but the place could not be maintained. Sir Thomas attempted to pass
through the royal lines, but his party was dispersed, and his wife
captured by the enemy. He gained Leeds, where the news arrived that
the Hothams had been arrested, and Hull was open to the
Parliamentarians. The Fairfaxes resolved to make the attempt to reach
the fortress, and succeeded after many perils, Sir Thomas being shot
through the wrist during a skirmish, and fainting from excessive pain
and loss of blood.
XVIII.--THE BATTLE AT HULL.
A.D. 1643.
Newcastle marched upon Hull, drove Sir Thomas Fairfax out of Beverley,
and besieged the town with 12,000 foot and 4,000 horse, on the 2nd of
September, 1643. Attempts were made to command the Humber by the
erection of forts at Hessle and Paull, and red-hot shot were thrown
into the town. A sally was beaten back, but the besiegers were
hindered by the cutting of the banks of the Hull and Humber, when the
country around was laid under water. Oliver Cromwell and Lord
Willoughby of Parham visited the town to consult with the Fairfaxes as
to the best measures for the defence, but appeared satisfied that it
could be maintained. The sorties of the garrison were spirited, and
attended with some success. On the 9th October the Royalists attempted
to carry the town by escalade, and almost succeeded. The Charter House
battery was stormed, but re-captured, and many lives were lost. The
gallant Captain Strickland was slain while leading the stormers. On
the morning of the 11th of October a pitched battle was fought before
the town. Fairfax organised a force of 1,500 men, drawn from the
garrison, burghers, and the crews of the warships in the Humber.
Meldrum and Lord Fairfax issued out of the Hessle and Beverley gates,
and took the Royalists by surprise, driving them out of their works;
but being assailed by fresh troops from the main body of the
besiegers, they were very roughly handled, and driven under the town
walls, when the cannon opened upon the Cavaliers, and enabled Meldrum
and Fairfax to re-form their troops.
Supported by the fire of the town guns, the Parliamentarians renewed
their attack; and, in the face of a heavy fire, stormed the enemy's
works, the dispute being very severe, and the fighting stubbornly
maintained at close quarters. Newcastle's warriors made a gallant
attempt to re-conquer their lost forts, but the cannon were turned
upon them, and the Parliamentarians repulsed every attack. After three
hours of hard fighting the Cavaliers retired, having received over
one hundred discharges of the town guns.
An anxious night was passed, for the Parliamentarians expected
Newcastle to renew his attempts to regain his forts and cannon, but
the Marquis had suffered heavily, and, taking council with his
officers, resolved to abandon the siege, and retire under cover of the
night. His main army retired upon York, securing the retreat by
breaking down bridges and obstructing the roads.
The men of Hull rejoiced in the capture of two famous cannon, Gog and
Magog, a demi-culverin, four small drakes mounted on one carriage, two
large brass drakes, and a saker.
The burghers spent the following day in public thanksgiving, and thus
observed the anniversary of their deliverance until the restoration of
the Stuarts.
XIX.--THE BATTLE OF SELBY.
A.D. 1644.
In 1644 King and Parliament were so closely matched that any accession
of strength to either party would tend to the speedy conclusion of the
conflict. When, on the 4th of March, the Earl of Leven occupied
Sunderland with 30,000 Scots, reinforcements for Parliament, the
greatest concern was felt by all good Cavaliers, and the Marquis of
Newcastle promptly brought up his Yorkshire Royalists, and held Leven
at bay.
In this strait Sir Thomas Fairfax was ordered to the North to
reinforce the Scots with cavalry, and enable them to engage the King's
men. Lord Fairfax joined his son near Hull, and, augmenting his
forces, it was resolved to attack Selby, which was defended by
barricades, and garrisoned by a strong force of foot and horse under
the command of Colonel Bellasis, the son of Lord Falconberg.
On the 11th of April, 1644, the Parliamentarians advanced to the
storm. The army was formed into three divisions, commanded by Lord
Fairfax, Sir John Meldrum, and Colonel Bright. Sir Thomas Fairfax
supported with his cavalry.
The steady advance was met by the red flash of the guns, and the smoke
rose and drifted over the front. But the drums beat on, the pikemen
held bravely to the front, and the musketeers began to handle their
guns, as the front ranks poured into the trenches, leaving on the
green sward behind them the silent forms of slain men, whose white,
drawn faces looked very sad in the midst of the fresh young grass, and
under the shifting April clouds. In the trenches and by the barricades
some hot work went on, with clash of pikes and hail of bullets, until
the Cavaliers were fairly beaten from their defences, and their
reluctant officers, failing to rally their disordered ranks, retired
them from the front. The lines were won, but Colonel Bellasis held the
open ground with his horse, ready to sweep back the hostile foot
should they attempt any further advance, and a desultory fire of
musketry was maintained, until Sir Thomas Fairfax succeeded, after a
fierce struggle, in breaking down a barricade and making way for his
horse. Then the files of heavy cavalry came crashing over the
disputed ground, beating under hoof the heaps of debris and rubbish,
and overthrowing all who strove with pike and musket to bar their
path. Sir Thomas occupied the ground between the houses and the river,
when, with trumpets sounding the charge, a numerous body of royal
horse bore down upon them. The charge was gallantly received, and a
severe conflict ensued, when, beaten back by dint of steel and lead,
the Royalists broke away in confusion, and availing themselves of the
bridge of boats, crossed the river and took to flight.
Scarcely had the panting warriors time to re-form their disordered
ranks before the fiery Bellasis burst upon them in a furious charge,
eager to avenge his defeated horse. Cold steel met in thrust and
parry; the pistols flashed, and brave men fell thickly as,
hand-to-hand, in dust and smoke, the sharp hot _melee_ held; then
riderless steeds broke away from the shock; Sir Thomas was hurled from
his steed amid plunging hoofs and slashing steel, but was rescued by
his gallant troopers, and re-mounted. The Cavaliers fought as King's
men should that day, but were over-weighted by Fairfax's heavy horse,
and driven off in headlong flight for York, leaving Colonel Bellasis
a prisoner in the hands of the victorious Roundheads.
In the meantime the Parliamentarian foot had made good their hold of
the town, and accepted the surrender of the royal foot.
The results of this engagement were remarkable. The Fairfaxes had only
defeated some two or three thousand men, and wrested a small town from
the King's hands, yet the strong city of York trembled for its safety,
and Newcastle was urgently requested to return and defend the county.
He complied. The Scots were at liberty. Fairfax immediately joined
them with his little army; and, on the 19th of April, York was
blockaded by the combined forces. Manchester augmented the besieging
army; York was closely invested, its fall was imminent; and King
Charles urgently demanded of Prince Rupert the raising of the siege.
Gallantly was the demand met, but was followed by the famous battle of
Marston Moor, from the effects of which the royal cause never
recovered.
XX.--BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR.
A.D. 1644.
King Charles was fully conscious of the perilous position in which he
would be placed if York fell, and Yorkshire passed into the hands of
the enemy; he therefore instructed Prince Rupert to march to the
relief of York, using the following impressive language:--
"I command and conjure you, by the duty and affection which I
know you bear me, that, all new enterprise laid aside, you
immediately march, according to your first intention, with all
your force to the relief of York; but if that be either lost,
or have freed themselves from the besiegers, or that, for want
of powder, you cannot undertake that work, that you immediately
march with your whole strength to Worcester, to assist me and
my army, without which, or your having relieved York by beating
the Scots, all the successes you may afterwards have, most
infallibly will be useless unto me."
Gathering up forces as he advanced, Rupert marched to the succour of
the city, and occupied Knaresborough and Boroughbridge on the evening
of the 30th of June. On the following morning the Parliamentarians
drew up on Hessay Moor, to arrest Rupert's advance. Outgeneraling his
adversaries, the Prince marched to Poppleton Ferry, halted his army,
and entered York with 200 Cavaliers. That night a council of war was
held, and Rupert resolved to give battle to the enemy. The Marquis of
Newcastle endeavoured to dissuade the Prince from this step, and
begged him to await the arrival of a reinforcement of 5,000 men,
expected in the course of a few days. Rupert is accused of behaving
with discourtesy towards Newcastle, and for this there can be no
defence. There was, however, good reason for fighting, and at once.
Certainly the Prince could not be expected to put a great value on
Newcastle's advice. Rupert had achieved many successes, and had
relieved York by a masterly movement; on the other hand, Newcastle had
not achieved any remarkable success, and had allowed himself to be
besieged in York without fighting a battle. If he could hold Leslie in
check, surely he might have attempted to raise the blockade of York
before Manchester arrived with reinforcements. Had Rupert waited for
reinforcements, would the Parliamentarians have accepted battle, or
retired to some stronger position? Rupert was in a favourable
position, with a tried army, almost as strong as that of the enemy,
and if he did not at once give battle as favourable an opportunity
might not again occur. Having relieved York, was he to retire and
leave the enemy in Yorkshire to again besiege the city, or capture the
various royal strongholds? Two nearly equal armies were opposed on
Yorkshire soil, would one army leave the other in possession? would
the Parliamentarians compel the Cavaliers to fight? or would the two
armies move away in different directions, seeking other fields and
other foes? Rupert and the Parliamentarian leaders knew that they were
there to fight. The King's affairs absolutely demanded a victory, and
the blame that attaches to Rupert is that he forgot the general in
acting the part of a captain of horse, and so lost a battle that it
was within his capabilities to have won, as the conduct of his army
abundantly proved.
The morning of the 2nd of July beheld Rupert's army in motion; but
the enemy were marching upon Tadcaster, not expecting an engagement. A
threatening movement of Rupert's cavalry was promptly checked, and
both armies began to form for battle under the Earls of Leven and
Manchester and Lord Fairfax on the one hand; and Rupert, Goring,
Lucas, and Sir John Urrie on the other. Some time elapsed before the
various divisions reached the field, and stood opposed in order of
battle.
The Parliamentarians occupied a gentle eminence covered by a crop of
rye, beaten down by horse and foot. The regiments of Scotch and
English were intermixed, that the grace or blame of victory or defeat
might be equally shared. The centre consisted of serried masses of
pikemen and musketeers, commanded by Leven and the elder Fairfax; Sir
Thomas Fairfax led the right wing, consisting of his Yorkshire
cavalry, supported by three regiments of Scottish horse, and
outflanked by the village of Marston. The left wing, extending to
Tockwith village, was commanded by Manchester and Cromwell. Their
field word was "God with us!" Before them was the open moor, held by
the King's men, but the furze and broken ground was calculated to
retard their charges. Between the two armies extended a ditch and
hedge, soon to be immortalised as the scene of some heavy fighting and
dreadful slaughter.
Some uncertainty exists as to the disposition of the Royalists, the
various accounts of the battle being very contradictory, but it may be
assumed that the centre was commanded by Goring, Sir Charles Lucas,
and General Porter; Newcastle heading his own regiment of white-coated
pikemen. Rupert carried his huge red-cross banner, emblazoned with the
arms of the Palatinate, on the left wing; and Sir John Urrie commanded
the right. Grant seems disposed to support the statement of Rushworth,
that Rupert led the right wing, and Sir Charles Lucas the left.
Rupert's position was excellent for the fighting of a defensive
battle. To cross the ditch that lay between the armies was a serious
undertaking for either army, but especially for the Parliamentarians,
as Rupert had lined the hedge with musketeers, and had planted a
battery on an eminence behind his centre, thus demanding a heavy
sacrifice of life from the Parliamentarians before they could exchange
blows with his centre, and, in the event of his assuming the
offensive, the advance would be partially covered by the battery.
The combined armies consisted of about 46,000 men, and were of almost
equal strength, the Parliamentarians having, probably, some little
advantage in numbers. For several hours no hostile movement took
place, with the exception of a few discharges of cannon, by one of the
first shots of which the loyal Sir Gilbert Houghton lost his son.
Apparently both parties were awed by the importance of the impending
conflict, and reluctant to make the first movement, with all the
difficulties attending the passage of the ditch and hedge.
The pleasant summer afternoon waned into evening, peaceful and calm.
Seven o'clock approached: surely the bloody bout would be delayed
until the morrow. Occasionally the cannon roared, and a few men fell;
one of these unfortunates was young Walton, Cromwell's nephew, who was
severely wounded; and it is supposed that this brought about the
Parliamentarian attack.
"It was now between six and seven, and Rupert, calling for
provisions, dismounted, and began to eat his supper. A large
number of his followers did the like. Newcastle strolled
towards his coach to solace himself with a pipe. Before he had
time to take a whiff, the battle had begun."--_Gardiner._
Manchester moved forward his infantry in heavy masses, with pikes and
muskets ready for the deadly work, and attempted the passage of the
ditch, while Cromwell's magnificent cuirassiers swept forward to clear
the same formidable obstacle, and engage the enemy's right. Rupert
hurried forward a large body of musketeers to meet Manchester's
attack, and at the same time swept their ranks by the deadly
discharges of his field battery. Rupert's musketeers being covered by
the hedge, inflicted heavy loss upon the Parliamentarians, and
Manchester vainly exerted himself to re-form their shattered ranks.
Two cannons were hurried up, and the officers exposed themselves with
the utmost devotion to encourage their troops, but they were powerless
to advance in the face of that deadly shower of bullets, and the
position was becoming critical in the extreme, when relief came, and
that not a moment too soon. Cromwell, making a wide sweep, gained the
open moor, found room for a charge, and bore down upon the enemy's
right with a tremendous and fatal force. A short but desperate
conflict ensued as Cromwell carried his Ironsides through the sorely
buffeted and shattered squadrons of the royal horse. Pressing on, he
stormed the battery and put the gunners to the sword. A moment's
breathing space was allowed the horses, and then the musketeers, who
held Manchester's advance in check with their forks planted in the
ditch-bank, maintaining a steady and destructive fire, became the
object of attack. These brave soldiers did not attempt to meet the
charge, but retreated in close order, with presented pikes, and
although they suffered severely from the fury of the enemy, they
endeavoured to check the successive charges by the repeated fire of
their muskets.
There was no braver man in the field than Sir Thomas Fairfax, but he
suffered a sad defeat on that memorable July evening. The ground
occupied by his troops was broken and intersected by a number of
lanes; not difficult to defend, but preventing united action when the
moment for the advance arrived. Nevertheless he struggled forward,
wasting his strength by a succession of weak charges, but unable to
find room for a general attack. The fiery Rupert was opposed to him,
and swept his ranks by a cruel and incessant fire of musketry, until
little hope for the Parliament remained in this part of the field. For
a time the impending ruin was averted by Cromwell, who charged the
Prince's infantry, and afforded Fairfax an opportunity of re-forming
his torn and wearied forces; but in the midst of the struggling
advance of the over-mastered Parliamentarians Rupert delivered his
grand charge, and storming over and through every obstacle, filled
this part of the field with a wild rout of unhappy fugitives, amongst
whom the keen rapiers of his gay Cavaliers wrought terrible havoc. The
brother of Sir Thomas Fairfax was mortally wounded, but the good
knight clung desperately to the ground with 500 of his own horse and a
regiment of lancers, to be wounded and fairly borne off the field by
the impetuous Rupert. Here the Prince took a deadly and fatal revenge
on the Scotch cavalry, put them to headlong flight, and bore on in
stormy pursuit, while the royal infantry was exposed to the attacks of
Manchester's foot and Cromwell's victorious Ironsides. Had Rupert
succoured his centre at this stage of the battle he must have
compelled the Parliamentarians to yield to him the victory.
Nobly the royal foot met the deadly storm of battle; exerting such
heroic courage that they fairly pushed back the Parliamentarian
advance, and the King's prospects were yet promising, maugre the
terrible handling received from Cromwell. That gallant soldier held
his cavalry well in hand, albeit their ranks were somewhat thinned by
shot and steel; and they now wrested the victory from the rashly
impetuous Rupert. The Marquis of Newcastle's incomparable regiment of
Northumbrians perished here. They were known as "lambs," or
"white-coats," from the colour of their doublets, and resisted
Cromwell to the last. Again and again he charged them, but they
returned blow for blow, and, disdaining all offers of quarter,
perished almost to a man, the few that were saved owing their lives
rather to the magnanimity of their enemies than to any exertions of
their own to escape the slaughter. They fell in their proper
battle-order, and presented a ghastly spectacle as they lay upon the
field in rank and file, their white coats cruelly slashed with many a
crimson stain. The remainder of the royal foot were now taken in the
rear by the Ironsides, and sustained a bloody and ruinous defeat.
Before their ruin was consummated the Prince returned, and a fierce
conflict ensued. Rupert had counted the victory as already won, and
rage and mortification added to the fury of the last sanguinary and
stubborn conflict. Cromwell was wounded in the neck, and his charge
was all but abortive, when Leslie came up and retrieved the mishap by
a terrible onslaught that sent Rupert's over-mastered warriors in wild
confusion from the field. The infantry now surrendered, and Cromwell
captured all the cannon, baggage, &c, of the royal army, which was
pursued almost to the gates of York.
At a late hour throngs of wounded men and fugitives from the field
appeared before Micklegate-Bar, but the soldiers of the garrison were
alone admitted into the city, and the confusion that ensued was of the
most deplorable and painful character.
Cromwell remained on the field, anxious and alert, fearful that the
impetuous Rupert might rally some remains of his army, and, by a
sudden onslaught under cover of night, wrest from his shattered army
the victory so hardly won by dint of heavy fighting.
The general loss was estimated at 7,000 men, Prince Rupert losing over
3,000 slain, and 3,000 prisoners, including many officers. The
Parliamentarians captured forty-seven colours, twenty-five pieces of
artillery, a number of carbines and pistols, 130 barrels of gunpowder,
and 10,000 arms. Among their prisoners were Generals Sir Charles
Lucas, Tilliard, and Porter, and Lord Goring's son. Amongst the
gallant gentlemen who laid down their lives for King Charles on
Marston Moor were Lord Kerry, Sir Francis Dacres, Sir William Lampton,
Sir Charles Slingsby, Sir William Wentworth, Sir Marmaduke Luddon, Sir
Richard Gledhill, Colonel John Fenwick, Sir Richard Graham, and
Captain John Baird. Sir Richard Gledhill, as a matter of fact, died in
his own house an hour after he succeeded in gaining its shelter. He
had received twenty-six wounds. Sir Charles Lucas was informed that he
could select some of the slain for private interment, and in thus
distinguishing one unfortunate Cavalier caused a bracelet of silky
hair to be removed from his wrist, "as he knew an honourable lady who
would thankfully receive it." The Scots suffered severely, and the
English lost Captains Micklethwaite and Pugh, and Sir Thomas Fairfax
had to deplore the loss of his brother Charles, and of Major Fairfax.
No two accounts of the battle agree, and Cromwell, whose conduct
conduced so largely to the winning of the battle, has been even
accused of cowardice by one writer. Rapin says,
"I shall not undertake to describe this battle, because in all
the accounts I have seen I meet with so little order or
clearness that I cannot expect to give a satisfactory idea of
it to such of my readers as understand these matters."
The Parliamentarians assumed a white badge to distinguish them from
their opponents.
Prince Rupert would probably have won the battle had he acted as a
commander-in-chief instead of leading a wing; but it was then
customary for each of the three commanders to fight his own battle,
with too little regard to the general issue, when there was no
commander directing the operations of the divisions.
The King's affairs never recovered from the results of this battle,
and the royal cause undoubtedly received its death-blow on Marston
Moor, when the last of the Yorkshire battles was fought.
XXI.--BATTLE OF BRUNANBURGH.
A.D. 937.
King Athelstan reigned in troublous days, with the restless Danish
population in the North, the Welsh in the West, the Scots ready to
support his enemies, and his own nobles discontented and disloyal.
Athelstan had conferred upon Sithric, King of Northumberland, the hand
of his sister; but the prince violated his obligations, and was only
secured from punishment by the sudden stroke of death.
Sithric's sons, Anlaf and Godfrid, took refuge in Ireland and
Scotland; and a confederation of the princes of Scotland, Wales,
Ireland, and Cumberland, seconded by a Danish fleet, threatened the
crown of Athelstan.
After four years of preparation and recruiting the storm burst. In 937
Anlaf entered the Humber at the head of a huge armada of 615 sail, and
occupied Bernicia.
Athelstan, with a powerful army, marched to the North and encamped at
Brunanburgh. It is said that Anlaf entered the King's camp disguised
as a minstrel, and was liberally rewarded by Athelstan, but, in his
pride, buried the gold, and was perceived by one of the royal
soldiers, who then recognised him, but permitted him to retire from
the camp before he apprised Athelstan of the identity of the minstrel.
His excuse that had permitted Anlaf to escape because he had at one
period sworn fealty to him, was accepted as a sufficient reason; but
Athelstan removed his camp, and shortly after the Bishop of Sherborne
came up with his troops and occupied the ground that Athelstan had
vacated.
That night Anlaf made a sudden attack upon the Saxons, and slew the
Bishop of Sherborne and many of his followers, before he was driven
off.