fields and dwellings. Bridge The At He would steal On Thursday, the second of July, away with his chief officers, would gain Monmouth again entered He resome seaport before his flight was sus-Bridgewater, in circumstances turns to pected, would escape to the Continent, far less cheering than those in water. and would forget his ambition and his which he had marched thence ten days shame in the arms of Lady Wentworth. before. The reinforcement which he He seriously discussed this scheme found there was inconsiderable. with his leading advisers. Some of royal army was close upon him. them, trembling for their necks, listened one moment he thought of fortifying the to it with approbation: but Grey, who, town; and hundreds of labourers were by the admission of his detractors, summoned to dig trenches and throw was intrepid everywhere except where up mounds. Then his mind recurred swords were clashing and guns going to the plan of marching into Cheshire, off around him, opposed the dastardly a plan which he had rejected as improposition with great ardour, and im- practicable when he was at Keynsham, plored the Duke to face every danger and which assuredly was not more rather than requite with ingratitude practicable now that he was at Bridgeand treachery the devoted attachment water.* of the Western peasantry.* camps at moor. While he was thus wavering between projects equally hopeless, the The royal King's forces came in sight. army en They consisted of about two Sedgethousand five hundred regular troops, and of about fifteen hundred of the Wiltshire militia. Early on the morning of Sunday, the fifth of July, they left Somerton, and pitched their tents that day about three miles from Bridgewater, on the plain of Sedgemoor. The scheme of flight was abandoned: | but it was not now easy to form any plan for a campaign. To advance towards London would have been madness; for the road lay right across Salisbury Plain; and on that vast open space regular troops, and above all regular cavalry, would have acted with every advantage against undisciplined men. At this juncture a report reached camp that the rustics of the marshes near Axbridge had risen in defence of Doctor Peter Mew, Bishop of Winthe Protestant religion, had armed chester, accompanied them. This prelate themselves with flails, bludgeons, and had in his youth borne arms for Charles pitchforks, and were assembling by the First against the Parliament. thousands at Bridgewater. Monmouth determined to return thither, and to strengthen himself with these new allies.t the The rebels accordingly proceeded to Wells, and arrived there in no amiable temper. They were, with few exceptions, hostile to Prelacy; and they showed their hostility in a way very little to their honour. They not only tore the lead from the roof of the magnificent cathedral to make bullets, an act for which they might fairly plead the necessities of war, but wantonly defaced the ornaments of the building. Grey with difficulty preserved the altar from the insults of some ruffians who wished to carouse around it, by taking his stand before it with his sword drawn.‡ * Wade's Confession; Eachard, iii. 766. + Wade's Confession. London Gazette, July 6. 1685; Van Citters, July. Oldmixon, 703. Neither his years nor his profession had wholly extinguished his martial ardour; and he probably thought that the appearance of a father of the Protestant Church in the King's camp might confirm the loyalty of some honest men who were wavering between their horror of Popery and their horror of rebellion. The steeple of the parish church of Bridgewater is said to be the loftiest in Somersetshire, and commands a wide view over the surrounding country. Monmouth, accompanied by some of his officers, went up to the top of the square tower from which the spire ascends, and observed through a telescope the position of the enemy. Beneath him lay a flat expanse, now rich with cornfields and apple trees, but then, as *Wade's Confession. At a greater distance from Bridgewater lies the village of Middlezoy. In that village and its neighbourhood, the Wiltshire militia were quartered, under the command of Pembroke. its name imports, for the most part a dreary morass. When the rains were heavy, and the Parret and its tributary streams rose above their banks, this tract was often flooded. It was indeed anciently a part of that great swamp On the open moor, not far from which is renowned in our early chro- Chedzoy, were encamped several batnicles as having arrested the progress talions of regular infantry. Monmouth of two successive races of invaders, which looked gloomily on them. He could long protected the Celts against the not but remember how, a few years aggressions of the kings of Wessex, and before, he had, at the head of a column which sheltered Alfred from the pursuit composed of some of those very men, of the Danes. In those remote times driven before him in confusion the this region could be traversed only in fierce enthusiasts who defended Bothboats. It was a vast pool, wherein well Bridge. He could distinguish were scattered many islets of shifting among the hostile ranks that gallant and treacherous soil, overhung with band which was then called, from the rank jungle, and swarming with deer name of its Colonel, Dumbarton's regiand wild swine. Even in the days of ment, but which has long been known the Tudors, the traveller whose journey as the first of the line, and which, in lay from Ilchester to Bridgewater was all the four quarters of the world, has forced to make a circuit of several miles nobly supported its early reputation. in order to avoid the waters. When "I know those men," said Monmouth; Monmouth looked upon Sedgemoor, it" they will fight. If I had but them, had been partially reclaimed by art, and all would go well!"* was intersected by many deep and wide trenches which, in that country, are called rhines. In the midst of the moor rose, clustering round the towers of churches, a few villages, of which the names seem to indicate that they once were surrounded by waves. In one of these villages, called Weston Zoyland, the royal cavalry lay; and Feversham had fixed his head quarters there. Many persons still living have seen the daughter of the servant girl who waited on him that day at table; and a large dish of Persian ware, which was set before him, is still carefully preserved in the neighbourhood. It is to be observed that the population of Somerset-period, humbled six Marshals of France, shire does not, like that of the manufacturing districts, consist of emigrants from distant places. It is by no means unusual to find farmers who cultivate the same land which their ancestors cultivated when the Plantagenets reigned in England. The Somersetshire traditions are, therefore, of no small value to a historian.* *Matt. West. Flor. Hist. A.D. 788; MS. Chronicle quoted by Mr. Sharon Turner in the History of the Anglo-Saxons, book IV. chap. xix.; Drayton's Polyolbion, iii.; Leland's Itinerary; Oldmixon, 703. Oldmixon was then at Bridgewater, and probably saw the Yet the aspect of the enemy was not altogether discouraging. The three divisions of the royal army lay far apart from one another. There was an appearance of negligence and of relaxed discipline in all their movements. It was reported that they were drinking themselves drunk with the Zoyland cider. The incapacity of Feversham, who commanded in chief, was notorious. Even at this momentous crisis he thought only of eating and sleeping. Churchill was indeed a captain equal to tasks far more arduous than that of scattering a crowd of ill armed and ill trained peasants. But the genius, which, at a later was not now in its proper place. Feversham told Churchill little, and gave him no encouragement to offer any suggestion. The lieutenant, conscious of superior abilities and science, impatient of the control of a chief whom he despised, and trembling for the fate of the army, nevertheless preserved his characteristic selfcommand, and dissembled Duke on the church tower. The dish mentioned in the text is the property of Mr. Stradling, who has taken laudable pains to preserve the relics and traditions of the Western insurrection. * Oldmixon, 703. his feelings so well that Feversham | camp. But that camp was not a place praised his submissive alacrity, and where female innocence could be safe. promised to report it to the King.* Even the officers, despising alike the Monmouth, having observed the dis- irregular force to which they were opposition of the royal forces, and having posed, and the negligent general who been apprised of the state in which commanded them, had indulged largely they were, conceived that a night at- in wine, and were ready for any excess tack might be attended with success. of licentiousness and cruelty. One of He resolved to run the hazard, and them seized the unhappy maiden, repreparations were instantly made. fused to listen to her errand, and brutally outraged her. She fled in agonies of rage and shame, leaving the wicked army to its doom.* And now the time for the great hazard drew near. The night was not It was Sunday; and his followers, who had, for the most part, been brought up after the Puritan fashion, passed a great part of the day in religious exercises. The Castle Field, in which the army was encamped, pre-ill suited for such an enterprise. The sented a spectacle such as, since the moon was indeed at the full, and the disbanding of Cromwell's soldiers, northern streamers were shining brilEngland had never seen. The dissent- liantly. But the marsh fog lay so ing preachers who had taken arms thick on Sedgemoor that no object against Popery, and some of whom had could be discerned there at the distance probably fought in the great civil war, of fifty paces.† prayed and preached in red coats and The clock struck eleven; and the huge jackboots, with swords by their Duke with his body guard rode out of sides. Ferguson was one of those who the Castle. He was not in the frame harangued. He took for his text the of mind which befits one who is about awful imprecation by which the Israel- to strike a decisive blow. Battle of ites who dwelt beyond Jordan cleared The very children who pressed Sedge themselves from the charge ignorantly to see him pass observed, and brought against them by their brethren long remembered, that his look was on the other side of the river. "The sad and full of evil augury. His Lord God of Gods, the Lord God of army marched by a circuitous path, Gods, he knoweth; and Israel he shall near six miles in length, towards the know. If it be in rebellion, or if in royal encampment on Sedgemoor. Part transgression against the Lord, save us of the route is to this day called War not this day." Lane. The foot were led by Monmouth himself. The horse were confided to Grey, in spite of the remonstrances of some who remembered the mishap at Bridport. Orders were given that strict silence should be preserved, that no That an attack was to be made under cover of the night was no secret in Bridgewater. The town was full of women, who had repaired thither by hundreds from the surrounding region, to see their husbands, sons, lovers, and brothers once more. There were many sad partings that day; and many parted never to meet again. The report of the intended attack came to the ears of a young girl who was zealous for the King. Though of modest character, she had the courage to resolve that she would herself bear the intelligence to Feversham. She stole out of Bridgewater, and made her way to the royal * Churchill to Clarendon, July 4. 1685. † Oldmixon, 703; Observator, Aug. 1. 1685. Paschall's Narrative in Heywood's Appendix. moor. * Kennet, ed. 1719, iii. 432. I am forced to believe that this lamentable story is true. The Bishop declares that it was communicated to him in the year 1718 by a brave officer of the Blues, who had fought at Sedgemoor, and who had himself seen the poor girl depart in an agony of distress. in Kennet, ed. 1719, iii. 432.; MS. Journal of the Western Rebellion, kept by Mr. Edward Dummer; Dryden's Hind and Panther, part II. The lines of Dryden are remarkable:— † Narrative of an officer of the Horse Guards "Such were the pleasing triumphs of the sky. drum should be beaten, and no shot till his progress was unexpectedly fired. The word by which the insur-arrested by the Bussex Rhine. On the gents were to recognise one another in opposite side of the ditch the King's foot the darkness was Soho. It had doubt- were hastily forming in order of battle. less been selected in allusion to Soho Fields in London, where their leader's palace stood.* The "For whom are you?" called out an officer of the Foot Guards. "For the King," replied a voice from the ranks At about one in the morning of of the rebel cavalry. "For which Monday the sixth of July, the rebels King?" was then demanded. were on the open moor. But between answer was a shout of "King Monthem and the enemy lay three broad mouth," mingled with the war cry, rhines filled with water and soft mud. which forty years before had been inTwo of these, called the Black Ditch scribed on the colours of the parlia and the Langmoor Rhine, Monmouth mentary regiments, "God with us." knew that he must pass. But, strange The royal troops instantly fired such a to say, the existence of a trench, called volley of musketry as sent the rebel the Bussex Rhine, which immediately horse flying in all directions. The covered the royal encampment, had world agreed to ascribe this ignominious not been mentioned to him by any of route to Grey's pusillanimity. Yet it his scouts. is by no means clear that Churchill would have succeeded better at the head of men who had never before handled arms on horseback, and whose horses were unused, not only to stand fire, but to obey the rein. matches of Dumbarton's regiment. The wains which carried the ammunition remained at the entrance of the moor. The horse and foot, in a long narrow column, passed the Black Ditch by a causeway. There was a similar causeway across the Langmoor Rhine : A few minutes after the Duke's horse but the guide, in the fog, missed his had dispersed themselves over the moor, way. There was some delay and some his infantry came up running fast, and tumult before the error could be recti-guided through the gloom by the lighted fied. At length the passage was effected: but, in the confusion, a pistol went off. Some men of the Horse Guards, who were on watch, heard the report, and perceived that a great multitude was advancing through the mist. They fired their carbines, and galloped off in different directions to give the alarm. Some hastened to Weston Zoyland, where the cavalry lay. One trooper spurred to the encampment of the infantry, and cried out vehemently that the enemy was at hand. The drums of Dumbarton's regiment beat to arms; and the men got fast into their ranks. It was time; for Monmouth was already drawing up his army for action. He ordered Grey to lead the way with the cavalry, and followed himself at the head of the infantry. Grey pushed on * It has been said by several writers, and among them by Pennant, that the district in London called Soho derived its name from the watchword of Monmouth's army at Sedgemoor. Mention of Soho Fields will be found in many books printed before the Western insurrection; for example, in Chamberlayne's State of England, 1684. Monmouth was startled by finding that a broad and profound trench lay between him and the camp which he had hoped to surprise. The insurgents halted on the edge of the rhine, and fired. Part of the royal infantry on the opposite bank returned the fire. During three quarters of an hour the roar of the musketry was incessant. The Somersetshire peasants behaved themselves as if they had been veteran soldiers, save only that they levelled their pieces too high. But now the other divisions of the royal army were in motion. The Life Guards and Blues came pricking fast from Weston Zoyland, and scattered in an instant some of Grey's horse, who had attempted to rally. The fugitives spread a panic among their comrades in the rear, who had charge of the ammunition. The waggoners drove off at full speed, and never stopped till they were many miles from the field of battle. Monmouth had hitherto done his part like a stout and able warrior. He had been seen on that there would have been much diffifoot, pike in hand, encouraging his culty in dragging the great guns to infantry by voice and by example. the place where the battle was raging, But he was too well acquainted with had not the Bishop of Winchester military affairs not to know that all offered his coach horses and traces for was over. His men had lost the ad- the purpose. This interference of a vantage which surprise and darkness Christian prelate in a matter of blood had given them. They were deserted has, with strange inconsistency, been by the horse and by the ammuni- condemned by some Whig writers who tion waggons. The King's forces can see nothing criminal in the conduct were now united and in good order. of the numerous Puritan ministers Feversham had been awakened by the then in arms against the government. firing, had got out of bed, had adjusted Even when the guns had arrived, there his cravat, had looked at himself well was such a want of gunners that a in the glass, and had come to see what sergeant of Dumbarton's regiment was his men were doing. Meanwhile, what forced to take on himself the managewas of much more importance, Churchill ment of several pieces.* The cannon, had rapidly made an entirely new dis- however, though ill served, brought position of the royal infantry. The the engagement to a speedy close. The day was about to break. The event pikes of the rebel battalions began to of a conflict on an open plain, by broad shake: the ranks broke; the King's sunlight, could not be doubtful. Yet cavalry charged again, and bore down Monmouth should have felt that it was everything before them; the King's not for him to fly, while thousands infantry came pouring across the ditch. whom affection for him had hurried Even in that extremity the Mendip to destruction were still fighting man- miners stood bravely to their arms, fully in his cause. But vain hopes and and sold their lives dearly. But the the intense love of life prevailed. He rout was in a few minutes complete. saw that if he tarried the royal cavalry Three hundred of the soldiers had would soon intercept his retreat. He been killed or wounded. Of the rebels mounted and rode from the field. more than a thousand lay dead on the moor.t Yet his foot, though deserted, made a gallant stand. The Life Guards attacked them on the right, the Blues on the left: but the Somersetshire clowns, with their scythes and the but ends of their muskets, faced the royal horse like old soldiers. Oglethorpe made a vigorous attempt to break them and was manfully repulsed. Sarsfield, a brave Irish officer, whose name afterwards obtained a melancholy celebrity, charged on the other flank. His men were beaten back. He was himself struck to the ground, and lay for a time as one dead. But the struggle of the hardy rustics could not last. Their powder and ball were spent. Cries were heard of " Ammunition! for God's sake ammunition!" But no ammunition was at hand. And now the King's artillery came up. It had been posted half a mile off, on the high road from Weston Zoyland to Bridgewater. So defective were then the appointments of an English army VOL. I. *There is a warrant of James directing Weems, of Dumbarton's regiment, "for good that forty pounds should be paid to Sergeant service in the action at Sedgemoor in firing the great guns against the rebels."-Historical Record of the First or Royal Regiment of Foot. † James the Second's account of the battle 17° of Sedgemoor in Lord Hardwicke's State Papers; Wade's Confession; Ferguson's MS. Narrative in Eachard, iii. 768.; Narrative of an officer of the Horse Guards in Kennet, ed. 1719, iii. 432.; London Gazette, July 9. 1685; net, i. 643.; Evelyn's Diary, July 8.; Van Oldmixon, 703.; Paschall's Narrative; BurCitters, July, T.; Barillon, July; Reresby's Memoirs; the Duke of Buckingham's Battle of Sedgemoor, a Farce; MS. Journal of the Western Rebellion, kept by Mr. Edward Dummer, then serving in the train of artillery employed by His Majesty for the suppression of the same. The last mentioned manuscript is in the Pepysian library, and is of the greatest value, not on account of the narrative, which contains little that is remarkable, but on account of the plans, which exhibit the battle in four or five dif ferent stages. "The history of a battle," says the greatest of living generals, "is not unlike the history |