Sir John Heydon the artillery; and lord Bernard Stuart was at the head of a troop of guards, whose estates, according to the computation of lord Clarendon, were equal in value to those of all the members who, at the commencement of hostilities, voted against the king in both houses of parliament. Essex drew up his army with judgment; but in consequence of the desertion of a troop of horse, under sir Faithful Fortescue, and the furious shock made upon them by prince Rupert, his whole left wing of cavalry immediately gave way, and was pursued two miles. Nor did better fortune attend the right wing of the parliamentary army, which was also broken and put to flight.

The victory must now have been decisive in favour of the royalists, had not the king's body of reserve, commanded by sir John Biron heedlessly joined in the pursuit. The advantage, afforded by this imprudence, being perceived by sir William Balsour, who commanded Essex's reserve, he immediately wheeled about upon the king's infantry, now quite destitute of horse, and made great havoc among them. Lord Lindsay, the general, was mortally wounded and taken prisoner; and his son in endeavouring to rescue him, fell likewise into the enemy's hands. Sir Edward Verney, who carried the king's standard, was killed: the standard was taken, and the king himself was in danger. The standard was afterwards recovered by the valour of captain John Smith, but the situation of affairs was not changed. Every thing on the appearance of prince Rupert, wore the appearance of a defeat rather than of a complete victory, which he thought had been gained. His troops were too much fatigued to renew the charge, and the enemy did not provoke him to it, though both parties faced each other for some time. All night they lay on their arms, and next morning drew off, by a kind of mutual consent, neither side having spirit for a fresh action. Essex retired to Warwick castle, and the king returned to his former quarters, near Bambury4. Five thousand men were 4. May, book iii. Clarendon. vol iii,

found dead on the field, and the loss of the two armies, from comparing opposite accounts, appears to have been nearly equal. The troops of both parties suffered much by cold during the night after the engagement.

Though this first battle was so little decisive, that the parliament claimed the victory as well as the king, it was of great service to the royal cause. Charles immediately made himself master of Bambury; and, as soon as his army was recruited and refreshed, he advanced to Reading: the governor and garrison of which place, on the approach of a detachment of Royalists, had fled with precipitation to London. The capital was struck with terror, and the parliament voted an address for a treaty; but as no cessation of hostilities had been agreed on, the king continued to advance, and took possession of Brentford. By this time Essex had 'reached London, and the declining season put a stop to farther operationss.

A. D. 1643.

During the winter, the king and parliament were employed in real preparations for war, but in seeming advances towards peace. Oxford, where the king resided, was chosen as the place of treaty. Thither the parliament sent their requisitions by the earl of Northumberland, and four members of the lower house, who acted as commissioners. They abated somewhat of those extravagant demands they had formerly made; but their claims were still too high to admit of an amicable accommodation, unless the king had been willing to renounce the most essential branches of his prerogative. Besides other humiliating articles, they required him, in express terms, utterly to abolish episcopacy; a demand which before they had only insinuated. They insisted, that he should submit to the punishment of his most faithful servants: and they desired him to acquiesce to their settlement of the militia, and to confer on their adherents the entire power of the sword". The negociation, as

5. Whitlocke, p. 60. 6. Clarendon vol. ii.

Rushworth, vol. vi.

may

may be naturally supposed, served only for a time to amuse both parties.

Meanwhile each county, each town, and almost each family, was divided within itself, and the most violent convulsions shook the whole kingdom. Continual efforts were every where made, by both parties to surmount each other, even after the season of action was over. The earl of Newcastle, who commanded for the king in Yorkshire, gained several advantages over the parliamentary forces, and established the royal authority in all the northern counties, actions still more memorable were performed in the south and west. Sir William Waller, who began now to distinguish himself among the generals of the parliament, defeated lord Herbert near Gloucester, and took the city of Hereford. On the other side, sir Ralph Hopton made himself master of Launceston, and reduced all Cornwall to peace and obedience under the king7.

Early in the spring Reading was besieged, and taken by the parliamentary army, commanded by the earl of Essex. Being joined soon after by the forces under sir William Waller, Essex marched toward Oxford, with a view of attacking the king, who was supposed to be in great distress for want of ammunition. But, Charles, informed of his design, and of the loose disposition of his forces, dispatched prince Rupert with a party of horse to annoy them; and that gallant leader, who was perfectly fitted for such a service, falling suddenly upon the dispersed bodies of Essex's army, routed two regiments of cavalry, and one of infantry, and carried his ravages almost to the general's quarters at Tame. Essex took the alarm, and dispatched part of his cavalry in pursuit of the prince. They were joined by a regiment of infantry, under the

famous John Hambden,

who had acted as a colonel from the beginning of the civil war, and distinguished himself no less in the field than in

7: Clarendon, vol. iii

the

the senate. On the skirts of Calsgrave field, they overtook the Royalists, who were loaded with booty. The prince wheeled about, however, and charged them with such impetuosity, that they were obliged to save themselves by flight, after having lost some of their best officers; and, among the rest, the much valued, and much dreaded Hambden, who was mortally wounded, and died soon after in great agonies. He is said to have received his wound by the bursting of one of his own pistols.

The royal cause was supported with no less spirit in the western counties. The king's adherents in Cornwall, notwithstanding their early successes, had been obliged to enter into a convention of neutrality with the parliamentary party in Devonshire. This neutrality lasted during the winter, but was broken in the spring, by the authority of the parliament; and the earl of Stamford having assembled an army of near seven thousand men, well supplied with money, ammunition, and provisions, entered Cornwall, and advanced upon the Royalists, who were not half his number, and oppressed by every kind of necessity. He encamped on the top of a hill, near Stratton, and detached sir George Chudleigh with twelve hundred horse, to surprise Bodmin. The Cornish Royalists, commanded by the principal men of the county, seized this opportunity of extricating themselves, by one vigorous effort, from all the dangers and difficulties with which they were surrounded. They boldly advanced up the hill, on which Stamford was encamped in four different divisions, and after an obstinate struggle, still pressing nearer and nearer, all met upon the plain at the top, where they embraced with great joy, and signalized their victory with loud shouts and mutual congratulations.

The attention of both parties were now turned toward the West. The king sent the marquis of Hertford, and prince Maurice, brother to prince Rupert, with a reinforcement

8, Warwick's Memoirs, 9. Rushworth, vol. vi. Clarendon, vol. iii.

of

of cavalry into Cornwall. Being joined by the Cornish army, they soon over-ran the county of Devon, and advancing into Somersetshire, began to reduce it also to obedience. In the mean time, the parliament having supplied sir William Waller, in whom they had great confidence, with a complete army, dispatched him into the same county, in order to check the progress of the Royalists, and retrieve their affairs in that quarter. After some skirmishes, in which the Royalists had the advantage, the two armies, met at Landsdown-hill, which Waller had fortified. There a pitched battle was fought, with great loss on both sides, but without any decisive advantage; for although the Royalists, after an obstinate engagement, gained the top of the hill, and beat the enemy from their ground, the fugitives took refuge behind a stone wall, where they maintained their post till night, and then retired to Bath, under cover of the darkness1o.

Hertford and Maurice, disappointed of the success they had promised themselves, attempted to march eastward, and join the king at Oxford. But Waller hung on their rear, and harrassed their army until they reached the Devises. There being reinforced with a large body of fresh troops, he so much surpassed the Royalists in number, that they durst no longer continue their march, or expose themselves to the hazard of a battle. It was therefore resolved, that the marquis and the prince should proceed with the cavalry; and having procured a reinforcement from the royal army, should hasten back to the relief of their friends.

Waller was now so confident of capturing the infantry left at the Devises, that he wrote to the parliament their work was done; and that he should, in his next letter, in

10. Id. ibid. This battle would have been more decisive, had Waller not been reinforced with 500 cavalry from London, completely covered with cuirasses, and other defensive armour, These cuirassiers were generally found to be irresistible.

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