John Digby, the High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, made an attempt to
secure the county for the King. A meeting was called at Newark, at
which all the gentry were requested to be present. Though the best
interests of the county were the ostensible object of this meeting,
the Parliamentarian gentry grew suspicious and absented themselves,
and it was as well for them that they did so, for it was the intention
of Sir John Digby to capture all those who were likely to oppose him.
Gradually John Hutchinson had come to the front, and henceforward
he took over the command of affairs locally in the interests of the
Parliament, aided by a committee with whom he was not always in
agreement. His family lived at Owthorpe, and those who wish to see him
through the idealising eyes of his wife cannot do better than refer to
the famous memoirs. Recognising the fruitlessness of all negotiations,
Hutchinson summoned all those well affected to the cause of Parliament
to come to him at Nottingham. By Christmas 1642 a sufficient number
were assembled for the fortification of the town to be pushed on apace.
New gates replaced those which had fallen down, and Nottingham was made
as strong as the shortage of time and men permitted. Hutchinson with a
small force occupied the Castle.
Meanwhile the Royalists were occupying and strengthening Newark, which
was in better repair than Nottingham. The Duke of Newcastle garrisoned
it with a force under the leadership of Sir John Henderson. This
occupation of Newark by the Royalists was of paramount importance, for
there were but three regular fords on the Trent, one at Nottingham,
one at Newark, and the third at “Wilden Ferry,” in Derbyshire, where
the Cavendish Bridge is now, and further, Newark served to divide the
parliamentary forces in South Lincolnshire from those in Yorkshire
under Lord Fairfax, besides acting as an ever-present thorn in the
side of the Parliamentary garrison at Nottingham. Soon after Newark
was garrisoned, an attack was made on it by the Lincolnshire forces,
but this was beaten off. This attack was followed by another, planned
on a larger scale, which came within an ace of being successful. It
was decided to make an assault on Newark from all sides at Candlemas
1643. Forces from Nottingham and Derby, under the command of Colonel
John Hutchinson and Sir John Gell respectively, were to attack the
town on the western side, while the Lincolnshire forces, under one
Ballard, were to attack on the east. Ballard was to be commander of
the whole force. This soldier was a man whose days of prosperity were
behind him, and who, having many friends among the Newarkers, was
unwilling to be the cause of their undoing. He took up his position on
Beacon Hill, and began to bombard the town at a distance too great to
effect any appreciable damage. However, matters were going well for
the attackers: a street had been captured on the east, and on the
west the townsmen had been driven from their position. At this point
Ballard hesitated, and refused to move. The Newarkers were quick to
profit by his weakness, and the enemy were driven off. But this narrow
escape served as a warning to the Cavaliers, who began immediately to
strengthen the defences of Newark. Shelford Manor and Wiverton Hall
were fortified, and Sir Roger Cooper and the Duke of Newcastle put
their houses, at Thurgarton and Welbeck respectively, into a state of
defence; while about the same time Newstead Priory, Felley Priory, and
Kirkby Hardwick were occupied by the Royalists. In May of this year
Oliver Cromwell first appears in this district. His forces and those
of Lincolnshire were allied, and in the several skirmishes that took
place, the Newarkers appear always to be the losers. Cromwell’s force
numbered 2000 men, and we find there the beginnings of that discipline
and uprightness which was to be later so important a factor in the
organisation of the army of the eastern association and the new model.
_The Kingdomes Weekly Intelligencer_, referring to this force,
says: “No man swears, but he pays his 12d.; if he be drunk, he is
set in the stocks; or worse, if one calls the other ‘Roundhead,’ he
is cashiered, in so much that the countries where they come leap for
joy of them, and come in and join with them.” What a contrast this is
to the irregularities practised in many of the Royalist camps, where
debauchees like Goring were in command! There were many earnest men
who withheld their hands from their swords rather than serve in a
force commanded by such creatures as these. Nor was this looseness
the only weakness in the Royalist army. The King was unwilling to
entrust the whole command to any one man, and so, while making Lindsey
general-in-chief, he had left the cavalry in the hands of Prince
Rupert. Concerted action was impossible, jealousies were prevalent, and
distrust and disorder resulted. It was about this time that the Queen
arrived from abroad with help for the King. In June she was at Newark,
whence she sent the following letter:--
“MY DEAREST HEART,--I received just now your letter by
my Lord Saville, who found me ready to go away, staying but for
one thing, for which you will pardon two days’ stop, it is to
have Hull and Lincoln. Young Hotham having been put in prison
by order of the Parliament, is escaped, and hath sent to 260
(the Earl of Newcastle?) that he would cast himself into his
arms, and that Hull and Lincoln should be rendered. He is gone
to his father, and 260 writes for your answer; so that I think
I shall go home Friday or Saturday, and shall go lie at Werton
(Wiverton), and from thence to Ashby, where we will resolve
which way to take; and I will stay there a day, because that the
march of the day before will have been somewhat great, and also
to know how the enemy march, all their forces at Nottingham,
at present, being gone to Leicester and Derby, which makes us
believe it is to intercept our passage. As soon as we have
arrived I will send you word. At this present I think it right
to let you know the state in which we march, and what I leave
behind for the safety of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. I
leave two thousand foot and wherewithal to arm five hundred
more; twenty companies of horse, all to be under the command
of Charles Cavendish, whom the gentlemen of the country have
desired me not to carry with me against his will, for he desired
extremely not to go. The enemy have left within Nottingham one
thousand. I carry with me three thousand foot, thirty companies
of horse and dragoons, six pieces of cannon, and two mortars.
Harry Germyn commands the forces that go with me, as colonel of
my guard; and Sir Alexander Lesly the foot under him, and Gerard
the horse, and Robert Legge the artillery, and her she majesty
generalissimo over all and extremely diligent, with one hundred
and fifty waggons of baggage to govern. In case of battle have
a care that no troop of Essex’s army incommode us: for the
rest I hope that I shall be strong enough, for we have had the
experience at Nottingham, one of our troops having beaten six of
theirs, and made them fly. I have received your proclamation,
or declaration, which I wish you had not made, being extremely
disadvantageous for you, for you show too much fear, and do
not what you had resolved upon. Farewell, my dear heart. From
Newark, 27th June 1643.”
Meanwhile Colonel Hutchinson at Nottingham was becoming apprehensive
for the safety of the town, which was now surrounded by Royalist
garrisons. Moreover, the energetic Newarkers were always ready to
take advantage of any weakness Nottingham might show. In these
circumstances, Colonel Hutchinson was despatched to London to inform
Parliament of the danger, with the result that Cromwell, Hubbard,
Lord Grey, and Sir John Gell were ordered to unite their forces
at Nottingham. Besides the strengthening of the town, this order
had another object. It was known that the Queen would pass close by
Nottingham in her attempt to join the King, and it was hoped that she
might be intercepted. With this object in view, the force of some 5000
men, now in Nottingham, were divided as stated in the Queen’s letter,
some being stationed at Derby, and others at Leicester. All these
precautions proved futile, for after waiting two days at Southwell,
in doubt whether to attack Nottingham or not, the Queen passed on to
Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
The Queen’s escape was followed by the departure of the troops
concentrated at Nottingham.
The Newarkers were by no means content to wait to be attacked. They
preferred to fill in their time by annoying their opponents as far as
lay in their power. During May an escort had been sent to Oxford to
convoy some arms, and this force, some 2000 in number, on its return
made an unsuccessful attack on Northampton. Later in the year a night
march to Melton Mowbray resulted in the capture of the Parliamentary
Committee of Leicester, who were there with the object of raising money.
About the middle of 1643 two changes of leaders took place. Sir John
Meldrum superseded Lord Grey, and Sir John Henderson surrendered the
governorship of Newark to Sir Richard Byron. On July 20 Lord Willoughby
of Parham had taken Gainsborough by surprise from the Royalists, and
on the 25th Meldrum and Cromwell were ordered to go to his assistance,
for he was menaced by a force of Newarkers under Charles Cavendish,
the Royalist commander in Notts and Lincolnshire. Gainsborough was an
important place, for, to quote Mr. Gardiner: “It stood in the way of an
attack by the Royalists on Lincoln or of an attempt to help Newark.”
Mr. Gardiner continues: “Cromwell and Meldrum joined hands at Grantham,
and a body of troops met them from Lincoln at North Scarle. On the 28th
they arrived at Gainsborough, and the battle was fought to the S.E.
of the town, and resulted in the defeat of the Royalists and relief of
Gainsborough.
“A Royalist force is reported, and Cromwell advances to meet it.
He finds it is the army under Newcastle, and has to retire to
Gainsborough, which he leaves to its fate, and on the 30th it
capitulates. This battle was the turning point of the war, for it
showed the Parliament where to look for cavalry and a great leader.”
During this battle Charles Cavendish was slain, a great loss to the
Royalists.
After this Sir John Meldrum joins the main army and leaves
Lieut.-Colonel Hutchinson in command at Nottingham, which was neglected
by Parliament and left to its own devices, for even troops commanded
by such local men as Henry Ireton and Whalley are taken from this
neighbourhood.
Before proceeding to detail the events at Nottingham, it may be as well
to give a description of the condition of the Castle at this time,
which Bailey quotes in his _Annals of Nottinghamshire_:--
“The castle was built upon a rock, and nature had made it
capable of very strong fortification; but the buildings were
very ruinous and uninhabitable, neither affording room to lodge
soldiers nor provisions. The castle stands at one end of the
town, upon such an eminence as commands the chief streets.
There had been enlargements made to this castle after the first
building of it. There was a strong tower, which they called
the old tower, built upon the top of all the rock.... In the
midway to the top of this tower, there is a little piece of
rock on which a dovecote has been built; but the Governor took
down the roof of it, and made it a platform for two or three
pieces of ordnance, which commanded some streets and all the
meadows better than the higher tower. Under that tower, which
was the old castle, there was a larger castle, where there
had been several towers, and many noble houses, but the most
of them were down, only it was situated upon an ascent of the
rock, and so stood a pretty height above the streets. And there
were the ruins of an old pair of gates, with turrets on each
side. Before the castle, the town was on one side of a close
(Standard Hill and parts adjacent), which commanded the fields
approaching the town; which close the Governor afterwards made a
platform. Behind it was a place called the Park, that belonged
to the castle, but then had neither deer nor trees in it.... In
the whole rock, there were many large caverns, where a great
magazine and many hundred soldiers might have been disposed,
if they had been cleansed and prepared for it, and might have
been kept secure from any danger of firing the magazines by
any mortar pieces shot against the castle. It was not flanked,
and there were no works about it, when Mr. Hutchinson undertook
it, but only a little breastwork before the outmost gate. It
was as ill provided as fortified, there being but 10 barrels of
powder, 1150 pounds of butter and as much cheese, 11 quarters of
bread corn, 7 beeves, 214 flitches of bacon, 560 fishes, and 15
hogsheads of beer.”
The position of the town was critical. Girded with fortifications which
could only be sufficiently defended by 3000 men, Nottingham was riddled
through and through by jealousies and dissensions. Hutchinson was not
popular, and many Parliamentarians disapproved of his carrying the
cannons up into the Castle. Eventually a meeting of the townspeople was
held, at which Colonel Pierrepont propounded these three alternatives:
(1) To leave the town and go to other garrisons; (2) to stay in the
Castle; (3) to stay in the town works and have their throats cut. Many
left the town, and but 300 joined Hutchinson in the Castle. These were
all good men, and when the place had been provisioned, the position was
one of no little strength. The town defences were left in the hands
of the municipality. Of the garrison in the castle two-thirds were
quartered in the town.
Before long Newcastle sent Major Cartwright with a summons to
surrender. He was met with a refusal, and a similar answer was carried
back by Mr. Ayscough, whom Sir Richard Byron sent with the offer of a
bribe to the Governor.
Meanwhile hostilities had been continuing round Gainsborough, with the
result that the Royalists suffered a severe loss by the deaths of the
Earl of Kingston and Colonel Thomas Markham of Ollerton.
On the morning of September 19, Nottingham Castle narrowly escaped
capture. During the night a force of 600 Newarkers, led by Sir Richard
Byron, had gained access to the town, surprised the 200 of the garrison
who were quartered outside the Castle, and either captured or drove
them off. Thus Hutchinson found his garrison reduced to 100, and the
enemy at his gates. For five days the town was plundered and the
Castle fired at from the tower of St. Nicholas’s Church. On September
23 the invaders withdrew, and at the same time help arrived from Derby
and Leicester, but the Royalists and their prisoners were allowed to
depart, leaving Captain Hacker[50] with a small force to hold the newly
erected fort at the Trent Bridge. The menace of this force annoyed the
Governor, who planned its dispersal. Acting contrary to the advice
of the commander of the Derby forces, Hutchinson began to lay siege
to this bridge fort, and after five days he was so far successful
that Hacker withdrew to Newark, after breaking down two arches of the
bridge behind him. But Hutchinson’s troubles were by no means at an
end. Unpopular, and at odds with the Committee, he was called upon,
in January 1644, to face another attack upon the Castle. This time
the attack was made by some 3000 troops, 1000 of whom entered the
town, with intent to occupy it, another 1000 remained outside to guard
against any attack by neighbouring Roundhead troops, while the third
body, recruited largely from the garrisons of Belvoir and Wiverton,
were to gain possession of the all-important passage over the Trent.
The town force, led by Sir Charles Lucas, was surprised in the streets
of the town by a fierce attack of the garrison, and fled without making
much attempt to fight. A month later the Newarkers made an attempt to
gain possession of the Trent Bridge by entering in the disguise of
market women. Their ruse failed, and more than half of this heroic
force of nine were slain.
But this state of affairs could not go on. It was incredible that the
Parliament would allow themselves to be the butt of frequent attacks
without making some reprisals. Early in 1644 the Committee of both
kingdoms made up their minds to deal severely with Newark. Sir John
Meldrum, a Scotsman, was placed in command of the expedition, and
the forces of Nottingham and Derby were to co-operate with him. The
condition of the garrison was not enviable. Reduced in numbers by the
departure of several expeditionary forces, it was composed largely of
the townspeople and neighbouring gentry, while in addition to their
fewness of numbers, the capture of a food convoy rendered it likely
that soon they would be in want of provisions. The besieging army
numbered about 8500 men; but for all this the Newarkers were not going
to await their fate without doing all in their power to annoy the
enemy, for early in March a sudden sortie proved very disastrous to the
besiegers. But notwithstanding this, Sir John Meldrum expected almost
daily to gain possession of the town. But it was fated otherwise, and
the minister of fate was Prince Rupert, whom the King sent to do his
utmost to save the loyal borough. That he was not expected by the
Parliamentarians is evident, for his rapid cavalry attack delivered
from Coddington was successful, and the siege was raised before Sir
John Meldrum had time to find out the size of the force opposed to him.
The disputed ownership of Newark settled, Prince Rupert turned his
attention to Nottingham, and sent a demand for the surrender of that
town. The answer was a direct refusal; and evidently the Royalists
did not consider themselves strong enough, for though they advanced
to within three miles of that town, they changed their course and
journeyed to Oxford. But the Parliament had received a severe scare,
for when it was thought that Rupert might arrive at Nottingham
any minute, the Parliamentarians set to work to strengthen the
fortifications with the utmost haste. The meadows were flooded, and
even on Sunday no pause was permitted. But the moral effect of the
relief of Newark was so great, that even Mrs. Hutchinson, who saw
little good even in the majority of the supporters of the Parliament
and none at all in the Royalists, wrote: “Such a blow was given to the
Parliament interest, in all these parts, that it might well discourage
the ill-affected, when even the most zealous were cast down, and gave
up all for lost.”
The Newarkers were wise. They were not buoyed up with any false opinion
of their future security. The Parliament was still as determined as
ever, and in July, the Earl of Manchester was quartered at Retford
watching Newark. Mr. Cornelius Brown quotes the following letter from
one Will Goode in the army of the Earl. It refers to events which took
place between July 27 and August 16, 1644:--
“On Monday morning came an alarm to our quarters (at Retford)
from Tuxford that our horse there were beaten up with great
loss to us, whereupon Lieutenant-General Cromwell speedily
rode thitherwards to prove the truth, whereupon he found that
Newark, by obscure ways through the forest, unknown to our horse
guards, being two troops which stood two miles from Tuxford
towards Newark, had fallen suddenly into Tuxford upon our three
troops, of whom they killed a lieutenant and a quartermaster
and took with them eight prisoners and some horse, and so
speedily retreated to Newark. On Monday, his Lordship advanced
from Retford to Gainsborough, and then rode to Lincoln, where
he yet remains, having sent 2000 horse and 150 foot to lie at
Beckingham and Claypole, and some troops within two or three
miles of Newark to hold them in.... Our horse lies between
Newark and Belvoir, and will prevent all relief on this side of
the Trent to that town. Newark now expects a siege.”
The first of the Royalist garrisons in the valley of the Trent which
fell into the Parliament’s hands was Thurgarton Hall, the residence
of Sir Roger Cooper, which was carried by assault by the force under
Colonel Thornhaugh, which had assembled at Mansfield and marched
by way of Thurgarton to assist in the watching of Newark.[51] This
Royalist disaster occurred at the end of 1644. In Nottingham itself
the quarrel between Hutchinson and the Committee had by the beginning
of 1645 become so acute that in April we find both parties in London
pleading their cause at headquarters. Hutchinson’s visit was cut short
by the receipt of the news that the Newarkers had captured the fort at
Trent Bridge. One who signs himself T. H., writing to the _Weekly
Account_, April 16–23, 1645, says:--
“I doubt not but you have heard of the sad condition of these
parts; the King’s Forces from Newark of late have been more
active than ever, and their opposition as little. They have
plundered us of our Goods and Cattle on this (the south) side of
the River, and on Saturday last a Partee of the Newark Horse and
Dragoons, when it was not yet duske, fell on Nottingham Bridge,
which is not many furlongs from the Town, cut off the Centinell,
and surprised the whole Guard, except 3 men which narrowly
escaped; the whole Guard consisted of 33 Persons, those that
got not away were most inhumanly cut to pieces, notwithstanding
desire of Quarter, &c., and it may please God that some of those
which committed this massacre, may be met with in the like
Hands.”
This was a serious matter, for the loss of this fort closed the road
for all provisions into Nottingham from the south. Accordingly, Colonel
Rossiter was sent with a force of nearly 2000 men to recapture the
position. No fight was necessary, for the Newarkers, recognising the
numerical superiority of the enemy, and hearing that the Scotch army
would shortly arrive at Nottingham, retreated home.
The _Weekly Account_, May 4, 1645, states: “The Scots will keep
their rendezvous at Nottingham to-morrow”; but it seems doubtful
whether they did, for it is the middle of June when _The Kingdomes
Weekly Intelligence_ announces: “The Scots are come to Nottingham
with 7000 foot, and 4000 horse, expecting command of their removal.” As
a matter of fact, they appear to have left on July 1.
Meanwhile the King and Prince Rupert had determined to capture
Leicester, the most important Parliamentary position in the Midlands.
A large force was collected, among them the celebrated regiment of
Newark cavalry led by Colonel Page, and by the beginning of June the
town was in Royalist hands. But their triumph was short-lived, for on
June 14 the battle of Naseby proved that the time of the Parliament
had come, and that the question now was how long the few isolated
Royalist garrisons could hold out. Of these towns Newark was the most
important, and the numbers of its garrison were swelled by the arrival
of many fugitives from Naseby. With increased strength came greater
activity, and the raids of the Newarkers became even more galling
to the Parliament than they had hitherto been. The energetic forces
dashed in all directions, turning up where they were least expected
and leaving before any concerted attack could be made upon them.
Among their exploits at this time was the capture of Welbeck House,
together with 200 prisoners. Each month saw special efforts being made
to capture this energetic town, which received fresh encouragement on
August 22 from a short visit of the King, who passed through on his way
to Huntingdon. The town was now governed by Sir Richard Willis, who
had succeeded to the post in 1644. Under his leadership the raids on
the surrounding country were continued until October, when on the 4th
the arrival of the King gave a new turn to affairs. Charles’s object
appears to have been to make his enemies leave the Welsh border and
compel them to attack him in a strong position from which he could
escape whenever he might wish to do so. That the Parliament did not
look on the matter in the same light, is evident from the following
extract from _The Diary, or an Exact Journal_, October 23–30:--