hereof, to renew such good orders as by him were the last year taken upon musters for the putting of the whole force of both the said counties in such a readiness of all men for horsemen and footmen, and for cannon, horse, weapons, and other necessary furniture, as the same may, by the direction of Her Majesty, or of the earl, best and most readily serve for the defence of any sudden attempt. 'Item. Besides the lack of furniture of armour. Her Majesty also perceiveth that in the whole realm there is lack of men exercised and trained in feats of war, either to wear their armour, to use their weapons, to march in order, to do such things as be requisite. Therefore Her Majesty, by advice of the Council, will address certain honest, chosen captains, having knowledge, into divers shires, to be at the musters, and there to teach and train the people, as seemeth most convenient to be upon every holiday, in the afternoon, for two or three months' space. ' Item. Because the counties of Devon and Cornwall lie upon the sea coast, and on the part of the sea both adjoin- ing the counties of Wiltshire, Somerset, and Gloucester, to have good regard to give succours as need shall require to the aid of the said counties of Devon and Cornwall, and that also the south part of Wales shall do the semblable towards Cornwall upon any dangerous attempt upon the coasts, wherefore Her Majesty thinketh best that the said lieutenant or the justices that be borderers shall confer, etc., as to measures. * The armour is to be seen and worn upon the backs of the persons that shall wear them, and made fit for them ; where any lack armour that ought to have it, they IN THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 31 be commanded to provide it by a reasonable day, and that they be informed that they shall have the same of the Queen's Majestie's store upon reasonable prices, as set forth below. 'Finally, Her Majesty require th her said lieutenant the care and government of her said counties and city, to be preserved both in quiet from danger of mutinies and rebellions, and from offence of the enemies. ' The price of armour and artillery : — * The armour for a demi-lance • • » hiijs nijd A corslet » • • • XXX8 A currier (a fire-arm like an arquebus, but with a longer barrel) xvjs viijd Arquebus, complete • • • xnis Dagg, complete xvj» viijd A bow of yew ijs vjd Livery arms and shaft . xxijd Morris pike . • • A demi-lance staff iij« mjd A nortliern staff . ijs vjd A black bill . XVJd A halberd vjs viijd A morion vjs viijd Almaine rivet XS Sculler, the piece . '1 vijd • Item. Where we are given to understand of great preparation that the King of Spain maketh by sea to raid into the Low Countries, we think it good providence, in respect as some unkindness that hath passed between us, to be careful for the conservation of our realm from all sudden invasion ; and therefore we will, that with all speed you take order for the defence of our said counties and * In Elizabeth's reign money was about six times its present value. \\i^ I r ' 32 E KG LAND AT WAR IN THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 33 i city, especially those parts thereof lying upon the sea coasts, which be most subject to the dangerous attempts of foreign enemies.' The preparations for the invasion of England by the Spanish Armada, necessarily gave a great stimulus to defensive measures ; but they were by no means on an adequate scale to meet so colossal a danger, and our raw levies, hastily got together, could never have withstood the progress of Parma's veterans. On the 10th of February, 1587, orders were sent out to the authorities of each county, requiring — that the levies should be put in array and in readiness at their different stations ; that convenient places should be assigned to five 'general-captains,' who were made answerable for the effective numbers of 500 each, and to two additional captains for 250, making, in the whole, a band or regiment of 3000 foot, to be reviewed and exer- cised, and in readiness to go on service, on the sea-coasts, under the orders of the general commander of the coast, to be afterwards named by Her Majesty; that the five captains should likewise muster the bands of horsemen, to be divided into bands of fifty for each cornet, and appoint places of muster for the same ; that the whole might be returned, in good muster-rolls, as ready for service, and exercised at least twenty-five at a time, to qualify them for duty ; that a survey of the places where the enemy might land should be taken, and means provided speedily to convey, under proper leaders, the forces to resist him, and directions given to raise ramparts, not only against his landing, but also against his progress in the country; that a proper number of pioneers should be raised to act on this duty ; that every justice of the peace, being of quorum, should furnish two horsemen, and any other justice one ; that the towns, with the counties, should provide the necessary store of ammunition at a reasonable price ; that beacons should be erected on the sea-coast, and men placed near them to watch the motions of the enemy's ships ; and that posts (messengers) should be in readiness to carry in- formation of his approach ; and that each band of 500 foot- men should be formed into a regiment, attended by 700 horsemen, besides the horsemen furnished by the justices of the peace, the whole properly arrayed and in good order, to withstand any attempt that the enemy may make to land or to advance. The whole military force which these arrangements were intended to provide was 87,281 foot and horse for England, and 45,208 for Wales ; in all, 132,489, exclusive of those to be supplied by the city of London. This force was to furnish three corps d' armee: the first, of 22,000 foot and 2000 horse, under the Earl of Leicester, was to be encamped at Tilbury, to cover the capital ; the second, of 36,319 men, under Lord Hunsden, was assigned for the de- fence of the Queen's person, and, at the first note of alarm, was to assemble between Windsor and Harrow; and a third, 34,350 strong, was held ready to move on any point of the south coast where the enemy might attempt a landing. A reserve of 21,172 men, besides 10,000 Londoners, would act when and where circumstances might require. ' The general plan of operations laid down appears to have been to attack the enemy on the sea-shore; but should the resistance made prove ineffectual, the troops were to retreat, to dispute every inch of ground, till joined by reinforcements from the neighbouring counties, then hang on the enemy's rear, if he took his direction either to London or advanced elsewhere into the interior of the Kingdom.* Happily the efficiency of these measures and the value of our undisciplined levies, were never put to the test. What is certain is that there was no want of patriotic spirit ; that England's sons would have fought for England as bravely and devotedly as their forefathers fought at Orecy or at Agincourt. The Lords of the Council called upon London VOL I * Sir Sibbald Scott, i, 375 34 ENGLAND AT WAR to furnish five thousand men and fifteen ships. ' The city/ says Stow, ' asked two days respite for an answer, which was crranted ; and then entreated their lordships, in sign ot their^'perfect love and loyalty to their Queen and country, kindly to accept ten thousand men and thirty ships aniply furnished.' The trained hands obeyed the summons of their Oueen with prompt enthusiasm. ' It was a pleasant sight' we are told, 'to behold the soldiers as they marched towards Tilbury, their cheerful countenances, courageous words and gestures, dancing and leaping wheresoever they came.' Catholics were as loyal as Protestants ; the impulse of patriotism prevailed over the prejudice ot reli-ion. Yet granting all this, we believe that sober thinkers will be of Raleigh's opinion, as he gives expression to it in his ' History of the World.'* ' That the best way is to keep our enemies from treading upon our ground, wherein, if we fail, then must we seek to make him wish that he had stayed at his own home . . . Although the Encrlish will no less disdain than any nation under Heaven can do, to be beaten upon their own ground or elsewhere by a foreign enemy ; yet to entertain those that shall assail us with their own beef in their bellies, and before they eat of our Kentish capons, I take it to be the wisest way. To do which His Majesty, after God, will employ his good ships on the sea, and not trust to any entrenchment upon the shore.' 'Raleigh's History of the World,' vol. v, c. 1, 29. CHAPTER IV IN THE REIGN OF JAMES I The military historian finds little to record in the reign of James I. In 1620, however, he resolved to make an effort, in conjunction with the Protestant princes of Ger- manj^ to defend the rights of his son-in-law, Frederick, the Elector Palatine, and for a brief space King of Bohemia; and in council appointed a Committee, — con- sisting of the Earls of Oxford, Essex, and Leicester, Lords Wilmot, Danvers, and Caulfield, Sir Edward Cecil, Sir Richard Morrison, and Captain John Bingham, — to report upon the men, supplies, shipping, and money the projected expedition would require. They advised (February 11, 1620J the employment of 25,000 foot, 5000 horse, and twenty pieces of artillery, and furnished the following estimate of cost : — For raising the said 25,000 foot, for their apparel and arms, viz., 20,000 pikes and muskets, at £3, 10s a man, and 5000 calivers, at £3, 6s a man, £77,836 8 t i> i ft i ; t I 36 ENGLAND AT WAR The charge of raising 5000 horse, viz., 3500 cuirassTers, at £30 a-piece, and 1500 carbineers, at £20 a-piece, The charge of transporting of 25,000 pikemen to the most convenient places of landing in the river of Maize (Meuse), and of the States in the Low Countries for lending their soldiers in the like expedition, at 4s the man, The charge of transporting 5000 horsemen to the same place, at 18s a-piece for horse and man, 126,900 5,000 4,500 The Committee also gave full particulars of the charges, pay, and allowances of the officers and soldiers, and other expenses, amounting to a total which, we suppose, alarmed King James, since he abandoned the idea of an army, and desp'atched to the seat of war only a single regiment— which, however, was 2200 strong. It was commanded by Sir Horatio Vere (afterwards Lord Tilbury), whose repu- tation, as the ablest captain of the day, was such, that the foremost of the young nobility of England pressed forward for the honour of serving under him.* The little force, whose payment was defrayed by voluntary contributions, embarked for Holland on the 22nd of July. Veres volunteers behaved with great gallantry; but the Protestant forces were outnumbered by the Imperialists, and could achieve no decisive success. The English, according to Camden, suffered severely from the German winter ; and on one occasion the frost was so violent that they broke up * ' Amongst the officers who took service under Vere were to be found the dissolute and reckless Earl of Oxford, fresh from his dissipations at Venice, and the sturdy, half-I*uritan, Earl of Essex. In this enterprise there was room alike for the spirit, which twenty years afterwards animated the Parliamentary bands, and for the spirit which inspired the troopers who followed Rupert to the charge.'— 8. R. Gardiner, 'History of England from the Accession of James I. to the Outbreak of the Civil War.' ! IN THE REIGN OF JAMES I 37 and burned a great many of their waggons for fuel, and the soldiers lay huddled up together upon the ground like sheep, ' covered, as it were, with a sheet of snow.' After- wards the regiment went into winter quarters at Mannheim, Frankenthall, and Heidelberg. In the following year, Vere was appointed by the Elector Frederick to the conniiand of his army in the Palatinate. In 1G24, James, having quarrelled with Spain, was induced to tender some slight aid to the Dutch, who, under Prince Maurice of Nassau, were still engaged in their gallant struggle to throw off the Spanish yoke. A force of GOOO men was levied for this purpose and despatched to the Netherlands. He afterwards entered into a compact with France to undertake the recovery of the Palatinate and the Valtelline ; and entered upon the necessary preparations with some degree of earnestness. An army of 12,000 foot and 200 horse was levied * by press,' and placed under the command of Count Mansfeld, a daring but unscrupulous adventurer. It was marshalled in six regiments, under the Earl of Lincoln, Lord Doncaster, Lord Cromwell, Sir Charles Rich, Sir Andrew Grey, and Sir John Burrough. The rendezvous was Dover. But the men, pressed against their will, had little stomach for the service ; and the county -ether, and Buckingham took the chief command. His instructions were to maintain the English dominion of the seas, and relieve Rochelle. With a hundred ships, carrying 6000 foot and 100 horse, he sailed from Stokes Bay on the 27th of June. No enemy appeared, and Buckingham could not fulfil the first part of his instructions, to sweep the French and Spanish from the seas, for the same reason that the audience in Sheridan's ' Critic ' cannot see the Spanish fleet— because they were not in sight. Nay, a contem- porary versifier saw in this a reason for declaring that Charles I was superior to Edward III and Elizabeth : — ) ' p IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES I 43 * I saw third Edward stain my flood By Kings with slaughtered Frenchmen's blood : And from Eliza's fleet I saw the vanquished Spaniards fly. But 'twas a greater mastery No foe at all to meet ; When they, without their ruin or dispute, Confess thy reign as sweet as absolute.' On the evening of July 10th, Buckingham cast anchor ofi* St Martin's, the principal town of the island of Rhe, the forts of which held in check the commerce of Rochelle. He landed his troops on the 12th, though not w^ithout loss, and on the 17th laid siege to St Martin's. By the middle of August the works of investment had been completed ; but the French garrison maintained a sturdy resistance, and Buckingham soon discovered that he had undertaken a task beyond the means of his rapidly wasting little army. He was wanting neither in courage nor intelligence; but he had no military capability, and could not cope with the difficulties of his position. In fairness, it must be said, that, with some of these, a greater commander might not have coped successfully. He asked for reinforcements, but none were sent. His men were deplorably straitened for provisions, and he had no money with which to purchase supplies. His officers were disaffected and insubordinate. The condition of aff'airs was thus painted by Sir Edward Conway in mid-September: 'The army grows every day weaker ; our victuals waste, our purses are empty, ammuni- tion consumes, winter grows, our enemies increase in number and power; we have nothing from England.' A month later, and things had gone from bad to worse. The weather was cold and wet ; and the men, half -starved and in rao-s, suffered grievously in the trenches. The officers were ' looking themselves blind ' by sweeping the horizon with their telescopes for the first signs of reinforcements from England, as in the old days of the Greek republics the soldiers of Nicias gazed across the Sicilian sea for the 44 ENGLAND AT WAR expected triremes of Demosthenes. But the reinforcements came not, and on the 27th of October Buckingham gave orders that the citadel should be stormed. After suffering a heavy carnage, he was compelled to recall his men;* and on the 8th of November he re-embarked his army, though not without a sharp attack from the French, in which he sustained cruel loss. The siege had probably cost the lives of nearly 4000 men. At all events, on the 20th of October, the muster roll showed 6884 soldiers drawing pay; when the fleet arrived at Portsmouth and Plymouth, their numbers had sunk to 2989. The English public, with grim humour, called the Isle of Rhe, which had swallowed up so many lives, the ' Isle of Rue.' ' Everyman knows,' wrote Denzil Holies, ' that since England was England it received not so dishonourable a blow. Four colonels slain, and, besides the colours lost, thirty-two taken by the enemy.' All the fault cannot justly be imputed to Buckingham. Colonel Crosby, who served in the expedition, says : — t' It is not to be doubted that the Duke had both courage, munificence, and industry enough, together with many other excellent parts, which in time would make him a renowned General. But his prime officers undervaluing his directions because of his inexperience, and taking a boldness in regard of his levity to delinquents, did not only fail to co-operate with him, but by giving out that he cared to expose them all for his own vainglory, had infused into a great part of the army a mutinous disposition, inasmuch as whatsoever was directed touching our longer abode, or any attempt to be made upon the enemy, was either cried down. IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES I 45 or so slowly and negligently executed as it took none effect.' 'LA In the following year another expedition was projected, and Buckinoham went down to Portsmouth to hasten its equipment. " There, on the 23rd of August, his brilliant career was cut short by the knife of Felton. * ' The retreat,' says Lord Clarendon, * had been a rout without an enemy, and the French had their revenge by the disorder and confusion of the English themselves, in which great numbers of noble and ignoble were crowded to death or drowned.' t S. R. Gardiner, vi, 199 (cit. State Papers, Domestic, Ixxxiv, 78.) i i i *< * ll f ii CHAPTER VI CROMWELL'S CAMPAIGN IN SCOTLAND Negotations between Charles II and the Presbyterian rulers of Scotland resulted in the young king's acceptance, in 1650, of all the conditions they sought to enforce. He swore to be faithful to the Covenant, and submit himself to the counsel of the Parliament and the Church, to prohibit the exercise of the Catholic religion in all parts of his do- minions. In truth, he consented to everything, with the secret resolve of denying everything when once firmly established on the throne. He w^as then invited to repair to Scotland ; and escaping some danger from the cruisers of the Common- wealth, he arrived at the mouth of the Spey on the 3rd of July. Before he was allowed to land, he ' signed both the Covenants, National and Solemn, and had notable sermons and exhortations made unto him by the ministers to per- severe therein.' By waj- of Aberdeen he went on to the Earl Marshal's fortress at Dunnottar, and thence by Dundee and St Andrews to Falkland Palace. This royal progress alarmed the Council of State at Whitehall, and it was determined to stop it by force of arms. The command of the expedition organised for this purpose having been re- CROMWELUS CAMPAIGN IX SCOTLAND 47 fused by Fairfax, it was given to Cromwell, who, with 16,000 men, veteran soldiers, strong in cavalry and artillery, crossed the Tweed on the 16th of July. The terror of his name went before him ; and the country as he advanced was abandoned by the peasantry, who feared he might lay as heavy a hand upon them as he had laid upon the Irish. He kept therefore along the coast, in order to obtain supplies from the English fleet. The Scotch might have checked him at Cockburnspath and the other deep gorges which run from the sea up into the heart of the wild Lammermuirs — positions where, as Cromwell pithily said, ' ten men to hinder is better than fifty men to make' — but he pushed forward with a rapidity which anticipated them. On the 26th he reached Dunbar, where he struck inland to Haddington, and round a low range of hills to Musselburgh, a small fisher-town on the Forth, six miles from Edinburgh. There he found the Scots, under Leslie, in front of him, their entrenched line extending from the Firth near Leith, across the heights of Hermitage Hill, Hawkhill, Restalrig, the Calton, and Salisbury Crags, to Edinburgh Castle. The position was formidably strong, and Cromwell in vain endeavoured to draw Leslie from it. That wary and experienced captain refused every challenge, trusting that want of provisions would compel Cromwell to submit, or to force his way back, with the certainty that retreat would cost him half his army. There were some affairs of outposts, one of which, on the occasion of Cromwell's retiring to his head-quarters at Musselburgh, he himself describes :— ' We came to Mussel- burgh that night, so tired and wearied for want of sleep, and so dirty by reason of the wetness of the weather, that we expected that the enemy would make an onfall upon us ; which, accordingly they did between three and four of the clock this morning, with fifteen of their most select troops, under the command of Major-General Montgomery and Strachan, two champions of the Church, upon which h ' 48 ENGLAND AT WAR business there was great hope and expectation laid. The enemy came on with a great deal of resolution, beat in our guards, and put a regiment of horse in some disorder ; but our men, speedily taking the alarm, charged the enemy, routed them, took many prisoners, killed a great many of them, did execution to within a quarter of a mile of Edin- burgh. . . . This is a sweet beginning of your business, or rather the Lord's, and I believe is not very satisfactory to the enemy, especially the Kirk party. ... I did not think advisable to attempt upon the enemy, lying as he doth ; but seeing this would sufficiently provoke him to fight if he had a mind to it. I do not think he is less than six or seven thousand horse and fourteen or fifteen thousand foot. The reason I hear that they give out to their people why they do not fight us, is because they expect many bodies of men out of the north of Scotland, which, when they come, they give out they will then engage. But I believe they would rather tempt us to attempt them in their fast- ness, within which they are intrenched, or else hoping we shall perish for want of provisions, which is very likely to be, if we be not timely and fully supplied.' On another occasion, as they retired towards the camp at Musselburgh, ' the enemy perceiving it,'— for, from his elevated position, Leslie could watch at his leisure the various movements of Cromwell's army,— ' and, as we conceive, fearing we might interpose between them and Edinburgh, though ,it was not our intention, albeit, it seemed so by our march, retreated back again with all haste, having a bog and pass between them and us That night we quartered within a mile of Edinburgh and the enemy. It was a most tempestuous night and wet morning. The enemy marched in the night between Leith and Edinburgh, to interpose between us and our victual, they knowing that it was spent. But the Lord in mercy prevented it. And perceiving in the morning, got time enouf^h, through the goodness of the Lord, to the seaside to .1 * V CROMWELL'S CAMPAIGN IN SCOTLAND 49 re- victual, the enemy being drawn up upon the hill near Arthur Seat, looking upon us but not attempting anything.* For upwards of a month the two armies continued to face each other, Leslie clinging staunchly to his defences, and Cromwell beginning to suflTer from want of provisions. On the 18th of August, he suddenly turned the flank of the Scots, and posted himself on the slopes of the Pent- lands in their rear, in the hope of forcinor them to fio-ht by cutting off their supplies. 'The gude wives fled with their bairns and gear,' and when the English soldiers set fire to the furze bushes, falsely reported that they were burning the houses. But Leslie made no other movement than to bring over his guns to the western side of Edin- burgh, and still kept close within his fastness. Nothino- would tempt him into the field. 'We march,' as Carlyle puts it, ' with defiant circumstance of war, round all acces- sible sides of Edinburgh ; encamp on the Pentlands, return to Musselburgh for provisions; go to the Pentlands again> enjoy one of the beautifullest prospects, over deep blue seas, over yellow cornfields, dusky Highland mountains, from Ben Lomond round to the Bass again ; but can get no battle.' The weather was broken, and the autumn equinox with its stormy days and nights approaching. On the 31st of August Cromwell suddenly retreated to Dunbar, where he had command of the sea for munitions and pro- visions, and for the transport of his troops if sufficient shipping could be brought up. Leslie immediately let loose his men, and marched with so much agility that his vanguard reached Prestonpans before the English van was completely out of it. Throughout that day, and throughout Sunday, the 1st of September, Leslie pressed the pursuit closely, and on Monday night, occupied the hills that dominate Dunbar and its little harbour, so as to hem in the English army between his lines and the sea. The old * fischar's toun ' of Dunbar stands ' high and windy' on a rocky promontory which projects abruptly VOL I J) so ENGLAND AT WAR into the northern waters. To the east rises St Abb's Head, a rugged, swarthy-looking mass of cliff; to the west, but close at hand lie the bay and village of Belhaven ; seaward, the isolated rock of the Bass, stormy home of the sea birds, looms conspicuously ; while, to the north-east, the shadows of the green Fifeshire hills rest upon the horizon. From the bottom of Belhaven Bay to that of the west sea- bight, St Abb's-ward, the town and its environs form a peninsula, along the base of which, on a line not exceeding a mile and a half in extent, Cromwell's army, on Monday the 2nd of September, lay encamped, with its tents and the town behind it. About a mile distant, on the summit of a semi-circular range of dusky heights which enclose the neck of the said peninsula.— a long narrow ridge, locally known as the Dun or Doon,— were posted Leslie and his Covenanters, upwards of twenty thousand strong, and along with them, to share in the expected victory, ' the Committees of Kirk and Estate,' the chief dignitaries, civil and ecclesiastical, of the country. The chief pass, that of Cockburnspath (or Copperspath,) leading across the shoulder of the Lammcrmuirs into the Lowlands, Leslie had occupied in force, so that Cromwell wrote to Haselrig, the Parliament's General at Newcastle :— We are upon an engagement very difficult. The enemy have blocked up our way at the Pass, through which we cannot get without almost a miracle. He lieth so upon the hills that we know not how to come that way without great difficulty, and our lying here daily consumeth our men, who fall sick beyond imagination.' ... '1 perceive,' he continues, 'your forces are not in a capacity for present release. Wherefore, whatever becomes of us, it will be well for you to get what forces you can together, and the South to help what they can. The business nearly concerneth all Good People. If your forces had been in a readiness to have fallen upon the back of Copperspath, it might have occasioned supplies to come to CROMWELL'S CAMPAIGN IN SCOTLAND 51 us. But the only wise God knows what is best. All shall work for good. Our spirits are comfortable, praised be the Lord, though our present condition be as it is. And indeed we have much hope in the Lord, of whose mercy we have had large experience.' Cromwell's right touched Belhaven Bay, his left was protected by Broxmouth or Brocksmouth House (the Earl of Roxburgh's,) where a small burn, the Brock, which rises in the Lammermuirs, and winds round Doon Hill, finds its way into the sea. This burn Hows through a deep grassy glen about fifty feet wide, on the left bank of which, Cromwell, on the 2nd of September, drew up his forces in battle order. Battle of Dunbar, September 3, 1650 In the course of the afternoon, no less to Cromwell's surprise than to his delight, the Scots on the Hill of Doon began to move down into the plain. The movement lasted all night, and at daybreak they had relinquished the ad- vantage of their position. Whether in this change of tactics Leslie acted on his own judgment, or was overruled by the Committees of the Estates and the Church, who frequently imposed their will upon him, is uncertain.* At all events, iiiornin i ' I 58 ENGLAND AT WAR underwent a relapse, his disease developed into ague, which went and came, until, at the end of the month, the Parliament ccave him leave to return to Enofland * for milder air,' and the Council of State despatched two London doctors to attend upon him. But, at the first signs of summer, he threw off his physical disabilities, and re- sumed the campaign. On the 25th of June, he concentrated his forces in their old camp on the Pentland Hills, and thence advanced towards Stirling, by way of Linlithgow. * The enemy,' he wrote to the Council of State, ' is at his old work, and lieth in and near Stirling, where we cannot come to fight him, except we please, or we go upon too — too manifest hazards, he being very strongly laid himself, and having a very great advantage there.' Crossing into Fife, he captured Burntisland and Inchgarvie, and cut off Leslie's supplies ; after which he marched upon Perth, which surrendered after a two days' siege (August 2nd). This bold flank movement had the effect which, no doubt, Cromwell had anticipated. It drew Leslie from his fortified camp, by throwing open the road to England ; and Charles, actinjr on his oreneral's advice, immediately moved south- ward, at the head of eleven thousand men, to strike a mortal blow at * the heart of the Commonwealth.' On the 6th of August the King entered Carlisle; and im- mediately issued a proclamation offering pardon to those who would return to their allegiance, with the exception of Cromwell, Bradshaw, and Cook. He was also pro- claimed Kinof of Ennfland, and similar proclamations were made at Penrith and other market- towns. But, contrary to expectation, the Loyalists did not rise ; the reinforce- ments which joined him were inconsiderable ; the country, where not hostile, was indiflferent. The gates of Shrews- bury were shut against the invader. He pressed forward, however, with the view of crossing the Malvern Hills, and getting into the West, where the royal cause had always flourished. CEOM WELUS CAMPAIGN IN SCOTLAND 59 Meanwhile, the alarm in London was very great. Even Bradshaw, the Lord President, stout-hearted as he was, could not conceal his anxiety, while some of the Puritan leaders 'raged and uttered discontents against Cromwell, and suspicions of his fidelity.' 'Both the city and the country,' says Mrs Hutchinson, ' were all enraged, and doubtful of their own and the Commonwealth's safety/ Cromwell had fully expected this condition of the public feeling. To Lenthall he wrote : ' The enemy beino- some few days' march before us will trouble some men's thouohts, and may occasion some inconveniences, which I hope we are as deeply sensible of, and have been, and I trust shall be as diligent to prevent as any. And, indeed, this is our comfort, that in simplicity of heart as towards God we have done to the best of our judgment, knowing that if some issue were not put to this business, it would occasion another winter's war, to the ruin of your soldiery, for whom the Scots are too hard in respect of endurino- the winter difficulties -of this country, and to the endless expense of the treasure of England in prosecuting this war. It may be supposed we might have kept the enemy from this by interposing between him and England, whicli truly I believe we might ; but how to remove him out of this place, without doing what we have done, unless we had had a commanding army on both sides of the river of Forth, is not clear to us ; or how to answer the incon- veniences afore-mentioned, we understand not. We pray, therefore, that (seeing there is a possibility for the enemy to put you to some trouble) you would with the same courage, guarded upon a confidence in God, wherein you have been supported to the great things God hath used you in hitherto, — improve, the best you can, such forces as you have in readiness, or may on the sudden be gathered together, to give the Enemy some check, until we shall be able to reach up to him, which we trust in the Lord we shall do our utmost endeavour in.' 6o ENGLAND AT WAR As soon as the southward march of the Scotch was known, Cromwell despatched Lambert with his cavalry to join Harrison and the force stationed at Newcastle, and ride rapidly westward, so as to impede them in their passage through Lancashire ; watching their movements, straiten- ing their quarters, harassing their front and rear, but not risking a battle. Appointing Monk to the command in Scotland, and leaving with him 6000 men, Cromwell, with the rest of his army, pushed rapidly across the Border. He marched by way of York, Nottingham, Coventry, Stratford, and Evesham, raising all the county militias, and drawing in such numerous levies, that when he pitched his tents on the south-east side of Worcester, on the 28th of August, he was at the head of 30,000 men. Charles had arrived at Worcester on the 22nd, and formally set up his standard. On that same day, nine years before, his father had raised his standard at Nottingham — we know with what fatal result. ' Men,' as Carlyle says, 'may make their reflections.' He afterwards issued a summons for all male subjects, of due age, to gather round the banner of their Sovereign Lord at a oreneral muster of his forces on the 26th of August. Only a few gentlemen pre- sented themselves, with a followinjx of about two hundred. It was clear that his enterprise was doomed to failure. Worcester, however, was, as Clarendon says, * a very good post ' for the young king to make a stand ; seated almost in the middle of the kingdom, and in as fruitful a country as any part of it ; a good city, severed by the noble river Severn from all the adjacent counties ; Wales behind it, from whence levies might be made of great numbers of stout men. It was a place where the King's friends might repair, if they had the affections they pretended to have ; and it was a place where he might defend himself, if the enemy would attack him, with many advantages, and could not be compelled to engage his army in a battle till Cromwell had gotten men enough to encompass him on CROMWELL'S CAMPAIGN IN SCOTLAND 6i every side ; and then the King might choose on which side to fight, since the enemy would be on both sides the river, and could not come suddenly to relieve each other.' Charles was unprepared for the rapidity of Cromwell's pursuit; and for his skill and daring in attack. The ingenious calcula- tions of his advisers were set at naught by the military genius of their great enemy. Battle of Worcester, September 3, 1650 On the night of the 20th of August Cromwell ordered Lambert, with his vanguard, to cross the Severn at Upton, a few miles below Worcester. Upton Bridge had been partly demolished by the Royalists, but the Puritan soldiers * straddled across the parapet ' and repaired it, after which they threw themselves into Upton Church, fortified it, and held it stoutly against all the Roj^alist attacks. On the evening of Sunday, September the 2nd, Fleetwood, with the main body of the infantry, crossed the bridge, and prepared to advance next day against the Scottish posts on the south- west — that is, in the suburb of St John, about a mile from the city, and separated from it by the river, — at the same time that Cromwell delivered an assault on the south-east. The reader will bear in mind that Cromwell was on the city side of the river, where the ground was occupied by fruitful fields and intersected by hedges which presented formidable obstacles to cavalry fighting. Between Fleetwood at Upton and the enemy at St John's flowed the river Teme, a tributary of the Severn, which it joins about a mile below Worcester. This stream Fleetwood was instructed to cross, either by the Bridge at Penrith, driving the Royalists ofif it, or by building a bridge of boats near the point of junction; while Cromwell, within pistol shot of the latter, built another bridge of boats across the Severn, and thus enabled the various divisions of his army to keep touch with one another. 'I ■ w .n ' 62 ENGLAND AT WAR It was five o'clock in the afternoon of September the 3rd before these bridges were ready, and Fleetwood's troops arrived on the opposite bank of the Tenie. Charles from the cathedral-tower had anxiously watched their operations. As he continued his survey, he saw the Roundheads driving back the Scots 'at push of pike' from hedge to hedg^ penning them up in the suburb of St John's. He saw the' rapid march of horse and foot across Cromwell's bridge of boats, though he did not know that the great Puritan'' was leading the attack in person, and had been the first to set foot on the eneiuy's ground. The opposition was stubborn ; the Scots took advantage of every hedge to keep the Puri- tan soldiers at bay. Charles and his military advisers came to the conclusion that there, on the west bank of the river and among the hedge-rows, nearly all Cromwell's soldiers must be engaged, and that by sallying forth on the east side, they would take him at a disadvantage and win the victory. The trumpets sounded, and the Royalists jomed battle, but Cromwell quickly recalled some of his regiments across the bridge of boats, and then horse and foot were alike hotly engaged in the clash of arms. * As stifi" a contest,' says Cromwell, 'for four or five hours as ever I have seen.' But in the end the victory was with the army of the Parliament. Through Sudbury Gate, on the east, through St John's suburb,and over Severn Bridge on the west, the Scots were crushed back into the streets of Wor- cester. Then ' sucli a general consternation,' says Crom- well, 'possessed the whole army, that the rest of the horse fled, and all the foot threw down their arms before they were charged. When the King came back into the town he found a good body of horse which had been persuaded to make a stand, though much the maior part passed through upon the spur. The King desired those who stayed that they would follow him, that they might look upon the enemy, who, he believed, did not pursue them. But when His Majesty had gone a little way, he found most of the CROMWELUS CAMPAIGN IN SCOTLAND 63 horse were gone the other way, and that he had none but a few servants of his own about him. Then he sent to have the gates of the town shut, that none might get in one way, nor out the other ; but all was confusion ; there were few to command, and none to obey, so that the King stayed till very many of the enemy's horse were entered the town, and then he was persuaded to withdraw himself.' It is said that when his squadrons refused to face the Iron- sides again he cried, — ' Shoot me dead, rather than let me live to see the sad consequences of this day.' In the district round Worcester, the night after the battle was a night of horror. The Scottish horse fled in every direction ; the foot soldiers hid themselves in the woods or under the hedges of the corn fields ; and Crom- well's victorious veterans hunted them down for many miles around. Richard Baxter who, at the time, resided in Kidderminster, gives us a vivid picture of the rout : — ' I was newly gone to bed,' he says, ' when the noise of the flying horse acquainted us of the overthrow ; and a piece of one of Crouiwell's troops that guarded Burdley Bridge having tidings of it, came into our streets, and stood in the open market place before my door, to surprise those that passed by. And so when many hundreds of the flying army came together, when the thirty troopers cried stand, and tired at them, they either hasted away or cried quarter, not knowing in the dark what number it was that charged them, and so as many were taken there, as so few men could lay hold on ; and till midnight the bullets flying to- wards my door and windows, and the sorrowful fugitives hasting by for their lives, did tell me the calamitousness of war.' For some time after the issue of the battle was decided Cromwell, we are told, was overpowered by the vehemence of his emotions. Calling Lambert and Fleetwood to him, he exclaimed, with a burst of loud laughter, that he would knight them, as heroes were knighted of old, on the field it 1 1 'i 1*1 64 ENGLAND AT WAR where they had achieved their honour. He soon regained his self-control ; and behaved, as a shrewd observer "^notes, 'with much affability; in all his discourses about Wor- cester, would seldom mention anything of himself; men- tioned others only; and gave, as was due, the glory of the action unto God.' At two o'clock that night Cromwell retired to his tent, and drew up a description of this crowning battle for Lenthall, the Speaker. A fuller narrative was written the next day ; for the reader s convenience we transcribe it here : — * The battle was fought with various success for some hours, but still hopeful on your part; and in the end became an absolute victory, and so fell an one as proved a total defeat and ruin of the enemy's army; and a possession of the town, our men entering at the enemy's heels, and fighting with them in the streets with very great courage. We took all their baggage and artillery. What the slain are I can give you no account, because we have not taken an exact view; but they are very many, and must needs bo so, because the dispute was long and very near at hand : and often at push of pike, and from one defence to another. There are about six or seven thousand prisoners taken here; and many officers and noblemen of very great quality ; Duke Hamilton, the Earl of Rothes, and divers other noblemen. I have the Earl of Lauder- dale : many officers of great quality ; and some that will be fit subjects for j^our justice. ' We have sent very considerable parties after the flying enemy ; I hear they have taken considerable numbers o^f prisoners, and are very close in the pursuit. Indeed, I hear the country riseth upon them everywhere; and I believe the forces that lay, through Providence, at Burdley, and in Shropshire and Staffordshire, and those with Colonel Lilburn, were in a condition, as if this had been foreseen, to intercept what should return. I CROMWELVS CAMPAIGN IN SCOTLAND 5- ' A more particular account than this will K. for you as we are able I he«r f>,» ^^J^^'" ^ prepared than a thousand horse in their bodth«ffl . T."^ "°^^ you have near fivp ill I . ^ ^* ^^^' *"<^ ^ believe posing betv:::; the. tlZeW^^^^^^^^ ^"' ^"*^^- Time will declare TW ** ^^^ ^^""y ^i" catch, -on,; andi:^ht^r o?rrr^:rsr f r" Indeed it^v^ a s:irbl:et^'"^tTdo''t;l:• t ™'""-- lost two hundred men ^^ ' ^ "°* *'"'"'" *« ^ave singular .oo^it::^: S:i'^:: ^^^^i^^^^ ''' p-^-- estimation and acknowledrmen. 7^1 f"' ^ ^""'^ ^'^^' nessthereunto-forXuch aTff; .'" ^"' ^^''' ^"'"'"S" the reputation of your affairs tC \ f'"^ ^° '""'^'^ *° again ; which I hlpTl^ZjlVT^' ^"P'*'^'^^*^ '''"'' tion of the countrv Jlii ^^"^ ''^"^ *°<^ «atisfac- ' The dirns'/ns oft-' '^'■''**™'* ""' *^^'^^ «"««^-^-. It is, for au^ht I know fc'' ""'''^ ^'' ^"^'^ ""^ *'^°'^gl^t«- not, such a one we Zli llZ-Tll'- ""''^- ^"^^'^' '' '' ^e concerned in it to tfa„k 'uTn^f • tdTt^ ^" *'^* ^'^ the will of Him who !,«« ir "" Parliament to do Nation, whose good ptsurTit?."'" fT, '*' ^"'^ '"^^ '^'^ and the Chancre of the Oov *« ^^^Wish the Nation so willing tole defence tr"T'- *T "'^'^'"^ '^' ?«"?'« the endeavours of ytrZrfZ ' !u^ '" '^'^^^'^''^ "^«4 am bold hereof Vb" that ^il H \^' »"^* "'''•'^- ^ promotion of His hono^'r wh„ wl ^"^ "^^ ^'""^ *° ^^^ tion, and that the fuCi oJ the "'?^^* '° ^''^' -1^'- not occasion pride and llf '°"*'""^^ '"^rcies may done to a ^^oJ^tZZ^ZTelZ^^^^^^^^^^ '^^^^ faithful ; and thatTustiL ^7 "if ""*"' '"'""''' ^^^ truth, may flow from you t it^Tr' "^^*=^ ^^^ gracious God.' ^ ' * thankful return to our VOL I E I I- CHAPTER VII THE ARMY UNDER THE PROTECTORATE — THE BATTLE OF THE DUNES Glancing at the condition of Europe in the middle of the seventeenth century, a recent historian observes * that while Enorland had been absorbed in her arduous strugorle for freedom, the whole face of the world around her had changed. The famous Thirty Years' War was over. German Protestantism was no longer endangered by the ambition or the bigotry of the House of Austria ; and the Treaty of Westphalia had settled the contention between the ad- herents of the old religion and those of the new. Austria was engaged in a desperate contest with the Turks, for her own security and for the possession of Hungary. Spain, once the dominant power in Europe, had fallen into a sudden decay, and was bound like a slave to the chariot- wheels of France, which was aspiring to the position of arbiter of Christendom. The peace and order which prevailed after the cessation of their religious troubles throughout their compact and fertile territory, gave scope at last to the quick and industrious temper of the French * J. R. Green, ' History of the English People,' iii. THE ARMY UNDER THE PROTECTORATE 67 people while her wealth and energy were placed by the centralising administration of Henry IV, of Richelieu, and ot Mazarin, almost absolutely in the hands of the Crown Under the three great rulers who have just been named her ambition was steadily directed to the same purpose ot territorial aggrandisement, and though limited, as yet to the annexation of the Spanish and Imperial territories, which still parted her frontier from the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Rhine, a statesman of keen political foresight would have discerned the beginning of that great struggle for supremacy over Europe at large, which was foiled only bv the genius of Marlborough and the victories of the Grand Alliance. This kind of observation is easy enough to the his- torian, who has the record of past events by which to shape his judgment. We cannot see that there was anythin<. m the position of France in the time of the Protectorate to justify alarm and apprehen.sion on the part of En<.lish statesmen ; while Spain still loomed upon them as a men- acing and aggressive Power. 'The head of the Papal Interest -her religious and political interests diametrically opposed to English interests-her bigotry, her bitter intoler- ance, made her especially hateful to Cromwell. • The Lord Himself, he wrote to his admirals, ' hath a controversy ''1 /.°."''o^"®°"^'' *^^^" ^''^^ *^^* Komish Babylon of vvhicli the Spaniard is the great under-propper. For that respect we fight the Lord's battles.' Accordingly in 1655 he concluded a treaty with France. It is true that Spain had eagerly coveted the great Protector's alliance; but when he demanded freedom for Englishmen to trade in the Indies and license for Englishmen engaged in commercial inter- i^^'Zl ^T !;° r^^'^'P '^''''^'''S ^ *1^« Protestant taith the Spanish Ambassador replied—' To give you this would be to give you my Master's two eyes.' Freedom of trade, and freedom of religious belief, were the two cardinal principles of Cromwell's policy, and from in- 1 I 68 ENGLAND AT WAR tolerant and exclusive Spain he turned, therefore, to- liberal and tolerant France. By a second and ' closer ' Treaty signed with France in March 1657, for assaulting the Spanish Power in the Netherlands, it was agreed that the French King should contribute 20,000 men, and the Lord Protector 6000, with a sufficient fleet. The reinforced troops were to reduce the seaport towns of Gravelines, Mardyke, and Dunkirk : of which the first-named was to belong to France, and the last two to England : but if Gravelines were taken first it was to be given up to England, and held by her as security until the others were occupied. 'Mardyke and Dunkirk,' says Carlyle, ' these were what Oliver expected to gain by this adventure. One or both of which strong haven towns would naturally be very useful to him ; con- nected with the Continent as he was,— continually menaced with Royalist invasion from that quarter ; and struggling, as the aim of his whole Foreign Policy was, to unite Pro- testant Europe with England in one great effectual league.' Such were the conditions of the French Treaty of March 23rd, 1656-7. A strong squadron under Admiral Montague (afterwards Earl of Sandwich), was already cruising in the Channel ; and on the 13th and 14th of May, six thousand picked troops, including the famous Ironsides, under Commissary- General (afterwards Sir John) Reynolds, were landed, ' in new red coats,' near Boulogne.* Shortly afterwards they were reviewed by young Louis XIV, who expressed his admiration of their fine martial bearing; and they were then ordered to move forward to the theatre of war. But Mazarin, instead of fulfilling his agreement to atta^'k the coast towns, desired to operate against Cambray, Montm^di, and other towns in the interior. Therefore, Cromwell wrote to his ambassador. Sir William Lockhart, * Their pay was to be 9d a day—' State Papers,' iii. 340. I THE ARMY UNDER THE PROTECTORATE 69 with his usual vioour and plainness of laniruaere : — ' I am deeply sensible,' he said, ' that the French are very much short with us in ingenuousness and performance. . . . To talk of "giving us Garrisons" which are inland, as Caution for future action ; to talk of " what will be done next campaign,"— are but parcels of words for children. If they will give us Garrisons, let them give us Calais, Dieppe, and Boulogne ;— which I think they will do as soon as be honest in their words in giving us any one Spanish Garrison upon the coast into our hands! ... I pray you tell the Cardinal from me, that I think, if France desires to maintain its ground, much more to get ground upon the Spaniard, the performance of his Treaty with us will better do it, than anything appears yet to me of any design he hath ! Though we cannot so well pretend to soldiery as those that are with him ; yet we think that, we being able by sea to strengthen and secure his siege, and to reinforce it as we please by sea, and the enemy being in capacity to do nothing to relieve it, the best time to besiege that Place will be now. Especially if we consider that the French horse will be able so to ruin Flanders, as that no succour can be brought to relieve the place ; and that the French army and our own will have constant re- lief, as far as England and France can give it, without any manner of impediment,— especially considering the Dutch are now engaged so much to southward as they are/ So urgent did the matter seem to Cromwell, that he wrote again to his Ambassador. ' We desire, having written to you as we have, that the design be Dunkirk rather than Gravelines, and much more that it be:— but one of them rather than fail. ' We shall not be wanting, to send over, at the French charge, two of our old regiments, and two thousand foot more if need be— if Dunkirk be the design. Believing that if the army be well entrenched, and if La Fert^'s Foot be added to it, we shall be able to give liberty to the greatest I) ft ■ 70 ENGLAND AT WAR part of the French cavahy to have an eye to the Spaniard, leaving but convenient numbers to stand b}^ the Foot. 'And because this action will probably divert the Spaniard from assisting Charles Stuart in any attempt upon us, you may be assured that, if reality may with any reason be expected from the French, we shall do all reason on our part. But if, indeed, the French be so false to us as that they would not have us have any footing on that side the water, then I desire, as in our other letter to you, that all things may be done in order to the giving us satisfaction (for our expenditure), and to the drawing oft' of our men.' This strong and direct speaking produced its eftect upon Mazarin. There was, indeed, a jest in vogue in France that * the Cardinal was more afraid of Oliver than of the Devil.' And the result was that, in September, the French, under Marshal Turenne, with their 6000 English auxiliaries, * the immortal 6000,' as Sir William Temple calls them, attacked and captured Mardyke, after a three-days' siege. The town was immediately handed over to the English, who, without loss of time, began to fortify it by sea and land. In the course of the following month, an attempt was marie to surprise it by a Spanish army, commanded by Don John of Austria, under whom was serving the Duke of York, with three English, Irish, and Scotch regiments in Spanish pay ; * but it failed completely, the Spaniards being re- pulsed with great slaughter.f Turenne afterwards fell back upon the French frontier, while Conde placed his Spaniards in the cantonments of Dunkirk. The Protector now threatened that if further delay occurred in the attack upon this coveted seaport, he * The English regiment, under Lord Wentworth, was called the Kmg's regiment of Guards. t Reynolds was soon afterwards recalled on suspicion of favouring the Stuarts, but his ship was cast away on the Goodwins, and all on board perished. Ambassador Lockhart succeeded to the command. THE ARMY UNDER THE PROTECTORATE 71 would join his forces with those of Spain, and instead of Dunkirk capture Calais. Mazarin knew that Oliver had a ' pestilent habit ' of keeping his word ; and sent out pressing orders to Turenne to invest Dunkirk at once and at all hazards. It was a place of considerable strength ; and as the burghers had raised the sluices, and for miles round converted the country into a lake, the projected enterprise was not without its difficulties. Moreover, the garrison consisted of 3000 veteran soldiers. Turenne, how- ever, carried his army across the flood by laying down a bottom of fascines, hurdles, and planks, on which the infantry slowly advanced, waist-deep in water. The siege was begun, and energetically prosecuted for several months ; the besiegers obtaining a continuous supply of provisions from Montague's fleet which cruised in the offing. Lines of circumvallation and counter vallation were raised round the town from east to west, at each end resting on the sea. To secure the strand a double stockade was erected, fixed by strong iron chains which the English sailors prepared against the highest tides ; behind it some gunboats were stationed. When these works were completed, 6000 veterans were landed, under Major-General Morgan, a brave and gfood officer. To them was entrusted the re- sponsible service of resisting the sorties of the garrison, and on one occasion they actually followed the Spaniards into the town, and past the palisades ; but they failed to eflect a lodorment. It was with no small surprise that this movement was heard of at Brussels ; and Dunkirk, as the chief port of the Netherlands, was of so much value to Spain that the Arch- duke John and the Prince of Conde resolved on risking everything to relieve it. On arriving within si^fht of the dunes, or sand hills, which line for many miles the low flat shore, Don John called a council of war, and inquired what was to be done, — how could the town be saved ? Cond^ proposed to encamp between the canals of Furnes 72 ENGLAND AT WAR and Hundscotte, where Turenne would not dare to attack them ; to tarry there until their heavy guns came up ; and, meanwhile, to harass the enemy by frequent skirmishes and hY cutting off their foraging parties. On the other hand, i^on John himself wished to advance between the Dunes, as near as possible to the French lines. ' But hardly shall we be engaged among the banks of sand,' said the Prince, 'before the enemy will leave their camp and attack us, and they will have great advantages over us ; the post which you wish to occupy is favourable only for infantry, and the French are the most numerous and warlike.' ' I am persuaded,' replied Don John, haughtily, ' that they will not^ even dare to look at the army of His Most Catholic Majesty ! ' ' Ah, rejoined Cond^, ' you do not know M. de Turenne; faults may not be committed with impunity before so great a man.' Battle of the Dunes, June 14, 1657. Don John's plan, however, was adopted ; and next day, the 14th of June, the Spanish army, about 14,000 strong^ began their march among the hot and stifling sand hills! Turenne on his side had 22,000 men, and leaving COOO men to guard the lines before Dunkirk, he advanced with the rest to give battle. He summoned his officers to explain to them his reasons for making this movement, but Lockhart, who had assumed tlie command of the English, returned for answer, that he would obey the Marshal's order, and learn his reasons after the battle. Cond^ was the first to discover the march of the French ; he galloped up to reconnoitre, and then hastened off to warn Don John. The Spanish general felt convinced that the French meant nothing more than a skirmish with their advanced guard. Turning to the young Duke of Gloucester, who was then serving with the army, the Prince asked him if he had ever seen a battle? *No,' replied the Duke. 'Well then,' ^ \ THE ARMY UNDER THE PROTECTORATE 73 continued Conde, ' in half-an-hour from this time you will see one lost.' The progress of events soon compelled the Spanish commander to acknowledge his error. He saw the French army advancing with stately tread in order of battle ; the left, composed of the stalwart English auxiliaries, was covered by the sea ; the right, by the canal of Furnes. It was arranged in two lines, of seven battalions each, which extended a league in front, and numbered in all 9000 foot, and between 5000 and 6000 horse. Alonor the shore moved the English frigates, preparing to cannonade the right wing of the Spaniards. Don John's army, consisting of 8000 foot and 5000 horse, formed a single line, the right led by Don John, and the left by Cond^. The action was begun by the English, who, led by Major-General Morgan — for Lockhart was too ill to leave his carriage — advanced eagerly against the Spanish right, and climbing the dunes, with push of pike, swept the foemen clean off their summits, and down their crumbling slopes, exhibiting such a combination of fire and coolness that Don John exclaimed — ' The French fight like men, these English like devils ! ' They were animated by that old religious hatred of the Spaniards, which had burned in most English bosoms since the days of Drake and Hawkins. Resolutely they main- tained the battle, and with a terrible musketry fire swept away the Spanish horse, defying all attempts to break down their steadfast purpose.* While the victory was won * Tliey were chiefly engaged with the regiments under the Duke of York, who at one time got the better of them. * It was very observable,' says James II in his Memoir?, ' that when we had broken into this battalion, (Lockhart's own) and even got amongst them, not so much as one single man of them asked quarter, or threw down his arms ; but every one defended himself to the last, so that we ran as great danger by the butt-end of their muskets as by the volley which they had given us. And one of them had infallibly knocked me off my horse, if I had not prevented when he was just ready to have discharged his blow, by a stroke I gave him with my sword over the face, which laid him along upon the ground. The Duke of Glocester, who, during the action of all that day, had seconded me, and 74 ENGLAND AT WAR on the right, on the opposite wing it was nearly lost, for Oond^ with the inspiration of genius, conceived the bold Idea of cutting his way through the French battalions, and torcing the entrenchments, so as to relieve the town even in the very agony of a lost battle ! His fiery valour was almost successful ; but Turenne hastily sent up fresh troops trom the centre, and the Prince's soldiers, lacking the I'rince s heroism, gave him but a lukewarm support; he was ""', , y ^}"''\ >'°""S sovereign the hand of King Philip s eldest daughter, the Infanta Maria Theresa. Both ot the contracting parties being thus favourably dispo.sed. behaved himself as bravely as any of his ancestor, had ever done h«,I , • ... either struck out of his hand, or it flew out of his hand bv » M t '"\»*»"' given. -James II, 'Memoirs ' i 351 ' "'"' *'"''' ^e had THE ARMY UNDER THE PROTECTORATE 75 the conditions of peace were easily settled, and the treaty ot the Pyrennes » was signed on the 7th of November, 1569. It confirmed England in the possession of Dunkirk • which however, three years afterwards, was sold to France by Charles II and his Ministers, and for the next hundred years served as a haunt for privateers in every war between the two Powers. of Frlntrd S^t'^' °" " ^'''^ """"" "^"^ «*• "'-" ^^ ^"^ - *he frontier. ts^Kg^n^'m'i'vK'eitfi n i I CHAPTER VIII KROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION An important part wa., played by the Army in the events which followed the death of Oliver Cromwell and ushered m the Restoration ; but the record belongs rather to the civil than to the military history of England. There were no great battles, no plundered towns, no desolated villages • never before had a revolution been so bloodlessly accom- plished. When on October the 13th. 1659. Lambert, in n.elo-dramatic imitation of the great Protector, expelled the Kump from Westminster, the chief officers of the army seized the supreme authority, and Fleetwood was appointed Commander-in-Chief, and Lambert Major-General of the torces in England. This usurpation of powor however was coldly regarded by George Monk, who commanded in bcotiand. and whose influence with the soldiery made him a formidable rival. He immediately prepared to move his small but compact and well-disciplined army to London declaring that he wa^ guided by two considera- tions : hrst, that the military power ought to be subser- vient to the civil ; and second, that the constitution of the Commonwealth could be administered only by parliaments FBOM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION 77 'For my own part,' he said to his soldiers, 'I think it the to the civil. It IS the duty of us all to defend the Parliament from which you receive your pay and com- m^sions. I re y, therefore, on your obedieLI H IZ- ever, any one of you dissents from this resolution, h; Zu have ful liberty to quit the service and receive hi pLs • Monk crossed the Tweed on the 1st of January 1660 He had scarcely passed the Rubicon, says his bio^apher when a letter was brought to him from Lenth'aH the Speaker of the Parliament, informing him that Fleetwood and the Committee of Safety, alarmed by the .e7eZ demonstration of opinion throughout the 'countrrhld t'l^Ii leatr tIT' ^°""' ^"' ^^^^^^-^"^ *^^ Comm';ns t their seats. Thanks were given to Monk for his firm support; but the epistle contained no orders for marchir and it was evident that Parliament neither wi hid nS intended to give them. Monk, however, had no thouX of receding Affecting not to perceive the distrust of ^ Parliament he commanded the Speaker's letter to be read a the head of the regiments, and amidst the acclamat bus of the so diers, announced his resolution of leading them to London, to see their rulers fixed firmly in their se2 V^. eft Colonel Fairfax with a regiment'^at York ;. et" ba^k two regiments of horse under Major-General korg^^n to Scotland, and moved southward slowly with four regiment^ IrentrofT"'"* r^'"^'^"" onf thousand, an'dTet regiments of horse, each containing six hundred w;! route lay as follows : January 2nd Morpeth Ifh V castle 11th, York; 18th,Mansfifld; 19th Zttham- SsTd" Wster; 26th, Northampton ; 27th, Dunstabk sslh St ' Albans ; and February 2nd, Barnet. He arrived in T on^ on the 3rd, and established his head-quarte" at WhUei Pepys te s us that he saw the troops march by '^.00^ plight with -stout officers.' On Easter Tuesday Monk held a review of all the military in London, with Vain banis if ';W» III i,,n \ ? : f I: t ;i 78 ENGLAND AT WAR and auxiliaries, mustering in all about 14,000 men, a force sufficient to put down disaffection, preserve order, and keep the peace. By degrees the astute general dropped his mask. He compelled ' the Rump ' to consent to its own dissolution and convoke a new Parliament, in which, as he had anticipated, the Royalists were in a majority. The projects of the Republicans were skilfully nullified ; Lambert was arrested and thrown into the Tower. The Royal Arms began to be seen m many places, and the emblems of the Commonwealth did not escape insult. At last the game was played out. With Monk's consent, Sir John Grenville delivered a letter from Charles II to the Council of State, and on the 1st of May, to the two Houses of Parliament. It was immediately resolved, ' That, according to the ancient and fundamental laws of the kingdom, the Government is and ought to be, by King, Lords, and Commons.' Supplies were then voted for the use of the King and his royal brothers • deputies were appointed to wait upon him at Breda- and Admiral Montague sailed with a powerful fleet to' escort him to the English shore. For his services in accomplishing this bloodless revolu- tion Monk was made Duke of Albemarle, received the Order of the Garter, was gratified with a perpetual annuity ot £7000, and appointed lieutenant-general of the armies of the three kingdoms. In the pageant of the Royal entrance into London, the army made a conspicuous show. ' It passed along,' says Evelyn, ' with a triumph of above 20,000 horse and foot brandishing their swords, and shouting with inexpressible joy ; the way strewed with flowers ; the bells ringincr • the streets hung with tapestry ; fountains running wlth^wine ■ the Mayor, aldermen, and all the companies in their liveries' chains of gold, and banners ; lords and nobles clad in cloth' of gold and velvet ; the windows and balconies set with ladies ; trumpets, music, and myriads of people flockincr FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION 79 even as far as from Rochester, so as they were seven hours m passing the city, were from two o'clock in the afternoon till nine at night. I stood in the Strand and beheld it and blessed God. And all this was done without one drop ot^loodshed, and by that very army which rebelled again.st The grim veterans of the Commonwealth can hardly have been satisfied with their .share in this remarkable display and Charles must have felt that his throne could not be sate, while so formidable a force held the military resources If / T^n^ '" '*' ^""^'•* ^* ""'^ ""^^ tl^^ ^rmy con- sisted of fifteen regiments of horse and twenty-two red- men s of foot, besides garrisons, and was supported by monthly assessments of £70,000. One of the earliest measures passed by Charles's first Parliament, was an Act to provide the means of disbanding this large army (12 oar. n. 9). A contribution was to be raised from all ranks and degrees, under a commission in every county ; and by subsequent statutes (c. 20 and c. 21) the whole sum re quired was supplied, so that the disbandment was success- fully carried out before the end of the year.f But the insurrection of the Fifth Monarchy men under Thomal Vernon, on the 6th of January, 1661. warned the authoriTiS that, for the preservation of order and the .safety of the Kings person, better safeguard was necessary than the tram bands of the metropolis. ' The next morning ' says Clarendon 'the Council met early, and having rteived an account of all that had passed, they could no^ but con- clude that this so extravagant an [attempt could not have been founded on the rashness of one man, who had been As bng as the soldiery continued,' said Sir William Morrice one of hi, Secretaries of State, 'there would be a perpetual trembling inXltron that they were inconsistent with the happiness of any nation ' " t By a report made to the Commons on November 6th, it appeared that So ENGLAND AT WAR always looked upon as a man of sense and reason. And thereupon they thought it necessary to suspend the dis- banding the General's regiment of Foot, which had the Guard of Whitehall, and was by the order of Parliament to have been disbanded the next day ; and writ to the King to approve of what they had done, and to appoint it to be continued till further order,' to which His Majesty con- sented. And this was the true ground and occasion of the continuing and increasing the guard for His Majesty's person, which no man at that time thought to be more than was necessary.* Monk's regiment of foot, originally formed in 1650, was the famous Coldstreamers, so named from the place where he crossed the Tweed on his march into England. Dis- banded pro forma, it was immediately re-admitted into the King's service. A new regiment of Guards, of twelve companies, the command of which was given to Colonel John Russell ; a regiment of horse, of eight troops, to be commanded by the Earl of Oxford (hence known as the Oxford Bluest) ; and a troop to be commanded by the Lord General, were speedily raised. The last named was known as * His Majesty's Own Life Guards.' The com- missions of its officers were dated January 26th, 1660. They were all men of good family, even the privates were ' gentlemen,' and were always described for this reason as * Gentlemen of the King's Guards.' The military estab- lishment also included the Duke of York's Life Guards, under Captain Sir Charles Berkeley, afterwards Earl of Falmouth, and His Majesty's Life Guards, under Monk, Duke of Albemarle. No doubt these Horse Guards were modelled on the pattern of the celebrated Maison dii Roi of France. Several privileges were conceded to them, amongst others, all crimes were to be tried by officers of ♦ • Clarendon's Life,' i, 477. t Now called Royal Horse Guards (Blue). FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION 8i the three troops, and they were exempt from general courts-martial. The King's regiment of Foot Guards, commanded by Colonel John Kussell, was known a^ the First Foot Guards until after the victory of Waterloo, the Prince Regent con- ferred upon it the honourable title of the First, or Grenadier regiment of Foot Guards. In these four regiments of Guards originated the famous army of Great Britain, which can show a record of service unparalleled by that of any other army in the world From the earliest pay lists of the royal army, reprinted in the twenty-ninth vol. of the ' State Papers,' we extract some details of interest. 1. His Majesty's own Troop of Qimrds.—Th^ Captain was paid £1, 10s per day; four Lieutenants, each 15s- Cornet 14s; Quarter-Master, 9s ; Chaplain, 6s 8d ; Sunreon fo, and 2s for his horse ; four Corporals, each 7s ; four Irumpeters, each 5s ; one Kettle-drum, 5s ; 200 soldiers each 4s. Total, £49, Os 8d per diem ; £17,829 2s 8d per annum. ^ 2. The Duke of York's Troop of Guards.-The Captain £1 per dieni ,• Lieutenant, 15s ; Cornet, 13s ; Quarter- Master, 9s ; Chaplain, 6s 8d ; Surgeon, 6s, and his horse 2s; four Corporals, each 6s; four Trumpeters, each, 5s; one Kettledrum, 5s ; 150 soldiers, each 4s. Total, £36 Os 8d per diem ; £13,118, 2s 8d per annum. 3 The Duke of Albemarle's Troop of Guards.— Field and staff officers of a regiment of horse, consisting of six troops, and containing 100 soldiers besides officers Colonel as Colonel, 12s per diem ; Major as Major, 5s 6d '; Chaplain, 6s 8d ; Surgeon, 4s and 2s. Total £1 10s '>d per diem ; £551, 12s 8d per annum. The Colonel's troops included-Colonel as Captain, 10s, and two horse.s, each 2s- l^ieutenant, 6s, and two horses, each 2s ; Cornet 6s and two horses, each 2s ; Quarter-Master, 4s, and one horse, 2s • two Trumpeters, each 2s 8d ; three Corporals, each 3s • 100 VOL I p ' '■■■ M N.ii.inp p .1 , I ;ii^i H I P w I I mf * I 82 ENGLAND AT WAR soldiers, each 2s 6d. Total, £15, 3s 4d per diem ; or £5620, 18s 6d. The estimate for the Major s Troops is exactly the same. The pay of four troops more to complete a regiment of horse at the same rate and numbers is put at £60, 13s 4d per diem ; £22,082, 13s 4d per annum ; and the cost of the whole regiment at £92, 10s 2d per diem ; £33,675 12s 8d per annum. 4. Field and Staff Officers of a Regiment of Foot, con- sisting of ten companies, and each company containing 100 soldiers, besides the following officers :— Colonel as Colonel, 12s ; Lieutenant-Colonel as Lieutenant-Colonel, 7s ; Major as Major, 5s; Chaplain, 6s 8d ; Surgeon, 4s, and one mate, 2s 6d ; Quarter-Master and Marshal, 4s. Total, £2, Is 2d per diem ; £744, 4s 8d per annum. The cost of each company of foot is estimated at .-—Captain, 8s ; Lieutenant, 4s ; Ensign, 3s ; two sergeants, each, 2s 6d ; one drummer. Is; three Corporals, each Is; 100 soldiers, each lOd, whilst quartered in London, and 8d elsewhere.* Total, £55, 5s 4d per diem ; £1902, Is 4d per annum. In addition we read of .... a Commissary-General of the Musters, with one Clerk and four Deputies, £1, 12s 6d per diem ; a Paymaster to the Army, £1 ; Judge-Advocate, 8s, and one Clerk, 2s 6d ; and Secretary at War, 5s. The latest expenditure is thus set forth : — Establishment of the forces to be raised for the safety of His Majesty's person and government. The yearly charge is . . £118,528 18 8 The yearly charge of the garrisons that are to be kept in England, 67,316 15 6 £185,845 14 2 The garrisons of Dunkirk or the garrisons in Scotland are'not herein included. * At the Revolution the pay of the Foot Guards was fixed at lOd per diem, wherever they might be stationed. FJiOM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION 83 «f n,? T-"?"" ^^^"^'' "'' restoration, the English garrison reaS'to T.";r'T'' ^"^^ ''' '^'«-- -'I -- -re ITn' tK i *?.' "''*^' °^ ^"^^'^'^'^'^ ^"d supremacy. Among the officers, the more uncomprising republicans were weeded out, and their places filled by men, on'who efidriHy the Crown could count. In 1662, however, Dunkirk with Its stores and artillery, was sold to the French W fo^ t:t£^i:}r^' '° '^'' ""'^ ^^^ ^^^"^^ - ^^-if, though than th. K'"g« government by no worthier motive tlTs tim 2T "^^ "' '"^''^*-»-g the royal credit. At this t.me, the garrison consisted of four regiments of foot cons.st.ng of 4400 soldiers, besides officerslnamely ffis re iments of foot, and six troops of cavalry, consisting of re.ime°„T:? ^r"^""^' '''' '' ^"3,342!' 13s 4d The reg ment of guards was incorporated in the home re<.iment Ten ToST ""T;" ' "" ^"'^^ '' ^-k's regim'n :: lent to the King of France; the others received their arrears of pay and were disbanded arrears On the 24th of July, 1663, a review was held in Hvde Park, of which Evelyn furnishes a description - I saw ht Majesty sguard,s,' he says, 'being of hoil and foo 4o5i ed by the General, the Duke of Albemarle, in extraordinarv' equipage and gallantry, consisting of gent emen of n, ^hP and veteran soldiers, excellently clad,!^^ an oTdereJ tZ:Z old Earl oT n""''^ ''f ^'^J^^*'^^ - ^y'^ ^-^ ri'hrhand fi?et ! f ? ""^ ''^^''^ ' ^'^'^ ^"<^ ^^^ the \V;nf„r<1, 1 *"'* company commanded by the Lord ZT71- ir"' '' ^°''^y «P'^'=*^«'« *«d example beL. both of them old and valiant soldiers Tl^i. 1 f ^ the French Ambassador, Monsil clmlresXr: be a great assembly of coaches, etc., in the park TheTT^ hold troops thus paraded included tCv'- '"" of foot guards (CoLel Russt;;) I'oO," kE ^^ of foot guards (Lord Wentworth) 1200- th"e ST J Albemarle's regiment, 1000 ; the r^a. regi^ ^f^trst 84 ENGLAND AT WAR guards, 500 ; the King^s troop, 200 ; the Duke of York's, 150; and the Duke of Albemarle's, 150. In 1664, when the war with Holland broke out, a regiment of troops was raised for sea service. It was called 'The Admiral's Regiment,' — and its first Colonel was Sir William Killigrew. It mastered six companies, each of 200 men, besides officers, armed with firelocks only. In the travels of Cosmo, Duke of Tuscany, who visited England in 1669, it is incidentally mentioned that 'four companies wore red jackets lined with yellow, and that of the Duke's, yellow with red lining.' It was absorbed in the Coldstream Guards in 1688-9. In 1665, an English regiment which had been in the service of Holland was recalled and added to the military establishment. During Marlborough's campaigns it was known, from its Colonel, as Churchill's regiment, but after- wards gained the historic appellation of 'The Buffs,' — probably from the colour of the lining of its coats. It, formed the third regiment of the English Infantry, and enjoyed the curious privilege of marching through the City of London with drums beating and colours flying. A Scotch regiment, which had been in the French employ, was recalled in 1666. It served again in France for a few years, and was finally recalled in 1678, adopted into the English army, and acquired distinction as the Earl of Dumbarton's reo^iment. It garrisoned Tani^iers from 1680 to 1684, when, upon its return home, King Charles granted it the title of ' The Royal Regiment of Foot.' Its strength consisted of 102 officers, 44 drummers and fifers, 63 sergeants, 63 corporals, and 1050 privates. Its after distinctions may here be enumerated : — 1751, The First or Royal Regiment of Foot ; 1812, The First Regiment of Foot, or Royal Scots; 1872, The 1st (The Royal Scots) Regiment. From the Grand Duke of Tuscany's record of travels FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION 85 we borrow a description of a review of the Royal Troops, held on the 21st of May, 1670, in Hyde Park, for his Highness's gratification. Minute particulars of the army in its state of nonage cannot fail to interest the reader. The whole force on the ground included two regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and three troops of the body- guard, composed of six hundred horsemen, each armed with carbine and pistol,— making with their plumed hats, sashes, and jack-boots, a very gallant show. The First, or King's Own Regiment of Infantry {1st Guards), carrying a white flag with a red cross in the middle, commanded by Colonel Russell, was composed of twelve companies of eighty men each, all dressed in red coats turned up with light blue (which was the colour of the Royal livery), except the pikemen, who were distin- guished from the others, by wearing a coat of a silver colour; turned up with light blue. The Second Regiment {Coldstream), that of General George Monk, Duke of Albemarle, whose standard was green, with six white balls and a red cross, commanded by Colonel Miller, was composed of fourteen companies, also of eighty men, who wore red jackets with green facings, the pikemen being in green faced with red. The Third Regiment {Royal Horse Guards), that of the Earl of Oxford, was formed of seven companies of sixty men each. The first of the three companies of Body Guards {King's Troop of Life Guards), called the King's Company, com- posed of gentlemen and half-pay officers, dressed in jackets faced with blue, and richly ornamented with gold lace, and wearing white feathers in their hats, was commanded by the Duke of Monmouth.* The Second {The Duke of York's), commanded by the * He was appointed in the previous autumn, Lord Gerard's resignation beine purchased for £12,000. * liJ . ' : . ii 86 ENGLAND AT WAR Marquis de Blanquefort (afterwards Earl of Feversham)^ nephew of Marshal Turenne, wore red jackets with blue facings, without gold, and white feathers in their hats. The Third {The Duke of Albemarle s), under Sir Philip Howard, wore a dress similar to that of the Duke's, and instead of feathers, a ribbon of a crimson colour. The troops marched by in files ; the vanguard consisting of the company of the Duke of Monmouth, who marched at its head in full dress. Next came the Duke of Albe- marle's company, and a troop of the Earl of Oxford's regiment. The infantry regiment of the King followed, with six pieces of cannon. ' The King of England,' remarks Duke Cosmo, ' besides those called his body guards, has many guards in the palace for the security of his person, both horse and foot. They are employed to mount guard at the gates of the palace^ both on the side of St James's Park and Whitehall Place, and to escort His Majesty whenever he goes out on horse- back or in his carriage through the city. In the hall, called the guard room, is the oruard of the Manica or sleeve {Yeomen of the Guard), consisting of two hundred and fifty very handsome men, the tallest and strongest that can be found in England ; they are called in jest Beef-eaters, that is, eaters of beef,* of which a considerable portion is allowed them every day. These carry a halberd when they are in London, and a half-pike in the country, with a broad sword by their sides, and before the King had any other body guard they escorted his carriage. They are dressed in a livery of red cloth, made according to the ancient fashion, and faced with black velvet ; they wear on their back the King's cypher in embroidery, and on their breast the white and red roses. ' The King has another guard formed of fifty gentlemen, * The jocose corrujition of BuflFetier into Beef-eater seems of quite a renerable antiquity. I ^ S FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION 87 called pensioners, the greater part persons of birth and quality, who carry a sort of pole-axe, in the form of a halberd, ornamented with gold, and are under the orders of a captain. ' The regiment of infantry nearest the city supplies the guards, who are changed every day at the palaces of Whitehall and St James, and at the Tower of London. That of the Duke of York, which is called the regiment of marines, is generally quartered at the sea-ports, and in the case of war, is the first to embark on board the fleet, over which the Lord High Admiral presides.'* The second Dutch War broke out in 1672. A regiment of foot was added to the military establishment, its command being given to the Duke of Monmouth ; and a regiment of dragoons under Prince Rupert. This new cavalry regiment consisted of twelve troops of eighty men, besides officers. Their equipment included a matchlock, musket and bandaliers, and a bayonet or ' great kniffe ' — the plug-bayonet for insertion in the muzzle. This is the first instance on record of the use of the bayonet in the British army. The fleet which put to sea under the Duke of York carried the usual complement of soldiers on board each ship — these being supplied from the Guards and ' the Admiral's Kegiment,' which was increased from ninety-eight men to 100 per company. By the notorious Treaty of Dover, one of the most shameful events of a shameful reign, Charles bound him- self to lend Louis XIV a contingent of 6000 men to act against the Dutch. In November a regiment of eight companies (of 100 men each) was despatched to France, under Captain David Skelton, to serve under the flag of the French Kinor. The English contingent, commanded by the Duke of • ( Travels of the Grand Duke of Tuscany,' p. 310. fl *«!ll^!IM*!«»#'W twenty-two That mysterious individual, the ' general reader ' will have been rendered familiar with the byroad feature ;f Tie 1 1 B d!! w7' ' '^.' '^^"'^ °' ^^''''''''g '^"'J B°th- Old Mnf l/ ~ntic .story so vividly told in Scott's Old Mortality and the scarcely less ronfantic narrative Ai eh bishop Sharp, of St Andrews, was particularly odious aZtfd S r""r' '"^ ■'*'^"^" ^*^''»'°"« ^-"-tii who Z7nlfh ^.'':'-",'^^""°"^«on« of the Hebrew scriptures ofTe ir or.;: r ' r ""i "j""^"°"^ *° ^■'^^ «- --- 01 tlieir own particular creed, resolved to put him to death Ra WlUt T """/?" ^"'^^"'- ''' ^-'y -d Hackston of crossing, m company with his daughter. Magus Muir near hL ftirT •' "' '" ^P''*^ °' ""'' '"*-^"- -'' tears. I; "ed Tnd on ^^:f '."^''■';:'°-«d by their friends and sympathizers. Toudo" Hill 'u- " 'f *^* •^""''' ^^''' - 'conventicle at Sa of ClavorLl: 'T'^I' ^"' f ^>' ^'^P^^^' '^^- song, rode outJi^m Ti °""" ^""'^'^ ' °^ «<=»"'* „. * „ .,? "^°"^ Glasgow, overtook the Covenanter.! t cpatnig an easy victory, but wa^ n.et with a stem re ^t L^^^rt^^f -'"^-^ '!^- -^ eomp-ellTd «n,l fi, . ^'asgow. The insurrection spread rapidly Xim an 1 r ^?'"™'"f "*• The Council in London took appoTnted r n^ T,'f '"^^ reinforcements from England appointed the Duke of Monmouth to the command in chief FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION 93 The Duke showed no lack of energy. Setting out from London on the 10th of June, he reached Edinburgh on the loth. SaysDryden: — ' Swift as Love's Messenger, the winged God, With sword as potent as his charming rod, ' He flew to execute the King's command.' ' Marching at once to the eastward, he came up with the rebels at Bothwell, in Lanarkshire, a pretty village on the Clyde, where they had posted an advanced party to dispute the passage of the bridge. They were, however, irresolute dispirited, and divided by opposing counsels. A deputation ot the more moderate minded had an audience of the Duke and limited their demands to the free exercise of their religion, offering to submit all disputed questions to a free Parliament, and a General Assembly of the Church The Duke refused to treat until they had laid down their arms and submitted unconditionally. He gave them half-an-hour for consideration, and meanwhile moved his army down to the bridge. The insurgents could arrive at no decision and the royal troops began the action. Hackston of Rathillet with a body of two or three hundred men, resolutely defended the bridge, but were not adequately supported The mass of the rebels lost heart at the advance of the King s disciplined ranks, and shrank before the royal artil- ery which mowed them down by scores. The troops forced the bridge, and thereupon the Covenanters took to fli<.ht pursued by Claverhouse and his cavalry with relentless swords. It IS admitted, however, by all authorities that Monmouth did his best to stay the slaughter :— ' Taking more pains when he beheld them yield, To save the fliers than to win the 6eld.' In 1685, the year of Charles II's death, the army estab- lishment m England consisted of two regiments "of foot 94 ENGLAND AT WAR guards, five other regiments of foot, two regiments of household cavalry, and a regiment of dragoons (fst Royals) There was also a considerable militar; force across the Tweed, including six troops of dragoons, which were formed mto a regiment, under the name of the Koyal Scots Dragoons,-af terwards the 2nd Dragoons or Scots'^Greys" Before concludmg our army notes for the rei^n of HoSll 'tT' T' '"f ' '° '''' ^^""'^^^^ of Chelsea Col efe f . ,' f r T ^"■"'^'■'^" °'^'="P'^'l V a Theological College founded by Sanust, which proved a failure was r P 1 T. "" ""'■''^'■^ P"^°"' -»^ i-^ 1667, grant;dT he Royal Sooety. The King purchased back tLe' bui 1!^ and grounds ,n 1G81 for the small sum of £1300, and inSe followng year it was announced to be the royal intent on to erect hereon an hospital for 'merited soldiers ' The S promised to contribute £20,000 for architectural purpo es^ and to settle X5000 a year for the maintenance ofTrTn vahd ccHupames of 400 men ; but all he did really contribi was £67o7, an unapplied balance of secret serJice money In 1G85, when Tangiers was abandoned, its garrison can bo..t of a more iUu JLs^oo'd They hldXT'^ " '"; '""*''" ""^ surrender of the colours of the ^m,Wrf„p^ had the honour of receiving the the white standard of thVclfTrzlll 't'n k ^' ^*"'' °' '^'"""'^ ' ""><» Waterloo their conduct was ofThT^Tn Tk „ Pf ''"S^"- -"^t «"»*« Bras and lost ninety-seven woufded and W km d ThT r'^f."' ^' '^^*"'- ^^^ 45th regiment of foot, by Ser7ea„t rl" t J ?•"]■" °' ""^ ^«'^ "^ '^e French orated by the eagle whit "CLe .,1 f^f/ "^'^'^^'-Orey^ iscommem- During the Crimean wlr the7dMe«l 1 : ° Tk "" '''"' ■'PPo-t-nts. the charge of the Heavy CaX^Brilat aT^^lI^f *"" " """"P'""""" ""* " :t%tsThe\rv:rrLr.:trr-r "^^^^^^ .liscovered untU she was wounZTlt ulime? ^"^'' "'"' ""' '"^ "'^ "" "»' WillLI m'^'^"' °' ''"'■'""^''"" ""^ '"'"J"-" "y J-- n, and extended by /•/fO^ TBE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION 95 returned to England, consisting of the two regiments which now rank as the second and fourth of the line. In that year the regular army mustered about 7000 foot and 1700 cavalry and dragoons. Its whole annual charge amounted to about £290,000. The daily pay of a private in^he life guards was 4s, m the Blues, 2s 6d, in the Dragoons, Is 6d, in the Foot Guards, lOd, and in the Line 8d. There were also six paid regiments, three English and three Scotch, in the pay of the United Provinces. The annual expenditure under ^Li^nf "'•^"^n«e, was on an average a little above £60,000 a year. The stock of powder kept in the fortresses and arsenals did not exceed 14,000 or 15,000 barrels At most of the garrisons there were gunners, and here and there an engineer was to be found. But there was no regiment of artillery, no brigade of sappers and niiners, and no college for training young soldiers in military sciences (Authorities :-• London Gazette ' ; Evelyn's ' Diary ' ■ Duke o Tuscany's 'Travels in England;' Grose's 'Military' Antiquities; Clarendon's ' Life ; ' Chamberlayne, ' State of England; Cannon, 'Life Guards;' Gumble, 'Life of Monk ; James II ' Memoirs ; ' Voltaire, ' Si^cle de Louis Quatorze; 'Historical Records of Regiments;' Sir S fecott, 'The British Army;' Macaulay, Lingard, J. r] 2. Reign of James II I _ On the 14th of July, 1685, Evelyn notes in his diary that certain intelligence' had been received of 'the Duke of Monmouth landing at Lyme in Dorsetshire.' Monmouth disembarked on the 11th, with only eighty-three followers and proceeded on his desperate enterprise, amidst the en- thusiasm of the ignorant populace. Entering the little town of Lyme, he set up his ensign, a blue flag, in the .narket-place. His military stores were deposited in the «|P«IP«»»*««!^.«SM? 96 ENGLAND AT WAR Town Hall, and a declaration setting forth the objects of the expedition was read from the cross. A Eoyalist force had assembled at Bridport and Monmouth resolved to attack. He had with him' four pieces of cannon, and, in twenty-four hours, his followin^r had increased to 1000 foot and 150 horse. The attack proved a failure, but numerous recruits continued to flock to his standard. The Duke of Albemarle, Lord-Lieutenant ot Devonshire, marched from Exeter with 4000 train bands- but was met at Axminster by a larger body of insur