HOW CROMWELL RECONNOITRED THE CITY FROM RED HILL.
No attempt was made by either of the Royalist commanders stationed on
the western side of the Severn to repair Massey's disastrous defeat
at Upton. The first tidings received of the conflict by Dalyell were
from the wounded general himself, and it was then too late to act.
Montgomery did not dare to quit his post at Powick, nor to detach Keith
with any troops. Early next day, Upton Bridge having been sufficiently
repaired to allow them to pass over it, Lambert was joined by
Fleetwood, Ingoldsby, and Harrison, with their regiments of horse and
foot; so there were now ten thousand Parliamentary soldiers at Upton.
The Royalist troops encamped at Old Hills, on Newland-green, and at
Lewthorn, drew closer to Worcester, and a new camp was formed between
Upper Wick and Pitmarston.
No one profited more by Lambert's victory than Judge Lechmere. Not
only did he escape payment of the fine imposed upon him by Massey,
which became due on the very day when that general was worsted, but
he got rid of his obnoxious guests, and avoided all further pains
and penalties, for if Massey had not been compelled to beat a hasty
retreat, he would assuredly have carried him off as a prisoner. As soon
as he could venture forth with safety, the judge rode over to Upton to
congratulate Lambert on his victory. At the same time, he begged him to
make Severn End his head-quarters. The Parliamentary general willingly
accepted the offer, and was installed that night in the room which
his adversary had quitted in the morning, with the full intention of
returning to it.
Next day, the other generals who had just crossed the river were
established at Severn End, and treated by the judge with the greatest
hospitality. Whatever personal annoyance he had endured, Judge Lechmere
could not complain that his house had been damaged or plundered by the
Cavaliers; and this was more than could be said of Captain Hornyold's
residence--Blackmore Park--which was stripped by the rapacious
Republicans, Colonels Goff and Gibbons. Madresfield Court was summoned
by Fleetwood to surrender, but the commander of the garrison refused,
and the siege was postponed.
Lambert's victory was in the highest degree satisfactory to Cromwell.
The seizure of the pass at Upton Bridge was part of the Lord General's
plan, but it had been accomplished more expeditiously than he had
anticipated. Though some miles off on the south of the city with the
main body of his army, he was in constant communication with his
generals, and directed all their movements. On the 28th of August, as
we have previously mentioned, he made White Lady Aston, distant about
five miles from Worcester, his head-quarters; and on that evening he
was joined by Colonel Lilburn, who had arrived with his victorious
troops from Wigan, in Lancashire.
The old manor-house of White Lady Aston, which originally belonged to
a nunnery of the Benedictine order, situated in the northern suburbs
of Worcester, was now occupied by Mr. Symonds, and by this gentleman,
a thorough-going Republican, Cromwell was heartily welcomed. Almost
midway between this place and Red Hill, until quite recently, had stood
another fine old manor-house, belonging to Sir Robert Berkeley, and it
was in this large mansion, the position of which perfectly suited him,
that the Lord General meant to fix his quarters; but he learnt from his
friend Mr. Symonds that the mansion no longer existed--it having been
burnt down only three days previously by the Scottish Presbyterians,
because Sir Robert Berkeley, its owner, when one of the Justices of the
King's Bench in the time of the late king, had given his opinion for
ship money.
Judge Berkeley, we may remark, had been very hardly used. Impeached
for high treason, he was fined twenty thousand pounds, deprived of
his office, and imprisoned in the Tower. His house had been plundered
by the Parliamentarians in the first siege of Worcester, and now
it was burnt down by the soldiers of the sovereign, whose cause he
warmly supported. Nevertheless, his loyalty was unimpaired. It is to
this high-minded and charitable man that Worcester owes the Berkeley
Hospital.
As Cromwell rode through Spetchley Park, on his way to Red Hill, early
next morning, he stopped to look at the blackened ruins of the fine old
mansion, with which he had been well acquainted, and though not easily
moved, he was touched by its melancholy aspect. A pleasant spot it had
been, but it was now an utter ruin--nothing being left standing except
the stables.
"These Scots," he remarked to Dighton, an inferior officer of his life
guards, who was in constant attendance upon him, "have done worse than
the men of Ephraim did, when they threatened to burn down Jephtha's
house upon him with fire. 'Tis a mean and dastardly revenge, and they
will pay for it. Those stables are large," he said, observing them
carefully; "and the rooms connected with them must be commodious. I
will pass the night here. Hold thy peace, Dighton. I know what thou
wouldst say--but I care not if the rooms have been occupied by grooms."
Dighton gave the necessary orders while the Lord General rode slowly
along the noble avenue of elm-trees that led to the place where the old
mansion once stood. Within Spetchley Park, which was charmingly wooded,
and contained a fine sheet of water, the main body of the Parliamentary
army was encamped. Next came Lord Grey of Groby's brigade, and the camp
continued, at intervals, to Red Hill, where Lilburn's regiment was now
stationed.
As Cromwell approached Red Hill, he heard the sound of cannon, and,
quickening his pace, soon learnt that the guns of Fort Royal had opened
upon Lilburn's troops while they were taking up a position on the
heights.
As no damage was done, Colonel Lilburn did not return the fire. "Let
them waste their ammunition if they will," he said to his engineers.
"They have not too much to spare."
Cromwell was of the same opinion.
"It would be useless to cannonade them from these heights," he said to
Lilburn. "But I will soon get near enough to reach them."
Accompanied by a regiment of musketeers and a train of artillery, he
then rode on to Perry Wood, which, as we know, faced Fort Royal, and,
in order that the movement might not be discovered by the Royalists, he
shaped his course through the Nunnery Wood, so designated because it
had once belonged to the old convent we have alluded to in describing
White Lady Aston, and entered Perry Wood, where his men could be
hidden. He then gave orders that during the night a strong breastwork
should be raised on the south of the hill, and a battery of heavy guns
mounted, which would command Fort Royal.
This done, he returned as he came, attended only by a small escort; but
he halted for a short time at the Nunnery Farm to see what the enemy
were about. The engineers on Fort Royal had not made any discovery
of the troops concealed in Perry Wood, and were still firing away
uselessly at Lilburn's camp on Red Hill.
Throughout the day the Lord General remained with Lilburn, and together
they reconnoitred the enemy from various points of Red Hill, examining
the new lines of fortifications, which surprised them by their extent,
and being much struck by the formidable appearance of the Castle Mount.
But they had troops as well as fortifications to examine--the main body
of the king's army being now posted on this side of the city.
This was what they beheld. From Friars'-gate on the east to the
south-west angle of the fortifications near the river, the city was
surrounded by troops. Lesley's brigade had descended from King's Hill,
and now occupied the Blockhouse fields. This Scottish cavalry seemed
to give Cromwell little uneasiness, and he smiled as he pointed them
out to Lilburn, but he did not regard with equal indifference the large
force under the Duke of Hamilton, which occupied the London-road, and
commanded the approach to the Sidbury-gate. Nor did either of them
think lightly of the regiments respectively commanded by the Duke of
Buckingham, Lord Wilmot, Colonel Legge, and Colonel Lane. Lilburn
thought General Middleton's brigade likely to give him trouble.
Middleton's troops were posted near the river, on the spot where
Diglis's Bowling-green was subsequently laid out.
Such was the disposition of the royal forces on the south and
south-east sides of Worcester when the two Parliamentary leaders
examined them from Red Hill. Cromwell looked upon the troops as
already scattered and consumed. But Lilburn was struck by their
gallant appearance, and did not refuse them the tribute of a soldier's
admiration.