THE LIBRARY OF THE OF UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE THE LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS ALEXANDER LESLIE ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS . IS82-I 66 I. 1 19 THE LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS ALEXANDER LESLIE FIRS? EARL OF LEVEN -Ifefc! CHARLES SANFORD TRRY, M.A. UNIVERSITY LhCTUREK IX HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1899 All rights reserved To E. M. PREFACE. ALTHOUGH the title-page of this volume bears the name of Alexander Leslie, my aim is less to offer a study of individual character than to illustrate that phase in the relations between England and Scotland which his career represents. For that reason I have dealt briefly with his life before 1638 and after 1647. Between those two dates he stands out as the Goliath of the Covenant. In 1639 and 1640 he appeared in arms for its establishment in Scotland. From 1644 to 1646 he fought for its extension to England. His career represents, therefore, Scotland's military activity against Charles, as Montrose's does her efforts on the King's behalf within the same period. Taken together the careers of Leslie and Montrose illustrate the characteristic motives of their contemporaries. Scotland presented no ap- proximation to those types of political lunacy which called for Cromwell's drastic doctoring. While her ally tinkered the English Constitution, Scotland was intent upon founding the Kingdom of God as she understood it. In the revived Theocracy Viii PREFACE. at which she aimed there was room for both Saul and Samuel, and if Montrose stands for attach- ment to the King, Leslie marks devotion to the Prophet. Therefore, though it may be a matter of comparative unimportance that Leslie should be so far without a biography, the absence of any adequate treatment of the actions of the Cove- nant's army leaves a gap in the history of Scotland's national strivings which I have en- deavoured to fill. Little of romance hovers round Leslie. He is consistently placid, almost depressingly prosaic. His career rarely allows his biographer to tres- pass beyond the camp, and only towards those questions which are bound up with the actions of his army have I allowed myself to stray. Since it bears intimately upon them, I have endeavoured to interpret the spirit in which Scotland entered upon her alliance with England in 1643, and the causes which contributed to its dissolution. The failure of the Scottish army to fulfil the demands of its ally was due not entirely to anxiety for the safety of Scotland, though it should not be forgotten that Montrose's victorious progress in Scotland was largely the result of her army's absence in England. Nor was it solely attribut- able to grave and justifiable dissatisfaction at the manner in which her army's necessities were met by her ally. The fundamental motives of the two PREFACE. IX nations were in fact absolutely divergent, and their alliance was foredoomed to failure. For the history of Leslie's campaigns I have drawn largely upon the King* Pamphlet* in the British Museum, upon a valuable collection of tracts relating to North Country history in the Library of the Society of Antiquaries of New- castle-upon-Tyne, and also upon a rare collection of reprints which the courtesy of the Librarian and Committee of the Public Library of that town placed at my disposal. These sources have been especially valuable for the years 1644, 1646 and 1647. For 1639 and 1640 the State Paper*, and for 1645 the Lord* Journal* have furnished the most detailed information. The authorities upon the Scottish side are comparatively silent through- out upon the operations of their army in England, but Sir William Fraser's volumes have been of the utmost value. Since the references to authorities in my notes are given usually in an abbreviated form, 1 have printed a bibliography on page xvii. How vital to the success of the Parliament the co-operation of the Scottish army was, I have endeavoured to show in these pages. Among its achievements, its contribution to the victory of Marston Moor is certainly the most striking, if not the most important, Since Dr. GARDINER published his account of the battle, fresh light has been thrown upon it by the fruitful researches X PREFACE. of Mr. C. H. FIRTH. To the authorities which he cites in his luminous paper upon the battle, in the twelfth volume of the Transactions of the Roi/t>diti Ibid. (1640-41), 50. ALEXANDER LESLIE. 11 East Nisbet in Berwickshire. About the same time he acquired Boglilie from the Boswells of Balmuto, and, in 1650, the estate of Inchmartin the name of which he changed to Inchleslie in the Carse of Gowrie, Perthshire. To these he added, gifts on somewhat precarious tenure, an estate in Sweden granted to him by Gustavus Adolphus in 1630, and withdrawn in 1655, and in Germany two earldoms, lost, if he ever enjoyed their possession, when the Imperialists recovered ground after Gustavus's death in 1632. 1 Whatever the means by which Leslie acquired wealth in Germany, his conduct of the war in England was characterised by such studied mod- eration, that it induced some revolution in the feelings which his first appearance in arms against Charles aroused. To the general body of English- men, even to the members of Charles's inner circle of advisers, he was almost unknown when his forces drew out to the Borders in the summer of 1639. In the early days of the Bishops' Wars, rumours of him and his actions, now discouraging, now reassuring, found their way to London. One declared that " Leslie himself, if his story were searched, would be found one who, because he could not live well here, took up a trade of killing men abroad, and now is returned to kill, for Christ's sake, men at home ".- In a different spirit, the Bishop of Killala and Achonry caused some scan- dal, in that he praised Leslie to others, called him " generalissimo," and his camp " Pentagone ". 4 l Melvilles t i., 434; Leslie, Hist. Rec., Hi., 361. 2 C. S. P. (1640-41), 211. * Ibid., 349. 12 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Another wrote with unction : "I have read the book which congratulates the Covenanters for their positions and practice so corresponding to the Jesuits ; there is excellent sport in it, especi- ally a good comparison between Loyola, the captain and founder of Jesuits, and Lesley, the captain of Covenanters, both bastards, soldiers, debauched in their youth, lame, fighting under any for pay, converted ". l A favourite picture represented him boorish, ill-educated, and domineering, loving to force his position upon those of whom he had made him- self master in spite of his birth and up-bringing. It was a picture which had a spice of romance which would recommend rather than depreciate the original. It was none the less flagrantly inaccurate. Yet Lord Hailes found a place for the story, that Leslie once pointed out a house in which, he said, he had been taught to read. " How, General ! " some one remarked, " I thought that you had never been taught to read." " Par- don me," answered Leslie, " I got the length of the letter g." Even that moderate conquest Lord Hailes would not allow him. The execrable style of his signature, he adds, " confirms the tradition of his being absolutely illiterate ".- Sir William Fraser, who examined the letters and de- spatches of Leslie preserved in the Melville Charter chest, found that, save for his signature, not a line of his handwriting remained on which to base a 1 C. S. P. (1639-40), 542. There is no evidence to support the statement that Leslie's early life was profligate. 2 Memorials and Letters, 61. ALEXANDER LESLIE. 13 statement on either side. 1 But his signature is not worse than those of the majority of his contem- poraries, and the letters and despatches to which it is appended, if they may be credited to him, as indeed they bespeak themselves, are by no means despicable. Insolence, ostentation, were also characteristics with which the newsmongers endowed him. " I cannot but advertise you," wrote one, " that the im- pudence and insolence of Lesley are come to such a height as it is incredible. I will instance only this, that he sits at table with the best of the nobility of Scotland at the upper end covered, and they all bare-headed ; that in the letters or acts that are subscribed by them ... he signs before them all. He boasts he will make my Lord of Holland to rise without his periwig ; that the King's army is not able to stand against him ; and the like stuff, which I know you can no more hear than I write without indignation." After his victory at Newburn in August, 1640, his ostenta- tious demeanour was again remarked : " four men bare before him, one lord bareheaded, on whom 1 Cf. Hill Burton, vi., 289 ; Leslie, Hist. Rec., iii., 357 ; Melvilles, i., 388. A lithograph of Leslie's signature is in Ibid., ii., 346, and Earls of Ancram and Lothian, i., 102. A letter from Leslie to Lothian in 1642 shows the importance he attached to the help of a secretary. Ibid., i., 132. Geijer, B. iii., S. 155, Anm., remarks, that Leslie was so illiterate that Count Brahe was appointed to assist him to read Gustavus's orders. This is probably correct, for the King's despatches were in Latin. Gustavus was not diffi- dent of appointing officers to the command of troops whose language they did not understand. Cf. Monro, Expedition, pt. ii., 12. 2 C. S. P. (1639), 234. 14 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. he lays his arm, and in his other hand his staff, so walked to the church, and sat in state in the same place his Majesty sat in when he was there 'V Such were the early pictures of Leslie, but as the war proceeded, and as the two nations drew closer in the bonds of a common cause, English- men learnt to know him better. They found him unobtrusive and reliable. Their Generals sub- mitted to his experience and courted his advice. Those to whom he was opposed in battle found him ever averse to wanton bloodshed, and so far as that was possible, his armies trod delicately like Agag. Still, Leslie remains an almost impersonal character, and his very impersonality offers the soundest estimate of his achievement. His train- ing had been in the hard and brutalising school of European warfare. Had he emerged from it with the temperament of a Monro, the rela- tions between England and Scotland from 1640 to 1647 had not been what they were. By his moderation and tact, by his perfect sense of what was required of him, he saved Scotland's " brotherly " assistance from appearing a ridicu- lous travesty, and thereby contributed to the union of the two peoples in the Solemn League and Covenant. As the servant of that union, his contribution to its victory was pre-eminent. From his camp at Duns in 1639 he had already forced Charles to what was in fact a surrender. In the following year, an almost bloodless victory at Newburn gave England the Parliament from 1 C. S. P. (1640-41), 49. ALEXANDER LESLIE. 15 which so much was looked for, from which so much resulted. In 1644 he cleared the North of the royalist garrisons, and both planned and shared the victory of Marston Moor. Through- out the difficult crisis of 1645, he continued to hold the North with an army ill-clothed, ill-fed, and ill- paid. During the greater crisis which the King's surrender at Newark produced, he at least contri- buted nothing to the difficulties which threatened to embroil the two Kingdoms. His was indeed a work which was solid rather than brilliant. Had it been otherwise its usefulness had perhaps been less. With the soldier's instinct of obedience he readily obeyed the State that employed him. The army under his command remained an army still, and avoided the political aggressiveness of Crom- well's militant Saints. Both by what he was and what he was not, by what he did and what he left unattempted, Leslie aided both England and Scotland in relations which, notwithstanding the brotherly union which described them, presented difficulties as critical as any in the previous centuries of conflict. 16 CHAPTEE II. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 1 THROUGHOUT Europe, as in England and Scotland, forces which had long been gathering broke in the seventeenth century with a fury which made it a fitting prelude to the stormy century which followed it. The rounding of the Cape of Good Hope by Vasco da Gama in 1497, Columbus's accidental stumbling upon America five years before, Luther's defiance of the Pope in 1520, were facts which introduced new and bloody relations between the States of Europe. Western Christen- dom hastened to seize a share of the rich heri- tage which Da Gama and Columbus had revealed. Central Europe, that vague congeries of German States, plunged into a war of religion, of Protest- ant against Roman Catholic. In 1619 the elec- tion of Ferdinand the Second to the Empire, and of Frederick the Elector Palatine to the throne of Bohemia, ranged the two parties in hostile camps. Within little more than a year Frederick was defeated, and the Protestant faith 1 1 have attempted in this chapter no more than to offer a slight outline of the Thirty Years' War so far as Leslie was engaged in it, since this portion of Leslie's life is secondary to my main subject. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 17 was overthrown in the Kingdom he so briefly enjoyed. The war thus begun was rapidly en- larged. The Protestant States, fearful of their security, prepared to withstand the encroaching power of the Hapsburg. Christian the Fourth of Denmark and Duke of Holstein entered the war in 1624. But the Protestant leaders were no match for the Imperialist Generals, Wallenstein and Tilly, and by the spring of 1625 the former had made himself master of Mecklenburg and Pomerania. The Baltic cities of that region one by one fell to him, until Stralsund alone held out. But Wallenstein's progress called one into the field against him, who as a master of the art of war more than matched himself. Gustavus Adolphus had succeeded to the throne of Sweden in 1611. Possessed of keen political vision, and withal endowed with something of the nature of a knight- errant, his was a character which compelled ad- miration. His policy in the early years of his reign had been directed towards establishing a firm hold upon the Baltic at the expense of Russia. By 1617 he had succeeded. Turning his arms against Sigismund of Poland, he captured Riga in 1621. Wallenstein's advance into North Germany, while it imperilled a cause which Gustavus had profoundly at heart, equally menaced the position he had so recently acquired on the Baltic. In the relief of Stralsund, therefore, he was profoundly concerned. It is at this point that the obscurity which rests upon Leslie's early career is partially raised. Early in the century he had commenced his long military service on the Continent. In 1605 he had served 2 18 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. as Captain in a Dutch regiment of volunteers raised by Horatio, Lord Vere, against the Spaniard. Some three years later he transferred himself to the service of Sweden, and by 1628 had risen to the rank of Colonel. 1 The siege of Stralsund brought him into prominence. The Imperialists sat down to the siege of Stral- sund in February, 1628. In April the town still held out, and Wallenstein, chafing at this first check to his arms, vowed the direst vengeance upon the town when it should fall to him. " Your town," he is said to have thundered to a deputation of citizens that waited on him, "shall be made as flat as this" he struck the table before him as he spoke. 2 In May the town was cheered by the arrival of Lieutenant-Colonel Seaton and some Scottish troops in the Danish service. Among them was Sir Donald Mackay's regiment, in which Robert Monro held a commission. They entered the harbour on May 28, and for six weeks held the most exposed post on the town's outworks. 3 With the enemy these stalwart Scots bandied rough humour. " Sometimes, being so neere, we begun to jeere one another, so that the Dutch one morning taunting us, said, they did heare, there was a ship come from Denmarke to us, laden with Tobacco and Pipes, one of our souldiers shewing them over the worke, a Morgan sterne, made of a large stocke banded with Iron like the shaft of a halbert, with .a round Globe at the end with crosse Iron pikes, ^Melvilles, i., 389. 2 Gardiner, Thirty Years' War, 107. Cf. Expedition, pt. i., 67. * Ibid., pt. i., 62. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 19 saith, here is one of the Tobacco pipes, wherewith we will beate out your braines, when ye intend to storme us." On June 26, Wallenstein visited the works and . ordered a general assault. " We were passing the time by discourse," writes Monro, "betwixt ten and eleven aclocke at night, when as our centry gives fire, and calls us to our Armes : at our rising we finde the enemy approaching above a thousand strong, with a shoute, Sa, Sa, Sa, Sa, Sa, Sa, thus it went on cheerefully, and every man to his Station." l At the cost of many lives, the garrison succeeded in beating off the attack. A second assault delivered on the following night had no better fortune. On the third day, Wallenstein sent in a trumpeter with an invitation to consider terms. Seaton, who was acting as commanding officer, seized the opportunity of at least delaying matters until further help should arrive from Den- mark. A " still-stand " or truce was agreed upon for a fortnight, and articles were drawn up, but upon the arrival of reinforcements from Denmark, the treaty " was rejected and made void ". 2 Already an agreement had been made between Denmark and Gustavus, by which a Swedish garri- son was to be introduced into the town in place of the forces which Seaton had brought from Den- mark. Under this agreement, Leslie with a Swedish force entered the town and took over the command. He at once determined to assume the , pt. i., 65, 68. - Ibitl.. 74. They were led by " Lord Spynie, a Scots Noble man ". As to the treaty, <;/'. Gardiner, Ibid., 108. 20 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. aggressive. " He resolved," writes Monro with patriotic pride, " for the credit of his Country-men, to make an out-fall upon the Enemy, and desirous to conferre the credit on his owne Nation alone, being his first Essay in that Citie. And therefore made choice of Spynies Regiment, being their first service, to make the out-fall." The regiment achieved its task with the utmost valour. It pene- trated to the enemy's " maine reserve or battell," and had captured some of his cannon before superior numbers compelled it to retire within its own works. 1 Before the more resolute spirit which Leslie intro- duced, Wallenstein, at the close of July, abandoned the siege. The rejoicing of the citizens was beyond bounds. Medals were struck to commemorate the siege and its happy result, one of which of solid gold was given by Gustavus to Leslie. 2 From the raising of the siege of Stralsund to the opening of the campaign in 1631, Leslie seem- ingly retained his position as Governor of Stral- sund and the cities of the Baltic coast. Events were, however, already hurrying Gustavus into action elsewhere. Three months after Stralsund had successfully resisted Wallenstein, Rochelle fell to Louis of France. Its capture gave Richelieu the opportunity to intervene in Germany, and on January 23, 1631, the Treaty of Barwalcle 1 Expedition, pt. i., 78. 2 The obverse bears the inscription " Deo optim. maxim. Imper. Komano Foederi Posterisque 1628 " ; the reverse, " Memorise urbis Stralsundse Ao. MDCXXVIII. die XII. Mai a milite Cfesariano cinctse aliquoties oppugnatae sed Dei gratia et ope inclytor. Regvm septentrional, die XXIII. Ivli obsidione liberate. S. P. Q. S. F. Y."Melrille8, i., xxviii. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 21 assured French subsidies to Sweden for five years. Upon the conclusion of the Treaty, Gustavus, who had landed his army in Pomerania in 1630, moved forward to the siege of Frankfurt-on-the-Oder. After a stubborn defence it fell on April 3, 1631. The town yielded rich booty. " The fury past," writes Monro, who was present, "the whole streete being full of Coaches and rusty waggons richly furnished with all sorts of riches, as Plate, lewells, Gold, Money, Clothes, Mulcts and horses for saddle, coach and waggons, whereof all men that were carelesse of their dueties were too carefull in making of booty, that I did never see Officers lesse obeyed, and respected than here for a time, till the hight of the market was past : and well I know, some Regiments had not one man with their Colours till the fury was past, and some Colours were lost the whole night, till they were restored the next day, such disorder was amongst us, all occasioned through covetousnesse, the roote of all evill and dishonesty." The day after its fall, Leslie was appointed Governor of the town, with special directions to repair the ruined fortifications. 1 He held that position for but a short time. Assured of the support of France, Gustavus was also in treaty with England. With Charles's countenance, the Marquis of Hamilton was raising an Anglo-Scottish force to join Gustavus for the restoration of the King of Bohemia. Considerable correspondence had already taken place regarding Hamilton's expedition, and upon its arrival Gus- tavus proposed if possible to detach six thou- , pt. ii., 34. 22 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. sand men to its support. In that event, Lord Reay wrote to Hamilton on January 15, 1631, the King of Sweden would " send Sir Alex r - Lesly and Sir John Habourn [Hepburn] with ther Douche regements ; he wald hew Lesly to be sargant maijor generall to your excellency, at leist he will command all the kingis forcis [Swedes] that will be under your lordship". 1 On April 28 Gustavus himself wrote from Frank- furt - on - Oder, to inform Hamilton that Leslie would be associated with him virtually in joint command. 2 To Leslie the King issued minute instructions. He was to repair to Hamburg and place himself in communication with the King's Commissary, Dr. Salvius, with whom he was to endeavour to enlist the co-operation of the town and Bishopric of Bremen. He was to sound William of Nassau to the same end. The towns of Lubec, Hamburg, and especially Bremen, were to be asked to offer the fullest help to Hamilton's force upon its arrival. Should it appear feasible, he was commissioned to raise three regiments in those territories, or failing them, in England and Scotland. Since Hamilton intended to land his troops on the Weser, Leslie was to make a careful survey of the ground, and map out the requisite fortifications. Should he find it necessary to cross over to Britain to discuss matters with Hamilton, 1 H. M. C., Kept, xi., pt. vi., App. 71. 2 Gustavus writes : " Expedivimus enim generosum tribunum nostrum, et sincere nobis fidelem Alexandrum Lesle, equitem auratum, ut curarum et sollicitudinis partem tecum sustineret ". Melvilles, ii., 13. Cf. the Articles between Gustavus and Hamilton in Burnet, Memoirs, 7-9. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 23 he was to assure him of the King's gratitude, and secure his good offices with Charles to induce the King of Denmark not to hinder the expedition, "but to sit still". 1 Early in May, Leslie was at Hamburg, and on the 12th despatched the following letter to Hamilton : From Hamburg the 12 of Maii 1631. MY MOST NOBIL LORD AND GENERAL, I am now cum one vith Mr. Elphinstone and Mr. Meldrome vnto the towne of Hamburge, quher I haue brocht letters of credence vith me from his Majestic of Suedine to the bischope and towne of Breme, quhither I mind to goe vith all expiditione, and to tak the kings comissarius along vith me thither to determine of all things quhich may mak suir your excellences randevovs and landing. Bot if they, as it is to be feared sine the enemie is so dispersed throch ther lands, be not eabil to giue vs such assistanc as is requisit, ve must tak a cours to secure our selfs, quhich is to heastine thos levies quhich your excellence can sie in the instructione, and I vill doe my indevor heir to bring them vp. Bot if ther be heir such difficultie throch the levies of so many princes and townes, that they can hardlie be brocht togither, let me intreat your excellence that I may know if ye vill vndertak your self the leveying of them troups or nocht, and in the meane tyme I vill goe one in effecting all that I possiblie can, not omitting any occasione to acquaint your excellence how ewrie particular goeth. I haue many passages to haue vreatine vnto your excellence, both of his Majesties proceidings, as also of many things done in thir feilds. Bot Mr. Elphinstone and Meldrome can record all to your excellence at large, quho hath cariit them selfs so in this 1 Melvilles, ii., 14. 2 Ibid., ii., 77. II. M. (.'., Kfpt. xi., j>t. vi., App. 72, gives a brief abstract. 24 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. busines that they haue omitted no tyme, hot hes vith gryt deligence givne his Majestie all contentment. As for me, sine it hath pleased his Majestie of Suedine and your excellence to imploy me in this busines, I assure your excellence my affectione to doe yow service is so gryt that ther sail no thing be left vnessayd quhich may tend to your honour or service, and I sail doe my best to vitness my self your excellences most humil servant, A. LESLIE. To my most nobil lord my Lord Marques of Hambiltone. While Leslie remained at Hamburg, and Hamil- ton was endeavouring to complete his levies in Eng- land, 1 Gustavus Adolphus had withdrawn into an entrenched camp at Werben in the Altmark, at the junction of the Elbe and the Havel. From there he wrote, on July 13, to express his satisfaction at Hamilton's approaching arrival. 2 The long de- lay in the completion of the Marquis's arrange- ments, and the fact that in the neighbourhood of the Weser the Imperialist power was increasing, necessitated the choice of a landing-place for the expedition in some safer district, and Leslie had proceeded to Britain to discuss the matter with Hamilton. On August 2, 1631, the expedition landed in Pomerania, and Gustavus requested the Marquis to at once advance to the front. 3 Leslie, upon their arrival, hurried his troops for- ward, and in the course of his march sent the following despatch to the Marquis 4 : 1 A Captain Wroughton and a Captain Roger Powell were re- cruiting in the West and Midlands of England in June, 1631, for Gustavus : s service. H. M. C., Rept. xii., pt. ix., App. 486. *Melvillea, ii., 17. * Ibid., ii., 18. 4 Ibid., ii., 80. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 25 The 21 Agust [1631]. PLEIS YOUB EXCELLENCE, We arryved at Wkermundt, 1 fond the soiours so weried, being wnaqwainted with mairsching, I wes forced to ly still a day to repos them, and to prowyd for schipin to send the seik men be watter, which wer to the number of thrie hundreth ; 2 for the hopman of Vkermundt wes apoynted to be comissaries for owr prowissioun, quhilk wes nocht so well as it sould haue for lak of tyme, yit thai wer contentit ressonabill well. But the nixt nicht lodging wes at Mutschellburg, quhair I fond nothing, bot wes forced to send and seek for it at vther places, for the which the comissarie is to be blamed, as Capitane Weir can schaw your Excellence, and the nixt nycht salbe at Falk in Wald ; quhair I hop 'thai salbe a littill better vsed, and so I sail caus to provyde for your Excellence all the way that I am to pas, bot your Excellence wald do well and nocht to quyt the hopman will he brocht yow to Mutschelburgh, least he serue your Excellence as he has served me ; for I will assure your Excellence it is verie gritt trubill to bring them forth and prowyd for them, 3 yit with Godis grace I sail bring them to Stattin. 4 As for the seik, I haue writtin to Charle Banneir, that thaj sail nocht lak thair wnto the rest come, I rest your Excellenc servant, A. LESLIE. 1 Uckermiinde. 2 On Sept. 24, Gustavus writes to Hamilton from Erfurt, expressing his sorrow at learning that the Anglo-Scottish force had lost one-third of its numbers from disease. Melvilles, ii., 19. 3 A soldier who accompanied this expedition in its march from \Yi-mai to Stettin complained that the men were allowed one pound of bread for four days' rations. With considerable exaggera- tion he puts the losses of the force at 5600 out of 6000! most of them dying of famine, and calling " Bread, Bread " in the instant of death. C. ,s. P. (1631-33), 202. 4 Stettin-on-Oder. 26 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Hamilton had meanwhile joined Gustavns at Werben. He found the King strongly en- trenched. " This Leaguer," writes Monro, " lay along the side of the River on a plaine meadow, being guarded by the River on one side, and the foreside was guarded by a long earthen Dike, which of old was made to hold off the River from the Land, which Dike his Majestie made use of, dividing it by Skonces and Redoubts, which defended one another with Flanckering, having Batteries and Cannon set within them, alongst the whole Leaguer : he did also set over the River a Ship-bridge, for his Retreate in neede, as also for bringing commodiously of provision and succours, from the Country, and Garrisons on the other side. . . . The Bulwarkes on which the Batteries were made for the Cannon, were also very strong and formally built, and they flanckered one another, so that none could finde but folly in pressing to enter by storme ; And betwixt the flanckerens were left voides, for letting Troopes of horse in and out, with slawght Bommes before them, where strong guards were kept for defend- ing the passage. And on the one side of this Leaguer were planted above one hundred and fif tie pieces of Cannon, great and small. . . . Likewise without the Leaguer, there were squadrons of our horsemen to stand in readinesse at one end, that while as the enemies foote should march on to the storme, our horsemen might charge through to the end of the Leaguer, where they were to be received againe within the Leaguer, being hardly followed, so that the judicious Reader can easily THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 27 judge, what a difficultie it was to storme such a Leaguer." 1 Leslie meanwhile had resumed his old post at Frankfurt. In a letter to Hamilton, soon after his arrival, he described the condition in which he found that town and Crossen. 2 De Francfurt, le 20 Septembre 1631. MONSEIGNEUE, Je me donne 1'honneur descrire a vostre Exellence pour 1'advertir en quel estat est la ville de Crossen 3 et ceste ville aussy. J'envoye ce porteur a vostre Exellence auec vne lettre que le major qui commende la luy escrit ; il se plaint de n' avoir pas asses de monition de gerre. J'advertis vostre Exellence qu'il y en a aussy fort peu en ceste ville. Elle donnera, s'il luy plaist, ordre que nous en puissions resceuoir tant pour Crossen que pour icy ; je pars aujourdhuy d'icy pour aller visiter la ville affin d'en pouuoir faire vn certain raport a vostre Exellence. J'ay escrit au prince Electeur de Brandeburg affin qu'il mette ordre que nos soldatz puissent estre icy entretenus. J'attendray icy comme en touste autre lieu 1'honneur des commendementz de vostre Exellence comme celuy qui n'a autre but que de posseder de se pouuoir dire de vostre Exellence, Monseigneur, le tres-humble tres-obeissant et tres-affectionne serviteur, A. LESLIE. A son Exellence, Monseigneur le General Marquis de Hamilthon. , pt. ii., 50. '-' MflvUles, ii., 81. These districts were specially assigned to Hamilton by Gustavus, in order to secure his rear during his inarch into South Germany. Burnet, 16 ; H. M. C., Kept, xi., pt. vi., App. 76. :! To the south-east of Frankfurt, at the junction of the Bober and Oder. 28 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. There lay upon the Neisse, some way to the south of Frankfurt, the town of Guben. It was garrisoned by a large force of the enemy. Hamil- ton, however, was informed that most of them had been withdrawn, and that the remainder kept very lax guard. He therefore despatched Leslie to attempt the capture of the town, and in a letter to Lord Carlisle described the result : l " I presantly sent Lesly with 600, bot my intelligens prouued bad, for they keiped good wach, and had barred wp tou ports, the 3 had 2 draw briggis and was shut. My men loged in the subburbs wher they could not be sein by thoes in the toun, and expeckted the tyme of the doun letting of the brige, which they did at sun raysing, which Lesly beiing aduertised of, geaiue presant order to charge with sume feu hors, think[ing] so to gett in to the toun, and they to make the port good till the fut shuld come wp, bot befor they could gett thidder, thoes in the toun had shutt the port, bot my hors bett them from the brigh. The futt came presantly wp, and after half ane ours disputing of the place beyond expecttatioun, cutt with hacchets ane hole in the port, wher sume feu men went in and opended for the rest ; which doun, all thoes in the toime fled eather in to housis or in to priuatt strites, wher numbers of them was killed and 250 takin prisoners ; 4 captans, sunderi loutenriand and under offisars, 2 captans of the king reliued. All the shogers heath takin saruis under me." Gustavus, meanwhile, soon after Hamilton's arrival, had issued from his leaguer at Werben. 1 H. M. C., Kept, xi., pt. vi., App. 77. Cf. Burnet, 17. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 29 On September 17 he completely overcame Tilly at Breitenfeld near Leipzig. Pushing on to the south, he was at Wiirzburg in October, and then striking west, halted on the Rhine at Mainz. There Leslie joined him. 1 In the spring of 163*2, Gustavus broke his camp and moved his army towards the Danube. Tilly, who barred his passage of the Lech, was struck by a cannon- shot and earned from the field to die. Niirnberg and Donauworth opened their gates to him. Moving on, Augsburg and Munich welcomed him. Germany, save the Hapsburg heritage, seemed at his feet. But at Ltitzen, on November 16, Gustavus found Wallenstein awaiting him. In the heavy mist which shrouded the battle, the King, impetuous to his ruin, fell among a body of the enemy's cavalry. A chance shot struck his horse. A second and a third brought the King himself to the ground. One of the enemy, bending over him, asked him who he was. " I was the King of. Sweden," he answered. A bullet through the head ended his agony. To the Protestant cause the death of Gustavus was a staggering blow. To Leslie it was more. In a letter to Hamilton he emerges somewhat from his habitual reticence, and expresses in touching and genuine sentiment the feelings which his master's death aroused. 2 ii., 20. Hamilton joined Gustavus again in November at Frankfurt-on-the-Main. Monro, pt. ii., 91 ; Burnet,. 19. He returned to England shortly before the battle of Liitzen. I hid., 24. - Mi'lrillr*, ii., 82. A mutilated transcript is in H. M. C., Kept. xi., pt. vi., App. 81. 30 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Stade, the 26 November 1632. MY MOST NOBLE AND HONOURABLE GOOD LOED, I haue thought it expedient to mak your Excel- lencie this sad nar[ra]tioun of the lamentable death of our most valarouse and worthie chiftaine, who, in the sixt l of November, did end the constant course of all his glorious victories with his happie lyffe, for his Majestic went to farre on with a regiment of Smolandis horsemen, who did not second him so well as they showld, at the which instant ther came so thick and darke a mist, that his owin folkis did lose him, and he being seperate from his owin amongst his foes, his left arme was shote in two, after the which being shote againe through the backe, fainting he fell upon the ground, one the which whill he was lying, one asking him whate he was, he answeared, King of Sweddin, wherupon his enemies that did com- passe him thought to haue caried him away ; but in the meane while, his owin folkes comeing on, striueing in great furie to vindicate his Majestie out of ther handis, when they saw that they most quite him againe, he that before asked what he was, shote him through the heade ; and so did put ane end to his dayes, the fame of whose valoure and loue to the good cause sal nevir end. When his corpes were inbalmed ther waes found in them fyue shottes and nyne woundis, so ar we to our wnspeakable greife deprived of the best and most valorouse commander that evir any souldiours hade, and the church of God with ^hir good cause of the best instrument vnder God, we be- caus we was not worthie of him, and she for the sinnes of hir children, 2 and altho' our lose who did follow him salbe greate, yit questionlesse the churche hir lose sal be much greatter, for how can it be when the heade which gaue such heavenly influence vnto all the inferiore members, 1 Leslie uses O. S. November 16 was the date N. S. 2 Cf. Monro, Expedition, pt. ii., 169 : " Alas then ! it was our sinnes, and the sinnes of the Army, and the Land, was the cause of our punishment in losing of him ". THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 31 that nevir any distemperature or weaknes was seene in them ; how can it be since that heade is taken from the body, bot the members therof sail fall vnto much fainting and confusion. But this I say not, that ather I dowbt of Gods providence or of these whom he hes left as actores be- hind him, for I am perswaded that God wil not desert his owne cause, bot will yit stirre up the heartis of some of his anoynted ones to prosecute the defence of his cause, and to be emolouse of such renowne as his Majestic hes left behind him for evir, and I pray the Almightie that it would please his Supreame Majestic now to stirre the King of Boheme, 1 and to make choyce of him in this worke, which indead is brought vnto a great mesoure of perfectioun, neither doe I think that ther salbe any defect in these his valorous souldiours and followers, in whome ther is not the least suspicioun of jelousie ; bot this al men knowis, that a bodie cannot long subsist without a head, which giues such lyffe and influence, ather good or bade, as it hes radically in it selfe, when it is present ; and when it is cutt away, cutts away with itselfe all lyffe and in- fluence. As yit this bodie hes done well, for indeid the victorie was ours, and Papinhame is killed, 2 Wallenstoune wounded, Corronel Commargen killed, with many other greatt officers which yit I cannot particularly nominate. The enemie left the towne of Leipsich, and Duke Ewiene of Lunnemberie hes beseiged very hardly the castle, and I think be now it is taken in. Duke Bernard of Veimers 3 hes persewed Wallenstone with the relictis of the Em- perours armies, and hes so compassed them about that I think also by now they ar ended. Now it remaines that we turne our sorrow to revenge, and our hearts to God by earnest prayer that he would stirre up the heartis 1 Frederick the Elector Palatine. He died in the winter of 1632. "Pappenheim had hurried up from Halle to join in the battle. :i Bernhard of Weimar. 32 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. of such men as may doe good to his cause, and now tak it in hand when it is in such a case. I haue no further wherof I can wreit to your Excellencie at this tyme, bot when occasioun offers I sal not be deficient to acquaint your Excellencie with every particulare. I intreat your Excellencie to haue me in your remembrance as one who sal evir be readdie and willing to serve your Excellencie to the verie outtermost of my power ; of which assureing my selfe, and wishing your Excellencie all health and happines, I rest your Excellencies faithfull servant till death, A. LESLE. A son Excellence Le Marquis de Hammilthon tres-humblement. Throughout 1633 all trace of Leslie is seemingly lost, but in March, 1634, he appeared before Lands- berg in Brandenburg, and took it on the 16th of the month. Upon its fall he retired into Pome- rania, whence he was soon summoned by Baner to join him in the siege of Frankfurt-on-Oder, which yielded to them on May 23. l The Peace of Prague, however, in 1635, enabled him to return to Scotland after the lapse of some years. During his short visit he received the freedom of Culross, and judiciously used his opportunity to invest in landed property some of the wealth he had acquired. 2 By the spring of 1636 he had again returned to the wars, and soon after his arrival at Stockholm, before proceeding to his command in Westphalia, wrote to the Marquis of Hamilton to recommend to him Robert Monro, who was on his way to England to raise levies. 3 1 H. M. C., Kept, xi., pt. vi., App. 91. 'Melvilles, i., 435. 3 Ibid., ii., 84. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 33 Stoltenow, the 16 April, 1636. MOST NOBLE LORD AND PATRON, I maid bold by tuo several letters of a late dait to present my service to your lordship with the relatione of such occurrences as this time doeth affoard ; yit occa- sione presenting it self moveing me to importunitie, I must still presume to be farther troublesome, by intreating your lordship (that since the beirar heirof, Colonel Robert Monroe, hes commissione frome the croun of Sweden for levieing of souldiours for the better setting fordwart of our wars heir, and seing they ar ordainit to serve wnder this armie, whairof it hes pleasit the quein l and directors of thir wars to impose wpon me), that your lordship as a noble patron and protectour of men of our professione, and of me in particular, will be pleasit to favour him with your lordships mediation at his Majestic his hands, that he may have libertie to levie and bring forth men out of his native cuntrie, whiche men, and all who ar or sail happin to be wnder my command sail be, wpon his Majestie his advertisement, reddy to doe his Majestic service, and I trust that if God blis ws and that by his Majestie his royal permissione and assistance we come to any estimatione, that I sail have the wischt happines to give testimonie of my natural and obliged affectione by doing his Majestie by my weak labours some acceptable service. Since my last wnto your lordship thair hes nothing past heir worthie of your lordship. Bot what succes it sail pleas God give our vther armies, or this wherof I have the command, I sail not faill to acquaint your lordship thairwith, assuiring my selff that your lordship will pardone my boldnes and assist the beirar to the obtaining of his Majestie his gratious ansuer, becaus the fortoun of the gentleman is in his Majestie his handis at this time, and I as one having interest thairin sail be alwayes dedicated to pray for your lordships long and 1 Christina of Sweden. 3 34 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. happie lyf, and a blising vpon your lordships honourabill affairs, and ever to show my selff as becomes your lord- ships euer devoted seruant, A. LESLE. To the richt honorable my euer honored lord and patron, my Lord Marquis of Hamiltoun. The war to which Leslie, now Field-Marshal, returned had assumed a character somewhat different from that in which he had left it. France, on May 19, 1635, immediately before the Peace of Prague, had declared war upon Spain. Oxenst- jerna and the Swedish government were ready to co-operate with Richelieu, and had transferred to him the fortresses they held in coveted Alsace. Upon his arrival in Westphalia, Leslie wrote to Hamilton to give him an account of the war in that region. 1 Frome our Leager, befoir Herford, the 9 Maii 1636. MOST HONORABLE AND NOBLE PATRON, Being tyed by dewtie and promise to give some testimonie of my willingnes to serve your lordship, and for the present having no other way to expres the same bot by giving your lordship ane accompt of our German pro- ceidings, have heirby maid bold to give your lordship the true relatione thairof, wisching the same be not wearisome to your lordship, being my presumptione proceidis from affectione, and the assuirance I have of your lordships noble constructions of me, who sail endevoir to entertaine that favour hes pleasit your lordship conferr vpon me. I have adventured to direct this letter heirin inclosit to his Majestic, presuming that if the same merit censure, your lordship as my continowing noble patron will plead pardoun. The particulars of euerie thing occurres heir, I dowbt not bot your lordship will acquaint his Majestie 1 M elvilles, ii., 85. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 35 with, to whose relatione I have referrit the same, as namlie, all our bussines goes werie weell hithertilis. Felt Marschall Banneir 1 hes and doeth carrie himself bravelie, as I doubt not bot General Lovetennent Kuthwen will acquaint your lordship, who hes bein ane actor with him. Bot for the present, in respect that Felt Marschall Hatsfeild is come to the Saxon with a great secourse, so that Banneir is not sufficient aneuch to give them battall, Banneir hes besyd 2 Magdeburgh with his footmen, and is reteired to Tanger- mund, 3 attending our forces from Leisland 4 and Finland, who is thocht will arryve befoir this come to your lord- ships hands. In the meane time he is stryving to wearie the Saxone by marching to and fro in a waist land where ther is nather intertainment for men nor hors, and thair- efter he will tak his best advantage of them. Felt Marschall Wrangle, 5 who commandit in Prussia, is to have the leading of the armie ordanit for Silesia ; he is at this present in Hinder Pomer, 6 attending the proceidings of Marazin, one of the emperouis generalis. As concerning this armie in Westphalia, commited to my charge, our beginings, praisit be God, hes beine succest'ull. The first rancounter we had with our enemie wes at a castle vpon the Weser, called Petershagen, whiche I unpatronized, and took of prisoners one Baroun Kotler, a colonel, with the compleit officiars of a regiment, and 185 souldiours. Within a day thrie or four efter, by way of a pairtie whiche wes commanded out, we defait tuo regimentis, took certane rutmaisters and souldiours, and aucht cornetis ; thairefter we marcht towardis Osnabrig 7 for the releif of it, whiche is now frie ; then taking to con- sideratione that Minden, a toun vpon the Weser, wher the Duk of Lunemburgh had his garrisone, wes a pas of great importance, and behouefull to have for the good of the 1 Field-Marshal Baner. - />., left. 3 Tangermiinde, in the Altmark of Brandenburgh. *'? Livland. Field-Marshal Wrangel. B Pomerania. 7 Osnabriick. 36 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. common caus, and the better assuirance of our armie, I marcht to it and by a meane acquyrit the same, and hes put in a garrisone into it, with the whiche the Duk is not weell pleased. I am at this present at Herford, within 2 litle myles of the enimies leager, attending the conjunctione of the Landgrave Hessen his forces, whiche I have long solisted for, and wherof now I have assuirance by ane expres whiche the Landgrave hes sent to me, so that so soone as we come togither I intend, God willing, to try the behaviour of the enimie, and if God blis our proceidings, I resolve to uiset Hannow, 1 wher Sir James Eamsay is governour. The 6 of this instant I commandit out a pairtie who, rancountering w T ith another of the enimies and defait them, took a colonel, and certane rutmaisteris and vnder officiars and souldiours, besydis those that wer kilt. What followis heirefter your lordship sail be acquainted. My lord, if it be that the restitutione of the Palatine can come no vther way bot by way of armes, the neirest and most convenient way for his Majesties projectis towardis the advancement of that interest is be Westphalia, wher I sould think myself happie to attend his Majesties com- mandementis, and to doe his Majestie service with these people committed to my charge. Thus craving pardone for my boldnes in impeding your lordships moir honorabill affairs by my long letter, and wisching I may be still honored with the continowance of your lordships patronage, humblie kissing your lordships hands, I tak my leave, and sail never be wanting to approve myself as becomes your lordships most affectionat humble servant, A. LESLIE. P.S. Pleas your lordship, my Lord Forbes can give your lordship the perfyte relatione of our Westphalia bussines. To the werie honorabill his most noble lord and patron, my Lord Marques of Hamilton. 1 Hanau on the Main. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 37 His close association with an enterprise in which Charles had a personal interest prompted Leslie to address a short letter to the King, with an offer of service that was not realised until 1642. 1 Frome our Leager at Herford, the 9th Mail, 1636. MOST SACRED SOVEEAGNE, Being tyed by birth, professione, and affectione, to imploy the furthest of my endevoirs to doe your Majestic service, and having no vther present way to expres my willingnes to performe, bot by giving your Majestie ane accompt of the Germane proceidings, have maid bold (howbeit one of your Majesties meanest, yit loyall subjects) to give your Majestie the true certaintie of the estait of the proceidings of the wars heir, and fearing the censure of presumptione, doe remit the relatione thairof to my Lord Marques of Hammiltoun, whose letter frome me doeth beare the same ; wisching my habilitie wold second my affectione and obedience to the performing of some acceptable service to your Majestie, or those hes relatione to your Majestie, whiche I should accompt my cheifest earthlie happines, and your Majesties long blissed and happie raigne, the principall desirs of him who sail euer pray for the same, and live and dye Your Majesties most loyall and devoted subject, A. LESLIE. To his most sacred Majestie of Great Britane, France, and Ireland, my most dred soueragne. After the junction with the Landgraf of Hesse, which in his letter to Hamilton he had described as imminent, Leslie swept down to the relief of Hanau, and succeeded in beating off the Imperialist troops which for long had beleaguered it. But later 1 Mvlvilles, ii., 35. 38 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. in the year he was called elsewhere. The Elector of Saxony was menacing the position which Baner and the Swedes held in the north of Germany. Thither Leslie hastened. On October 4, 1636, the Saxon and Swedish armies faced each other at Wittstock in the north of Brandenburg. A decisive victory resulted for Baner and his colleague. 1 In the following year, 1637, the Swedish position was again hard pressed. Leslie was forced back upon Stettin, 2 and returned to Stockholm to concert measures with Oxenstjerna. How critical the posi- tion appeared to him he expressed in a letter to Hamilton. 3 Stockholm, this 15 September, 1637. MOST HONORABLE AND NOBLE LORD, Being here, and hauing the opportunitie of this bearer, I thought it my duetie to let your lordship know in brief the state of affaires in our armies, and how matters are past since our retrait from Torgow : from whence wee being come to Pomerland, the ennemie did follow us, and did lodge himself at Tangermund, Neustat, and Sweth ; 4 and when I was come to Stettin and about those quarters, because I found that the warre would turne to bee defensiue, I tooke opportunitie to come ouer hither to sollicit the affaires of the armye. Since that tyme the ennemie is come downe to Anclame 5 upon Felt Marchall Wrangle his quarters, and hath assaulted the same two or three tymes, and is repulsed with great losse ; for to maintaine that post Felt Marshall Bannier did send in due tyme three brigadees of foot to his assistance, and afterward folloued with the bodyes of the armyes which hee and I comrnandeth ; 'Turner. M*-,,!,,!,-*, 9. 2 Cf. C. S. P. (1636-37), 525. M'li-illt's, ii., 87. 4 Schwedt, on the Oder. 5 Anklam, in Pomerania. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 39 by which meanes the ennemies attempts haue beene hither- to in vaine, so that when hee would haue passed ouer at Stolp 1 hee was repulsed, and a great many of his folck were drowned in the river of the Paine. The multitude of the ennemies is so great, that it will bee a hard matter to maintaine those quarters long if they continue in their purpose without any diuersion ; but seeing Duck Bernhard is come ouer the Rhine, wee hope that some forces will be called away from us to hinder his pro- ceedings ; and then if the proportion of the ennemies strenth bee not too farre exceeding, wee are resolued againe to fight them as wee haue done heretofore. It were to be wished that such as haue a mind to helpe us would steppe in whiles it is tyme, before all bee lost, for then it may proove too late. Thus I take my leaue, and commending myself to yowr lordship his fauor, I rest, your lordship his most humble seruant, A. LESLIE. To my most honorable lord, my Lord Marquesse of Hammilton. Leslie's visit to Stockholm was but a short one. On September 19 he received instructions to resume the campaign in Pomerania. Baner had succeeded in stemming the Imperialists' advance, and carried his army into Bohemia. It is probable that Leslie co-operated with him. But it was his last campaign in Germany. In the summer of 1638 he obtained from Queen Christina of Sweden permission to retire from her service, and on August 14 received his letters of demission. 2 In the following October he crossed over in a small barque to Scotland. 3 Over thirty years of active 1 Stolpe, in Pomerania. - Melvillea, i., 391. :i lbid. Turner, who left Sweden in 1640, writes : " I did well perceave the Administrators encouraged all my countreymen to goe home, old Generall Leslie being then [1640] to enter England 40 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. service in the bloodiest of European wars lay behind him. Yet now, approaching his sixtieth year, he was entering upon another career of battles and sieges. He had gained reputation, and, above all, had learnt the art of war under the first Captain of his age. A veteran already, his own country claimed him for a cause to which he, the disciple of Gustavus, could but be sympathetic. with ane armie ; and there is no doubt but that rebellion, whereof he was heade, was fomented by both Sueden and France." Memoirs, 13. Baillie writes in November, 1638: "The King's ships also on our coast a while troubled us. It is thought their maine design was to have catched Generall Leslie by the way, bot he, for fear of them, come over in a small bark." i., 111. 41 CHAPTEE III. THE FIRST BISHOPS' WAR. " THAIR cam out of Germany fra the warrs home to Scotland," writes Spalding, " ane gentleman off bass birth, borne in Balveny, who had servit long and fortunatly in the Germane warris, and . . . reso- luit to cum hame to his native countrie of Scotland, and sattill him self besyde his chief, the Erll of Rothass." But if, indeed, Leslie was returning to snatch an interval of rest from the turmoil of wars, it was an unkind destiny that brought him to Scot- land in the autumn of 1638. For within a few weeks of his return, an Assembly commenced its session at Glasgow which has been not inaptly compared to the Long Parliament in England. 2 In both, the feelings which Charles's policy had pent up in many breasts found utterance. The As- sembly was opened on November 21 ; Leslie's former chief, the Marquis of Hamilton, presiding as High Commissioner. He countenanced it for a few meet- ings only, and withdrew on November 29, with a protest against its constitution and its proceed- ings. His departure and his protest were alike disregarded. In a fervour of zeal, the offending Service Book was repudiated, and a libel against 1 Memorialls, i., 130. 2 Hill Burton, vi., 223. 42 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. the Bishops, presented to the Assembly from the Presbytery of Edinburgh, was answered by sentences of deposition and excommunication against them. On December 20 the Assembly dispersed. 1 To such an impasse had Charles's adoption of Laud's short-sighted though conscientious policy brought his relations with Scotland. That he was prepared to reinstate the Bishops by force of arms if necessary, his military preparations in the open- ing of 1639 placed beyond doubt. Whether Scot- land would be strong enough to resist such coercion was at least doubtful. For the long suspension of hostilities with England had sent the Leslies, Monros, and Turners of Scotland to expend their military energy elsewhere. In those generations of irksome peace, Scottishmen had swarmed on every battlefield of Europe, and had risen to high place in continental armies. Gustavus Adolphus is said to have numbered them in his service alone at ten thousand. 2 Monro, in a list of Scottish officers serving under that King in 1632, enume- rates more than one hundred, nor does he include "diverse Captaines and inferiour Officers of the Nation ". 3 Among them were many who battled for the Covenant. It is possible that they needed little bidding. Yet Leslie's influence with them would be strong, and both Bail lie and Spakling state that he used it. 4 1 Peterkin, Records, 107 et seq. ; Burnet, 27 et seq. ; Baillie, i., 118 et seq. Leslie signed the libel against the Bishops. Gordon, i., 127. 2 Hill Burton, vi., 218. 3 Expedition, pt. ii., Introd. Cf. Wishart, 270. 4 Baillie, i., 111. Spalding writes: "He causit send to Ger- manye, France, Holland, Denmark, and vther countreis, for the THE FIRST BISHOPS' WAR. 43 But without an army, the service of officers however experienced was useless. To raise it re- quired money. Sentiment as well as policy would prompt Leslie to recognise that Wallenstein's methods in Scotland would make the Covenant hateful to even its adherents. Money was the first necessity ; without it he would not move. With some satisfaction therefore, Sir Jacob Astley wrote from Carlisle to Windebank on January 30, 1639 : " They [the Scots] are also cessing of the people, so that every man having 1,000/. Scotch yearly is to maintain a man in pay, which makes the people grumble much, and their general Laschly will not undertake any design without money ready pre- pared". 1 Three weeks later he reported from Newcastle : 2 " They are in hand to lay garrisons upon the borders, but can get no money. Their General Leslie will not stir before he has 50,000/. in cash to pay soldiers. Their nobility and gentry have sat in council hereabout, but the money can- not be found." Astley was over-sanguine however. It was a fatal error into which the English commanders fell, most expert and valiant capitanes, livetennantis, and wnder officiares, who cam in gi'yte numberis vpone hope of bloodie war". Memorialls, i., 130. Rowe writes to Windebank, Sep. 26, 1640: 'At tliis instant, advice has come to me that 26 of the principal colonels and officers that have served the Swede have obtained their license and got their rests in munition of war, a course begun by Leslie the Great, and are preparing at Gottenburg to sail in three ships for Scotland ". G 1 . S. P. (1640-41), 101. In the campaign of 1644, every Lieutenant-Colonel save four, and every Major save three, had served in the Continental wars. Rush- worth, v., 604. 1 G. S. P. (1638-39), 386. 2 Ibid., 481. 44 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. to minimise the danger which threatened from Scotland until Newburn fight had offered a hu- miliating lesson. So early as February, 1638, the Covenanters had taken steps to raise a revenue. In March, eight collectors were appointed in every shire to exact a " voluntarie " contribution of one dollar for every thousand merks of free-rent. The Lords of the Covenant themselves subscribed, among them Montrose, who contributed twenty- five dollars. 1 The good people of Edinburgh were moved by Rollock's preaching to " shake out their purses," and the rapid cessation of warlike prepara- tions alone prevented the seizure of the rents of the non-Covenanters ; " for we thought it bot reasonable," writes Baillie, " frae they syded with these who put our lives and our lands for ever to seile, for the defence of our church and countrey, to employ for that cause ... a part of their rent for one year ". 2 The money which Leslie required being thus in fair way to be provided, he turned to the organising of his army. " There was established," says the same writer, 3 "by common consent, to reside at Edinburgh constantlie, a generall Commitee of some noblemen, barons, and burgesses ; also in everie shyre, and whyles in everie presbytrie, a particular committee for the bounds, to give order for all militarie affaires, the raising of men, provi- sion of armes, getting of monie with all diligence. Much help we gott from good Generall Leslie. . . . In all the land we appointed noblemen and gentle- 1 Rothes, 72, 80, 81, 127. 2 i., 213. 3 i., 191 et seq. THE FIRST BISHOPS' WAR. 45 men for commanders ; a divided so manie as had been officers abroad among the shyres ; put all our men who could bear armes to frequent drillings ; had frequent, both publick and privat, humiliations before our God, in whom was our onlie trust ; every one, man and woman, incouraged their neigh- bours : we took notice at Edinburgh of the names, disposition, forces, of all who joyned not with us in covenant ; appointed that in one day the Castle of Edinburgh, Dumbartane, and all the cheiffe adversars, should be essayed ; that, with diligence, Montrose, with the forces of Fyfe, 2 Angus, Perth, Mearnes, with the advyse of Leslie, and sundrie of his officers, should go and take order with Huntley and Aberdeen ; that Argyle should sett strong guards on his coasts ; that Leith should be fortified. It pleased God in all this to give us extraordinarie successe." But neither the raising of an army nor the provision of money exhausted the necessities of an anxious position. In Edinburgh the deliberations of the Covenanters were overshadowed by the castle, which held out for the King. A summons to yield met with emphatic refusal. But Leslie was as fertile in stratagems as in earlier days at 1 Among those who joined Leslie was Alexander, or " Sandy," Hamilton. He had learnt or perfected his knowledge of gunnery in the school of Gustavus. In February, 1630, Robert Monro came across him at Orebro, "imployed in making of Cannon and fire- workes". Expedition, pt. ii., 1. Upon his arrival in Scotland he constructed cannon at Edinburgh. Mcmorialls, i., 130. 2 On January 24, Astley reported that Leslie and the Earl of Rothes were mustering troops in Fife, and a month later added : " Fife contains the greatest power of covenanters ". 0. S. P. (1638- 39), 357, 481. 46 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Guben. On March 21, 1639, he " went up quietlie with the noblemen to the Castle-gate of Edinburgh, caused the town companies to follow them in armes under the walls, parlyed a little with the Constable ; who being much more unwilling to render than was expected, yea, peremptor not to render ; at once, after a dry farewell and plaine upgiving, every one returning to his own companie, a pittard is sett to the outter gate, and is blown up ; axes and hammers and ramming-leddirs are applyed to the inner gate ; the walls are scaled with so much the greater courage, that amazement had so seased on all the sojours within, that none of them durst so much as drawe a sword : so in halfe ane hour, that strong place is wonn without a stroke 'V A more threatening danger remained to be faced. In the north of Scotland, Huntly and the Gordons imperilled the rear of the Covenanters' army when it should advance to the Borders. To deal with them, Montrose was despatched with a force of three or four thousand, and Leslie ac- companied him. On March 29, Montrose and Leslie with their army appeared at Tullos hill on the Dee, some two miles south of Aberdeen. There they halted, and on the next day " cam in order of battell weill armit both on horss and futt, ilk horsman haveing fyve schot at the leist, quhair- of he had ane carrabin in his hand, tuo pistollis be his sydis, and vther tua at his sadill torr. The pik- 'Baillie, i., 195. "The thre leaders of this dance wer, S* Alexander Leslie of Balgoney, General ; Sr Alex: Hamilton, Gene- rail of the Artellizrie, and General! Maior Robert Monro." Balfour, ii., 321. THE FIRST BISHOPS' WAR. 47 men in tliair rankis [with] pik and suord ; the muskiteiris in tliair rankis with mvscat, staf, ban- dileir, suord, pulder, ball, and matche. Ilk company both on horss and fut had thair capitans, liveten- nandis, ensignes, serjandis, and vther officiares and commanderis, all for the most pairt in buffill coatis, and goodlie ordour. They had 5 culloris or ensignes; quhairof the Erll of Montroiss had ane, haueing this motto drawin in letteris : FOR RELIGIOUN, THE COVENANT, AND THE COUNTRIE. The Erll Marschall had one, the Erll of Kingorne had one, and the toun of Dundy had tuo. Thay had trvmpettouris to ilk company of horssmen, and drummeris to ilk company of footmen. Thay had thair meit, drink, and vther prouision, bag and baggage, careit with thame, done all be advyss of his excelence Felt Marshall Leslie, whose counsall Generall Montroiss follouit in this bussines. Now, in seimlie ordour and good array, this army cam forduard and enterit the brughe of Abirdein, about ten houris in the morning. . . . Heir it is to be nottit, that few or none of this haill army wan tit ane blew ribbin hung about his crag doun wnder his left arme, quhilk thay callit the covfnanteris r/'bbi//., becaus the Lord Gordoun, and sum vtheris of the Marques barnes and famelie had ane ribbin, when he wes duelling in the toune, of ane reid nesche cullour, whiche thay weir in thair hatis, and callit it the rot/all ribbin, as a signe of thair love and loyaltie to the King." The Earl of Kinghorn was appointed to guard the town, and musketeers were set at every gate. On April 12, Good Friday, Leslie marched south, taking the foot and artillery with him, and leaving Mon- 48 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. trose and Huntly to complete the negotiations which he had already initiated. 1 Huntly was speedily in- duced to desist from his preparations in Charles's service, and in England at least, Leslie rather than Montrose was recognised as the agent in his con- version. - In one direction the proceedings of the Co- venanting leaders were already beginning to tell with disastrous result. The State documents for the early months of 1639 bear testimony to the vigilance of Windebank and his spies among Scot- tish residents in England. No word nor act how- ever trivial were thought unworthy of report to the King's Secretary of State. The common lodging houses in which Scottish sailors congregated at the Port of London were closed. Scottish ships were confiscated. From the provinces the conduct and sayings of suspicious characters were sedu- lously reported. Of one man, apprehended in Staffordshire, " that which makes me jealous of him," wrote an informer, " is that he confesses him- self to be of Scotch parentage, but born in Ireland, where he has lived 16 years ; yet, being tried by one that can speak Irish, I am informed he under- stands not that language". A Frenchman in a London sponging-house, who declared " we love the Scots well," paid for his sympathy by imprison- ment. A half-drunken lout who staggered into an ale-house, called for a mug of beer, and tendering his money, blurted "here's a Scotch twopence for you," met the same fate. Three Scotchmen were apprehended in Wales, and committed to custody 1 Memorialls, i., 153 et seq. 2 Of. G. S. P. (1639), 39. THE FIRST BISHOPS WAR. 49 during his Majesty's pleasure, for no specific offence other than their nationality. The French King's Scottish tailor, who came over to London to collect money owing to him, was consigned peremptorily to prison. A Scottish skipper, who flew the flag of St. Andrew on his ship in the Thames, had ship and cargo confiscated. The utmost energy was even expended to discover the author of such doggerel lines as : Lord bless this our potatoe pie, And pull out all the Bishops' eyes, And now we are of great might, We mean to make you a bloody fight. 1 While such measures were taken against Scot- tish residents in England, the utmost endeavour was made to equip an army for the Borders. Hamil- ton and a small force were sent by sea to the Forth to await Charles's arrival. Berwick received a garrison, and that of Carlisle was reinforced. Early in April the King was at York, and by the 12th the non-Covenanting nobles at the Court received or- ders to return to the Borders, to be " ready upon advertisement to receive his Majesty's directions ". By April '20 the cavalry had been sent on towards Newcastle. Yet in the minds of both Charles and his advisers there existed considerable doubt as to whether Leslie would dare to confront the King in person. On April 16 Rossingham informed Con- way, that Leslie was " absolutely of opinion not to come to a pitched battle," for reasons, he added, " not of conscience, but out of judgment".- On the 1 C. S. P. (1639), 11, 27, 44, (i'., 74, 82, 85, 90, 95, 117, 159, 199. - Ibid., 11, 35, 51, 65. 4 50 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. other hand, Lord Gray arrived at York a day or two later with the news that over two thousand Scottish troops were already within four miles of Berwick, and that within a few days their numbers would have increased to ten thousand. At supper that evening, wrote Norgate, " the King said that he was told that Colonel or General Lesley (for so the King called him) should report that he would meet the King upon the Borders, or rather near Berwick, with 30,000 men, and there he would parley with him. Most intolerable insolency of so worthless a vassal to such a sovereign ! " added Norgate. Gray's information was, however, con- firmed from Berwick. De Vic, who was stationed there, wrote to Windebank : " Lesley is reported to say that he will appear on the frontier with an army to make offers to his Majesty, and in case of refusal, to stand upon his defence 'V The obvious sincerity of Leslie's preparations had considerable weight with Charles. Since his arrival at York his views had undergone a signifi- cant change. On April 15 he had been in com- munication with Windebank regarding the wording of a proclamation, which denounced in the strongest terms the actions of his rebellious subjects.-' But the organising of an army under so experienced a leader as Leslie, and that leader's apparent deter- mination to use it, convinced the King that more conciliatory measures were advisable. On April 25, therefore, he issued a proclamation from York, 1 C. S. P. (1639), 58, 59, 67. 2 Ibid., 40. A price of 500 was set upon the heads of Leslie and Alexander Hamilton. Ibid., 81. Of. Burnet, 119. THE FIRST BISHOPS' WAR. 51 the tone of which was in marked contrast to that he had first contemplated. He professed his in- tention, with indefinite vagueness, to maintain " liberty and freedom," " religion and laws ". He undertook to summon the Scottish Estates so soon as the castles seized by the Covenanters had been restored to him. With a people in arms against him he would not negotiate ; therefore he ordered them to disperse, under penalty of being pro- claimed traitors. 1 Had Charles been in a position to dismiss his own army, and thereby offer a satisfactory, indeed the only proof of his peaceful intentions, it might have been possible for the Scots to obey him. But insistence upon disarmament appeared irrelevant so long as the one side retained a weapon denied to the other. Accordingly, on May 1, Charles reiterated his assurance that he was approaching Scotland with no hostile design, and ordered Lyon King-at-Arms to proclaim the fact at Edinburgh and elsewhere. "We live in hourly expectation of the event," wrote Norgate, " God grant it may be good ! " 2 With unhappy coincidence, while Charles was proclaiming peace and good-will from Durham, Hamilton's fleet anchored off Leith. 3 His arrival "putt us all agast," writes Baillie. Troops were hastily called in to Edinburgh. But so soon as it became known that " all the Marqueis had within the shippes were bot a five thousand land-sojours, taken up in a violent presse," the concentration of forces upon Edinburgh was countermanded. 4 With- 1 C. S. P. (1639), 77. - Ibid., 103, 117. 3 On May 2. Ibid., 120. 4 i., 200, 201. 52 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. in a few hours of his arrival, Hamilton sent in his barge to Edinburgh, to inform the magistrates that he had a communication for them from the King. On the following day, two of their number visited the flag-ship in the Eoads. They declared their allegiance to the King, and deprecated the hostile preparations which he was making against them. As their clerk did not accompany them, Hamilton wrote to him regarding the non-publi- cation of Charles's proclamation. The letter pro- duced no effect, and Hamilton wrote again on May 6 to threaten, that unless the proclamation was published within two hours he should be forced to regard them as " disobedients ". His letter was sent off early in the morning. Expecting that the proclamation would be published between eleven and twelve o'clock, and fearing that the courtesies attending the ceremony might be omitted, his ships fired a royal salute. His fears were justified. Instead of publishing the proclamation, the magistrates desired three days' grace in which to consider the matter. Regarding it as prema- ture to resort to hostilities, Hamilton concurred. Pending their decision, he took possession of the islands of Inchkeith and Inchcolm in the Forth, and there landed his men, most of whom, never having been at sea before, were much in need of relaxation from the discomforts of ship-board. 1 Charles, meanwhile, was completing a further stage of his journey towards the Border. On May 1 C. S. P. (1639), 126. The regiments were those of Sir Nicho- las Byron, Sir Thomas Morton and Sir Simon Harcourt. Of. Burnet, 124 et seq. THE FIRST BISHOPS' WAR. 53 8 he reached Newcastle, and received the dis- couraging news from Scotland. 1 With the utmost despatch, therefore, the troops were hastened on to the front. On the day of Charles's arrival, Sir William Saville's regiment, "all clad in redd coates," passed through the town, Arundel, "gallantly mounted and vested a la Soldado, with his scarf and panache," riding at their head. 2 On May 10, from the gates of his temporary Court, Charles reviewed three regiments of foot and a troop of horse as they marched through towards Berwick. 3 On May 12, the contingents from the counties of Oxford, Cambridge, Hertford, Warwick and Hunt- ingdon arrived, and passed on to the front : "I think," wrote Norgate enthusiastically, " Europe cannot show braver fellows in person or arms". 4 His enthusiasm was not shared in equal measure by all. " Our army is not yet very stronge," wrote Grenville, " nor such as will become the majestie of soe great a monarch to march with into a countrey where he is sure to meete blowes. . . . We are not certain of our abode heere in this place, but as soon as thinges can be ready, we shall march to Barwick, where we are threatned with bad entertainment in a very barren countrey." 5 So far, though as early as the autumn of 1638 it had been understood that he would receive it, 6 Leslie held no official position in the army which the Covenanters had raised. The imminence of 1 0. N. /'. 1(139), 143. -Jliiil.. 145 ; //. M. C., Rept. xii., pt. iv., App. 510. //./<) /7 *ny. 2 C. S. P. (1639-40), 57. :! Ibid., 113. 90 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. of Northumberland, Lord Conway, and Sir John Conyers to the chief posts in its successor. 1 In Scotland, before the close of January, orders were given to Duns and Kelso to prepare for the levies already contemplated. In February a war fund was being raised, and Leslie's officers were quietly drilling the people throughout the country. In March, Leslie was requested to again assume the command, and it was proposed to associate a Committee with him in his commission. Some fears were entertained that he would not accept the command on such conditions, and Livingstone of Almond, afterwards Earl of Callander, was spoken of as a substitute.' 2 After some hesitation, Leslie agreed, and on April 17 his commission was drawn up. Save for the preamble and for the association of a sub-Committee of the Estates with him in the field, it was phrased in similar language to that of 1639. 3 As in his earlier commission, this of 1640 pre- sented in concentrated statement the arguments which, upon the part of the Scots, made for war. Therein they declared the Kingdom to be " not 1 C. S. P. (1639-40), 1C9, 155, 295, 301, 321. Ill health prevented Northumberland from taking the active command of the army in the summer. Strafford took his place with the title of Lieutenant- General. 2 Ibid., 313, 362, 489, 555. 3 It is printed in Melvilles, iii., 164. It was confirmed by Parliament on June 9. Acts, v., 285. The association of a sub- Committee of the Estates with Leslie seems clearly to show that it was already understood that the operations of the army were likely to carry it to such a distance from Edinburgh as to make the help of a political Committee essential. On those grounds, probably, Leslie withdrew his objections. NE\YBURN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. 91 onely threatned with warres concludit against it in the counsall of England and parliament of Irland most vnjustly, without any offence given to either of these nationnes, but also the warres already begune be the governour of the Castell of Edin- burgh and garisoun of Englishmen thairin, who hes schot att the burgh of Edinburgh, and stoped housses, and killed some people without any injury done him or them, the commissionaris sent to court be vertew of his Majesties warrand, to clear all thingis could be layd to this nationes chairge, and humbly to supplicat for performance of what was promissed in the campe, are confyned, and some put in close prisoun, armies listed to come against the said kingdome be sea and land, and, in effect, a full determinatioun of the subdewing, killing, and destroying of this land and natioun without showing any just ground or reasoun of quarrell". Such was the position as the Scots viewed it. That Scotland was threatened by an invasion from Ireland was already understood, and Argyll re- ceived instructions to meet it. 1 In February the castle at Edinburgh had been strengthened by a draft of one hundred men, and Lord Ettrick, its commander, declared his ability to hold out, if attacked, for at least six months. In March he was experiencing great difficulty in obtaining sup- plies and materials for its repair, and the townsmen were preparing batteries against it. The ease with which it had been captured in 1639 was far from being repeated now, and long after Leslie had drawn his army to the Borders, the town and 1 a S. P. (1639-40), 555 ; (1640), 611. 92 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. castle maintained intermittent but determined war. 1 In the treatment of the Commissioners whom they had despatched to Charles, the Scots equally found cause for alarm. In November, 1639, Lou- doun and Dunfermline had reached London to represent the views of their party to Charles. The King refused even to see them upon public business, and they had returned to Scotland in considerable dudgeon. 2 In the following March, Loudoun was again in London with other Commissioners. They were still there when Charles opened the Short Parliament in April. Chance had placed in his hands a weapon of which he made the fullest use. In February, Montrose, Mar, Montgomery, For- rester, Leslie, and Loudoun himself had addressed a letter to Louis of France, 3 representing to him " the candour and ingenuity " of their attitude towards their King. Charles, who obtained the letter through Traquair, exhibited it as proof that the Covenanters were engaged in treasonable cor- respondence with Louis, and had abjured their allegiance to himself. Loudoun was at once con- signed to prison, though Parliament refused to endorse Charles's interpretation of his conduct. 1 C. S. P. (1639-40\ 439, 468, 483, 554, and cf. Index sub. tit. "Edinburgh Castle". A very full account of the siege of the castle is in Somervilles, ii., 223 et seq. 2 C. S. P. (1640), 98. 3 The letter is in Rushworth, iii., 1120, and Charles's inter- pretation of it in C. S. P. (1640), 19-20, and in G. J., ii., 5. In a letter on August 20, 1640, Leslie and other Covenanters describe the interests of Scotland as " inseparable from those of France ". H. M. C., Kept, iv., App. 524. NKWBURN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. 93 Nor would it grant him the supplies he required for the Scottish war. On May 5 he dissolved it. The attitude of the English Parliament en- couraged the Covenanters to regard English opinion at least as neutral in their quarrel with the King. "The Scots brag much since they heard of the disorders of our Parliament," wrote a correspon- dent to Conway. 1 Preparations for war were pushed on. In March, Leslie's officers had been appointed to their districts, and outposts had been established on the Borders. * In May a force of four hundred was stationed at Dunbar, and prepara- tions were in progress for a concentration of the army at Duns by the end of the month. At Kelso a trench and fort were being constructed for the protection of the town in the event of invasion. 3 But in some quarters, Leslie's call to arms was not responded to with alacrity. Towards the end of April he wrote to the Earl of Atholl : 4 MY LOED, I haue receaued your letter this day from Major Bollock, and hauing acquainted the Committee of State therwith, because it is not ane answer to that which passed betwixt the laird of Incmnartein and the Erie of Rothes and my self e, whair wee desired that the regiment belonging to your lordship might bee sent furth, according 1 C. S. P. (1040), 216. 2 Ibid. (1639-40), 584. :1 Ibid. (1640), 207, 215, 275. 4 Melvilles, ii., 89. Sir William Fraser calendars this, and another on the same subject dated Edinburgh, April 25, " circa, 1641". The date is clearly 1640. In April, 1641, Leslie was with the army in Newcastle, and Atholl brought in eight hundred men to the camp at Choicelee in July, 1640. State Papers, Dom. Charles I., cccclxiii., 2, i. 94 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. to the common instructions, with all diligence, and that these men which wer named in that warrand subscriued by vs should come . . . [torn] . . . and giue s[atis]fac- tion to the committee their, for giuen assurance for the people of Athol in time to come for obeying the common instructions of the kyngdome, but your lordships letter goeth quit vpon ane other ground, first excusing the not obeying the warrand that was sent, in respect of the peremptornesse theirof both in condition and dyet, and then requiring a new warrand by the mayor for two or three gentlemen to agent the bussinesse, and that should haue free accesse and regresse both in their persons and goods, quhilk neither your lordship nor they can find in the former. Now for answer to all this, I cannot wonder aneugh how your lordship, and these men who are not satisfyed with that warrand, should thinke that the com- mittee and the great affaires of the kingdome, that are dayly crauing dispatch at their hands, should haue time at their will to grant to a few in Athol who are disaffected vntill they please themselues to come and capitulat, and soe trifle time in comming and returning, your lordship knoweth best how oft they haue been desired to come and giue reasons for their demands, and they should receaue satisfaction, which they did sleight, and now they would begin a treatie when the publique affaires doe strait more, and the burden of keeping men togither : wherfor, my lord, their can be no other thing returned in answer to this letter but that your lordship would bee pleased to send out your men with all diligence, and that these men who wer named in the warrand would come alongst with the regiment or follow them, and by soe doing they shall haue free warrand to come and returne and plead for the necessitie of their countrey, and their owne obedience in time to come what they please, and for this effect it is that the Erie of Argyle hath his commission from the committee and me to see these things reallie performed, and all clue obedience giuen to the orders that comes from NEWBUEN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. 95 this, which, if these in Athol bee readie to obey, his lord- ship will bring no trouble to any, and soe hes lordship is to receaue instructions this' night to carie himselfe and his people as he finds their behauiour in Athol, which wee expect now at last they will soe help and amend, that I may, both to them, and to your lordship, haue just occasion to continue your lordship affectionat freind and servand, A. LESLIE. To my very honnorable good lord, the Earle of Athol. There was in truth little cause for anxiety. Conway arrived at Newcastle on April 22, 1 five days after Leslie had received his commission. His despatches reveal not only the hopeless state of Charles's preparations, but also a fatal inability to contemplate the possibility of Leslie doing more than await attack upon his own ground. " I find this place," he told Windebank, " without any great apprehension from the Scots, and by what I can learn of the forces which the Scots have in readiness, they have no reason to be afraid." 2 On April 25 he wrote to Northumberland : 3 " I have been round the walls of this town, 4 which are in many places very high, and there it will be ill scaling them, but in other places they are better to- be attempted ; without the walls, there are houses and fences of earth made for the inclosure of fields, which will serve the enemy to scour the wall while their ladders are rearing ; the cannon upon the ' . 8. /'- (1640), 64. - Ihid., 68. * Ibid., 69. 4 In 1 1 ;:')'. sir J.-icoh .\40 shown thus:- ^*^ Route of 1644 shown thus:- .---- Winter-quarters 1644-45, underlined thus:- Durham Towns held by Scottish Garrisons October 1645, underlined thus:- Newcastle Wakefie/d ! tralterfrKontallsc. [To face page 99, NEWBURN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. 99 disturbing. About June 17, Conway received a communication wherein Leslie was described as " infinitely enraged " at the recent seizure of a ship conveying arms and ammunition to Scotland. " It is thought he would go mad," the letter stated, " making many solemn vows and protestations that he would not wait a second resolution, but if he had not a full satisfying answer to that they lately sent up to his Majesty, he would presently march into England, and not be pillaged by sea and blocked up by land." By June 23, carts laden with beer, wine, biscuits, and coals were on their way from Edinburgh to Dunglass, and coals were being stored at Duns. On July 1, Leslie himself arrived there to superintend the preparations on the frontier, and Lothian's and Ker's regiments from Jedburgh and Kelso were already moving to the rendezvous near Duns. 1 These proceedings awoke Conway from the complacent sense of security in which he so far had wrapped himself. Upon June 8 he told Windebank that the Scots were said to contem- plate an attack upon Newcastle, and that the rumour had " put this place into a great fright, so that they now begin to think what is best for their defence ". Windebank, in answer, urged him to put the town into a thorough posture of defence. Thus admonished, Conway dilatorily commenced that neglected work. Writing to the Earl of Northumberland on July 16, he informed him : "I find there is a place where a fort may be built, which may be made very strong, and will 1 C. S. P. (1640), 313, 331, 447. 100 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. serve not only for a defence of the town, but for a bridle to keep the town in obedience. . . . Now the soldiers are here, it will be a good time to begin the works." 1 But Conway's new-born energy came too late. With the opening of August, it became clear that the campaign of 1640 would be no mere repeti- tion of that of 1639, when the Scots had been con- tent to await the King. With no means of testing the feeling of England towards them, that course was then advisable. But the brief session of the English Parliament in the spring of 1640 had demonstrated Charles's inability to rouse England against them. In the confidence which that knowledge inspired, Leslie, as Conway tardily recognised, contemplated no less than an invasion of England. Yet it was a course fraught with danger. However carefully planned, and whatever precautions might be taken to prevent excesses, the Scots proposed to give a nation at peace with them an experience which had not been theirs since the days of the Tudors. As it proved, the very boldness of the design secured its success. It forced the summoning of the Long Parliament, transferred the struggle for the Covenant from Edinburgh to London, converted a Scottish into an Anglo-Scottish question, and laid the burden of the army upon the ally who paid for it, and the English counties that provisioned it. But whatever hopes were entertained for the future, it was regarded as essential that the invad- 1 C. S. P. (1640), 275, 329, 482. The writ empowering the Mayor and Corporation of Newcastle to fortify the town was not issued till July. Ibid., 538. NEWBURN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1(540. 101 ing army should at the outset be self-supporting. English timber for the huts was therefore not available ; but " Kollock had so sweetlie spoken to the [Edinburgh] people's mindes on the Sonclay, that the women," writes Baillie, "gave freelie great store of that stuffe [cloth], almost sufficient to cover all our armie ; and, which was more, I saw on the Monday the neighbours being conveened, offer in present monies, ... so that, farr above all expectation, to our great incouragement, our mes- sengers on Tuesday got with them a large hundred thousand pound, and hope almost of as much shortlie to follow. . . . The maintainance of our armie was founded on the tenth pennie of our estates, and hopes from England ; the first came bot slowlie in, ... from England there was no expectation of monies till we went to fetch them : l we called in the plait, and put it to the queinze- house ; we craved voluntarie offerings ; whereby some prettie soumes also wes gotten. Bot what was all this to twenty thousand merks a-day which our armie required, being then about twenty-two thousand foot and three thousand horse, besydes two or three thousand carriadge horses with swords and hagbutts." ! Leslie moved from Dunglass to Choicelee, near clearly suggests an understanding with Charles's English malcontents. 2 i., 255. Taking 13d. as the sterling value of the merk. the daily expense of the Scottish army was over 1100. A letter of Scottish intelligence in June states that each presbytery was required to lend a sum equivalent to the twentieth part of its rental. Supplies in kind were demanded from non-Covenanters. J. /-. n; 42. 2 Ibid., 590. 3 Rushworth, iii., 1221. 4 C. ,S. P. (1640), 603. -108 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Cassillis, Atholl, Boyd, Dunfermline, Home of Wedderburn, Erskine, Maitland, and Dalhousie. Ker's regiment moved forward from Kelso, Lothian's Teviotdale from Jedburgh, Lindsay's and Wauchton's from Dunbar, Rothes's and Car- negie's from Haddington. Montrose, Fleming, Montgomery, Ramsay, Johnstone, Elcho, and Dun- das were also at the front with their detachments. 1 Without opposition the main body crossed at Cornhill, and the western wing under Livingstone of Almond passed at Kelso a little later. Heavy rains had swollen the river. At Cornhill, where Montrose led the van, two soldiers were drowned. 2 In a political squib, which Windebank thought worthy of preservation, Leslie's invasion of Eng- land was represented as but a recurrence of those plunder forays which had been familiar incidents in earlier Border history. He is represented therein as addressing his troops after their passage of the Tweed : 3 Fellow soldiers and countrymen, give me leave to bid you heartily welcome thus far. We are now with Caesar past the Rubicon, and this night you are to lie on English ground. This is the land of promise, which as yet ye see but afar off. Do but follow me, I will be your Joshua. Your turf cottages you shall ere long exchange for stately 1 State Papers, Dom. Charles I., cccclxi., 57, iii. ; cccclxiii., iii., 2, i. ; cccclxiv. 59, ii. This information is conveyed in intel- ligence to Conyers from spies. In the last of these documents Leslie's forces are totalled at fifteen thousand two hundred, to which Montrose contributed sixteen hundred. 2 C. 6'. P. (1640), 609, 616, 621 ; Kushworth, iii., 1222; Gordon, iii., 257 ; Baillie, i., 256. Lord Elcho's MS. Diary states that one of Montrose's men was drowned. Wemyss, i., 243. 3 C. S. P. (1640), 612. NEWBURN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. 109 houses, and let not the thought of your wives and beams, and such like lumber which you leave behind trouble you r for having done your business, you shall have choice of English lasses, whereon you may beget a new and better world. Was not their great William the Conqueror a bastard? And in some things we are not inferior to him, 1 and will never despair of as great a fortune ; nay, in many things we have far greater advantages than that Norman duke, and shall we be such dastards not to pursue them ? At his first entrance he had no party to trust to, but we have already many a fair town ; yea, London itself is as sure to us as the good town of Edinburgh. Their purses, which have been shut to their King, doubt not but you shall find open to you. The brethren, who have in their hearts long since sworn the Covenant, are already providing change of raiment for you, and the sisters clean linen, and do but long for your coming to fetch it. You have fast friends both in court and city, fathers, brothers, and kindred that will employ their utmost ability to solicit your cause, and if occasion be,, their swords, I trust, shall be as ready to make way for you as your own. Our informations, our declarations, and especially our late intentions 2 are generally well liked and approved by all. What remains but that like true Scots we lay hold of this blessed opportunity ? I shall quickly bring you to the sight of gay coats, caps and feathers, goodly horses, bonny lasses, fair houses. What shall I say ? Win them and wear them. When we are once in possession they shall know more of our minds. Return to Scotland they that list for Leslie ! Passing the site of Flodden, Leslie encamped on August 21 at Milfield, a few miles north of Wooler. On the following morning he crossed the river 1 That Leslie was an illegitimate child has already been stated. 2 Of. Ibid., 622 ; Notes of the Treaty of Ripon, 70 et seq. ; Rush- worth, iii., 1223, and App. 283 ; Memorialls, i., 321 et seq., 330. 110 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Glen, and advanced towards Wooler. There the western wing of the army joined him. Sir John Clavering, who was watching his movements, noticed especially the care which was taken to prevent even the most trivial depredations on the march. He was impressed by the Highlanders and their equip- ment of bows and arrows, " the nakedest fellows that ever I saw," he wrote to Conway. The horse were armed with pike staves, swords, pistols, and a few petronels, the foot, who wore " not so much as a gorget or corslet," with muskets, swords, and staves nearly five feet long, with pikes at both ends. The whole force, he noticed, wore blue caps. Their guns were drawn in " great close waggons bigger than horse litters," the gun-carriage wheels being pushed along, one man to each pair. 1 Embroidered upon their foot-colours was the motto, COUENANT FOR RELLIGION CROWNE AND COUNTRY. 2 Upon receiving intelligence that the Tweed had been crossed, Conway hurried from Newcastle with his cavalry. On August '22 he was at Felton. The river Coquet at that point was spanned by a bridge which might be held against the advancing enemy. But Conway by no means liked the outlook. The Scots, he thought, would both " eat and fight devilishly ". 3 " In my opinion," he wrote, " their army is not despicable. Newcastle will be defended as long as it is possible, and in my opinion it will be best that the horse be about Hexham, the passages over the Tyne ought also to be defended, but there goes more to it than to bid it be done. If the 1 Rushworth, Hi., 1223; C. S. P. (1640), 615. -Gordon, iii., 261. 3 C. S. P. (1640), 619. NEWBUKN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. Ill Scots can be stopped at the Tyne it will be a great work." But even the probability that Leslie could be checked at that point was becoming increasingly remote. Charles, who reached York on the 22nd, could only undertake to advance as far as the Tees by August 28. 1 At Newcastle, Astley was making strenuous endeavours to repair Conway's omissions. " I have almost surrounded the town with works already," he wrote to him, " and shall then shut it in with lines from one to the other. If the Scots cause you to retreat on us, we will leave the town for your horse, and draw into the works." Within twelve hours, he added, two thousand men would be sent " to cast up entrenchments against the fords, as this night, after all our work is done, I shall send Flude [Lloyd] to mark out a work against the ford at Newburn, four miles above this town, there being but eight fords in all to Hexham. And if the Scots leave us and pass that way, I shall be able to send succour that way." But in truth the campaign was lost already, and Vane, in a letter to Windebank, put his finger on the cause of the huge fiasco : " You are to represent to the Committee from his Majesty, that incredulity and despising the rebels' strength has brought him and the State into a great strait of time and danger which imports the safety of all ". 3 Leslie, meanwhile, marched unchecked through Northumberland. Upon August 23, after the Sun- day sermon, he advanced to Brandon, and moving along the old Roman road, quartered his army 1 C. S. P. (1640), 620, 626. 2 /foW., 628. *Ibid., 631. 112 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. about Newtown,Edlingham,and Lemmington on the 24th. 1 The next day he crossed the undefended Coquet to the west of Felton, and encamped at Netherwitton. 2 Conway at once fell back from Morpeth upon Newcastle. Leslie might be checked at the Tyne, though Conway was hopeless of success. " At Newburn," he wrote to Vane at York, " is a regiment to defend it, but what is that ? There are more than eight or ten places where the Scots may pass. If you do not take good heed they will be with you. If they have a mind to take Newcastle, should they come to Gateside 3 they may do it very quickly, for there are no works made on that side the river, neither could there be for want of time, but I believe they will not come hither." 4 He was illogically sanguine to the last. A few hours dispelled Conway's illusion. Upon August 26, Leslie encamped at Eachwick, 5 and on the following morning a drummer was despatched to Newcastle with letters. Outside the walls of the town he fell in with Astley and other officers, and " would have beaten his drum," wrote Astley, "but I caused him to let it alone, and asked what he was. He told me he belonged to the Lord of Montgomery, but the letters came from the General. One was ' for him that commands in chief in Newcastle,' the other 'to the Mayor 1 C. S. P. (1640), 626, 633 ; Rushworth, iii., 1223. 2 Rushworth, ibid. 3 Gateshead. 4 C. S. P. (1640), 634. 5 Rushworth places Leslie at " a village called Creich or some such name " on the 26th. No such place exists on the route be- tween Netherwitton and Newburn. I am indebted to Mr. Richard Welford of Newcastle for the suggestion of Creich's identity with Eachwick. NEWBURN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. 113 of Newcastle'. I told the drummer it was no manners for him to bring sealed letters, nor was it lawful for me to receive them, but willed him to remember me to his General and carry them back. He desired I should send the Mayor his letter. I told him I was Mayor and bade him begone. Doubtless their design was to have passed at Newburn, we shall see what they do to-morrow. We work day and night, and all the colonels remain on the spot." 1 Whatever doubt existed as to his ultimate movements, Leslie's immediate action was guided by the fact that, once across the Tyne, he would be enabled to take Newcastle in the rear, on the side which both Conway and Astley had neglected to fortify. The evening of August 27, therefore, found his army encamped at Heddon, the fires round the tent-doors inviting the country people to come in and fraternise with his troops. 2 Below him in the valley lay the village of Newburn, and across the river he looked down upon the earthworks which had been raised to protect the ford. Conway hastily took such measures as were possible to defend the passage of the river. Late on the evening of the 27th, he drew out his forces 1 Rushworth, Hi., 1236 ; C. S. P. (1640), 638. I infer that after leaving Nethervvitton the Scottish forces were divided. One division moved straight upon Newcastle. From the drummer's explanation, Leslie does not appear to have been with it. The western division moved towards Corbridge, and turning east, reacheil Newburn late on the evening of August 27. Conway clearly supposed that Hexham rather than Newburn was the ford threatened. 2 Rushworth, ibid. 8 114 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. on Stella Haugh, a level stretch of ground which extended from Newburn to a point below it where the river made a deep bend into the southern bank. Stella lay at the eastern extremity of the Haugh. There Conway established his headquarters and stationed his cavalry. The fordable stretch of the river lay at Newburn itself, and close to the river, on the banks which faced the village, the Durham levies had erected two earth-works, in each of which were placed four hundred musketeers, and the few guns that could be spared from New- castle. 1 Upon August 26 Conway had sent a messenger to Charles for instructions. 2 If anything was needed to spur Conway's resolve, Stratford's emphatic reply supplied it. " Your Lordship," he wrote, " will admit me to deal plainly with you. I find all men in this Place extream ill satisfied with the guiding of our Horse, and publish it infinitely to your Dis- advantage, that having with you a thousand Horse and five hundred Foot, you should suffer an Enemy to march so long a Way without one Skirmish, nay without once looking upon him. And it imports 1 Rushworth, iii., 1236. It is difficult to define the position of the earthworks. Rushworth distinguishes them as the "greater" and "uppermost". Dr. Gardiner, History, ix., 193, interprets this as meaning that the one fort was behind the other. Conway states definitely that the works were not upon " the hill where we stood opposite against the Scots ". The larger earthwork would appear to have been opposite Newburn, and the smaller one lower down the river to the east. The shifting of Leslie's batteries to the east- ward, after the "greater" earthwork had fallen, supports such a position. The so-called remains of Conway's earthworks at Stella have been long proved to be no more than disused colliery waggon- ways. 2 G. S. P. (1640), 634. NEWBURN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. 115 you most extreamly, by some noble Action, to put yourself from under the Weight of ill Tongues. . . . I shall advise, that you, with all the Horse, and at least eight thousand Foot, and all the Cannon you have, march opposite unto them on this Side the River, and be sure, whatever follow, to fight with them upon their Passage. Indeed you look ill about you if you secure not the River. . . . Dear my Lord, take the Advice of the best Men, and do something worthy yourself." 1 Strafford wrote under the impression, which Conway himself had conveyed, that the Scots were marching towards Hexham. The position was therefore entirely altered by their appearance at Newburn. If Leslie had advanced his whole forces upon Hexham, Newcastle could have looked after itself in the meanwhile. But at Newburn he threatened the ford and Newcastle alike. A considerable portion of his army was, in fact, detached towards the town. 2 In nothing, therefore, save to fight and utilise his cavalry, could Conway obey orders, for the infantry and the guns which Strafford recom- mended were required at Newcastle. 3 Throughout the forenoon of August 28, the two armies faced each other " without affronting 1 Letters and Despatches, 413. 2 C. S. P. (1640-41), 49. 3 Dr. Gardiner criticises Conway severely for dividing his forces between Newburn and Newcastle. But the conditions on which he sought advice on the 26th were completely altered by Leslie's movements on the 27th, of which Strafford was ignorant, when he issued his instructions. A knowledge of the site of the battle amply confirms Dr. Gardiner's remark as to the impossi- bility of defending it with such forces and artillery as Conway possessed. It must be borne in mind, however, that Leslie and not Conway selected it. Cf. History, ix., 193. 116 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. one another or giving any reproachful language". 1 Under cover of the night, Leslie had moved his artillery into position, 2 and the wooded slope of the hill, at the foot of which Newburn lay, enabled him to complete the disposal of his batteries, and place his troops without revealing their position to the enemy. 3 Upon the steeple of Xewburn Church some of his Swedish cannon were placed to menace the English entrenchments upon the opposite bank. 4 Early in the afternoon, when the tide was ebbing, Leslie sent a trumpeter to Conway to assure him that he came without hostile intent, and desired only to approach the King with a petition. He therefore requested that he might pass without opposition. Conway replied, that he would allow a few to come over with their petition, but that he was not empowered to let the whole army cross. With his answer the trumpeter re- turned to Newburn, accompanied by "jeers and ill language " from Conway's troops. 5 It was at about this point that a messenger, and Rushworth with him, arrived with despatches from York. With Strafford's candid criticism 1 Rushworth, iii., 1237. The battle is only intelligible by care- fully piecing together the various defective accounts of it printed in the Appendix to this chapter. Of these, Rushworth's is the fullest and most valuable. Next in importance is the news-letter in Spalding. Conway's, and other accounts on the English side are but hasty despatches and give little insight into the events preliminary to the final rout of Conway's cavalry. A short account of the battle is in Somervilles, ii., 201 et seq. 2 Gordon, iii., 258. 3 Memorialls, i., 335 ; Somervilles, ii., 202. * H. M. C., Rept. iv., App. 295 ; Rushworth, ibid. 6 Gordon, iii., 258. Neither Spalding, Rushworth, Vane, nor Conway mention Leslie's message. It appears so eminently prob- able that I have adopted it. NEWBURN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. 117 of his past conduct of the campaign before him, Conway was not likely to shirk an engage- ment. But an incident at Newburn took the de- cision out of his hands, and gave the signal for battle. While he and his officers were considering Charles's instructions at Stella, a Scottish officer came out of " one of the thatcht houses " in New- burn, and rode his horse into the river. To the English, watching him from their entrenchments, he appeared to be taking stock of their position, and as he sat upon his horse, a shot struck him down wounded into the river. 1 Save for this single musket-shot, not a gun had so far been fired. It was already nearly low water, and Leslie determined to accomplish by force what Conway had denied him of grace. He called up a body of three hundred cavalry therefore, and or- dered them to cross. But the fire from the enemy proved so galling that they were forced to retire. 2 Leslie at once unmasked his batteries, which so far had been screened from observation, and poured a hot cannonade into the English trenches. For some time an artillery duel was maintained between the batteries on both sides of the river, till at length the larger of the two earthworks 3 was in 1 Rushworth is the sole authority for this. I have placed these two incidents, Leslie's message, and the first shot, in the order which seems the most probable. It is possible, however; that Leslie's message was the immediate result of the shot. 2 Gordon, iii., 259. The news-letter in Memorialls makes the engagement commence at noon. Low tide would not be until IM-I \\-(.'(Mi two and three o'clock, before which hour the river would be impassable, at least to infantry. 3 The " greater Sconce ". Rushworth, ibid. 118 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. sore straits. Lunsford, who was in command of the work, with difficulty kept his men at their posts. Soon after, a shot fell into the work, and killed some of the officers. Once more the men were on the point of retiring, complaining bitterly that they had been on duty all night without relief. Lunsford again pacified them, but a second shot completely broke their resolution. They fled panic- stricken, casting away their arms, abandoning the cannon, and blowing up the powder in the work. 1 Their flight opened the ford to the Scottish cavalry. Leslie therefore called up a small body of the College of Justice regiment, and sent them across to reconnoitre the remaining work. 2 But at this point, Conway's cavalry came into action. They had so far remained out of gun-shot on Stella Haugh. They now advanced, and with Wilmot at their head, made a dash to recover the cannon and arms which the infantry had abandoned. The ap- proach of the Scottish horse, however, diverted them from that duty, and turning upon the enemy, they charged them so hotly that they were forced to retire, until the Scottish batteries covered their flight and enabled them to reform and await rein- forcements. 3 Meanwhile, upon the east of the position, the remaining earthwork had been placed out of action. 1 Upon this episode there is unanimity of statement through- out the accounts. 2 Rushworth, ibid. This appears to have been a distinct movement, and not to be confused with the later advance of the cavalry mentioned in Spalding, Gordon, and the English de- spatches. 3 M&morialls, ibid. ; Gordon, ibid. M:\VBUKN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. 119 The evacuation of the larger work had enabled Leslie to concentrate his fire upon it, and to that end he had placed a new battery in position to the east of Newburn. It rapidly completed the demolition of the work, and removed the last impediment to the passage of the river. 1 It was already late in the afternoon 2 when Leslie ordered a general advance. To the final attack he sent over fifteen hundred of the Fife and College of Justice regiments, under Colonel Leslie and Sir Thomas Hope. 3 Wilmot set himself resolutely to beat them back. With his own hand he cut down one or two of the enemy. Vane, who led the first charge of the English horse, had his horse wounded under him, and came off with but six or seven of his troop. But the rank and file behaved badly. Many of them fled without mak- ing any effort to second Vane's first charge. 4 In spite of Wilmot's endeavours therefore, the enemy forced him before them, while ten thousand in- fantry were already fording the river to their cavalry's support. 5 Broken in his first charge, Wilmot, instead of withdrawing his men along the 1 Rushworth, iii., 1238. Gordon mentions only one work, and Spalding has no word of the fall of the second. Vane's despatch mentions " the works," but gives no clue to the point in the battle at which they fell. Conway is equally vague. 2 About four o'clock. a & P. (1640-41), 49. '' M>'iiiur!- in artillery ; being placed in a valley they were easily raked by the Scut- ; Conway failed to place musketeers. upon " two high banks" from which considerable execution might have been done upon the enemy's horse. C. S. P. (1640-41 j, 39. 1 Ibid. (1640), 658. 124 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Newcastle was incapable of resistance, and im- mediate evacuation was agreed upon. At five o'clock the next morning, August 29, Conway and Astley, with their troops, stores and ordnance, marched out of the town. 1 John Fenwick, who was with the Scots, writes exult- antly : " Then there was flying indeed to purpose, the swiftest flight was the greatest honour to the Newcastilian new dubd knights, a good Boat, a paire of Oares, a good horse (especially that would carry two men) was more worth than the valour or honour of new knighthood. Surely Vicar Alvey too would have given his Vicaridge for a horse, when he for haste leapt on horseback behinde a countrie-man without a cushion." ' Pass- ing through Durham they found not one house in ten inhabited. Both the Bishop and the Dean, Dr. Balcanqual, had fled, the latter, the author of Charles's " Large Declaration," fearing the threatened vengeance of the Scots. 3 Late on the next day Conway joined Strafford at Darlington. 4 On the evening of his victory at Xewburn, Leslie had advanced his forces to Ryton, where, " efter thankis givin to God for thair saif passage, deliuerie, and so good begining, [thay] did stand to there full armes all that nicht ". Lord Carnegie's regiment remained at Heddon in charge of the baggage train. 5 Early the next morning, ignorant 1 Rushworth, iii., 1238. Echard states that Astley sank his ordnance in the river when he evacuated the town. History, ii., 176. 2 Christ Ruling in the Midst of His Enemies, 38. 3 Rushworth, iii., 1239. C. S. P. (1640), 649. 8 Memorialls, i., 336. NEWBURX FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. 125 of Conway's flight, Leslie determined to appear in force before Newcastle, to demand supplies of food and ammunition for his impoverished commissariat. If he were refused, he proposed to threaten the destruction of the collieries. But he had not proceeded far towards Newcastle, when he heard from a Scotchman who had escaped from imprisonment at Durham, that Conway and his forces had already fled. 1 Halting his army, there- fore, Leslie sent Sir William Douglas to parley with the town. Upon his arrival at the gateway which stood upon the Tyne bridge, Douglas was on his first summons denied admission. He threatened to bring up the artillery and force the gate, and was at once admitted to a conference upon the bridge. 2 What passed was carefully noted by a bystander. Douglas " signified that he came from a great Lord of Scotland, their Lord General ; that they should acquit their fears ; although they were armed, they came not to oppress nor molest them, being both their neighbours and friends, and that he hoped he should so find them ; that they were going to speak with their good King, with a peti- tion in one hand desiring the establishing of their religion, laws, and liberties, which they had often sued for, but could not obtain, and with a sword in the other hand to defend them from their enemies, who interpose between their good King 1 Burnet, Memoirs, 174. Regarding the collieries Burnet re- marks : " they designed not the executing of that, for fear of making the Rupture beyond remedy ". Cf. G. S. P. (1640), 556. 2 Rushworth, iii., 1238. The Mayor was Robert Bewick and not Sir Peter Riddell as Rushworth inaccurately states. 126 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. and them, and had kept them from being heard or relieved in their many former petitions, but not to offend their King, or any of his loving subjects, but that they were ready to lay their hands and their heads under his feet for him to trample on. That he hoped their good brethren of Newcastle would not conceive amiss of their approach in that manner, but would join with them, it being both their causes, and for the good of both kirks and kingdoms. That if a letter had been delivered to Lord Conway, which was sent and returned un- broken open, the disaster the day before had not happened to the hurt of both nations, which was no way their seeking, but they were enforced to it in their own defence. They desired a relief of provisions, as bread, butter, cheese, and drink for their money, and a supply of ammunition. Answer was made that for provision of victuals they had none, or, if they had, they would sell them none ; that they were the King's loyal subjects and would so continue. That for ammunition, all was taken from them for the King's service. They acknow- ledged their own weakness, and that they were left destitute and had not [wherewith] to defend themselves, and hoped that no violence should be used, they both being subjects to one Prince. Sir James [sic] made answer, that if fair means might not prevail for provisions, they must use force, and so departed." l Resistance was impossible, however, and upon Sunday, August 30, Leslie entered the town. He was received by the Mayor, Robert Bewick, and 1 C. S.P. (1640-41), 41. NEWBURN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. 127 entertained at dinner. 1 In the afternoon Andrew Cant preached at All Saints', where "the Organs, and Sackbuts, and Cornets were strucke breathlesse with the fright of their Vicars " 2 At St. Nicholas's the sermon was delivered by Alexander Hender- son. Thither with some ceremony Leslie was conducted. 3 Henderson, wrote one who was present, who liked neither the preacher's politics nor his discourse, " so much forgot his text and the duty of his calling, that he fell into a strange extravagant way of applauding their success and depraving the English, making that the whole subject of his discourse ". 4 Yet Henderson's enthusiasm was pardonable. Ten days before, the army had with natural mis- givings crossed the Rubicon. In the interval, the soldiers of the Covenant had won their first vic- tory, and were now in possession of one of the wealthiest cities in the two Kingdoms. But, with characteristic impassiveness, Leslie informed the Committee of Estates of the success which had fallen to his command : '' 1 Rushworth, iii., 1238 ; C. S. P. (1640-41), 39. Dymock asserts, that after dining with Bewick, Leslie "for requital turned him out of doors, and seized his house and goods to his own use". The statement is clearly inaccurate, for Bewick, as a Puritan, belonged to the party best affected toward the Scots. 2 Christ Ruling, etc., 53. On August 3, 1640, Cant was trans- lated from Newbottle to Aberdeen " to serve at the kirk thairof. Bot he went first preiching to Generall Lesleis camp at Newcas- tell ". Memorialls^ i., 313. Writing on September 12, Drummond calls Cant "that spurgald sporter ". C. S. P. (1640-41), 53. 3 Christ Ruling, etc., 53 ; C. S. P. (1640-41), 49. -Ibid., 29. 5 Baillie, ii.,470. 128 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. 2d of September, 1640. MY LORDS, I will passe over in silence what hath passed in our march hitherto, because of the Committee's letters from this, that have maid full mentioune thairof. God mixes our proceidings with guid succes against our enemies, and evill cariage of our awine souldiours, that both our feares and our hopes ar equall. It is the sin- gular blessing of God that heth putt Newcastell in our hands, where there is so great store of cornes aboue ane ordinarie measure, armes for manie thousands. So that it is our best to halt heir for tyme untill we give ordor for what forces may be expected from yow, and what we are to look for before our hands from these our supposed freindis. It will not be unknowin to your Lordships how necessar it is for me to labour to strenthen this arrnie, upon the weilfair whereof so much dependis, and how it belongeth to your Lordships to consider aright what strong garisones must be left in Newcastell when we march forduart, and what a weakening that will be to the armie ; togedder with a multitude of runawayes who abandon the armie, and fallis under the handis of the countrie pepill, who cuttis them of, as I am certanlie perswadit. 1 In regaird of theis premessis, and the re- putatioune that will follow to our present armie by ane recrew that sail cume from thence, your Lordships will be diligent, according to the tennor of the Committee's letters from this, to send the Earll of Merschell, with his regement 2 and horsemen, togedder with Amissfeiildis 3 1 After Newburn it was reported, with considerable exaggera- tion, that four thousand had deserted their colours. C. S. P. (1640- 41), 136. 2 The Mearns and Aberdeen. Since May, the Earl Marischal had been engaged in coercing the Gordons and Aberdeen. Me- morialls, L, 272 et seq. 3 Amisfield. NEWBURN FIGHT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1640. 129 companies that ar sent to be upone the Borderis, with whom yowe may send all the runawayes that may be apprehendit, or any uther men who will come, although they want armes, becaus there ar store heir of armes in the armie. As for Monroe, I doubt not bot he is com- mandit before this to come to the Border, 1 where he may stay and attend what imployment sail be put in his handis, when he comes there. In the meane tyme, Merschell and all the forces that can be gottin there beside most be sent with all diligence to Newcastell, where they will find store of all provisioune before them, so that they neid not to emptie the countrie of any more victuall than that will serve them for their awin march. Iff I have omittit any other perticular that sould not be forgottin, I know it is containet in the Committee's letters, and what is wanting in both your Wisdomes will supply, according to the estate of effaires as they do re- veill. So reserving any forder to the nixt occasioune, and wischeing Godis gud blissing upon us all who ar weak instrumentis in this greatt work, I rest, Yowr most affectionat friend and servant, (sic sub.) A. LESLIE. From our leagor at Gatsyd hill, above Newcastell. Though Leslie contemplated the possibility of a further advance, 2 his army had done its work. He was now in the position in which his advance to Duns had placed him in 1639. He represented no longer an active but a potential force. The 1 Monro had been co-operating with the Earl Marischal. Balfour, ii., 381. 2 Gordon states that the alternatives of remaining at New- ca-tle or of advancing at once towards Charles were debated, and that the former was adopted by a majority of votes. iii., 263. ' 9 130 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. arena was shifted to London, and Baillie some months later, when the work of negotiation was slowly progressing, accurately defined the position : " No fear yet of raiseing the Parliament, so long as the lads about Newcastle sitts still 'V 1 i., 283. 131 APPENDIX TO CHAPTEK IV. NEWBURN FIGHT. SECEETAEY VANE TO SECEETARY WINDEBANK, FROM NORTHALLERTON, AUGUST 29, 1640. 1 On the 28th, about two in the afternoon, Lord Con- way, having drawn 2500 foot out of Newcastle, and all the horse, marched with two pieces of cannon to the south side of the Tyne, the Scots being on the north side with their whole army, intending to cross at Newburn, which his Majesty's forces endeavoured to hinder, and made some works to defend our foot against their cannon, but the enemy had planted their artillery with so much ad- vantage that they beat our foot out of the works. Where- upon the horse began to cross, which Commissary Wilmot perceiving, he with a captain or two more charged them, and so home that the enemy retired ; but these horse not being seconded, the enemy recharged them with all their horse. Commissary Wilmot in this encounter behaved like a gallant man, killed one or two with his own hand, and it is not certain whether he is killed or taken prisoner. Capt. Vane, who gave the first charge, had his horse hurt in the mouth and thigh in the midst of them, his horse being weak of his hurts, Vane fell, but recovered his horse and came off with six or seven of his troop. Our horse did not behave well, many ran away and did not second those that were first charged. Lord Conway and the foot with the two pieces of artillery got into Newcastle ; our horse routed and in disorder gained Durham. 1 C. S. P. (1640;, 645. 132 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. CAPTAIN THOMAS DYMOCK TO SECRETARY WINDEBANK, FROM HULL, SEPTEMBER 10, 1640. l After many rumours of the Scots proceeding towards Berwick, our regiment, Sir Thos. Glemham's, was com- manded to Newcastle, where we kept strict guard, but moved not, till the enemy marching within 4 miles of the town, 2000 foot and 1000 horse were sent in haste to stop them at the ford by Newburn. Their army appeared marching on the hills above the ford when we were drawing into our miserable works in the valley, where we lay so exposed to their battery, that their great shot was bowled in amongst our men, to their great loss and such confusion as made them quit their works, which the enemy's horse immediately possessed, seconded by their foot in great numbers ; but first the horse on both sides exchanged a most brave but bloody encounter, the enemy's cannon extremely afflicting ours, being within their range. There was another work reasonably strong but likewise abandoned to the enemy. Our horse retreated, and the flying foot were rallied by Sir Jacob Astley in a wood where an ambush was fitly placed, but their rashness pre- vented its success, which might have been good. Our foot advanced from the wood to a hill, where six troops of our horse made a stand, 2 and the enemy's horse coming up fought with them the second time, but the issue was bad, Commissary Wilmott, Sir John Digby, and Capt. O'Neale were taken prisoners, and we understand sent into Scotland. The fight was sharp and short, the flight general, and the foot being over-run by the horse in a narrow lane fled for company, less than 300 of ours fell, and more of the enemy. BUSHWORTH'S NARRATIVE. 3 The same night, part of the King's Army, consisting of three thousand Foot and fifteen hundred Horse, were 1 C. S. P. (1640-41), 38. 2 Cf. Conway's Narrative, infra, 137. 3 Collections, iii., 1236 et seq. NEWBURN FIGHT. 133 drawn forth into a plain Meadow ground which was near a mile in length, close on the South side of Tyne, called Newborne-Haugh or Stella-Haugh, to hinder the Scots from passing the River in the night time, where were two several Sconces or Breast-works raised by the English against the two Fords, which the Scots might pass over at Low water, for till then they could not pass the Tyne, and into each Sconce were put four hundred Musqueteers and four pieces of Ordinance. The Horse were drawn into Squadrons in the said Haugh at some distance from the Foot, in this posture Horse and Foot guarded the River all that night and the next day, till the engagement. The Scots all the forenoon watered their Horses at one side of the River, and the English on the other side, without affronting one another or giving any reproachful language. The Scots, having the advantage of the rising ground above Newbourne, easily discerned the posture and motion of the English Army below in the Valley on the South- side the River, but the posture of the Scots Army the English could not discern, by reason of the Houses, Hedges, and Inclosures in and about Newbourne. The Scots brought down Cannon into Newbourne Town, and planted some in the Church Steeple a small distance from the River Tyne, their Musqueteers were placed in the Church, Houses, Lanes, and Hedges in and about New- bourne. The Skirmish began thus (as the Author of these Collections was informed, being then upon the place). A Scottish Officer well mounted, having a black Feather in his Hat, came out of one of the thatcht houses in New- bourne and watered his Horse in the River Tyne, as they had done all that day. An English Souldier, perceiving he fixed his eye towards the English Trenches on the South- side of the River, fired at him (whether in earnest or to fright him is not known), but wounded the Scotish man 134 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. with the shot, who fell off his Horse, whereupon the Scotish Musqueteers immediately fired upon the English, and so the fight begun with Small-shot, but was con- tinued with great shot as well as small. The Scots played with their Cannon upon the English Breast-works and Sconce ; the King's Army played with their Cannon to beat the Scots out of the Church-steeple ; thus they continued firing on both sides, till it grew to be near low water, and by that time the Scots with their Cannon had made a breach in the greater Sconce which Colonel Lunsford commanded, wherein many of his men were killed and began to retire, yet the Colonel prevailed with them to stand to their Armes, but presently after, a Captain, a Lieutenant, and some other officers more were slain in that work. Then the Souldiers took occasion to complain that they were put upon double duty, and had stood there all night and that day to that time, and that no Souldiers were sent from the Army at Newcastle to relieve them ; but Colonel Lunsford again prevailed with them not to desert their Works, but another Cannon-shot hitting in the Works amongst the Souldiers, and killing some more of them, they threw down their Armes and would abide in the Fort no longer. The Enemy on the rising Hill above Newbourne plainly discerned the Posture of the King's Army, and how the Souldiers had quit the great Work, and being low Water, the Scots commanded a Forlorn party of twenty six Horse, being Gentlemen of the Colledge of Justice Troop, to pass the River, which they did with some swiftness, their orders were only to make discovery in what posture the Souldiers were about the uppermost Work, but not to come to close engagement, but fire at a distance and retreat. The Scots playing at this time very hard upon the furthermost Trench, forced the English Foot to retreat from that work also, which the Scots discerning on the rising ground at Newbourne, more Horse commanded by NEWBURN FIGHT. 135 Sr. Thomas Hope, and two Eegiments of Foot com- manded by the Lord Craford Lindsey and Lord Lowdon waded through the River, and General Lesly at this instant of time played hard with nine piece of Cannon from a new Sconce, which they had raised on a Hill to the East, and so galled the King's Horse drawn up in plain Meadow ground, that it much disordered them, and sending more Forces over the River, a retreat was sounded, and Colonel Lunsford drew off the Cannon. Immediately Commis- sary Wilmot, Son to the Lord Wilmot, Sr. John Digby a Romish Recusant, and Daniel O'Neal an Irish-man joyntly engaged the Enemy, and had a sharp Encounter with their Horse, they being commanded to bring up the Rear, whilest the Foot retreated up Riton and Stella Banks, but the Scots with their fresh Supply newly come over the River, environed these three Commanders, and took them and some others of their Troops Prisoners ; General Lesley treated these Commanders nobly in the Scots Camp, and afterwards gave them their liberty freely to return to the King's Army. SURE NEWIS FROM NEWCASTELL AND FROM THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 1 Vpone Thuirsday 27th August, at night, oure army arrivit within a myll of Newcastell, and expecting to haue past therethrow were disapointed, inrespect of the Eng- lish garrisoun that wes therein ; whiche Generall Leslie perceaveing, vpone Frydday morning betymes, marches forduardis to Newburne-foord, and resolued to pas there in spight of all oppositioun ; where being advanced, and finding the pas fortefeit with strong trinchcs [sic] and breist workis, and six peice of cannon, did fynd it sum what hard, being gairdit with 3000 horsis or thereby, and 1->0() fut ; therefore wyslie he commandit his cannon to to be secreitlie convoyit alonges a low way, to be placed vpone the face of a hill neir to that place, whence haueing i. 335. 136 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. a perfyt view of the English trenches and quarteris, did play so hard vpone them, that they were forced to throw away there armes, disband in confusioun, and blow wp there owne pulder. Whiche disrout the cavalrie of the English perceaveing, resolued to mak good the pass, and recover the cannon and armes whiche the infantry had lost. Whiche thing our Generall perceaveing, commandit furth his owne collonell Leslie with the Fyf troupes, seconded by collonell Ramsay, togidder with that of Schir Thomas Hopes, his owne life gaird, of the college of justice, amounting in all to 1500, who did so resolutlie assault thame that thay were forsit to reteir, notwithstanding of there number being about 2500, and qualitie of there horss and armes far beyond oures or commoun beleif. After whiche retreat, thay resolued yit once agane to haue recoverd what there foot had lost. Bot our troups doubling there resolutioun and courage, did mak good not onlie there first attempt, bot also put Schir Johne Suckling bak with his horss troups, being the prime of all England (whiche ar oppositis) to the retreat, took sum of his horssis, whereof one (being most excelent) wes presentit to our Generall be Mr. Thomas Hope, capitane of the lyf guard ; the rest were left to the takeris, to en- courage everie brave gentilrnan to adventour. LORD CONWAY'S RELATION CONCERNING THE PASSAGES IN THE LATE NORTHERN EXPEDITION, 1640. 1 The Scots having made a battery and drawn down their army, our works were provided with men to defend them, and with others to second them. Six troops of horse were placed to charge the Scots where they came over, and six or seven more were placed to second them. When the Scots forces were in readiness, and their cannon placed, our works were not proof against them ; the soldiers were new, unacquainted with the cannon, and 1 Hailes, Memorials and Letters, 102 ; quoted in Hill Burton, History, vi., 304. Cf. Gardiner, History, ix., 194. NEWBURN FIGHT. 137 therefore did not endure many shot ; those that were to second them followed their example. The horse charged the Scots and drove them back into the river ; but the cannon beating through, some of our troops that were sent to second went off when they saw the place forsaken. They should have gone on the left hand, that they might have gone off with the foot ; but mistaking their direction, went on the right hand, which carried them up the hill, where they found some troops. Whilst they consulted what was best to be done, the Scots horse came up in two divisions, and with them ten thousand musketeers. The first charge was upon the regiment commanded by Lord Wilmot, who was there taken prisoner, his men forsaking him, and falling foul of some troops of the Lord Conway's regiment, disordered them ; the rest being charged, did as they saw others do before them. AN ACCOUNT BY JAMES GORDON, PARSON OF KoTHiEMAY. 1 Leslye sent a trumpetter to the Lord Conowaye, desyring his licence to passe towards his Majestye with ther petitione, and shewing them that they were come into England to worong nobodye, if they wer not per- sewd. Conoway answered that he wold permitte a few, but had no orders for to lett ane army passe ; and sundrye of his souldiours sent backe jeers and ill language with the trumpetter ; wpon whoise returne, Lesly commanded three hundereth horse to advaunce unto the river, and after they had crossed it, for to macke a stande ; and if the English persewed them, for to reteere, that so the followers might be drawne under the mercye of Leslyes canon, which wer hidd from the English. Thes, at ther first crossing, wer so galled by the English musketeers from behynde the breest worke, that they wer forced to reteer ; which Leslye perceiving, played upon the blynd with his canon so furiously e as made the English musketeers 1 History of Scots Affairs, iii., 258. 138 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. abandon ther post, cast awaye ther armes and flee. Then the Scottish cavalry readvanced ; but no sooner crossed they, but they wer charged by Mr. Wilmot, comissarye generall of the horse, so hottly as they either dissembled a retreate, or runne backe in good earnest. Wilmot per- sewed them, but Lesly did lett flye so hottly at him with his canon, that Wilmots horse beganne to reele ; wher- upon the three hundred horse who first had fledd from them, tacking ther advauntage, readvaunce upon their persewers. Meane whyle, the rest of the Scottish armye enter the river, and crosse without hinderance. The formost of them comming upp, second ther forpairtye so stiffly, that all the burthen of the encounter being borne upp by Wilmott and a few gentlmen, annoy d with the Scottish cannon and overnumbered, they wer glade to runne for ther safetye. The light horsemen of the Scottish wer commanded to performe this service, and fall upon Wilmot, who stood to it after the rest wer gone. . . . The Lord Conowaye perceiving the cavallry rowted, and the infantry runne all awaye, hasted his re- treate to the King. 139 CHAPTEK V. NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. IN the course of the seventeenth century, New- castle experienced many alternations of fortune. In 1633 and again in 1639 the town had received Charles with every sign of loyalty and devotion. After Newburn, it submitted to a Scottish occupa- tion which a third visit from the King terminated. Later, when England rose to arms, the town em- braced with fervour the royal cause, and resisted Leven for nearly three months. Its fall was followed by a Scottish occupation yet longer than the first. The King himself came to it a prisoner in 1646, and remained there for nine critical months under Leven's anxious guardianship. Contemporary accounts bear testimony to its wealth and beauty. Sir William Brereton, when he visited it in 1635, found it " beyond all compare the fairest and richest town in England, inferior for wealth and building to no city save London and Bristow ". " It hath great revenues belonging unto it," he added, " at least 5000 or 6000 per annum." 1 Speed, in 1646, called it "the very eye of all Townes in the Countie, which doth furnish the wants of forraine Countries with her plentie".- 1 Notes, 16, 18. 2 Prospect. 140 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. To Ambrose Barnes, it was " the Emporium of the North for merchandice of all sorts 'V Built upon the steep bank of the Tyne, its most imposing features were the massive walls, which Lithgow considered "a great deale stronger than these of Yorke, and not unlyke to the walles of Avineon, but especialy of Jerusalem " ; ~ the church of St. Nicholas with its crown-capped tower ; and the wooden bridge stretching from the Sandhill to Gateshead, picturesquely edged with gabled houses, and guarded by gateway and portcullis, " one of the finest bridges I have met with in England," wrote Brereton of it. 3 In the north-eastern corner of the town stood the house known in later times as Anderson Place, which Leven made his head- quarters, and in which Charles spent his imprison- ment in 1646. The wealth of the town was derived mainly from its coal trade. " The chiefest commoditie," wrote Speed, " are those stones Linthancrates, which we call sea-coales, whereof there is such plentie and abundance digg'd up, as they doe not only returne a great gaine to the inhabitants, but procure also much pleasure and profit to others ". 4 The average annual sale of coals amounted to about one hundred and eighty thousand chaldrons, 5 from which the Crown received a substantial in- come. Indeed in 1640, Sir John Marley, who held it against Leven in 1644, commented bitterly on 1 Memoirs, 90. 2 Relation, 17. 3 Notes, 17. 4 Prospect. 5 C. S. P. (1644-45), 98. A chaldron represented originally 2000 Ib. By Stat. 6 and 7, Will. III., c. 10, it was fixed at 52i or 53 cwt. Taylor, Archeology of the Coal Trade, 168 et seq. NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 141 Charles's woeful neglect of a town from which he drew 50,000 yearly. 1 With the control of such wide interests, Leslie and his army held a powerful lever by which to force an adequate return for their " brotherly assistance ". Newcastle's treatment after Newburn was that of a conquered town. Leslie and several of the Scottish nobility took up their residence within it, 2 and a garrison of two thousand men was intro- duced under the Earl of Lothian as military Gover- nor. a Within a few hours of its surrender, so Vane was told, the walls were guarded, and troops of horse were stationed in every street. The King's magazine and stores had been seized. Private houses had been entered and their contents im- pounded. The Custom House was in the hands of the newcomers, who seized the tolls to their own use. If any remonstrated, the taunt was addressed to them : " Are you not Papists ? " And if they denied the charge, they were answered : " If you are not Papists, you are of such religion as the King and the Bishops would have you ". Finally, added Vane's informant, Leslie had im- 1 C. S. P. (1640), 116. 2 On September 11 Vane writes : " Fifty wives of the better sort of the [Scottish] lords and commanders have come to New- castle". /ftirf. (1640-41), 48. a Gordon, iii., 200. Some of Lothian's letters at this period are in Earls of Ancram and Lothian, L, 103 et seq. In one he writes : " I can not out of our armie furnish you with a sober (idler. There is a fellow heare plays exceading well, but he is vntollerably given to drinke. . . . We are sadder and graver then ordinarie soldiers, only we are well provided of pypers. I have one for every companie in my regiment [the Teviotdale], and I think they are as good as drumms." He had his residence in Sir Lionel Maddison's house. C'. S. P. (1640-41), 27. 142 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. posed a tax of 200 a day upon the town, and threatened to put soldiers into every house if it was not punctually paid. 1 Indeed the murmurs of the inhabitants found expression in a pamphlet, scattered broadcast in the streets, which denounced the Scots for conduct so much at variance with their promises. 2 While Leslie made himself master of Newcastle, detachments of his army controlled the neighbour- ing towns. On August 30 Durham was occupied by the Earl of Dunfermline. 3 At the same time, garrisons were placed in Tynemouth 4 and Shields at the mouth of the river, whence they were enabled to seize a fleet of corn ships from the Baltic. 5 In the following week, Lord Yester paid a visit to Sunderland, and impounded the customs of the port. 6 Gradually, the whole country within a twelve-mile radius of Newcastle was quartered with the Scottish regiments, where " to there in- credibill joy, they leivit bothe on brughe and land at thair plesour ". 7 1 C. S. P. (1640), 650. This information is contained in an en- closure dated August 29. It is probably misdated. - Ibid., 659. Gordon however writes : " The Scottish did carry civilly after ther victorye, and laye downe qwyettly in ther qwarters." iii., 260. 3 Cf. SomerviUes, ii., 206. 4 Gordon, iii., 261. Upon September 15, Montgomery was ap- pointed Governor of Tynemouth Castle, with " two keills and a wheery to wait vpon his regiment at all occasiones". Munt- gomeries, ii., 293. 5 Gordon, iii., 260. 6 C. S. P. (1640-41), 23, 49. 7 Memorialls^ i., 337. Gordon sounds the same note of gratula- tion : " The blew cappes had opned the doore in the north of England, and the Covenant colours came triumphantlye displayed to Newcastell ".iii., 260. NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 143 Upon August 31 Leslie established his camp on Gateshead hill, 1 leaving a force to guard the river at Newburn.- In the first panic, Vane had reported that Leslie was marching towards York " as fast as he may ". 3 But Leslie's proceedings proved that the fear was groundless. " They will certainly make forts on the Tyne, to command the river and make Newcastle fast," Vane told Winde- bank. 4 Nicholas conveyed information yet more disturbing : " They have invited the English ships, that lay without the bar at Newcastle, to take in coals, and they give leave to the owners to sell the coals ; and they make bold to receive the King's duty on that commodity, and our English ship- masters are now lading." 5 It was necessary that all anxiety regarding the collieries should be allayed. On September 8, therefore, a letter was sent from the camp at Gateshead, assuring the citizens of London that there would be no inter- ference with the coal industry and traffic. 6 Meanwhile, Charles reluctantly had admitted the necessity of negotiating with those whom he had come to chastise. On October 2 a conference 1 Rushworth, iii., 1238. A Newcastle Alderman writes on September 8: " They [the Scots] have made that part of the town defensive [i.e. on the south] which we neglected all this summer". C. S. P. (1640-41), 28. - Newport, on September 11, mentions a camp " some 4 miles above Newcastle/' where a thanksgiving sermon had been over- heard, which concluded, "Good Lord bless our King, and open his eyes, that he may see the truth of our Covenant. Lord bless the Queen, open her eyes that she may fly her idolatry. Good Lord bless the King's beams. Lord bless our General. Lord bless our army, and send us all well to our own homes." Ibid., 49. 3 Ibid. (1640), ;.->]. 4 Ibid. (1640-41), 9. 5 Ibid., 21. 6 Ibid., 26 ; Rushworth, iii., 1259. 144 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. was opened at Ripon. But pending a settlement of the questions which had brought their army into England, the Scots required that the means by which it was to subsist in the meanwhile should first be debated. Till that was settled, they refused to proceed to a Treaty. 1 Charles was forced to submit. On October 26 he conceded, that for the maintenance of their army they should levy 850 a day from the four northern counties. The limits of their occupation were strictly defined : " The River of Tees shall be the bounds of both Armies, excepting alwayes the Town and Castle of Stockton, and the Village of Eggs- cliffe : And that the Counties of Northumberland and the Bishoprick of Durham be the Limits, within the which the Scottish Army is to reside ; saving alwayes Liberty for them to send such Convoyes, as shall be necessary for the gathering up only of the Contributions which shall be unpaid by the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland". 2 On those terms the Scots agreed to a cessation of arms, and negotiations regarding the larger ques- sions at issue were withdrawn to London. Within the limits assigned to them the Scots proceeded to establish themselves. So early as September 10, the chief men of the two counties were summoned to Morpeth and Durham. They were at first required to make contributions in kind to the necessities of the army, 3 but ultimately, 1 G. S. P. (1640-41), 151; Rushworth, iii., 1286. 2 Ibid., iii., 1295, 1306 ; Notes of the Treaty at Ripon, 46. 3 From Durham were demanded 30,000 Ibs. of bread and 20 tuns of beer daily, with 40 oxen and 100 sheep. a S. P. (1640-41), 18, 27. NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 145 sums of 300 and 350 were settled as their respective shares of the 850 a day which Leslie required. 1 The remaining 200 was assessed upon Newcastle." The heavy drain which these con- tributions entailed upon the northern counties produced loud complaints. 3 On September 25 a petition was presented at York on behalf of the counties of Northumberland, Durham, and the tenants of the Chapter of Durham. 4 In Parlia- ment on November 9, Sir William Widdrington, a Northumberland Knight, was called to order, and compelled to apologise for calling attention to the misery which his county suffered at the hands of those whom he termed invading rebels. 5 Sir Benjamin Rudyard declared emphatically in the following February, " Northumberland, Newcastle, and the Bishoprick, will not recover their former State these Twenty Years. We have heard it spoken here in this House, by an understanding knowing Member in the particular, That the Coal Mines of Newcastle will not be set right again for One hundred thousand Pounds." ' 1 i '. X. P. (1640-41), 75. Cf. Surtees, Durham, i., xcvi. 2 Bourne prints the agreement in full, in his Newcastle, 230. It is dated September 23. - >t land continued to contribute to the equipment of the army. On October 3 Aberdeen provided "20,000 pair of schois- of 10 and 11 insche at the leist, to be send to Newcastell to Generall Leisleis soldiouris . . . 20,000 soot of apparel I and 20,000 sarkis. And the committe took exact tryell what gray claith, hardin, bleichit and vnbleichit, the marchandis had. . . . Aluaies, schois, sarkis, and clothis, maid \vp in cot and brekis, wes all schipit at Abirdein, and transportit to Newcastell." On December 14, "It wes said, that thair wes send out of the schirefdomis of Abinlene and Banff 12,000 bollis victuall ". Memorialls, i., 347, 363. 4 Rushworth, iii., 1278. 5 Ibid., iv., 38. 6 Ibid., iv., 167. 10 146 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER. LESLIE. Against such representations the Scots at New- castle protested loudly. On October 5 they de- clared, that the loans exacted from the counties were "a friendly borrowing upon security," and that the depredations ascribed to them were the acts of others, who "put on blue bonnets [and] call themselves Scotchmen ". As to their dealings with Newcastle, the town had treated them badly, its people had sold them provisions at a high rate, " a groat for a pottle of sodden water without any substance," and " a shilling for 5 Ibs. weight of rye bread ". They had been charged with rifling the parson of Kyton's house after Newburn, whereas, they declared, "he rifled his own house and fled, leaving a few old books, whereof some being taken by some of our soldiers, and an old riding coat, were immediately sent back and delivered to an old woman, the only living Christian in the town ". The parson of Whickham, they protested, "also rifled his own house, and left nothing but some timber work, bedding, and small beer, and in his library a number of profane comedies, unworthy papers, and scurvey pamphlets ".* That Leslie and his army were forced to inflict themselves upon unwilling hosts was, after all, not their own choice. If Charles had consented to that arrangement, it was because he was unable to find the money without which the Scots refused to disband. But Parliament, when it met in November, 1640, was in no mood to hasten the grant which Charles required. If Scotland had raised an army, England would make use of it, 1 0. S. P. (1640-41), 141. NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 147 and discharge the obligation when its service had been fully rendered. Hence, the settlement of Scotland's financial claims proceeded leisurely, and not entirely harmoniously. Upon January 1*2, 1641, the Scots presented the accounts of their " brotherly assistance ". They computed their expenditure, down to the Treaty of Ripon, at 785,628 sterling. Of that sum they were willing to " putt out of compt " 271,500. There remained 514,128, in regard to which they offered to bear " such a proportion as the Parlia- ment should find reasonable, or us able". 1 But more urgent were the expenses which the army was still incurring. At 850 a day, these already amounted to over 80,000, and would accumulate until an agreement was arrived at. On January 22, the House resolved that these claims de- manded satisfaction.- But the political outlook was cloudy, the wealthy capitalists of the City were not disposed to lend, week followed week, and money was still not forthcoming. In May, some approach was made towards a settlement. On the 21st, the House agreed to pay 300,000 for Scotland's "brotherly assistance". 3 Baillie wrote confidently to Montgomery on June 2, that 200,000 would be immediately forth- coming. 4 But he was over-sanguine. To vote the money was easier than the raising of it. The ad- justment of accounts between the northern counties and the Scots also encouraged delay, and offered 1 Baillie, i., 289 ; /,. .7., iv., 130 ; Gardiner, History, ix., 261. - ('. ./., ii., 71. H'i'l., ii., 153. 4 i., 354. 148 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. difficulties on which Leslie commented in the following letter to Rothes : Newcastle, the 16 of Julij 1641. MY LOED, Long since I wished that the treatie might haue a speedy and happie close, And that their might be nothing left in the way to hinder our march back againe at the appointed tyme. And for this cause the Commissaries of o r Annie wer directed to haue all their accompts in redi- nes, And when these Commissions for the Two counties And the Toune of Newcastle came doune, their wes the lyk number of Gentilmen belonging to the Armie nominat by ws, to Joyne with the Englishe Commissioners for clear- ing and according all reckonings betwixt ws. At their first meeting togither, their haue suche differ- ences arisen amongst them in taking the right extent of these words, dammages and losses of the Countrey, that as the Englische (no doubt) haue for their part giuen notice therof to their parliament, So these Gentilmen belonging to o r Armie haue directed a letter to o r Commissioners, to let you all know the trew and vndenyable grounds of suche a procedure on thair pairt, And what hath alreddie past, That yo r Lo p and they, knowing the equitie and necessitie therof, may be the more able to take away all misvnder- standing and matter of debate. And this also hath given me occasione to wreat to yo r LQP at lenth what I conceaue may be the evill Conse- quences of this whole affaire, except they be prevented in tyme : for although the bussinesse of the accompts comes be the by, and is not so important as the great matters of the Treatie, yet it will be as Importunat for the Tyme that it is in handling, And if it be not caried aright, It is the only point wherin the Englishe and we can differ, And wherby the Treatie may be made of no effect. And this 1 Acts, v., 626. NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 149 I feare the rather becaus yo lo? may know the dispositione of the Gentry of these Counties who ar nominat for Com- missioners, And how they stand affected to the present worke of Eeformatione the parliament hath in hand, which they conceaue to be the true ground of o r stay heere, And which they have trulie in their heart, As they cannot choose, being popishe for the most part, and all of them fauorers of the state of Bishopes. And for this cause they maligne ws the mor, And ar glaid to catche any bone of divisione which may breed controuersies betuix the par- liament and ws. And now they haue gotten the oppor- tunitie (as they think) at wisses [sic], In this Commissione for dammages, whairby both they may adwantage their Counties, ease the publiqk burdens of their kingdome, and send ws away empty in a worse Conditione then when we come out of o r owne Countrey, which may be easyly done, iff they should make the multiplyed reckonings of their dammages exceed the soume of the brotherly assistance which will be left in arrear behind, As they professe they will, And so they think to confirme the freindshipe which the parliament hath so fairly and kyndly begune. But I am persuaded, my lord, the honorable housses of Parliament haue ane' other opinione and estimatione of o r services. And they know that the most parte of o r Nobilitie and Gentry who ar in this Armie sustaine other mainer of dammages then Bishoprick and Northumberland, for the which they need never look for any reckoning or recompence but from the God of heauen, and yo r lo p knowes, And the Englishe may consider, that o r abod so long heer is not to end o r owne bussinesse, which might haue been dispatched long agoe, but that we know that the Two kingdomes cannot be happie but togither, And for their cause it is that o r Armie hath susteined hunger and nakednesse, with ane Invincible patience, In the middest of plentie, that we might not giue offence to o r Common aduersaries and hinder this great worke in the very first birth. Yea further yo r lo p knowes, the longer we 150 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. stay o r burdens encrease the more, And if the supposed dammages of these Countreyes turne to bee o r debt, which we can never allow whair we had no benefeit, The brotherly assistance will be offered w* the on hand and takin away w* the other, And we will be forced to begin as it wer vpon a new treatie, And when we thought o r selves in the harbour be cast againe furth vnto a sea of difficulties. I will end this long letter, and not touche vpone any thing that is set doune in the other letter that is sent from them who ar vpon the Accompts, becaus they ar full and cleare of themselves, only this I desyre of yo r IOP, to repre- sent this bussines aright to them whom it concernes, That the parliament conceaue no preiudice of ws who will neuer giue them Just cause, And that they may build all assur- ance and Confidence vpone these sure pledges that we haue geuin alreadie of o r vndoubted affectione to the peace and good of this kingdome, And for the furtherance of that great worke of Reformatione they haue in hand. For as we think o r selves oblidged in conscience and honour to keep the constant tenour of o r former actiones vnto the end. So on the other parte we hope the parliament will take suche good order, That they who ly in wait to put differences amongst ws may be marked and disapointed, And that all accompts whairvnto we ar bound to ans r may be so cleered, That their be no place left to after reckonings, nor these fair hopes of their brotherly assistance and respects to ws be blasted before we come to enjoy the expected fruit of them in due tyme. And this I conceaue (That all meanes of a Sweet correspondence may be still entertained amongst ws) to be of greater consequence to the happinesse of the whole He, and to "the p r sent traine of affaires, then all that these tuo Counties and the Toune of Newcastle ar worth wer they all to be sold to a penny, for they of themselves will neither vnderstand, nor will they be thank- full for the blessings of god that ar before their Eyes, and theirfor we leaue them, And takes ws to the Judg- ment of the parliament. And it will be necessarie that NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 151 your LQP and the rest returne ws ane speedie ans r for I rest Yo r LOP* Most affectionat freind and servand, Sic sub r . A. LESLIE. Parliament was in fact experiencing great difficulty in raising, by poll-taxes and other sources, the money it had undertaken to pay. A sum of 80,000 had been promised on account of the 300,000. Even that was barely forthcoming. On July 23, the Scottish Commissioners in London wrote to Leslie to ask whether he would be willing to disband his army without it. 1 He at once for- warded the letter to Edinburgh, with an enclosure from himself: Newcastle, the 26th of July, 1641. EIGHT HONOURABLE, I have receaved a letter this day from our com- missionars ; because the contents of their letter ar so important, and of so great consequence, I have made haste to take a coppie theirof, and have sent the principall with all hast to be presented and advised by your lordships and the estates of parliament now mett togither. I wishe the bearer may be at Edinburgh befor the earle of Dum- fermling and Loudone have their dispatch ; for as our commissioners crave a speedie answer from me, so I will wait and look to be directed by your lordships what aunswer I should make ; and as I receave the command- ment from your lordships, so I shall obey the same, as becometh Your lordships most faithfull and humble servand, A. LESLIE. For the estats of parliament now sitting at Edinburgh. 1 Art*, \\, Ml. 2 Thurloe, i., 10. 152 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. On July 30 the Estates replied. They insisted that the withdrawal of the army must be con- ditional upon the settlement of arrears and pay- ment of the 80,000. When the former were paid, Leslie might disband all but seven or eight thousand foot and one thousand horse, and retain them at Newcastle until the 80,000 were in his hands. 1 As Leslie had declared, the Scots con- tested the claims which the northern counties made upon them for maintenance. So far, Parlia- ment had intended them to deal directly with their creditors. But on August 6, their Commissioners in London announced that Parliament would itself satisfy them. 2 After some haggling, the Scots admitted 33,888 Os. 8d. as their debt to North- umberland, Durham, and Newcastle, and on August 9 the House ordered payment of the balance of the 80,000. On the following day, Charles rati- fied the Treaty in Parliament. 3 Thus the vexed financial question was settled, and in a manner not disadvantageous to Scotland. For nearly a year her army had lived at the ex- pense of her ally. Of her original outlay upon it, she had estimated 514,128 as the amount on which she was willing to bear a reasonable propor- tion. The Treaty with England gave her at once nearly 50,000, with security for the balance of the 300,000. 4 England, in fact, contributed more than a quarter of a million pounds sterling to the expenses of an army which Scotland had raised originally in her own behalf, and discharged the 1 Acts, v., 632. *Ibid., v., 641. Cf. Baillie, i., 384. 3 C. /., ii., 248. 4 Memurialls, ii., 65 ; Wemyss, i., 244. NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 153 cost of an occupation of her territory, which had been of service to both countries in their common opposition to the King. As early as May, 1641, Charles had proposed to visit Scotland. To the dismay of his Parlia- ment, he left London on August 10. On the 13th he reached Newcastle. 1 At Gateshead he found the Scottish army drawn up to receive him. His reception is thus described : " Generall Lasley being aduertised of the time of his Maiesties comming to New-castle, that hee might as well appeare in his own art and luster as in his dutie and loialty to his Soueraigne, (hauing first made his choyce of fitt ground) hee drew out his whole forces both horse and foot with the Artillerie, and the better to expresse the souldiers salute and welcome of their King, hee rallied his men into two diuisions of equall number ranging them in a great length with an equall distance be- t \veene them of about eight score, which rendred them the more conspicuous and with the braver aspect to the beholders. Through these the King was to passe, whither being come, the Generall alighting from his horse (which was presently taken by two of his footmen), Hee prostrated hirnselfe and service before the King upon his knees, his Majestic awhile priuately talking to him and at his rising gave him his hand to kisse, and commanded his horse to be giuen him, whereon remounted, he ridd with the King through the Annie. " In the first place stood Highlanders, commonly 1 Baillie, i., 385. Of. Gardiner, History, ix., 375, 417. 2 His Mtii.'ttn* I'n.^infj Through the Scots Armie. K. P. 154 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. called Redshankes, with their plaides cast ouer their shoulders, hauing euery one his bowe and arrowes with a broad slycing sword by his syde, these are so good markes-men that they will kill a deere in his speed, it being the cheifest part of their liuing, selling the skinns by great quantities, and feeding on the flesh ; next were Musketeers interlac't with Pikes and here and there intermix't with those dangerous short gunnes inuented by that their famous engineer Sandy Hamilton, and were for the sudden execution of horse in case they should assaile them, then againe bowes, muskets and pikes for a good distance on both sides. In the mid- way the Artillery was placed by Tiers, consist- ing of about 60 pieces of Ordnance, the cannoniers standing in readines with fired linstockes in their handes. The horsemen were here placed on both sides, which serued as wings or flankes for the whole Army, and so forward in the same order, but disposed into so goodly a presence and posture, with such sutable equipage and militarie accom- modations that they appeared ready to give or take battaile, or forthwith to have gone upon some notable designe. "And as the King passed along they gave such true fyre as it is beleeued since the inuention of gunnes neuer better was scene or heard, they discharged wondrous swift, but with as good a method and order as your skilfullest Ringers ob- serve with Bels, not suffering the noyse of the one to drowne the other. The King receiued such con- tentment that whereas his dinner was appointed and prouided at the Maiors of Xew-Castle, hee NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 155 yet went and honoured Generall Lasley with his presence at dinner." After dinner, Charles had some conversation with Leslie. As Cromwell stood to him after the Xew Model, Leslie stood to the King now. Such a man was worth the gaining, and it is probable that Charles hinted the Earldom which he con- ferred on Leslie a few weeks later, and the condi- tions upon which he was disposed to grant it. In the course of the afternoon, the artillery again saluting him, the King proceeded on his journey to Edinburgh. 1 A few days later, the long-looked-for money arrived at Newcastle from London." Les- lie had already made preparations for immediate evacuation, and had demolished the fortifications upon the south side of the town. 3 On August 21 his army drew towards the Border. 4 Its departure from Newcastle is thus described : 5 " The Scots when they marched out of New- castle, their Artillerie being mounted vpon their carriages, aduanced first forth with the Cannoniers and other Officers thereto belonging and some troops of horse, then most of the Regiments of foot, after them their prouision baggage and carriage, then followed the rest of the foot, and all the rest taking their leaves in a most brotherly and freindly manner. Being gone some foure miles 1 MvmonaUf, ii., 4 1-4:1 , 101. :! Ibid., 105. At Charles's solicitation Leslie left behind un- touched the stores and ammunition in the magazine. Bourne, Newcastle, 231. ss, i.. 244 ; Act*, \., 347. 5 Hin Maiesties Passing, etc. 156 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. from the Towne, their generall hauing directed them to march forwards, he returned to Newcastle accompanied with some few of his officers, causing the Toll Bell to bee rung vp and downe the Towne, proclaming that if any of the Towne were not yet satisfied for anything due to them from any of his Officers or souldiers, let them bring in their Tickets and hee would pay them, which hee did accord- ingly, to the great content of the Townesmen, and much applause of the Generall and his whole Armie, and after a solemne taking of his leave he followed the Armie, going all the way along with them in the Reere as they marched, and not any- thing taken from any man in all their lourney, to their singular Commendation and gayning the good esteem e of all that passed by." 1 A pamphlet printed in London in May, 1642, entitled Ex- ceeding True Newes From Newcastle, K. P., describes the effect of the Scots' departure upon the town : " Merchants are distracted for want of Traffique, they are in such a pittifull rage, that they have sworne not to carry Coales for any man, they sweare, that since the Peace was concluded, Coales are fallen at least sixe pence a Bushell, which makes them curse Peace and fall together by the eares amongst themselves, likewise your Gunsmiths begin to bounce and breake with a powder, for since the Army ma re lit away they have had nothing to doe but to make Key-Gunnes for which they curse peace likewise, and make the blacke Pots flue (sic) one against the other, they are all to pieces on that side too. The Citizens wives that had decrepid Husbands, they are dis- tracted for the losse of their loves honest Gentlemen Troopers . . . Your Alewives and Tapsters likewise are distracted to see their Ale soure for want of good fellowes, their Beere converted to Vineger, they likewise curse Peace till they are a dry ; drinke til they are mad, then let the rest about the Cellar, then run Tap run Tapster, all's gone, nothing left but the empty Hogshead for the Brewer to make him a Helmet on to cover his Logger-head. " The Baker that in the time of Warre made his bread of halfe wheate and halfe sand, now cries out that his bread is dowe NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 157 On August '27 , the anniversary of the eve of Newburn fight, the army disbanded at Leith, 1 and on the following day, Leslie arrived at Edinburgh, and was admitted to an interview with Charles. - He appeared to be in high favour with the King, drove round Edinburgh with him amid the plaudits of the populace, 3 and on September 17 was appointed a Privy Councillor. 4 " It is thought," wrote Wemyss to Ormonde a week later, " that if things go well, Lesley will be made an Earl, and during his own life to have precedence of all the Nobility, for as yet he has it." 5 In October, the Estates were startled into panic by a real or imagined plot, in which the lives of Argyll, Hamilton, and Lanark were threatened. Leslie had information of it from Colonel Hurry, and on October 11, sent for Argyll and Hamilton, his old chief, to meet him privately at his own house. They found him in conversation with Hurry, who repeated the information which had caused Leslie to summon them. They gathered bak't, he sweares he had rather have stood in the Pillory then to have had Peace concluded, for now he makes his bread but two ounces to light in a two penny loafe, and then hee made it foure ounces two light, yet now his bread lies on his hands, which makes him pray for warre or a deere yeare, and then the mealey mouth Rogue sweares he will make them pay for it." 1 Memorialls, ii., 05. Each soldier received 1 sterling upon his arrival in Scotland. C. S. P. (1641-43), 100. Three regiments which had remained in Scotland were kept on foot. Two, under Monro and ( 'ochrane, were quartered near Edinburgh. One, consisting of six companies of the Orkney and Caithness under Lord Sincla i r, WHS quartered at Aberdeen. Turner, Mrnioirs. 17 : ' '. -S. P. (1641-43), 101. 2 Ibid., 106. (ianliner. History, x., 15). 4 Balfour, iii., 6". 5 Carte, Collection, i., 5. 158 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. that their lives were in immediate danger, and with Lanark fled to Hamilton's house at Kinneil. In the panic which the Incident caused, the Estates insisted that Leslie should receive warrant to employ the regiments still on foot near Edin- burgh, together with the trained bands and some troops of cavalry, though in his own mind he re- garded the whole matter as "a foolish business ". l Since his arrival in Edinburgh, Charles had shown himself judiciously sympathetic to Presby- terianism. The recent Treaty seemed to assure the victory of the Covenant, and Leslie, now past his sixtieth year, might with some reason regard his work on its behalf as concluded. At a time when Argyll and Loudoun were receiving honours from the King, he would hardly pause to consider the appropriateness of those offered to himself. If any scruple existed in his mind it would be re- moved by the reflection, that against three years of service for the Covenant he could place thirty years' service in Europe, in a cause which Charles had very near at heart. 2 Yet with the bluntness of the soldier he was careful to explain, that in accepting honours from Charles, he by no means renounced the principles which he had fought for throughout his active life. 3 On November 6 he 1 Hardwicke, ii., 299 et seq. ; Burnet. Memoirs, 186 ; Baillie, i., 391 ; G. S. P. (1641-43), 137. 2 His service under Gustavus, and the reputation he had thereby acquired for Scotland, were the prominent reasons stated in his patent for the Earldom conferred upon him. (."'/. Melrille*. iii., 167. :i There can be no doubt that Leslie gave Charles some under- taking as to not serving against the King in the future. At NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 159 was invested with the Earldom of Leven and Lordship of Balgonie. Balfour describes the cere- mony : " Generall Lesley hauing neulie receaued his patent of Lord Balgoney and Earle of Lewine, wes solemly this day instated by his Maiestyes order, in face of parliament. Being invested in his parliament robes, and conducted by the Earles of Eglintone one his right hand, and Dumfermlinge one his lefte, in ther robes ; the Ducke of Lennox and Richmond, Grate Chamberlaine of Scotland, in his robes going befor him ; in this order did they come throughe the courte, and so entred the parliament housse. " First went sex trumpetts in ther liueries, tuo and tuo in order. " Then the pursue wants, tuo and tuo in order, in ther coattes of office. " Then the heralds in ther coattes, the eldest of wich did beare his coronett. " Xixt cam the Lyone King of Armes, hauing the new Earles patent in his hand. " And after him the Lord Grate Chamberlaine in his roabes, folloued by the Earle Marishall, quho the time of the Incident he had professed, that " religion and laws" being secured, "he would lay down his life for the pre- ive ". S. P. (1641-43), 137. On the Royalist side naturally, his later service against Charles was interpreted as a distinct breach of faith. Clarendon writes: "The Earl of Leven telling him >'as Marquis Hamilton assured me ; in His hearing) ' that he would not only never more serve Against him ; but that when- ever his Majesty would require his Service, He should have it, without ever asking what the cause was' ". Rebellion, i., 244. Of. Echard, History, ii., 200; Somer villas, ii., 193, 221 ; Baillie, ii., 100. 1 iii., 139 et seq. 160 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. did vsher in the new created Earle, and hes tuo assistants or conductors. " Quhen they cam befor the throne, the Lyone deliuered the patent to the Earle of Leuin, quho did giue it to the president of the parliament, and he to the clercke, quho opinly read it. " Then after 3 seuerall low cringes, the Earle ascendit the throne, and kneeling befor his Maiestie, had the vsuall othe of ane Earle admin- istrat to him by the Earle of Lanarke, Secretarey of Estait ; after wiche his Maiesty did putt the coronett one his head, and arryssing, humbly thanked his Maiesty for so grate a testimoney of his fauor, and withall besought hes Maiesty to knight the 4 Esquyres that did attend him, wich in this order, by hes Maiesties command, wer called by the Lyone King of Armes : " Johne Lesley of Birckhill ; " Johne Broune of Fordell ; " James Malweill of Brunt-iland ; " Andrew Skeene of Aughtertule. " Being in this order called by ther names, they ascendit the throne, and kneeling . . . had the othe of a knight administrat to them by the Lyone King of Armes, after wich they seuerally kissing his Maiesties hand, discendit, and attendit the new made Earle to his place, quher he wes ranked amongest his peeres. " Then wes ther 4 seuerall alarges proclaimed by the Lyone, first for his Maiesty, by the heraulds for the neu Earle, and by the pursewants for the 4 knights, with all ther tytilles ; after wich the Earles NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 161 reteired and disrobed themselues, and therafter re- turned to the housse." On November 17, Leslie resigned his Commis- sion as Lord General, and received one hundred thousand merks, with the thanks of the Estates, for services wherein they declared him to have shown "pietie, valour, wisdome and good governments 'V But the new Earl obtained only a brief respite from the turmoil of war. The seething discontent of Ireland broke out in the autumn of 1641, and the King's complicity with Sir Phelim O'Neill, who flaunted a forged commission under the Great Seal of Scotland, 2 was deeply suspected. To entrust Charles with an army might carry dangerous con- sequences to the Parliament from whom he re- quired it. The alternative of enlisting the aid of Scotland presented itself. Anxious debates were held upon the matter, 3 and in the result, ten thou- sand Scots under Robert Monro, and in the pay of England, were sent to stamp down the rebellion in Ulster. 4 Among the regiments was Lord Sinclair's, which had been quartered at Aberdeen through the winter of 1641. Sir James Turner had recently been appointed Major in it. " We came," he writes," "to the west countrie in 1642, and lay at Irwine, Aire, and Kilmarnock more than a fort- night, waiteing for a faire wind ; which makeing a show to offer itselfe, Monro embarked at the 1 Balfour, iii., 163 ; Acts, v., 430. 2 Turner, Memoirs, 21. Of. Gardiner, History, x., 92 ; Hill Burton, vi., 344. *Cf. Gardiner, Ibid, x., 55, 70, 101, 103. 4 Turner, Memoirs, 18; Carte, Ormonde, i., 308. * Memoirs, 19. 11 162 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Largs, Home (who had got Cochrans regiment) at Aire, and we at Irwine. When we were at sea the wind turnd contrarie, and so all of us met at Lamlash, a secure bay on the coast of the He of Arran, where we lay a fortnight, if I remember right ; and then the wind againe offering to be favorable, one of the kings ships which was with us shooting a warning peece, all weighd anchor, hoysd saile in ane evening, and nixt day were in Craigfergus loch, and landed that night. The English forces that were there, under the Lords Con way and Chicester, marchd to Bellfast, leaving Craigfergus free for us. 1 These tuo regiments, with those of the tuo Vicounts of Clandeboy and Aird, and the tuo Colonell Steuarts further north, with some few others which afterwards were called, for distinction, the British forces, had preserve! all that tract of Ulster which is neerest the sea from destruction ; for the wild Irish did not onlie massacre all whom they could overmaster, but burnt tounes, villages, castles, churches, and all habitable houses, endeavouring to reduce, as farre as their power could reach, all to a confused chaos. " After we had refreshed a little, Major Generall Monro left seven or eight hundredth men in Craigfergus, and went to the field with the rest, among whom was my lieutenant colonell and I ; my Lord Conway went along also with neere two thousand English. In the woods of Kilwarning 1 The town and castle of Carrickfergus had been handed over to Scottish occupation by the agreement with England, January 24, 1641. Carte, Ormonde, i., 308. NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 163 we rencountered some hundreths of the rebells, who after a short dispute fled. These who were taken got bot bad quarter, being all shot dead. This was too much used by both English and Scots all along in that warre ; a thing inhumane and disavouable, for the crueltie of one enemie cannot excuse the inhumanitie of ane other. And heerin also their revenge overmasterd their dis- cretion, which sould have taught them to save the lives of these they tooke, that the rebells might doe the like to their prisoners. Then we marchd straight to the Neurie, 1 where the Irish had easilie seizd on his Majesties castle, wherin they found abundance of amunition, which gave them confi- dence to proclaims their rebellion. The fortifica- tion of the toune being bot begunne, it came immediatelie in our hands ; bot the rebells that were in the castle keepd it tuo days, and then de- liverd it up upon a very ill made accord, or a very ill keepd one ; for the nixt day most of them, with many merchands and tradesmen of the toune, who had not beene in the castle, were carried to the bridge and butcherd to death, some by shooting, some by hanging, and some by drowning, without any legall processe ; and I was verilie informed afterwards, that severall innocent people sufferd. Monro did not at all excuse himselfe from haveing accession to that carnage, nor coulde he purge himselfe of it ; thogh my Lord Conway, as Marshall of Ireland, was the principall actor. Our sojors . . . seeing such prankes playd by authoritie at the bridge, thought they might doe as much any 1 Newry surrendered on May 3. Carte, Ormonde, i., 309. 164 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. where els ; and so runne upon a hundreth and fiftie women or thereby, who had got together in a place below the bridge, whom they resolvd to massacre by killing and drouning ; which villanie the sea seemd to favour, it being then flood. Just at that time was I speaking with Monro, bot seeing a fare off what a game these godles rogues intended to play, I got a horseback and gallopd to them with my pistoll in my hand ; bot before I got at them they had dispatchd about a dozen ; the rest I savd." Such was the type of warfare to which Leven was summoned. On May 7, 1642, Charles, then at York and upon the brink of the Civil War, had conferred upon him the Command-in-Chief of the Scottish forces in Ireland. His authority was to be second only to that of the Lord Lieutenant, with whom he was to hold alternate command in the event of the English and Scottish forces combining. 1 His early experience would have familiarised him with the brutalities which were being enacted on both sides in Ireland. But his English campaigns show him singularly disinclined to sanction wanton bloodshed and violence. For that reason, it may be, he evinced little of that interest and enthusiasm which had characterised his service under the Covenant. To Lothian he writes at this time : 1 Carte, Ormonde, i., 308. Leven's commission is in Melvilles, iii., 168. 2 Earls of Ancram and Lothian, i., 131. The letter is undated. The Earl had been sent to London to concert measures regarding Ireland with the Parliament. Cf. Ibid., i., 130. NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 165 MY LORD, According to your Lordship's advyse of the eight of this moneth, we had from Sir Archibald Jonstoune the Treattie 1 with several! instructiouns and informationis from him by word. Bot now ther is nothing more trowble- some to us, then that in the expectation of the 20,000 lib. to have beene sent doune long agoe, many of the levies wer verie far advanced, and the souldiouris, to the gentle- men officeris thair infinit prejudice, ly heavie on ther handis, so that we have beene forced to cause the com- missarie vse all meanis in borrowing of money for the present dispatche of such as wer most reddie, quhairby your Lordship may be assured that as att this present some companyes ar on the march, so everie day hence- forth some regiment or companies wilbe sent alongis till the full number of our levie be compleitlie transportit ; for the quhich cause I sent for your Lordship's lieutenant collonell, to the intent he might ressave ordour with such proportioun of money as can be gottin, that so your Lord- ship's regiment may nothing be postponit till any of the rest. And soe, quhill thir presentis ar in wrytting, the gentilman is presentlie cumit in at my chalmer dore, quhom I sail accordinglie dispatch. Now, my Lord, as yours is ane proportioun pur- chessit for the putting on of everie regiment, quhich no questioun will put all the men on foote, so if these moneyis cum not presentlie doune for the payment of the debt presentlie contracted, and for compleit payment of the quhole moneyis dew to the regimentis, your Lord- ship may easilie considder quhat a great impediment it will be to the work, and prejudice to all the undertakeris. As lykwyse your Lordship wilbe pleased to furder the moneyis for the levie of the horse troope, the quhich wer expedient to be reddie with the first. Nather can I omitt to recommend seriouslie to your 1 \Vitli Knghmd regarding the employment of Scottish troops. Cf. L. J., iv., 530. 166 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Lordship's consideratioun how necessar it is to have ane Secretarie imployed as ane publict servand of the armie, and to have ane allowance conformeable, seing that our stay wilbe as it wer in the midst of thrie severall Estatis, to quhom we must in some measure be comptable, at the least keipe fair correspondence with them, which is not ane task fitt for everie ordinarie domine, 1 nor have we choise of men fitt for trust, though we wer reddie to bestow on them never so bountefull. Nather may I forgett againe to recommend vnto yow to vrge for ane allowance to certane gentilmen souldiours, persounes of worth and weele deserving thair intertenement in the best armie in Cristendome. The number I am indifferent of, nor will not press ; hot some ar most necessar, wer it bot the number of four, six, or ten. I must entreat your Lordship to mak my excuse to the rest of my Lordis Commission eris, to quhbme I have not tyrne to wryt, being pressed to goe over to Fyffe. I am glade to heir of your Lordship's good health, and wish the continuance thairof, with ane good success to all your affairis, as being, my Lord, your Lordship's verie affectionate Freind and Servant, LEUEX. In the course of July the English forces pro- posed to besiege Charlemont. The Scots stoutly opposed the project, alleging that that district had been assigned to them as their province. Leven was appealed to, and sent positive orders that " no man should besiege any place, nor place a garrison in any town of Ulster, but by the permission of the Scots Commanders".- On August 4, 1642, he 1 Leven was in 1646 provided with a secretary. Thomas Henderson, at a salary of 100 [Scots] a month. Act*, vi.. pt. i., 664, 709. 2 Carte, Ormonde, i., 310. NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 167 landed in Ireland. His arrival had been preceded by that of Owen O'Xeill, a soldier who had gained considerable reputation in the armies of Spain and of the Empire. Before taking the field against him, Leven addressed him in a letter, in which he expressed surprise that he should lend himself to the cause in which he was engaged. O'Neill replied with some point, that his action would at least bear favourable comparison with Leven's recent service against Charles, and the correspond- ence ended. 1 Leven conducted two expeditions in Ireland, in neither of which he gained any conclusive advan- tage. Sir James Turner dismisses them shortly: 2 "About Lambes in this yeare, 1642, came Generall Leven over to Ireland, and with him the Earle of Eglinton, who had one of these ten regiments, my Lord Sinclare, and Hamilton, generall of the artil- lerie, better known by the name of ' Deare Sandie'. Great matters were expected from so famous a captain as Leven was, but he did not ansuere expectation. One cavalcad he made, 3 in which I joynd with him with 300 men, in which I could not see what he intended, or what he proposd to himselfe. Sure I am he returnd to Craig- fergus without doeing any thing. And the same game he playd over againe at his second march, except that he visited the Neurie ; for which we were but little obligd to him, being forcd thereby to part with our hay, wine, beere, and breade, of which we were not very well stord." 1 Carte, Ormonde, i., 349. - Memoirs, 23. 3 Into Tyrone. Carte, Ormonde, i., 34'.. 168 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Less than three weeks after Leven landed in Ireland, Charles raised his standard at Nottingham. With England in the throes of civil war, there was little prospect of receiving the financial aid which England had undertaken to provide for the Scottish forces in Ireland. Indeed, Turner complains that they " fingered no pay the whole time I stayd in Ireland, except for three months ".* For the com- mand of an unpaid army Leven, as in 1639, had no particular predilection. The outbreak of war in England also affected the Scottish army in Ireland in a manner wherein he found it difficult to main- tain rigid discipline. " The officers of this our Scots armie in Ireland," writes Turner, " finding themselves ill payd, and which was worse, not knowing in the time of the civill warre who sould be their paymasters, and reflecting on the success- full issue of the Nationall Covenant of Scotland, bethought themselves of makeing one also ; bot they were wise enough to give it ane other name, and therefore christened it a Mutual Assurance ; wherby upon the matter they made themselves independent of any except these who wold be their actuall and reall paymasters, with whom, for any thing I know, they met not the whole time of the warre. The Generall was very dissatisfied with this bond of union, as he had reason ; and at first spoke hie language of strikeing heads of ; bot the officers sticking close one to another, made these threates evanish in smoake. And indeed, it is like, ane active generall (who could have added policie to courage, and divided them), might have made their 1 Memoirs, 24. NEWCASTLE AND IRELAND. 169 union appear in its oune collors, which were even these of blacke mutinie. Bot the Earle of Leven, not being able to overmaster it, got himselfe ane errand to go to Scotland, and so gave an ever- lasting adieu to Ireland." 1 At the close of his brief campaign, Leven sur- rendered the active command in Ireland to Monro, who in the following spring once more took the field. He engaged the rebels on May 14, 1643, near Charlemont, laid waste the country between that place and Armagh, and on the 18th marched towards Newcastle. While he was in treaty for the surrender of the garrison, he wrote to Leven, "ane barke from England did cast anchor before vs, and sett one man ashore, who by Godes provi- dence was not hindered to come ashore by our shooting, in reguard of our parley. The man being brocht before me, I knew him to be servant to the Earle of Antrum, who finding himselfe insnared, alleadged he was come from Dublin as a freind, bot being threatined to the death except he would reveile who was in the barque, drawing me asyde he confessed the Earle of Antrum was ther. I told him he behooued to betray his maister or to die instantlie for him. The earle expecting his Irish convey, vpon the first signe he came ashore, and being brocht to me, his letters taken from him, which please receuie, he was immediatlie direct away with a convey of twentie horsemen to the castle of Carrickfergus, wher I hope he shall attend your Excellencies forder pleasure as ane enemie to his Majestic, and to the peace of his 1 Memoirs, 24. 170 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Majesties thrie kingdomes, being imployed as a treacherous papist be the Qweines Majestic, with his adherentes, for the ruine of Scotland and Eng- land both." x While the Civil War was raging in England, neither Charles nor the Parliament could give much attention to affairs in Ireland. Monro wrote to Leven on May 22, 1643, " our scarcetie of vivers continowes to our great greife, and we ar all of vs civillie dead ". 2 Yet it was impossible to abandon the project which the English Parliament had invited them to undertake. " If the Scots were away," wrote Baillie, " it is feared that all Ireland should be readie to go upon England at a call." 3 Their regiments remained on, therefore, with poor food and no pay. Towards the close of 1643, Turner, who commanded the Scottish garrison in Newry, "after the drinking some healths in Scotch aquavitie and Irish uskkiba," agreed upon a truce with the rebels, and returning to Scotland, obtained permission from the Estates to hand over Newry to the English. 4 Leven had already marched into England, and though in April, 1644, he received from the English Parliament the Command-in-Chief of the English and Scottish forces in Ireland, with permission to appoint a deputy in his absence, 5 the day of reckoning and vengeance awaited the advent of Cromwell. 1 Melvilles, ii., 93. On June 11, 1643, Charles directed Leven. or " in his absence" Monro, to send up Antrim to Dublin. Ibid., ii., 22. On July 17, 1643, the Scottish Estates issued a warrant to Leven to surrender the Earl to the English Parliament. Acts, vi., pt. i., 17. 2 Melvilles, ii., 95. 3 Baillie, ii., 104. 4 Memoirs, 29. 5 G. S. P. (1644), 80 ; L. J., vi., 512. 171 CHAPTEE VI. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. WHILE Leslie was fulfilling his first and last com- mission in Charles's service, events were tending to new and more intimate relations between the English Parliament and Scotland. After the abor- tive attempt to seize Pym and his four colleagues, Charles had left London, and in August, 1642, raised his Standard at Nottingham. Moving upon London, he had fought an indecisive battle with Essex at Edgehill on October 23, and throughout 1643 continued to threaten the capital. In the North, much depended upon the attitude of the town of Newcastle. The Queen, whom Charles had despatched to Holland, was hasten- ing thither arms and ammunition. An English- man who was at Rotterdam in December, 1642, sent warning that the Queen's agents " labour here exceedingly in sending away Men, Money, Horse and Ammunition unto Newcastle. Upon thursday last I was at the Hague and there saw Her Majesties Standard, which was just then going away to be sent to Newcastle. ... It is very credibly reported here, that there is now sending away with all speed to Newcastle 160,000 pound sterling . . . by way of loane raised by the Papists 172 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. in these parts . . . for the Queene." 1 Already, in the previous May, some division had shown itself in Newcastle regarding the approaching struggle. 2 In the course of the summer, the Earl of Newcastle had, not without a struggle, garrisoned the town. 3 At the mouth of the Tyne he was equally active. 4 Towards Newcastle therefore, at the outset of the Civil War, Parliament turned its attention with particular anxiety. On January 14, 1643, an Ordin- ance passed both Houses, fruitful of consequences which at the time could hardly have been foreseen : " no Ship, Ships, or Barks, shall from henceforward make any Voyage, for the fetching of Coals or Salt, from Newcastle, Sunderland, or Blythe, or 1 A Great Discovery of the Queens Preparation in Holland, R. B. 2 " There is a contention and Mutiny at Newcastle, it was supposed that his Maiesty would have taken that for his Fort, and some were resolved to assist his Maiesty, others the Parlia- ment, which was the greatest part." Horrible Newes from York, Hull and Newcastle. The MSS. Kecords of the Newcastle Corpora- tion, which I was privileged to consult, show that in August, 1642, the town voted 700, " upon due consideration had of his Majestys great and urgent occasions at this time for money, and for the duty and respect which they rightly owe to his Matie ". 3 Newcastles Lamentation and Hulls Preservation. The event happened on July 16, 1642. 4 A letter " from a Gentleman resident in Yorke " in 1642 states : " We also heare from Newcastle, that the Earle of New- castle hath placed about 500 men in garrison, is raising a troope of horse ; and beats the Drum for Voluntiers, but the trained bands in most places Refuse to come in, also 4 peeces of Ordnance is carryed down to South Tixmouth [sic], and there are 300 men in worke making a Sconce to command all ships that come in and go out, the towne is in greater perplexity already then they were all the time the Scots were there, and Ship masters refuse to go in, least their ships be stayed, seeing such strange com- bustion beginning to arise". Lamentable and Sad Newes From the North. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 173 carrying of Corn or other Provision of Victual, until that Town of Newcastle shall be freed of and from the Forces there now raised or maintained against the Parliament ".* The progress of the Civil War demonstrated clearly that, without assistance, the success of the Parliament's army was at best problematical. To make headway against the royalists in the Mid- lands and in the West taxed its resources to the utmost. To add to its task the coercion of the royalist North was beyond its powers. In a work so imperative, and geographically so appropriate, it was natural that the hope of Scotland's co-opera- tion should present itself. It was true that the attitude of the two nations in their opposition to Charles was not identical in particulars. Scottish zeal for the Covenant, and the ecclesiastical polity represented by it, flickered but faintly in England. Yet, in its broader aspect, the question at issue in Scotland and England was one and the same. In both the Monarchy was on its trial. The Service Book and Ship-money did but represent different manifestations of an authority which both nations desired to bring under popular control. But the union with England implied more than the provision of troops on the one side and pay on the other. Scotland had long pressed for an ecclesiastical union between the two Kingdoms, and guided by Pym and that party whose ideals ap- proximated most closely to those of Presbyterian Scotland, the English Parliament accepted a pro- posal at which so far it had looked askance. It 1 L. J., v., 555. Cf. C. J., ii., 916, 923, 927. 174 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. was proposed, and in the Solemn League and Covenant agreed, that a motive of the alliance should be " the reformation of religion in the kingdomes of England and Ireland, in doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, according to the Word of God, and the example of the best reformed Churches 'V In other words, her English ally paid Scotland the compliment of accepting and enforcing that ecclesiastical establishment which Charles had been powerless to overthrow in Scotland herself. Scotland on her part undertook to provide an army, and on November 29, a Treaty between the two nations agreed that its numbers should consist of eighteen thousand foot, two thousand horse, one thousand dragoons, and a train of artillery, and be paid 30,000 a month.- Leven's conduct of the previous campaign 1 Peterkin, Records, 362. On June 27, 1643, Parliament wrote to the Estates to desire their alliance. Commissioners were sent, and upon August 17 the Estates ratified the Treaty. Acts, vi., pt. i., 13, 43. It was sworn to by the English Parliament on September 22. Rush worth, v., 475. Buchanan, writing in 1645, speaks thus of these negotiations: "But, because the English Commissioners would not take upon them to draw up, and to make the Covenant there in Scotland, they desired that there might be Commissioners sent from Scotland unto the Parliament of England, for the drawing up of the said Covenant, and so was done ; for the Scots Commissioners assisting, the Covenant, after divers debates, was made, and thereafter subsigned, sworn first by the Houses, Synod, and the Scots Commissioners, and then by the People, and sent unto Scotland, where it was received, sub- signed, and sworne by the Convention of States, and then by the people : with all, in testimony of their true meaning, the Houses of Parliament desireth the Commissioners of Scotland to assist in the Synode, in their deliberations and conclusions con- cerning the Church ". Truth Its Manifest, 29. 2 Thurloe, i., 29. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 175 marked him out inevitably for the command of the coming one. On the other hand, he had given Charles some assurance that he would not again oppose his forces in the field, and he had but re- cently held his commission against the Irish rebels. He declared, however, that he had attached to his promise " the expresse and necessar condition, that Religion and Countrev's rights were not in hazard "/ / o Indirectly only was Leven justified in taking ad- vantage of his reservation. There might be little question but that if the King triumphed in Eng- land, he would not disband his forces until he had redeemed his pledge to Spottiswoode in 1639, and had reinstated the Bishops in Scotland. But neither Scotland's religion nor laws were in any immediate danger, and if patriotism called Leven to the campaigns of 1639 and 1640, a spirit of proselytism drew him to that of 1644. From the English Parliament Leven received an urgent appeal for his co-operation : Westm. the 19th of July, 1643. OUR VERY GOOD LORD, The Miseries and Dangers of this Kingdom being such, as that the Two Houses of Parliament have thought fit to press the Aid and Assistance of their Brethren of the Kingdom and States of Scotland ; we are com- manded, by the Lords and Commons in Parliament, to present unto your Excellency their thankful Acknowledge- ment of your Merit, in conducting the Scottish Army against the Eebels of Ireland ; and withall to express their Desires and Wishes that, if the Kingdom of Scotland shall think good to assist them against the Faction of Papists, 1 Baillie, ii., 100. 2 L. ./., vi., 139. 176 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Prelates, and other Malignants, who have raised a very dangerous War in this Kingdom, for Subversion of the Protestant Religion, and fundamental Government of this Land, they would likewise be pleased to appoint you to command those Forces to be sent in their Aid ; and that your Excellency will so far express your Affection to this Cause, and to the Good of this State and Realm, as to ac- cept the same ; which, we are to assure you in their Name, will be taken as an Act of great Love and Advantage to this State, and lay upon them such an Obligation as they shall study to answer in a Manner proportionably to the high Esteem they have of the Worth and Abilities of your Excellency, whose Honour and Happiness is par- ticularly desired, and shall be always furthered by the Endeavours of your Excellency's FEIENDS AND SERVANTS. Invited thereto by both Parliaments, Leven ac- cepted the command which the Estates conferred upon him on August 26. 1 " The play is begun," wrote Baillie, " the good Lord give it a happy end." By the close of the year, he was at the head of an army which amounted to about eighteen thousand foot, three thousand horse, and five or six hundred dragoons. 3 It consisted of the fol- 1 Acts, vi., pt. i., 59. 2 Baillie, ii., 100. 3 Rushworth, v., 603. These numbers are probably not ex- aggerated, though Somerville gives them at fifteen thousand five hundred foot, and two thousand five hundred horse. ii., 379. Writing on April 20, 1644, Fairfax enumerated the Scots at four- teen thousand foot, and two thousand horse. H. M. 0., Rept., viii., pt. ii., 60. Baillie confirms Fairfax. ii., 175. Leven had left six foot regiments about Newcastle (infra, 196), four of which appear to have remained there, and to have taken no part in the siege of York. The strength of those four regiments was per- haps over two thousand. Three more regiments had been left in Sunderland and Blyth, and lesser detachments in Morpeth, THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 177 lowing regiments : the Loudoun-Glasgow, under Lord Loudotm ; the Tweeddale, under the Earl of Buccleuch ; the Clydesdale, under Sir Alexander Hamilton ; the Galloway, under Colonel William Stewart ; the Perthshire, under Lord Gask ; the Angus, under Lord Dudhope ; the East-Lothian, under Sir Patrick Hepburn of Wauchton ; the Strathearn, under Lord Cowper ; the Fife, under Lords Dunfermline and Lindsay ; the Kyle and Carrick, under the Earl of Cassillis ; the Nithsdale and Annandale, under Douglas of Kilhead ; the Mearns and Aberdeen, under the Earl Marischal ; the Linlithgow and Tweeddale, under Lord Yester ; the " levyed " regiment, under Lord Sinclair ; the Stirlingshire, under Lord Livingstone ; the Merse, under Sir David Home ; the Midlothian under Lord Maitland ; the Edinburgh, Colonel James Rae ; the Teviotdale, under the Earl of Lothian ; the " Ministers' " regiment, under Colonel Arthur Erskine. Fifty-two troops of horse were com- manded by David Leslie, the Earl of Eglinton, Lord Kirkcudbright, Lord Dalhousie, Lord Bal- carres, Michael Welden, Lord Gordon, and the Marquis of Argyll. Colonel Fraser, Lieutenant- South Shields, Lumley and Warkworth castles. Baillie says that five thousand Scots were about Newcastle in May. ii., 185. From these various drafts, Leven's foot must have been diminished at the least by four thousand when he joined Fail-tax. As to the horse, they had already done considerable service and had suffered many losses, and Michael Welden's regiment was still in Northumberland in May. Hence if Fair- fax's estimate in April was correct, Rushworth's estimate of Leven's strength in January is probably equally so. But cf. Mr. Firth's calculation in Trans. Royal Hist. . full ,-tion, i., 25; H. M. C., Kept, xiii., pt. i., App. 167. 182 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. added, " and were as farre as Hagge[r]ston ; it is conceived they will forthwith march towards Bell- forde, for they are Quartered on the English side." l At once, Argyll and Sir William Armyne, represent- ing the Committee of Both Kingdoms which had been established in London to control the war, sent forward a trumpeter to Glemham, bearing a copy of the Solemn League and Covenant, and a statement of the causes of the present invasion. 2 Glemham replied to Argyll : 3 Alnwick, Jan. 20, 1644. MY LOBD, I have received by your Trumpeter a Letter from your Lordship and Sir William Armyne : It is long and of great concernment. And the other directed to Colonel Gray, who for the reason before-mentioned, and for that here are none but Officers, he cannot return you an Answer so suddenly by your Trumpeter. But I will send pre- sently to the Gentlemen of the County to come hither, and then you shall receive my Answer with the Officers and theirs by themselves, by a Trumpeter of my own. Your Servant, THO. GLEMHAM. In fulfilment of his promise, Glemham, on January 22, convened the gentlemen of the county. He invited them to consider whether it was advis- able to offer resistance to Leven, or to withdraw in the hope of being reinforced. Some were in favour of laying the country waste in front of the Scots, others were disinclined to sanction so 1 Copies of a Letter from Sir Francis A ndemon, R. K. 2 Ibid. ; C. S. P. (1644), 31. 3 Rushworth, v., 607 ; L. J., vi., 401. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 183 drastic a measure. Upon the hopelessness of resistance all were agreed. 1 Glemham, therefore, retired on Newcastle, having first destroyed the bridge across the Aln at Alnwick. 2 On January 24 Leven advanced to Adderstone and halted, awaiting the arrival of the artillery. 3 " We are confident," wrote one who accompanied him, " our Quarters shall be about the Town of Newcastle upon Saturday the 27 of this Instant ; which if they will not yeeld up, we have no pur- pose to stay there, unless it be to seize on the Block-Houses upon the River, that the Parlia- ment Ships may come in safely." 4 The ease with which the Tyne had been forced, and Newcastle secured, in the last campaign raised hopes of similar achievement in this. 5 In both Leven was destined to disappointment. Meanwhile he ad- vanced somewhat leisurely. Baillie, with six regi- ments of foot and one of horse, did not reach Wooler until January 23, 6 and as the siege guns had been sent by sea to Blyth, Leven was probably anxious to adjust his own with their arrival. 7 As the army marched along the coast, Argyll took possession of and garrisoned a small fort upon Coquet Island, after firing a single shot. He took 1 Memorialls, ii., 307 ; Rushworth, v., 608. 2 Scottish Dove, February 2-9 ; Mercurius Britannicus, January 31- February 6. 3 Rushworth, v., 612. 4 Tlie Scots Army advanced into England, R. R. 5 Baillie writes on Nov. 17, 1643 : " It is hoped, albeit it be winter and the toune fortified, yet there cannot be great opposition." ii., 104. 6 Rushworth, ibid. 7 A True Relation of the late Proceedings of the Scottish Army, R. R. 184 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. prisoners seventy officers and men, captured seven pieces of ordnance, and considerable ammunition and stores. 1 By January 28 Leven was at Morpeth, and placed a strong garrison in it. 2 He remained there, awaiting the arrival of the rearguard. Glemham had intended to hinder his advance by destroying the bridge at Felton, as he already had demolished the one at Alnwick, "but the Masons and work- men which hee brought thither for that purpose, were so affrighted by reason of the exclamations and execrations of the Countrey women upon their knees, that while Sir Thomas went into a house to refresse himselfe, they stole away, and before hee could get them to return, hee received an alarum from our Horse, which made himselfe to flee away with all speed to Morpeth, where hee stayed not long, but marched to Newcastle ". 3 Leaving Morpeth on February 1, Leven pro- posed to encamp within two miles of Newcastle on the following day. He halted, however, at Stannington on the 2nd, having been confronted by " some unexpected lets, by reason of waters and other impediments ". 4 The delay enabled the Marquis of Newcastle to throw himself and his forces into Newcastle a few hours before the arrival of the Scots. 5 His arrival was opportune ; for though Sir John Marley, Mayor of the town, 1 A True Relation of the late Proceedings of the Scottish Army, R. R. ; A True Relation of the Scots taking of Cocket Iland, R. R. 2 Somervilles, ii., 285. It consisted of five companies of the College of Justice regiment under Lieutenant-Colonel Somerville. 3 A True Relation of the late Proceedings, etc. 4 Ibid. 5 Firth, Newcastle, 348. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 185 as he proved a few months later, was fully determined that the fiasco of 1640 should not be repeated, he had in garrison no more than five hundred men, all of whom were townsmen. 1 Among the citizens were many who sympathised with the cause which the Scots represented, and already, before their army entered England, the Earl of Lanark had visited the town, and had endeavoured without success to win Marley over to the Covenant. 2 At about mid -day on February 3 Leven ap- peared before Newcastle. 3 The Marquis's move- ments had been so rapid, and his arrival so recent, that Leven was ignorant of his presence in the town. 4 Argyll and Armyne, therefore, upon the arrival of the army, sent in a trumpeter with a letter to Marley and his colleagues : 5 To the Eight Worshipful the Mai or, Aldermen, and Common-Council, and other the Inhabitants of the Town of New-Castle. EIGHT WORSHIPFUL AND LOVING FRIENDS, Our Appearance here in this Posture, through Mis-informations and Mis-understandings, may occasion strange thoughts in you. If we had opportunity of speaking together (which hereby we offer and desire) it 1 H. M. C., Kept, xiii., pt. i., App. 167. 2 Memorialls, ii., 299. Spalding inaccurately states that Marley was " removit and wardit " for intriguing with Lanark. The Manjuis, in a despatch to Charles, declared that Marley "had performed his part in your Majesty's service very faithfully; and all the aldermen and best of the town well disposed for your service." Firth, Newcastle, 348. 3 A True Relation, etc. * H. M. C., Kept, xiii., pt. i., App. 169. 5 Rushworth, v., 613 ; A True Relation, etc. 186 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. is not impossible, that as we held forth the same Ends, viz., The Preservation of Religion, the King's true Honour and Happiness, the publick Peace and Liberty of his Dominions, so we might agree upon the same way to promote them : If you yield to this Motion, you shall find us ready to do Our parts therein ; but if worse Counsel take place with you, and all Parley be rejected, altho' thereby you will be unjust to your selves, yet we have reason to expect ye should be so just to Us, as to acquit us of the Guilt of those manifold Inconveniences and Calamities that may be the fruit of those forcible wayes you will thereby Constrain us to. We desire your present Answer. Subscribed the 3d of February, 164f. by the Warrant, and in the Name of the Committees and Commissioners of both Kingdoms, by Us, Your Friends, ARGYLE, W. ARMYNE. The invitation conveyed by Argyll and Armyne did not deter Leven from seconding the letter by a display of force. He found the town in no such helpless posture as that in which Conway's negli- gence had left it in 1640. Upon the south it was adequately strengthened. He therefore secured the flanking positions which protected the town upon the north of the river. Of these a fort in the Shieldfield, upon the eastern bank of Pandon burn, about a quarter of a mile from the north-eastern corner of the wall, was the most considerable. 1 Early in the afternoon, and while the town was still considering its answer to the Commissioners' letter, Leven ordered it to be attacked. Infra, 293. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 187 " Some of our men," wrote one in his army, 1 " were drawn up to a stone-Bridge a quarter of a mile from the town, at the entrance into the Shield- field, to beat out some men of theirs out of a little Sconce that lay near it, and did it presently without losse ; but they retired to a sharper work near the Windmill, where the controversie was more hot, and our arguments not strong enough ; the great peeces being not come in regard of the uncertainty of the Sea by which they were to come. 2 ... In six houres assault or thereabouts wee lost only fourteen men. The enemy having lost about seven or eight, fled to the Town, and we possessed the Fort, which is within halfe musket shot of the walls : After that they sent forth eight Troopes 1 A True Relation, etc. Another account of the assault states : " The enemy had made up a Fort against us ; for gaining whereof , my Lord Generall sent forth a party of Muskettiers to storm the East side of it, and another party to storm the West : they went on with as much courage and resolution as ever any did to so great an attempt, discharging their Muskets very couragiously in the midst of the greatest disadvantage that could be, being in the open fields, almost fully in the view of their enemy; the enemy being sheltred with Fortifications, and answering our Musket- shots with shots of Canon and Muskets. In which posture they continued till twelve of the clock at night, with the losse onely of Patric English, Captain-Lieutenant to the Lord Lindsey, and 9 common Souldiers." A Faithfull Relation of the late Occurrences and Proceedings of the Scottish Army, R. R. The Marquis wrote to Charles : " I came thither the night before the Scots assaulted the town, which was done with such a fury as if the gates had been promised to be set open to them ; but they found it other- wise ; for the truth is, the town soldiers gave them such an entertainment (few of our forces being then come into the town, and those extremely wearied in their march), as persuaded them to retire a mile from the town ". Firth, Neivcastle, 348. 2 " Hee [Leven] had not then his murthering pieces ready." A True Relation of the Scots taking of Cocket Hand. 188 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. of horse which the Generall-Major of the Horse charged with five, though they could not charge above three in breast together in respect of the Coale-Pits ; notwithstanding which, the charge was so hard upon the enemy, that they presently retired into the Town, there was none killed on either side, only we took two prisoners, whereof one was Lievtenant, who cursed and railed for halfe an houre together. . . . They discharged many great Pieces from the Town towards night, but to little purpose. But in the evening they sacrificed all the Houses without the Wals, 1 which were very many (as they think) to his Majesties service, we heard the cry of the poor people, and it is like to be heard higher." While the attack upon Shieldfield fort was still in progress, the town delivered its answer to Argyll : * MY LOED, We have received a Letter of such a Nature from you, that we cannot give you any Answer to it more than this, that his Majesties General being at this Instant in the Town, we conceive all the Power of Government to be in him. And were he not here, you cannot sure conceive Us so ill read in these Proceedings of yours, as to Treat with you for your satisfaction in these particulars you write of, nor by any Treaty to Betray a Trust reposed in Us, or forfeit Our Allegiance to his Majesty, for whose Honour and Preservation, together with the Eeligion and 1 " All the streets and houses lying without the walls on the north side of the town." H. M. G., Kept, xiii., pt. i., App. 169. 2 Rush worth, v., 613. A Trite Relation says that the fort was attacked " betwixt the Letter and the Answer ". The letter is signed by Marley, Sir Nicholas Cole, and fifteen others. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 189 Laws of this Kingdom, we intend to hazard our Lives and Fortunes : And so we rest, Your Servants, JOHN MAELAY, Major. NICHOLAS COLE. Subscribed by Us, the 3d. of February, 164f , in the Names of the Common Council and the rest of the In- habitants of the Town of New-Castle. The letter destroyed any hope that Leven held of the town's inclination to surrender. One of his army commented severely upon it : " Firste, that the Towne of Newcastle have resigned themselves to my Lord of Newcastle, and extinguished their right to the Government, which will be a good president for us, if God see fit to deliver it into our hands. Secondly, the Malignity of the next expression (although hee was absent), which if their malice had not beene beyond their wit, they would have spared and rested in their former Answer. And thirdly, they teach us a lesson which wee shall learne in time, to avoid Treaty. And lastly, it is not improbable, That the Town of Newcastle hath a deep score to pay for their con- tempt of the Gospel, persecution of their Ministery, the pride, idlenesse, and fulnesse of bread, which reigned among them. But I remit them to their owne Master, whose Judgements are unsearch- able." 1 The operations on February 3 left the Scots in possession of Shieldfield fort. But the suburbs on the north, which offered facilities for approaching the town, had been destroyed, and the Marquis 1 A True Relation, etc. 190 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. determined to sacrifice also those at Sandgate on the south-east. 1 Without his heavy guns it was not possible for Leven to commence a siege. On February 6 they reached Blyth, whence on the following day they were conveyed to the army at Newcastle. 2 Upon their arrival he determined upon more extended operations. On the 8th, his troops " seized on some Boats and Liters, where- with we intend to make a Bridge to morrow over the River, where all the Newcastle Ships continue still, being hindered to escape by seven of the Parliament Ships, whereby a great part of the Horse and Foot, with some Ordnance, are to passe to the Bishoprick of Durham, and environ the Town on all hands, and secure the Cole pits on the South ". 3 The bridge of boats was to be formed below the town, to the east of Pandon burn. Colonel Stewart, of the Galloway regiment, was ordered to hold a narrow bridge across the burn, to protect those engaged in constructing the boat-bridge over the river from any sortie by the garrison. Sir James Turner, who had recently returned from Ireland, reached Newcastle in time to witness the failure of Leven's design. " They had bot a litle narrow bridge," he writes, " to passe in their goeing and comeing, and if 2000 had fallen stout! ie out of the toune on them, they had killd and tane them everie man, for retire they could not. Argile heareing this was my opinion, which was seconded 1 A Faithfull Relation, etc. 2 A True Relation, etc. 3 Ibid. The Marquis threatened to fire them when he with- drew. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 191 by others, askd Deare Sandie, Sir James Lums- daine, and myselfe, what was best to be done. We were unanimous that false alarums sould be given about the whole toune, to divert the enemie from sallieing too strong upon Steuart, for the tounes utter guards of horse had certified them within of his approach. I was sent with this message to the Generall, whom I found goeing to supper. When I returnd, I was ashamd to relate the ansuere of that old Captaine ; which was, that he feard the brightnes of the night (for it was mooneshine) wold discover the burning matches to those on the walls. I told him, the mooneshine was a prejudice to the clesigiie, for it wold hinder the matches to be sene ; for the more lunts were scene, the better for a false alarme. However, the alarums were made in severall places, which were taken so hotlie where I was beside the workmen, that thogh I calld often to them, it was our oune people, yet some great persons, whom I will not name, calld eagerlie for their horses, and when they were on them rode away. The work was left undone, because it was neep tide, arid Steuart returnd safelie, to the great disgrace of these within." 1 While Leven halted in some indecision before Newcastle, the royalists endeavoured to cut oft' his foraging parties of cavalry which swept the sur- rounding country. Sir Thomas liiddell, who held Tynemouth castle for Charles, sent out a party of musketeers to waylay a squadron of Eglinton's regiment which were engaged on that duty. They were, however, decisively beaten. Half their num- 1 Memoirs, 31. 192 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. ber were taken prisoners, and were exchanged for some stragglers whom the Marquis's troops had cut off. 1 On February 19, Balgonie's and Kirkcudbright's regiments at Corbridge were engaged in a more serious affair, of which a correspondent of Sir Henry Vane the younger gave him the following account : Morpeth, February 20 at night. 1643. SIR, That I may not be wanting to your expectations and my owne engagements for an account of proceedings here, these may let you understand that on Munday morning early the 19 of this instant, 2 regiments of horse 1 The Scottish account of this encounter is as follows : " The enemy burn and spoyl what they can reach on this side Tyne, especially corn ; at which work, a Squadron of our Horse, about 15 men, with whom other 10 accidentally joyned, fell upon 100 Muskettiers of the enemy sent from Tinmouth for that service, killed 14 or 15 of them, and took prisoners 50 ; whereof the Generall kept onely 2, and sent 48 into Newcastle; and the Mar- quesse sent back 7 or 8 of ours who were catched stragling. The Gentleman who gave this Defeat is the Earl of Eglentons Major, his name is Montgomery." A Faithfull Relation, etc. The Marquis described the episode to Charles : " Thomas Riddell sent about 50 musketeers from Tynmouth Castle to destroy some corn in the enemy's quarters, from whence they were drawn out as he was informed. But it seems his intelligence betrayed them to the enemy, and about 45 of them were taken prisoners, who being carried to Leslie he sent them to me as a token, and I returned him thanks for his civility with this answer, that I hoped very shortly to repay that debt with interest : which I did within a few days." Firth, Newcastle, 349. 2 1 am indebted to Mr. C. H. Firth's kindness for this letter, the original of which is among the Tanner MSS., 62. f. 570. It has supplied the materials for the account of the Corbridge affair given in the pamphlet A Faithfull Relation, where the narrative is told in almost identical language. The writer was the chaplain of the English Commissioners. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 193 of the Scottish army, in which were 15 troops under the command of the Lord Balgoney, the Generall's sonne, and the Lord Kirkubight, lying at Corbridge 2 miles from Hexham, had an alarme given them by 25 troopes of the enemy under the command of Sir Marmaduke Langdale and Collonel Fenwick, who had also waiting on them 3 or 400 Musketteirs with l the other troopes wanted, both partyes drew up betwixt Corbridge and Hexham, and Bal- landine the Lieutenant Generall" of the Generall's regi- ment, charged the enemy and made them give way with losse, and so the 2 d time, and had taken above 100 prisoners, but not satisfyed with that gave a 3 d charge which drove them to the musketteirs behind them, and so being engaged with horse and foot, our troopes were dis- order'd and had a very strait retreat through a gap where some men were lost. The trueth is they retreated very fast and the enemy pursued not farre, but they were as I suppose loath to engage beyond their foot, notwithstanding their advantage. Our men retreating in that disorder were met by Collonel Robert Brandling with ten troopes more, who crossed the water below Corbridge and was to have fallen upon the reare of our men, but it fell out to be the front in their returne. Brandling forwardly rode out before his troopes to exchange a pistoll, and one Lieutenant Eliot rode up to him, and they had discharg'd each a pistoll, and wheeling about to draw their swords,. Brandlings horse stumbled, and the Leiutenant was so neare him as to pull him of his horse, which when his troopes saw they retreated, which gave courage to our men to fall on, who did so and drove them over the river againe, kill'd some and forced others through the water so hastily that they were some of them drowned, and thus was the day divided. We cannot yet perfectly understand the losse on each side, but the numbers were something equall of the slaine. We have lost Major Agnew, Captain 1 "which " in A Foitlifull i;<-ln they continued most of that day in our sight, which satisfied us extremely in hopes the rest were not far off, yet far from troubling us, except it were sometimes to make use of our perspectives ". Firth, Newcastle, 351. 1 This hill had been occupied by the Scots on the previous day. Leven on the 7th took up his position on Bowden or Boldon hill, the name of which is left blank in the Marquis's account. 2 The Marquis proceeds: "The next morning, from the hill from whence the day before they viewed us, we discovered them, from whence setting ourselves in order, we marched towards them, but they still upon our advance fell something obliquely from us on our right hand, bending towards Sunderland, placing their army upon a hill called , which was on the left hand of the town from the sea, there ranked themselves for their best advantage to display their own strength,and for their own security, upon which finding them thus backward to join, which truly \vc little expected, considering what great brags they had made, we resolved to march towards the town, either to possess ourselves of THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 201 " Upon Friday the 8, in the morning, there was some little skirmishing betwixt some small parties of Horse, wherein the advantage that was fell upon our side ; we took divers prisoners, by whom we understood that many of theirs were wounded. Our commanded Muskettiers and Horse advanced, and gained the ground where the enemy stood the day proceeding ; The enemy still retired, and, as appeared, with a purpose to retire altogether ; for they fired the neerest villages, and retired under the smoke thereof : Our commanded men advanced it or a piece of ground near unto it, which would have hindered them from coming back again to the town without fighting with us, upon which piece of ground they had left a good part of their horse and a strong party of their musketeers ; which they per- ceiving made them to draw down again to the same place with all the haste they could make, where again they possessed them- selves before they could put over any troops. The convenient passage we could find to it being through some fields of furze and whin bushes, where we were to make our way with pioneers through three thick hedges with banks, two of which they had lined with musketeers, there also being a valley betwixt us and tlicm, besides they had possessed themselves of a house, wherein MS we gue>s they had put 200 musketeers and a drake, which Hankered those hedges which were betwixt us, and from thence there ran a brook, with a great bank, down to the river Wear; behind these places was this plain above-mentioned, where they stood in their best postures to receive us, having the sea behind them and on the left hand the town, the hill and inaccessible places, by which we must have fetched so great a compass about, that they would have been upon the same hill again to have received us that way. By this time the evening caused us to withdraw towards the higher ground, where being saluted with cold Ma-ts and snow, our horses sufferance with hunger, that we seemed so far to become friends as in providing against those common enemies." Firth. XenruMe, 351-52. The movement north- ward which the Scots supposed to be intended to gain the wind, the Marquis shows was with the object of getting between them and Sunderland. '20'2 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. neerer the hight, the enemy giving ground all the time : We had resolved to fall upon their rere ; but there came suddenly a great storm of Snow, which continued for an hour, so that we could not see the enemy : and before we could discover them again, it began to snow again, and continued snow- ing till night : Which opportunity the enemy made use of, and marched away in great haste to Dur- ham. We understand since from very good hands, that through the extremitie of the Weather these two nights (the enemy lay in the fields, and there hastned march to Durham), they have suffered great losse, many of their men and horse dying, but more run away : We hear they have lost of their Horse 800, besides the losse of their foot ; we sustained some losse, but blessed be God, no waves considerable." 1 1 The Marquis's despatch supplements the Scottish narrative regarding the manoeuvres on March 8 and his subsequent retreat to Durham: "The next morning both the armies drew up again into batalia, when with the continual snow that fell all that day. and by reason of the great fatigation of the horse, it being the third day they had received little or no sustenance, it was thought by the consent of all the general officers not expedient that the army should suffer such extremity, or for that time seek any further occasion to engage an enemy whom we found so hard to be provoked, who found from us I believe, contrary to their expectations, so much forwardness as they might plainly perceive we endeavoured what we could to fight with them, and were con- fident enough of our own strength could we have come unto them upon any indifferent terms of equality. And truly the forward- ness of the soldiers was such as we would have been contented to have given them some advantages to boot rather than to have deferred it. But upon such disadvantages we had no manner of reason, being the ground would not permit us to draw up the fourth part of the army, by which we had been defeated of the advantage we had over them with our horse, and besides we should have been forced to have fought for that ground which THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 2 The necessities of his commissariat, rather than the tactics of his cautious adversary, constituted Leven's chief difficulty. "Our Army," wrote one who shared its privations, " hath been in very great afterwards we should have stood upon. We being now resolved to march off, and they having been so niggardly to afford us occa- sion to try what mettle each other was made of, in some measure to satisfy the great forwardness we found in our people, and also to give the enemy warning that they should not be too bold upon our retreat. For these reasons we sent off 120 horse to entertain them near their own leaguer, Sir Charles Lucas his major com- manding them, where, meeting with 200 of the enemy's, the first that charged them not passing 60 of this one regiment, notwith- standing the enemy was so placed before a hedge, where they had some dragooners as it seems, they were confident ours would not have come up unto them ; but when they saw that their muskets could not prevent the courage of our men, they turned their backs and leaped over their dragooners, affording our men the execution of them to a great body of theirs, in which chase our men killed some 40 of them, and had taken near 100 men, but they advanced so suddenly that we could bring off but 20 of them, of whom there were three English one of them were handed [was hanged] immediately, having formerly served in our army : their lancers did seem to follow eagerly upon our men in their retreat in great numbers, but we had not passing six men hurt, whereof one died, and not any of the rest miscarried or are missing. In the mean- time we were drawing back our army, and the enemy, when they saw the greatest of our number to be marching, made a show as if they would have followed us : they therefore sent down about GOO horse and as many musketeers to try, as I suppose, our behaviour in our retreat, as also to requite us if they could, send- ing three bodies of horse into the field next the moor, by the side of which we passed, but still under the favour of their musketeers, which lined the hedges ; but we, being content to play with them at their own game, whilst we amused them by presenting some horse before them, our musketeers, which in the meantime stole down upon their flank towards their passage, gave them such a peal, that it made the passage which they retired over seem I believe a great deal straiter, and the time much longer than at their coming over, after which they were a great deal better satisfied with our retreat, and this was all we could do with the enemy." Firth, .\< ti-<-xfle, 352-53. 204 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. straits for want of victual! and provisions. The enemy hath wasted and spoyled all the Countrey, and driven all away before them. And five Barques sent from Scotland to us with provisions are lost, three of them perished, and two of them were driven into Tyne by extremity of Weather and seised on by the enemy ; so that sometimes the whole Army hath been ready to starve, having neither Meat nor Drink : We never have above twenty and four hours provisions for them. But these impediments and difficulties, or what may hereafter fall out, we are fully confident by Gods assistance, shall never abate in the least sort : Our constant resolutions and endeavours for promoting so good a Cause as the Vindication of these Kingdoms from Popery and Tyranny, and the establishment of a through Reformation of Re- ligion, which will be the surest and firmest Foun- dation of a just and safe Peace ; a recompence for all our sufferings, and the best means of a more happy and neer conjunction of both King- doms." 1 Leven therefore decided to follow the Marquis in his retreat. 2 On March 12 his army set out towards Durham, leaving two regiments in Sunder- land for a garrison. 3 Xear Durham the army re- mained so long as the exhausted country yielded O v / fodder for the cavalry. Leven was not inclined to repeat at Durham the Marquis's tactics round Sunderland, until the latter town was better se- cured and fortified. He therefore drew his army 1 The late Proceedings, etc. 2 Of. Baillie, ii. ; 154. 3 The late Proceedings, etc. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 205 back between the Tyne and the Wear, 1 and already unsuccessful in his attempt upon Newcastle itself, resolved to capture the positions which guarded the mouth of the Tyne. On March 16, Leven ordered an assault upon the fort at South Shields which the Marquis had erected. The attack was repulsed, though with little loss. After the observance of a fast it was renewed on the 20th, when, says a Scottish ac- count,- ''a party not so strong as the former was sent to storme the Fort, there being no other way of taking it ; Col. Stewart, Col. Lyell, Leutenant Col. Bruce, and Lieutenant Col. Ionston, a with some inferiour Officers led on the party the Fort was very strong, the Gratfe without being esteemed 1'2 foot broad, and 11 deepe, the work above ground three yards high, and within it five iron peece of Ordnance, some nine pound ball, some more, an hundred souldiers, seventy Musquetiers, and thirty Pike-men : It was situated with great advantage, being defended 'on the one side by the ( h'dnance of Tinemouth Castle, and on the other 1 "On the 13, for the enlargement of our Quarters, and to straighten the Enemy, wee drew towards Durham, but after wee had tarried there so long as our horse provisions lasted, not being willing to remove further, till Sunderland, a place of so great consequence to us, were better fortified, we returned thither and quartered the Army on the North side the River of Ware towards Newcastle at the Sheilds ; in this march wee saw no Enemy."- ,1 true Relation of the Proceedings of the Scottish Army From the 1' f March Instant to the ''>. - The Taking of the Fort at South Shields, R. R. The writer >ays that seven of the Scots were killed in the assault on the 2()\\\, and some were wounded by stones and " cut iron ". a From these names, the (iallowav, Linlithgow and Tweed- dale, and Stirlingshire regiments were engaged. 206 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. by a Dunkirk Frigot with ten peece of Ordnance ; notwithstanding 140 of our souldiers, without any other Armes but their swords, carried bundles of straw and sticks, wherewith they filled the ditch, set up the scaling ladders (whereof some did not reach the top of the Fort, the ditch not being well tilled) and with their swords gave the first assault, then a party of Musquetiers, and after them a party of Pikes, all marching up till they entred the ditch, where they disputed the matter above an houre, in which time the Enemy discharged upon them 28 shot of Canon, some with Musquet ball, others with cut lead and iron, beside many Mus- quet shot : Our souldiers did resolutely scale the ladders, and some entred at the gunports : the Defendants behaved themselves gallantly till it came to stroke of sword, and then they fled away by water in boates : sixteen of them were killed, a Lieutenant and five souldiers who stood out to the last were taken, and so we gained the Fort, with the peeces, and some barrels of powder, and their colours." 1 The two assaults on the fort on March 16 and 20 are de- scribed in another Scottish intelligence-letter: "On the 16 at night, a party was commanded out to assault the Fort upon the South side Tine over against Tinemouth Castle, which they did, but with no successe, though with little losse : after we had con- sidered of this repulse two or three dayes, and fasted on the nine- teenth, the Fort was againe assaulted by another party ; for the encouragement of which the Generall went with them in person, and on the 20, being Wednesday in the morning, we tooke it with the losse of nine men, the hurt of more : In it wee found five Peeces of Iron Ordnance, seven Barrels of Powder, seventy Mus- kets ; the men escaped in the dark to the water-side, where boats received them, only the Lievtenant and foure or five more were taken Prisoners ; This Fort was commanded by one Captaine THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 207 Meanwhile, on March 15, Montrose had joined the Marquis at Durham. 1 His presence, and possibly his advice, prompted a more resolute effort than had so far been made to oppose the Scots. While Leven's army lay at the mouth of the Tyne - he was cut off from his base and heavy artillery at Sunderland. 3 The Marquis therefore resolved once more to come out into the open. On Chapman, an inhabitant of the South-Shields. I went that day to see the Fort, my own judgment in such cases is nothing worth, but others thought it a difficult peece, and I confesse I wondered much to see it taken on that manner." A true Relation of the Proceeding*, etc. A letter from William Tunstall to Sir Edward Radclyffe of Dilston gives a royalist version of the assault : " Upon Wednesday gon a sennet, the Scotes set upon a litel fort at the Sheldes and was forsed backe, but the horse would not let the foute rune. Upon the place where they furst asalted it there laye maney deade bodeyes. Upon the next asalt, being the same daye, they brought of there men, but with greate losse to them, Tin- mouth Castle and the fort playing hotley upon them, and it was thought they lost towe hundred men that daye ; but theye gave it not over. Soe for the last Weddensdaye they set upon it againe, and gained the fort and five eyron peece of ordenance in it, our men fleying doune to a penisse in which it was reported that Sir John Pennington was in, but the penisse dischargeing sume ordenance at the Scotes they retreated ; and it is said they lost 3 houndred men at the takeing of it, and we losing but five men." Arch. sEL, i., 213. Spalding probably alludes to the repulse on March 10 : " Thair cam word to Abirdene of ane bloodie fight bt'tuixt the Kingis men at Newt.-astell and oure army lying thair, vpone the 14th of Marche, quhair our men had the worst". M< :uiori Ships to this side, so that for the present they are under the power of this Army ". A true Relation of the Proceeding*, etc. 3 " Our Cannon were at Sunderland our head quarter." A true Relation, etc. 208 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. March 23 he advanced to Chester-le-Street, 1 and on the next day took up a position at Hilton, on the north of the Wear, Leven confronting him on Saddick hill, between Hilton and the sea." On the 24th the Marquis, says a Scottish news- letter/ " marched toward our Quarters intending to have set upon us in Sermon time, and being a foggie day to have surprised us ; their approach being discovered, a great part of the Army was presently drawn together. The Enemy sent down from Bouden Hill, where they were drawne up, some commanded Musquetiers to line the hedges betwixt them and us, and wee did the like, for the Armies could not joyn, the Field between us being so full of hedges and ditches ; our Dragoones be- ganne the play, and then the Musqueteers in the hedges upon both sides, our bodies of Foot advancing at all Quarters to the hedges, the Enemies Cannon discharging upon them an houre and a halfe with 1 On March 20, " Lievtenant-Colonell Ballantine brought away a Troop of horse from Chester, which he there wholly surprised, and took the Guards last, they were to the number of fotirty". Ibid. The Taking of the Fort at South Shields adds that Ballantyne killed ten, took two Captains of foot and twenty horsemen, and that none of the Scots was killed or hurt. 2 The positions of the two armies are thus defined. The true Relation, etc., states: "On the 23 of this instant, the Enemy \\- up their Army from Durham and thereabout toward Chester, and on the 24, being the Lords day, drew up on the north side of Ware, at a place called Hilton, two miles and a halfe from Sun- derland, the same distance as when they faced us before, only this is on the north side Ware, the other on the south ; we ac- cordingly drew up on a hill east from them toward the sea ". The Marquis's despatch places Leven " upon Bedwick Hill ". Probably " Bedwick" should be " Saddick," which lies a little to the east of Hilton on an old map of 1818. 3 The Taking of the Fort at South Shields. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. L?09 very small hurt. This service continued very hot till after twelve of the clock at night. Many Officers, who have been old Souldiers, did affirm they had never seen so long and hot service in the night time ; there was divers killed on both sides, but the number of their slaine did verry farre ex- ceed ours, as wee understood by the dead bodies wee found the next day upon their ground, beside the seven Waggons draught of dead and hurt men not able to walk that the Constable of Bouden affirmed he saw carried away. The Enemy quit their gronnd, where they left much of their powder, match, and armes behinde them ; and retired to the Hill where the body of the Army lay." " Our Cannon," says another Scottish account, 1 " were at Sunderland, our head quarter, but by the help of the Sea-men lying in the haven, wee conveyed one great peece over the water, who themselves drew itt up to the field where it was to be planted, the tide failed for carrying the rest at that time. Some small field peeces wee had. After the Armies had faced each other most part of that day. toward five aclock the Cannon began to play, which they bestowed freely though to little pur- pose, and withall the commanded Foot fell to it to drive one another from their hedges, and continued shooting till eleven at night, in which time we gained some ground, some barrels of gun-powder, and ball and match ; wee lost few men, had more hurt and wounded, among whom no Officer of note hurt with danger but the Lievetenant Colonell of the Lord Lothians llegiment ;- what their losse 1 A true Relation, etc. Patrick Leslie of the Teviotdale. 14 210 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. was is yet uncertain to us, but we know they had more slaine, as wee finde being masters of their ground. " Sir James Lumsdaine came over to us very op- portunely with a brigade of three thousand of the forces wee had left in Northumberland the 23 of this instant, which hee now commands in the field. " The words given out on both parts were these, On ours, The Lord of Hott* w with tut. On theirs, Now #? Never." 1 On the following day, Monday, March 25, the armies continued to face each other. The Mar- quis's position, however, was sufficiently strong to discourage an attack upon him, while on his side, the numerical strength of his enemy perhaps in- clined him to shrink from an engagement.- After 1 The Marquis's despatch in Mercurius Aulicus describes the ^action on the 24th : " On Sunday last he got the Scots out to West Bedwick near Hilton Castle in the Bishopric of Durham, where they sat fast upon Bedwick Hill : my Lord Marquis had often invited them to fight, with overtures of many advantageous opportunities, but could not possibly draw them out : on this hill four regiments of his Excellency's foot fell to work with six regiments of the rebels. The fight began about three in the afternoon and continued from that time till night, and continued more or less till next morning, the rebels all this time being upon their own Mickle Midding, and there they lay all night." Firth, Newcastle, 354. 2 "This morning, being the 25, they are faceing each other, but the ground they possesse inaccessible by us without great disadvantages in regard of the many hedges and ditches betwixt ; what the event of this meeting will be I do not know, nor will not guesse, hitherto hath the Lord helped us : our men are chear- full, our hopes good." A true Relation, etc. The Marquis wrote to Rupert on March 25 : "I must assure your Highness that the Scots are as big again in foot as I am, and their horse, I doubt, much better than ours are". Warburton, Prince Rupert, ii., 397. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 211 some skirmishing between the cavalry, the Mar- quis drew in his forces, and on Tuesday the 26th withdrew to Durham. 1 Though he had retreated, the Marquis's strength in cavalry was at least sufficient to render some sup- ir The Scottish accounts dismiss the events of the 25th and 26th very curtly, to the effect that their army harassed the Marquis in his retreat. They and their supporters claimed a victory. Lith- gow speaks of Hilton as "that laudable Victory ".Relation, 3. Colonel Moore at Lathom had news of "a great battell fought be- twixt the Scotts and ye E. of Newcastles forces w c h continewed two dayes, but the Lord was pleased to give the victory to the Scotts ". H. M. C., Kept, x., pt. iv., App. 72. The Marquis's despatch, on the other hand, claimed at least an honourable retreat: "next morning (being Monday) the Lord Marquis followed them till afternoon, and then they vanished instantly into their trenches and retirement in Sunderland. Then his Excellency (seeing no hope of getting them out) drew off towards his quarters, and they being sensible of so many provocations, came on his rear (which was 500 horse) with all the horse they had for as yet they never looked the Lord Marquis in the face), but the rear (with the loss of some thirty men killed and taken) presently faced about, being seconded by that valiant knight, Sir Charles Lucas, with his brigade of horse, who fell on so gallantly that lie forced all their horse (which is about 3000) to hasten up the hill to their cannon, all the way doing sharp execution upon them >o as their Lancers lay plentifully upon the ground (many others being taken and brought away prisoners), their cannon all that while playing upon the Lord Marquis his horse with so little success ;i- i> nut easily imagined. In both these fights (on Sunday and Monday) they that speak least reckon a full 1000 Scots killed and taken, which cost the Lord Marquis 240 of his common soldier-;, scarce an officer being either killed or taken, though many of their leaders are certainly cut off. Their foot ran twice, and could not stand longer than their officers forced them on with the sword; the Lord Marquis hath taken many of their arms, especially of their Scottish pistols. Next morning (Tues- day his Excellency drew towards them again, faced them a long while, but they had too much of the two days before, and would by no means be entreated to show themselves." Firth, Newcastle, 364. 212 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. port necessary to the Scots in their advance. 1 On March 20, Sir Thomas Fairfax was ordered by the Committee of Both Kingdoms to keep in touch with Leven, and on the 31st he was instructed to join him with his horse and dragoons.- He delayed his march, however, to take part in the storm of Selby, the fall of which would inevitably call back the Marquis from Durham, and so clear the way for Leven's advance. On April 11 Selby was stormed and taken, 3 and late on the following night, the Marquis drew his forces out of Durham and Lumley castle, and retreated hastily towards York. 4 Leven, after the Marquis's retreat from Hilton on March 26, had left Sunderland, and on April 1 quartered his army about Easington, whence on April 8 he moved to Quarrington. 5 So quietly had 1 Though in his letter to Rupert, on March 25, the Marquis had declared that Leven's horse were probably better than his own, he had, in his account of the events on March 8, admitted that he was more than a match for Leven in that branch of his army. >ir Thomas Fairfax states succinctly: "The Earl of Newcastle, who was then at Durham, being much stronger 'in Horse than they [the Scots] ; for want of which they could not advance no further ". Slwrt Memorial, 604. Lord Saye, in his Scots Designe discovered, declares that the Scottish cavalry were badly mounted, a fact which would tend further to make Leven cautious in his advance. Eng. Hist. Rev., v., 352. 2 C. S. P. (1644), 62, 85 ; Fairfax, Short Memorial, 604. 3 Ibid., 605. 4 If. M. C., Kept, x., pt. i., App. 53 ; Intelligence From tlm .Sco/hWi Army, Being the Extract of Letters. '"The enemy upon his retreat from Hilton marched toward Durham ; whereupon the Scottish Army drew to Easington, being the mid-way betwixt Hartlepoole and Durham, where we found reasonable good quarter for our horse, and resolved to abide there- about till wee made the Enemy either fight or flie. Those quarters we kept till April 8, when (after a Fast kept the day before by us THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 213 the Marquis slipped out of Durham, that it was not until three o'clock on the afternoon of April 13 that Leveu heard of his flight. 1 Without pausing to ransack his abandoned quarters, Leven hurried after him in hot pursuit.- By nightfall he had through the Army:) we marched to a place called Quarrendon Hill, two miles from Durham. " The Enemy seeing us draw so neare, and his Souldiers de- creasing upon the approach of danger, drew as many Forces as could be spared out of Newcastle and Lumley Castle to uphold his strength of Foot ; but finding all would not doe, hee thought fit (it is supposed upon intimation from Selby of the Victory there obtained by the Lord Fairfax, which was the 11 of April :) on the 13 of April, being Saturday, to remove his whole Force, and that in a great deale of haste, leaving his troublesome Provisions behind him. They directed their march Westward towards Bisho] Awkland, in and about which they lay that night : And on the next morning they marched towards Bernards Castle and Piercebrig, where it was supposed they would Quarter on the fourteenth." Intelligence From the Scottish Army. John Somerville writes : " Upoun the penult, of March the airmie marchit from the quarteris besyd Sunderland and went to the Bruntfeild Mur- houssis, and vpoun the morn being the first of Apryll, the airmie man -licit from thairtoEisingtoun hill, and stayitthair till the eight of the said month ; and from that we marcheit from that to Quar- intoun Hillis. vpoun the south syd of Durhame, within a myle or tuo of the toun ; and vpon the 10 day at 12 o'cloack at nicht, Major Ballintyne with >um cnmmandit men went out and took 20 men and threttie Imrs. with pistollis and saiddillis, and on of the men wa> a caj (itanc. And upon the 11 day thair came sum keillis vp the water of Wear from Sunderland to fetch coillis, and the ennemie send out sum dragouneris and comandit musquitteires and tuik the men that was gainling the keillis. and slew of them, and rutted the keillis." //. .17. <'., Kept, x., pt. i., App. 53. 1 H. M. < '., ibid. - < ienerall I. even hath omitted no time in the pursuit, for upon the first notice, without any respect to the ransacking their I'or-aken quarters. ray>ed his Leaguer from Ouarrendon hill and marched on the Saturday [the 13th] to Ferry hill, and so forward on the Lords day to Darnton [Darlington], which is as farre South as the Knemy could reach by that time, only a little Kastward off him. And the resolution of the Army is, to be guided by the 214 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. reached Ferryhill. Before sunrise on Sunday the 14th the pursuit was renewed. Halting the foot at Darlington, the cavalry came up with the Marquis's rear, captured forty of his men and a quantity of silver plate and provisions. On the 15th Leven reached Xorthallerton, and on the following day passed through Thormanby, whence crossing the Swale and Ure at Thornton Bridge and Boroughbridge, he joined Sir Thomas Fairfax at Wetherby on April 18, 1 the Marquis having entered York two days before. 2 At Wetherby, Leven also met Lord Fairfax, Enemy in their march, whom they intend to follow or rather mai'ch along with, either till they shall have advantage to tight with him, or shall meet with the Lord Fairfax to enclose him. If there be any truth in reports. Newcastle hath lost halfe his Army without fighting." Intelligence From the Scottish Army. 1 Somerville's letter describes the march : " vpoun the 12 day in the nicht, the Marquis of Newcastell with his airmie fled from Durhame ; and we gat no intelligence till the 13 day att 3 acloak in the efternoon, and then the airmie marcheit efter them with all the haist they micht ; bot they had ever geat a fair start, and we came to the Ferrie Hill that nicht ; and vpon the 14 day, being Sunday, we marcheit verrie airlie befoir the soon rais, and the hors men followit in haist and cam to Derntoun befoir 7 acloak in the morning, and sent out a pairtie of hors to persew thair reir. Our major commandit the pairtie ; he with his pairtie tuik fourtie men and many horses, and slew many of their straggillars, and gatt tuo thousand merkis worth of silver plait, and mikill cheis, pork and bread, and we stayit thair till nicht, and the haill airmie crosit the Teis water that night, and the morn we marchit to Northalier- toun : and the morn being the 16 day, we marchit fra that to Thormanbie, and we gat provision from the touns about, and fra that we marchit to Borrowbrigis, and the morn being the 18 day we marchit fra that to Wedderbie, and we mett with Sir Thomas Fairfax : and vpoun the 20 day we marcheit to Todgaster and met with my Lord Fairfax his trouppers and dragouneres." H. M. 0., ibid. 2 H. M. C., Kept, viii., pt. ii., App. 60. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. whose infantry were still at Selby, whence he had been on the point of marching northwards when the Marquis's retreat and Leven's pursuit changed his plans. To completely establish the siege of York was impossible with his own and Leven's armies. On April '20, therefore, he wrote to urge the despatch of Manchester and his forces to join them ; " for the present," he added, " my lord of Leven with his army and part of my horse are drawing to quarter nearer York upon the West side, until a way be contrived to put part of the army by a bridge or float over the river, to straiten the enemy on the East side also, and so force them to fight upon some disadvantage 'V On April '2'2 the Scottish army drew from Wetherby to within two miles of York, Lord Fairfax and his infantry advancing from Selby to the same point, where they remained upon the opposite or left bank of the Ouse.- The Marquis, meanwhile, viewed the junction of his enemies with considerable alarm. Two days after he reached York, he had written to Charles to say that Leven and Fairfax were too strong for him, and to urge "some speedy course" for his relief. 3 But the advance of the allies on April 22, to within so short a distance of York, determined him to dismiss his cavalry while the opportunity 1 H. M. (7., Kept, viii., pt. ii., App. 60. Crawford, Lindsay, and sir Thomas Fairfax were sent to the Earl of Manchester to secure his co-operation. Fairfax. SI, art M> muri'il, <><).">. - " Vpoun the 22 day we marcheit within two nivllis of York, and my Lord Fairfax his foot came vp to the vther syd of the water foir against our ligar." Somerville's letter, in H. M. 0., Kept, x., iliil. 1 \Varlmrton, Prince Rupert, ii., 433. LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. remained, and in the course of the following night they rode out of York on the West and galloped off, hotly pursued by the cavalry of the two armies. 1 So far, the intervening river broke the com- munications of the allies. On April 30, however, materials were brought up from Cawood,- and a bridge of boats was constructed, probably at Ful- ford, connecting the two armies. 3 Its completion rendered joint operations possible, and so far as their numbers allowed, 4 the besiegers at once 1 "In the nicht, the haill trouppes that the Marquis of Xew- castell had in York went out and fled, and our troupes with my Lord Fairfax his troupes followed and tuik60 prisonai-s and many horses ; and they war so hard chaisit that they war forcit to tak the cullouris from the standaris and ryd away with [them] and live the staf behind them." Somerville's letter, in H. M. C.. ilii>l. 2 Douglas, Diary, has the brief entry, " the bridge of Kavie brought up," under April 30. Fairfax had possibly brought it up from Selby. Of. Fairfax, Short Memorial, 605. Stockdale speaks of a bridge of boats at Cawood in the following July. Douglas, whose useful Diary has been overlooked by previous writers on the campaign of 1644, was Leven's chaplain, and had recently joined the army, there being, Guthry states, "a presumption that the Army was in danger to turn Malignant ". Memoirs, 129. 3 The bridge was certainly below York, though a letter from the Scottish army on April 19 states : " Things gang too too [sic] weele, we are awe blithe and merry ; if we get ance over Ouze, at Popleton, all is our awne, wee are doughty and strang, and weele refreshed at this Towne." Kingdomes Weekly Intelligencer, April 25-30. The bridge of boats at Poppleton, however. \\a< probably not constructed until Manchester arrived in June. Vide infra, 230. 4 Sir Thomas Fairfax says that the two armies numbered sixteen thousand foot and four thousand horse. Short Memonl. 605. Mr. Firth estimates Fairfax's army at this period at not less than three thousand foot and two thousand horse. Iran*. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 27. On that estimate the Scots numbered thirteen thousand foot and t\vo thousand horse, a computation which agrees sufficiently closely with Lord Fairfax's estimate of their strength. Vide supra, 17*>. THE SECOND INVASION OF ENGLAND, 1644. 217 commenced to straiten the city. On May 3 seven windmills near York were burnt clown, and on the following day Butter Crambe, some ten miles to the north-east of York, was captured. 1 Upon the 13th, eighty of the garrison were taken prisoners in the church of St. Lawrence outside Walmgate Bar,- and in the course of the 14th and following days the Scottish regiments at Acomb attacked and captured, with some loss of life, a small outwork on that side of the city. 3 On May 30, the garrison fell out upon Dalhousie's quarters, and on the following day cut off a troop of the East-Lothian regiment. 4 Manchester's arrival was anxiously awaited to render the siege effective. Meanwhile, on May 3, the two Houses of Parliament acknowledged Leven's " diligent pursuit " of the Marquis of New- castle by a letter of congratulation. ' On May 16 Leven replied : 1 Douglas, Diary. 2 Douglas says merely " in a kirk ". Prisoners taken by the Scuts reported that their rations were "a rautchkin of beans, an uiiuee of butar, and a penny loaf evirrie ane of them per diem, and thair is ane ordinance that evirrie ane within the citie of York sail haue bot ane maill per diem : for the Marquis of New- cn-tell and (ieneral King hes causat search all the citie for pro- vision, and takin all into the stoir hous, and gives out to the people that is within the citie efter the mainer foirsaid". H. M. C., Kept, x., pt. i., App. 54. n Ballantyne, Lieutenant-Colonel of Leven's horse, died on May 22 from wounds received the previous day. Douglas. 4 At '-Yarid" bridge. Ibid. Fairfax's letter on April 20 speaks of the Marquis's "bridge near Ouse," which "gives him advantage at his pleasure to bring his whole army over the river." H. M. ' '.. Kept, viii., pt. ii., App. 60. ' L. J., vi., 530. 6 Ibid., vi., 561. 218 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. From the Campe before York, 16th May, 1644. EIGHT HONOUKABLE, You have presented to me in your Letter the kinde Expressions of the Honourable Houses of Parlia- ment, for which I am desirous to render all humble Thanks ; and hereby do professe, that as the Safty of Keligion and Liberty, now so neerly interested, is allwaies deerest to me, so nothinge could be so powerfull to bringe me and this Army heere as the great Desires to further the Weell of this Kingdome, and establish the Peace of both Nations, now happily united by Nationall Covenante. Give me therfore Leave by theise to assure the Honour- able Houses of Parliament, that nothinge shall be left undon which may serve to produce the desired Issue of theise Troubles ; and that this Army shall, God willinge, apply itself with constant Care and most effectuall En- deavors for speedy reducinge the Enemy, and helpinge to restore these Nations to a flourishinge Condition under Truth and Peace ; beinge confident of the Parliament's Care of them, as they are not insensible of that which theise Honourable Houses have formerly don for their Maintenance and Encouragement. My Lord Fairfax and I remaine close aboute this Citty, and have sent Two Thousand Horse and Dragooners for my Lord Man- chester's better Assistance, who, I arn confident, as they have Orders from us, so will they be most carefull to pursue their best Advantages, either of the Lord New- castle's Forces, or of any other Forces w T hich shall come from the South ; and thus, having nothinge to add, with my heartiest Wishes for the Prosperity of the Honourable Houses of Parliament, and my due Respects to your Lordships, I remaine, Your Lordship's humble Servant, LEVEN. For the Right Honourable the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament. THE SIEGE OF YORK April -July 1644. Scale. o V. IX Walker &Bo,ttallsc. JE. j Mile [To face paye 219. 219 CHAPTEK VII. MARSTOX MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. THE army of the Eastern Association, under Man- chester and Cromwell, joined Fairfax and Leven at York on June 3. 1 The city was at length entirely encircled. Manchester opposed it on the north, with Bootham Bar before him. Fairfax retained his original position on the south con- fronting Walmgate. Lumsden's Scots and some 1 Rushworth, v., 622. He brought with him six thousand foot, and also cavalry. The question presents itself, Did Manchester, in taking up his position north of York, cross the river above or below York? Mr. Firth has very kindly solved the problem from the Itinerary of one of Manchester's regiments in his possession, from which it appears that a portion, and probably the whole of Manchester's army was at Heslington and Osbaldwick on June 1, moving on "to York leaguer at Clifton" on June 3. Clearly, therefore, Manchester crossed the Ouse south of York, at Cawood if the boat-bridge there was permanent, or over the one built by Leven and Fairfax, probably between Middlethorpe and Fulford. After Manchester's arrival there is evidence of the existence of two boat-bridges above York, one at Poppleton (vide infra, 230), another at Clifton. As to the latter, a letter dated June 6 from the lines before York says: "There is a bridge made of boats over the Owse in Cliftonings, that the Armies may on a sudden send Mircour to one another". A n Exact Relation of the Siege before York, K. /'. Within three days of his arrival, therefore, Manchester had built his bridge at Clifton. It was the one which, on the eve of Marston fight, was in so shaky a condition that the allies dared not trust their armies upon it. The bridge near Fulford proved equally untrustworthy in the course of the siege. Cf. Carte, Collection, i., 53. 220 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. of Fairfax's troops held the east, with Monk Bar before them, while Leven menaced Micklegate and that portion of the city which lay upon the west side of the Ouse. 1 The allied armies at once commenced to push their approaches towards the city. " Yesternight," wrote one of the besiegers,- " being June the fifth, they have caused a work to be raised for a battery upon a hill neer Walm-gate, where there are four pieces of battery already planted, that have played all this afternoone upon the Castle, Tower, and Towne : and they from the Town have sent us at least an hundred Bullets from severall Platformes in the Towne, but they have done us very little hurt, not above one man killed, and what execution our Ordnance do in the City we cannot yet tell ; But we are getting more pieces up to our new worke, which we know hath already put them into a very great fear, for this day they have fired most part of the Suburbs, and drawne their people into the Town ; our men fall into the Suburbs, and beat them in when they Sally out either to fire houses or fetch in goods ; but whiles t they skirmish, the fire consumes the houses, they will not suffer our men to quench it, for if the houses could have been saved, they would have been a great shelter for our men in their approaches. And the Suburb without Bowdom, 3 where there were many faire houses, being fired, the E. of Manchester's men 1 Exact and Certaine Newes From the Siege at Yorke, K. P.; C. S. P. (1644), 224. 2 An Exact Relation of the Siege before Yorke, K. P. "' Bootham. MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 221 neverthelesse entred, and beat in the enemy this morning, and have saved much of the houses from the fire, and doe gallery through them close to the walls, so that it is to be hoped, that unlesse succours come speedily to them, the Town will be taken or yielded." These operations are described by another par- ticipator in them : l " Upon Wednesday night last 2 was a battery made at the Windmil betwixt York and LeslingtoiV about eight score distant from the Walls, and five piece of great Ordnance yesterday placed in it, and divers shots made into the City, which have made visible batteries, both in the Walls, Cliffords Tower, and other houses, another battery was yesterday got at St. Laurence Church, made within the Church-yard next Wombgate, 4 about fifty yards from the gate, and here, in the Church and houses, there are above 3000 of our men. My Lord Eglington, with 4000 Scots, yester- day entred Gilligate, Marygate, and Mary Tower, and have made a passage into the Manor under ground : This last night a strong par[t]y sallyed out of the City, and fell upon his men to beat them back, but could not prevaile, for 7000 of my Lo : Munchesters and my Lord Fairfaxes men fell into Wombgate, and so diverted the enemy, and had a sore fight with them, the losse hitherto I have not heard on either side : The Lo : Generall Leven with his Regiment fell upon a strong Fort this last night, upon a hill about eight score distant from Skelder- gate posterne, and have taken it ami 120 men in it, 1 An Exact Relation, etc. 2 June 5. 3 Heslington. 4 Walm<, r ; even more explicit: "the Prince himselfe, with 2000 of his horse, went into York ". Clarke's letter to Bartlett also: "Prince Rupert went into Yorke . . . without any molestacion, and the next morninge drew his forces into the feild ". Trans. Royal Hist. .Soc., xii.. 77. These statements must be held as meaning that Rupert got between the allies and York, though Warburton states: -the Prince passed on through the town that night," 230 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Late at night, while Rupert was halting at Poppleton, the allied Commanders held anxious consultation at Long Marston. The Prince's move- ments indicated either an intention to hazard an engagement, or to make a dash to the south, and raid the defenceless Eastern Association. Fairfax and Manchester were inclined to offer battle. Leven counselled delay until the expected reinforcements should arrive. 1 His opinion was adopted, and early the following morning, the infantry, guns, and baggage waggons, marched southward towards Tadcaster, to guard the route into the eastern counties, and to keep in touch with the advancing levies under Meldrum and Denbigh.' The Generals and the cavalry remained at Long Marston, in the rear of their retreating infantry. 3 The allies had already commenced their retreat, and the Scots, who led the van, were nearly at without seeing the Marquis. Prince Rupert, ii., 446. As to the boat-bridge at Poppleton which Rupert used, Slingsby lias : " The prince pass'd over at Poppleton, where ye Scots had made a bridge of boats". l)iary. Stockdale, however, says it was made "by the Earle of Manchesters order," and Sanford holds that he intended it for his own retreat in case Rupert approached York along the left bank of the Ouse. 589. Stockdale is clearly right ; for before Manchester's arrival before York neither Fairfax nor Leven would require a bridge over the river above York. 1 " We were divided in our opinions what to do. The English were for fighting them ; the Scots for retreating, to gain (as they alleged) both time and place of more advantage." Fairfax, Short. Memorial, 606. 2 Stockdale's Narrative, in Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., xii.. 74. 3 Ibid. ; Fairfax, ibid. Of the bivouac at Long Marston. Ash writes : "very few had either the comfort of convenient lodging or food : our Souldiers did drink the Wells dry. and then were neces- sitated to make use of puddle water ". Intelligence. MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 231 Tadcaster l when Rupert brought his forces over the river at Poppleton. 2 At once, messengers were despatched after the retreating foot to sum- mon them back. 3 Meanwhile, Rupert advanced upon Marston Moor, preceded by a reconnoitring body of cavalry. 4 He looked anxiously for the troops from York. But whether owing to the Marquis's disinclination to place himself under Rupert's command, to the temper of his unpaid troops, or to the fact that they were engaged in rifling the abandoned quarters of their besiegers, the reinforcements which the Prince expected were not forthcoming. 5 About nine o'clock, the Marquis and his chief officers rode out of York. " My Lord," said Rupert as they met, " I wish you had come sooner with your forces, but I hope we shall yet have a glorious day." The Marquis explained the delay. His troops, he said, had 1 Manchester's foot, which brought up the rear, were but two or three miles distant from Long Marston. Intelligence. 2 By four o'clock in the morning. Eng. Hist. Rev., v., 347. It was about nine o'clock when the cavalry of the allies discovered t In-in. Stockdale's Narrative. 3 Ash, Intelligence ; A Full Relation. 4 Acording to Ash, the appearance of Rupert's horse at first supported the conclusion that his main body, having relieved York, was moving on Tadcaster. 5 Cholmley says that the Marquis's foot were drawn up under orders to march at two o'clock in the morning, and that an order -an ic from King "that they should not march till they had their pay". Hut "in justification of King," he adds, it was asserted that half the foot were scuttling the abandoned siege-works, and that King denied having sent such an order. Ogden's Narrative h as ; " Whyle the Prince was inwards the Enemy, the Marquesse went out to Fayrefax his tents, and there found foure thousand pay re of boots and shoes, 3 morter pieces, some amunition, and other carriage". Tram. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 71. 232 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. been plundering the enemy's trenches, and General King would follow with them shortly. 1 However inadequate the explanation, Rupert had perforce to remain content with the fact, draw up his troops, and keep them inactive while his enemy slowly rolled back towards him. - It was already past noon when the returning columns of the allied armies moved into position upon a slight ridge on the south of the Moor. :i Neither side showed any disposition to engage. Rupert's forces were still incomplete, and King did not bring up the Marquis's foot until four o'clock. The Prince asked him if he approved his marshalling of the army. King, a veteran of the German wars, answered bluntly, that in his opinion it was too near the enemy, and in a place of dis- advantage. "They may be drawn to a further distance," suggested Rupert. " No, sir," answered King, "it is too late." 4 The royalist army held a line about a mile and a half in length, having the villages of Tockwith 1 Cholraley's Memorials. He adds, that Rupert proposed to engage without them, but the Marquis dissuaded him, "telling him he had 4000 good foot as were in the world ". Eny. Hist. Rev., v., 348. 2 Cholmley remarks, that if the Marquis had brought up his troops in time, Rupert " might have acted something upon the enemy in their retreat, or before they had put themselves into order, or gained that place of vantage they had at the battle ". Ibid., v., 347. 3 About two o'clock. Stockdale's Narrative. "Being on an hill, we had the double advantage of the ground, and the wind." Ash, Intelligence. 4 ChoJmley adds, that King dissuaded the Prince from fight- ing, remarking, " Sir, your forwardness lost us the day in Ger- many, where yourself was taken prisoner". MARSTOX MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 233 and Long Marston upon its western and eastern extremities. A dyke and hedges extended along its front. 1 In numbers Rupert was considerably inferior to his opponents, and to their twenty- seven or twenty-eight thousand could oppose no more than seventeen or eighteen thousand men. 2 Upon the right of the position, approaching Tock- with, Rupert placed Byron's, Hurry's, Vaughan's, and Trevor's horse, supported by ten companies of musketeers, and a force of eight hundred cavalry under Molineux, Tildesley, and Leveson in reserve. On the left flank of these were stationed Rupert's own cavalry, while on the extreme right were Tuke's horse, guarding the flank of the position. 3 On the centre, the front rank was held by Ernley's, Gibson's, Tillier's, Waring's, Tildesley's and Broughton's infantry. Upon their right flank, and considerably in advance of it, were Byron's and Rupert's foot. 4 The Marquis of Newcastle, having left in York the regiments commanded by 1 " Ye foot dispos'd of w th most advantage to fight, some of y m drawn off to line ye hedges of ye Cornfields, where ye enemy must come to charge." Slingsby, Diary. - Th>' Full Relation gives the allies " about twenty-seven thou- sand," and to Rupert " much about the same number". Rupert's plan gives him seventeen thousand five hundred, and to the allies about twenty-seven thousand, thus confirming Colonel Ross's cal- culation, in Kng. Hist. Rev., v., 384. * The disposition of Rupert's forces was largely a matter of conjecture until Mr. Firth discovered and exhibited Rupert's plan of the battle (Brit. M us. . I Jdit. MSS., 16,370. f. (34). His invalu- able paper on the battle is in Trans. Royal Hist. so near night, the Prince was resolved not to join battle that day". Ash writes : " The enemy (as some Prisoners report) was amazed and daunted at our approach, not expecting any assault till the next morning". Intelligence. "They set on the Prince towards night, when they were least look d for." Ogden's Narra- tive, in Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 71. Dr. Gardiner criticises Rupert's rashness in leaving his forces so dangerously near the enemy when he had given up his intention of risking an im- mediate engagement. Civil War, i., 377. Mr. Firth, however, quotes Colonel Hoenig's opinion, to the effect: "when the battle began all the advantages of position were on Rupert's side ". Of. Trans. Roynl Hi*t. Soc., xii.. 43. MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 239 Generals to deliver the attack which Rupert had assured himself would not take place that night. 1 It was half-past seven o'clock when the three armies moved down from the elevation on which they had so far rested, and advanced towards the intervening ditch. 2 Upon the left wing, Fraser's Scottish dragoons were sent forward to clear the hedge of the enemy's musketeers. That service performed, 3 Cromwell and his regiments of horse moved down the 1 Trevor, in a letter to Ormonde, gives what may have been the immediate cause of the allies' attack. Since noon, he states, " the Prince and the Marquess of Newcastle were playing the orators to the soldiers in York (being in a raging mutiny in the town for their pay) to draw them forth to join with the Prince's foot ; which was at last effected, but with much unwillingness. The enemy perceiving the advance of that addition to the Prince's army, instantly charged our horse, and mingled instantly with very great execution on- both sides." Carte, Collection, i., 57. If this view be adopted, it must be presumed that King started from York at about four o'clock, though Cholmley gives that as the hour of his arrival on the field. Neither Ash, nor the Full Relation, nor Fairfax offer any reason for the delivery of the attack at so late an hour. The royalist Cholmley, writing as an apologist, staff-: -The reason why they fell thus suddenly upon the Prince, ;i- many conjecture, is that a Scottish officer amongst the Prince his horse, whilst the armies faced one another, fled to the Parlia- ment army and gave them intelligence ; and it was further observed that Hurry, a Scotchman, having the marshalling of the horse in the Princes right wing, his own troop were the first that turned their backs; yet I have heard the prince in his own private opinion did not think Hurry culpable of infidelity ". Eng. HI. -it. Rev., v., 348. 2 Stockdale's Narrative. Ash writes; "towards six or SCVI-M of the clocke we advanced about two hundred paces towards the Enemy, our Canon (which had plaid one or two houres before from the top of the Hill) was drawne forward for our best advantage". Intelligence. 3 "By the good managing of Colonell Frizell." A Full Rela- tion. 240 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. hill, 1 passed the ditch in open order,- and formed up for the charge beyond it. While they were so employed, Byron's horse, which held the extreme right of the royalist wing, left their position and charged the Ironsides, only, however, to be thrown back in confusion. 3 Hurry's regiment, which held the middle of the royalist front line, shared the same fate, broke and fled, disorganising the whole wing, and carrying to the rear Rupert's own regi- ment of horse. 4 As they rode towards him in confusion, Rupert hurried up to rally them. " "Swounds," he thundered, " do you run ? follow me ! " 5 Placing himself at the head of the cavalry of the centre, 6 Rupert hurled himself upon the victorious Ironsides. The position of Cromwell was for a while critical. He himself was wounded, 7 and Rupert was confident of victory as the Iron- sides were gradually pressed back. 8 At this critical 114 Came off ye Cony Warren, by Bilton bream." Slinp-l>y, Diary. 2 Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 43. 3 Warburton, Prince Rupert, ii., 468. Cf. Trans. Royal Hist. oc. t xii., 44. 4 Cholmley's Memorials. " They fly along by Wilstrop wood- side, as fast and as thick could be." Slingsby, Diary. 5 Cholmley's Memorials. 6 This statement is hypothetical. 7 Mr. Firth has collected the evidence upon this. Cf. Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 58. To the authorities he cites may be added Douglas: "Then Cromwell charged verie weel, but at the first charge he was lightlie hurt, went off, and came out againe, as was managed by David Leslie ". "Clarke probably exaggerates in his statement, that Rupert "had the better of it for neere 3 howers, and was so confident of the day, that he cryed severall times, ' the Kingedome is ours, the Kingedome is ours'". Clarke to Bart let t, July 14, in Tr*. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 77. MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. point, David Leslie and the Scottish cavalry in reserve opportunely charged Rupert's flank. 1 Thus surrounded, the Prince, killing with his own hands such as sought to stay him, broke through and galloped to York. 2 Meanwhile the battle was raging with different fortune to the east. Upon the extreme right, when the allies advanced, Sir Thomas Fairfax and his cavalry had with difficulty made their way through a narrow lane 3 lined with the enemy's musketeers, and formed for the charge upon the Moor. The musketeers supporting the front ranks of Goring's cavalry, however, poured in so hot a fire as Fairfax's troopers slowly denied from the lane, that placing himself at the head of the first four hundred that emerged, he charged the ex- treme left of the enemy's horse, consisting of Sir Charles Lucas's brigade. After a determined en- counter they broke and fled, and Fairfax, with less judgment and restraint than Cromwell, pursued them nearly to the walls of York. He returned to the field to find the position wholly changed. As 1 A Full Relation. According to the author, Leslie had already engaged the Marquis's infantry on the royalist centre. He is clearly confusing Leslie's engagement with the Whitecoats at the close of the battle. 2 " The Prince being separated from his troope, and surrounded by the enemy, killed 4 or 5 w th his owne hands, and at last hee brake strangely through them, and seing himselfe not likely to get his men together againe, came into Yorke alone about 11 o'clocke at night : glad were his friends to see him there : and his gentlemen came dropping in one by one, not knowing but mar- velling, and doubting what fortune might befall one another. "- Ogden's Narrative, in Trans. Royal Hint. Soc., xii., 71. ; .Moor lane. Cf. Sanford, 601. 16 242 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. the remainder of his cavalry, with the three Scot- tish regiments at that quarter, had formed on the Moor, they were furiously charged by the whole of Goring's horse that remained on the field. Thrown back upon the ditch, the broken regiments dashed blindly to the rear, and the enemy pursued them off the field. 1 But while Goring's troops were hotly pursuing the fugitives, 2 a portion of the Scottish cavalry 1 Sir Thomas Fairfax gives the following account : " Our Hight Wing had not, all, so good success, by reason of the whins and ditches which we were to pass over before we could get to the Enemy, which put us into great disorder : notwithstanding, I drew up a body of 400 Horse. But because the intervals of Horse, in this Wing only, were lined with Musketeers ; which did us much hurt with their shot : I was necessitated to charge them. We were a long time engaged one with another ; but at last we routed that part of their Wing. We charged, and pursued them a good way towards York. "[I] myself only returned presently, to get to the men I left behind me. But that part of the Enemy which stood, perceiving the disorder they were in, had charged and routed them, before I could get to them. So that the good success we had at first was eclipsed much by this bad conclusion." Short Memorial, 607. The collapse of the Parliamentary right wing is described with some detail in A Full Relation. Vide infra, 276. The writer states that the routed horse " came back upon the L. Fairfax Foot, and the reserve of the Scottish Foot ". But Fairfax was on the centre, and according to Ash, was "received by Marquesse New-Castles Regiment of Foot". Rupert's plan shows clearly that Fairfax could not have come into contact with them and also have had his line of battle broken by the royalist right wing of horse. 2 They "pursu'dym over ye Hill," writes Slingsby. Stock- dale writes : " I verely belieue there were not so few as 4,000 of our horse that runne of the feild, some of them neuer looking backe till they gott as farre as Lincolne, some others to Hull, and others to Hallifax and Wakefeild ". Traits. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 7*>. Ogden says that the royalist horse " charged through to Lesleye's carriage and plundered it". Ibid., 71. Cholmley remarks: "If MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 243 on the right kept the field. Two squadrons of Leven's own horse, though divided by Goring's charge, were not driven before his onrush. One, a squadron of Lancers, charged and routed a regiment of the enemy's foot, and both made their way across to the left wing, 1 and probably conveyed to Cromwell news of the disaster which had over- taken their wing.- Eglin ton's regiment also held its ground, with the loss of many officers, and later, when the royalists attacked the Scottish infantry in flank, the regiment probably shared his [Goring's] men had but kept close together as did Crumwell's, and not dispersed themselves in pursuit, in all probability it had come to a drawn battle at worst ; and no great victory to be boasted of on either side". Eng. Hist. Rev., v., 349. The criticism is a just one In no detail of the art of war was Cromwell so pre- eminent as in his invariable habit of keeping his troops in hand in the moment of victory. Cromwell had his eye upon the field as a whole. Rupert's horizon was limited to his own place in it. 1 A Full Relation. No hint is given by the author as to the position' of the regiment which Balgonie's squadron routed. A passage in Ash's Intelligence seems to elucidate the point. Detailing the rout of Fairfax's foot in the centre, Ash adds, that the royalist infantry, retreating in confusion "into the Moore," wriv "so opportunely met " by " a body of our Horse, that many of them were killed in the place, and about two hundred by the Sci >ts Horse were taken prisoners ". The expression " opportunely met " exactly expresses the position if, while retreating to their rear, the royalist regiment fell in with Balgonie's squadron as it made its way over to the left wing. 2 A Full Relation. Mr. Firth conjectures that Sir Thomas Fairfax, or one of his officers, brought the news to Cromwell. rpon his return from the pursuit of the royalists to York, he apparently found his position wholly occupied by the enemy, and tearing off his white badge, crossed over to Cromwell on the left wing, aided by the gathering darkness. Balgonie's squadrons had probably reached Cromwell before him. Cf. Fairfax, Short M ''atonal, 007. 244 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. in what proved to be the critical period in the battle. 1 While Cromwell's victory on the left was balanced by Fairfax's defeat upon the right, the battle was going hardly with the infantry in the centre. Upon the left centre, Manchester's foot led by Crawford cleared the hedge of musketeers, and capturing four guns w^hich the enemy aban- doned, drove back Rupert's foot on the extreme right of the royalist centre.- Farther to the east, Fairfax's infantry surmounted the ditch with equal success, captured two drakes and a demiculverin, and routing the front line opposed to them, found Newcastle's Whitecoats awaiting them in the second. 3 With whatever reluctance they and their commander had taken their places on the field, they fought with a determination before which Fairfax's infantry were forced to give way. Their rout was completed by a charge of the royalist cavalry under Blakiston, which dashed in upon the flying infantry, pursued them over the ditch to the hill from whence they had moved to the 1 The author of The Full Relation says nothing of the fate of Eglinton's regiment. It is noticeable that he distinctly states that, after the rout of the Parliament's right wing, Lucas and Porter "assaulted the Scottish Foot upon their Flanks". Unless Fairfax's infantry had already left the field, such a movement was impossible if, as he asserts, the Scots were in the centre. 2 Ash, Intelligence. The Full Relation says that Crawford "overwinged the enemy". If Rupert's plan of the battle is re- liable for the position of the allies, it shows that Manchester's extreme left extended farther westward than the royalist right centre. :1 Ash, Intelligence. Stockdale has: "the Lord Fairfax foote gaining ground of the enemyes foote in the maine battle". MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 245 attack, and threw into confusion the regiments in reserve. 1 Their rout had been yet greater had not Manchester's foot, perceiving their disorder, wheeled to the right, and falling on the flank of the royalist infantry, forced them back upon the Moor. 2 The flight of Fairfax's foot, and the rout of the cavalry on their right wing, left the Scottish infantry on the right centre perilously exposed on either flank. Advancing under Baillie, they had crossed the ditch, driving before them four brigades of infantry which were there stationed. 15 1 Ash ; "the Lord Fairfax foote and the Scotts that were joyned with them, pursuing their advantage, were charged by the enemyes horse, and so disordered that they were forced to five backe and leaue our Ordinance behinde them, and many of our horse were also repulsed by the enemy, which coming of in di -order on all sydes did soe daunt the spiritts of the reserues that had not then engaged, as that many fledd away without euer striking blow ; and multitudes of people that were spectators runn away in such feare and confusion as more daunted the souldiers ". Stockdale's Narrative. He combines the routing of Fairfax's foot and of his cavalry on the right wing. As to the Scottish re-erve on the centre. Douglas writes : " Many officers hurt, there our foot, Dudhop [the Angus], and the ministers regiments were run down ". - Ash, Intelligence. I infer that this flank movement was effected by the extreme left of Manchester's line. As has been .-ia ted, they ovenvinged the enemy when they advanced. Ash remarks that the Earl of Manchester brought back five hundred of his troops, --who were leaving the field in great disorder," from which it might appear that the right of his line of battle shared the disaster of Fairfax's foot, and that its critical situa- tion, as much as Fairfax's, inspired the flank movement of which Ash speaks. As .Manchester's chaplain, he would naturally be inclined to slur over any disaster to the Earl's troops. .1 Full Relation. The author calls them " foure Brigades of their best Foot'". They probably included Krnley's, Tillyer's, and (iili-on's regiments. If, as he states, the Scots advanced when 246 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. But as with Fairfax and Manchester, their meeting with the second line of the royalist infantry proved disastrous. The Xithsdale and Annandale, nearest to the centre, fell back, leaving the Kyle and Carrick next to them, and the Midlothian and Lindsay's Fife on their extreme right, for the moment intact. 1 But more disastrous was the fortune of the Scottish reserve. 2 Advancing to the relief of their front line, the Edinburgh and Clydesdale regiments shared the fate of Fairfax's foot, and were swept to the rear. The Loudoun- Crawford "having overwinged the enemy set upon their flank," they must have joined the battle at the moment when Fairfax's foot were on the verge of being routed. His statement, that it was Crawford's success " which gave occasion to the Scottish F< >< >ri> to advance." implies some concerted action between the left and right wings of the infantry centre. The immunity of the Scottish extreme right from considerable loss suggests that they too over- winged the royalists. Probably, while the allies' cavalry was re- lied on to crush the wings of the enemy, their foot was intended to overwing, surround, and destroy the enemy's foot. If so, Fairfax's foot, which Mr. Firth shows to have been the weakest of the three armies, was something in the nature of a dc<-ny. However that may be, what happened seems clear. Newcastle's Whitecoats practically scooped out the centre of the allies' infantry I include in the centre both the inner wings of the Scots' and Manchester's infantry leaving their outer lines for the moment intact. The outer lines on the left combined with Cromwell. Those on the right were menaced by Whitecoats on one side and Goring on the other, and maintained their ground until Cromwell swept to their relief. 1 As to the Kyle and Carrick, a letter quoted by Mr. Firth shows that it stood its ground. Trans. Royal Hut. Soc., xii., 51. There is no question but that the Fife and Midlothian did so. As to the Nithsdale and Annandale, vide infra, 247, note 1. 2 From the degree to which they were broken, I place them in this order from left to right aproximately : Edinburgh, Clydes- dale, Loudoun - Glasgow, Tweeddale, Strathearn, Dunfermline's Fife. MARSTOX MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 247 Glasgow and the Tweeddale, next to them in the line, shared their panic and fled without a blow. 1 There remained Dunfermline'a Fife and the Strath- earn, and placing himself at their head, Lumsden led them up to the relief of Lindsay, the Kyle and Carrick, and the Midlothian, who were engaged already with the enemy's foot on their left and the cavalry on their right. For an hour the battle raged doubtfully. Thrice Lucas and Porter charged the Scottish lines. At the third, Lucas himself was taken prisoner, and the Scots con- tinued to hold the enemy at bay, until the arrival of relief left them victors upon the ground they had so stoutly contested. - 1 Douglas states : " Fairfax briggade of foot fled, the Edin- burgh and artillerie [Clydesdale] regiment followed, first the Chancellor [Loudoun-Glasgow] and Maclaines fled". There is no Colonel or Lieutenant-Colonel named Maclean in Rushworth's list of Leven's regiments. Douglas's spelling, or his editor's copying, is exceedingly erratic. ' Maclaine " should possibly be Macbray," who is given in Rushworth's list as Major of the Xithsdale and Annandale. Mr. Firth quotes a letter written apparently to Loudoun : " I was on the head of your Lordship's regiment [Loudoun-Glasgow] and Buccleuche's [Tweeddale], but they carried themselves not so as I could have wished, neither could I prevail with them ; for these that fled never came to charge- with the enemy, but were so possesst with a panatick fear, that they ran for an example to others, and no enemie following them". Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 50. 2 The only detailed account of this is in the Full Relation. Vide infra, 277. Ash speaks to the good service of the Scottish musketeers at this critical point. The letter quoted in the last note says that Lindsay's was but one of other regiments which fought well. On the other hand, Stockdale's Narrative has : "The Scots foote that fought in the right wing did most of them retire from their ground, except the Earle of Lindeseys Regiment". Spalding, with groundless patriotic dejection, writes: "none of our Scottis army baid except thrie regimentis, ane wnder the 248 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. So far, the development of the attack had been disastrous, save on the extreme left where Cromwell and Crawford held the field, and on the right centre where a few Scottish regiments still maintained a critical position. As the royalist cavalry rode through and through the scattered regiments of the right and centre, and pursued them to the rear, the battle seemed absolutely lost. 1 Leven, as he marked the rout of the Scottish foot, vainly sought to rally the fugitives. "Although you run from your Enemies," he harangued them, " yet leave not your Generall, though you flie from them, yet forsake not mee." His appeal was dis- regarded. He himself was urged to fly, and at length galloped off the field, nor drew bridle until he reached Leeds. Fairfax also, equally despairing of victory, rode off to Hull. 3 Erll of Lyndsay, another wilder Schir Dauid Leslie, and the 3rd wnder Collonell Lumisden, who faught it out stoutlie". ii., 383. As a fact, five regiments, or half the strength of the Scottish right centre, held their ground. 1 After describing the rout of the centre, Stockdale adds: " so that the enemy had the advantage to regaine their owne ordinance, which my Lord Fairfax Brigade did first beat them from, and also to possess themselues of our Ordinance, and shortly after of our carryages also, which they first plundered, though afterwards it is conceived they were replundered by our owne Armeys, and some of the enemyes horse pursued our flying horse neare two myles from the feild, soe that in all appearance the day was lost." Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 75. 2 Ash, Intelligence. Douglas also mentions Leven's endeavour to rally his troops : " Some levie of all the horsemen of the enemy charged up where they were fleeing, Generall Lesly came up for horse to beat them in, and went towards the rescue of horse ". 3 Statements regarding Leven's flight vary considerably. I have adopted Somerville's as being the most circumstantial, and also as being supported by Spalding. Somerville clearly suggests MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 249 Such was the discouraging news reported to Cromwell. 1 Upon the final rout of Rupert's right wing he had kept his troopers well in hand, await- ing the call to further service.- His pursuit had probably carried him considerably to the rear of the enemy's original position. Such wind as there was would drive the battle-smoke in a heavy pall that Leven yielded to pressure in leaving the field. The result of the battle was not known by him at Leeds until noon the next day. " I would to God I had dyed upon the place," he said as he heard it. Somervilles, ii., 351. Spalding says that he fled to " Lewis," and that he was " evill thoeht be the English for this dayis seruice ". ii., 383. Douglas ends Leven's flight at Brad- ford. Turner takes him to Wetherby. Memoirs, 38. At Oxford it was reported that he was a prisoner. Court Mercurie, July 2-10. Clarendon remarks : " Lesly their General fled ten miles, and was taken Prisoner by a Constable ". Rebellion, ii., 389. In York, news of Leven's death arrived with news of a royalist victory. Bonfires were lit in jubilation. Kingdomes Weekly Intelligencer, July 9-16. The picture of the victorious Generals abandoning their armies clearly appealed to the imagination. Turner and Cholmley de- rlare that all three fled. Baillie writes to Spang, that the Generals "took them to their heels; this to yow alone". ii., 204. Douglas, who may be trusted here, says of Manchester, however, that " he only of the Generalls was on the field ". That he rallied the left centre has already been stated. He is the only one of the three chief Commanders whom Stockdale compliments for their efforts to retrieve the battle. 1 That Balgonie's squadrons probably brought news of the disaster on the right has already been conjectured. As to the position at the centre, Mr. Firth infers that Cromwell learnt it from Crawford. Trans. Royal Hist, tioc., xii., 52. 2 " Kept close together in firm bodies." Cholmley's Memo- rials ; " taking special care to see it observed, that the Regiments of Horse, when they had broken a Regiment of the Enemies, should not divide, and, in pursuit of the Enemie, break their order". Tlie Scots Designe discovered, in Eng. Hist. Rev., v., 348, 352. Tin- author of A Full Relation conveys the same fact: "our fore- troopes did execution to the very walls of Yorke ; but our body of Horse kept their ground". 250 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. of blackness eastward towards York, 1 and dimly through it, it might be possible to discern the progress of the fight. Broken bands of royalists hovered upon the rear of what had been their centre and left wing earlier in the evening.- Where the royalist foot had stood, the Scottish regiments were engaged with what remained of the royalist centre and left wing. Hastily Cromwell made his dispositions. 3 Re- forming his line facing south-eastward, he threat- ened what remained of the enemy in flank and rear. To the right of his new line of formation, therefore, he pushed forward Crawford's infantry, 4 which had overwinged the enemy earlier in the fight, and launched them against Newcastle's White- coats. Cromwell himself, and with him probably 1 It has already been stated that the royalists were driven from the hill near Tockwith, which would have given them the advantage of the wind over the allies. 2 Cf. Trans. Royal Hivt. Soc., xii., 52. 3 Dr. Gardiner's view of Cromwell's tactics at this point is thus expressed : "Sending a party to follow up Rupert's flying squadrons, and leaving David Leslie to deal with the White- coats, whilst Crawford supported Baillie. he betook himself to the lane's end through which Fairfax had emerged ". Civil War, i., 381. Mr. Firth supports Colonel Hoenig's protest against Cromwell being held to have divided his cavalry at this critical juncture. It seems probable that Rupert's squadrons were al- ready scattered (cf. Monkton's narrative, quoted in Tram. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 52) before this period. " Being joyned," says the Full Relation, Leslie and Cromwell " met with the Enemies horse". When these had met the fate of Rupert's right wing, Leslie and Cromwell moved to the support of Crawford and Baillie against the foot. Cromwell's own letter (Carlyle, Letter xxi.) is much too vague and terse to found any theory upon. 4 "Our three Brigades of the Earl of Manchester's being on our right hand." Watson's narrative. MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. '251 the horse that Manchester had brought back to the field, 1 galloped across to the point where the royalists were engaging Lindsay's Fife and the Midlothian. Leslie and his original command, reinforced by Balgonie's troopers, who had joined the left wing earlier in the battle, accompanied Cromwell. Leaving Crawford to relieve Baillie and the Scottish foot, Cromwell and Leslie rode down upon the position from which Fairfax's horse had earlier been driven. Goring's cavalry, abandoning their pursuit beyond the ditch, and realising " that they must fight again for that victory which they thought had been already got," returned to the field to find the enemy awaiting them on their own ground. 3 Hampered by the same impediments which had already proved so fatal to Fairfax, they were broken by Cromwell's and Leslie's charges, and fled to York utterly routed. 4 1 Ash merely states that Manchester " did Rally five hundred of the Souldiers, who were leaving the field in great disorder, and brought them backe againe to the battaile ". Douglas states that "about 5 or 600 horse " were brought back. 2 Watson's narrative, quoted in Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 54. 3 " They fought upon the same ground and with the same front that our right wing had before stood to receive their charge." Ibid. "At the same place of disadvantage where they had routed our Horse formerly." A Fall If'lnt/nn. 4 There is no material upon which to build up this episode in detail. Wilts. HI"- short narrative has: "On we went with great resolution, charging them so home, one while their horse, and then again their foot, and our foot and horse seconding each other with such valour made them flie before us, that it was hard to say which did the better, our horse or foot". Watson combines here the routing of Goring's horse with that of Newcastle's foot, stdt-kdale is equally indistinct : "And at this second charge our men performed their duty with such resolution and courage, as '2~r2 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. With the field cleared of the enemy's cavalry, Cromwell and Leslie turned against the infantry of the royalist centre. 1 Crawford had already engaged them, and as Leslie watched the deter- mined onset of Manchester's brigades, he vowed that " Europe had no better soldiers ". - His cavalry, with Cromwell's, threw themselves upon the rear of Newcastle's infantry, 3 who, despite the utmost efforts of the Scottish musketeers, still held their ground. 4 Throwing themselves into a position they vtterly routed the enemyes army, and chased them into the gates of Yorke, as many as could escape ; and all this performed before 12 a clock in the night, the moone with her light helping something the darknes of the season ". The Full Relation has : "we routed them wholly, killed and tooke their chiefe Officers, and most part of their Standards ". 1 Slingsby states : " After our horse was gone, they fall upon our foot, and altho a great while they maintain'd ye fight, yet at last they were cut down and most part either taken or kill'd ". Having mentioned Goring's rout, the Full Relation con- tinues : " after which we set upon the reare of their Foot ". It is difficult to determine at what hour this concluding action took place. Watson says the field was entirely cleared by about nine o'clock, obviously too early. Ash says the battle was over by eleven o'clock. Stockdale places the end of the fight before twelve. He is confirmed by Monkton, who says that he was re- called to York by Rupert at that hour. It was perhaps after nine o'clock when Cromwell and Leslie fell on the Whitecoats, who, Slingsby writes, held out "a great while". Cholmley says they fought for "three hours after the horse had left them ". 2 Watson's narrative. 3 A Full Relation. The author, however, places this at the very commencement of the fight, and adds that the Whitecoats and Greencoats were then routed by Leslie. But the author himself in another passage says that the rout of the infantry of the royalist centre followed that of Goring's cavalry. Newcastle's regiments which made this final stand numbered nearly four thou- sand. Somervilles, ii., 348. 4 Ash, Intelligence. But he conveys the false impression, that the royalist foot were already routed, and that Cromwell and MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 253 on the Moor which protected them somewhat from the attack of the cavalry, they stood at bay, pike- men and musketeers commingled. * Fraser and O Manchester's dragoons were ordered up to force an opening for the horse. 2 Thereupon, Cromwell and Leslie charged in upon the doomed regiments. Not a man would yield or take quarter. Those who fell still strove to gore the horses of the troopers as they rode over them. The enclosure became a shambles. Their ammunition was already spent, and when the victors desisted from the work of butchery little more than a score of the Whitecoats were still living. 3 Leslie had to deal only with cavalry. He writes: "although the Scots Musquettiers had fired there most bravely, and to good purpose, to the dissipating of the Enemies Foot, yet their Horse there stood still in full bodies ". Of this final action he writes generally : "they charged every party remaining in the field, till all were fully routed and put to flight". 1 This, a favourite device of Gustavus Adolphus, had already been used by the Scots when the royalist infantry and cavalry surrounded them. A Full Relation. 2 Sonwrvilles, ii., 348. 3 "This sole regiment, after the day was lost, having got into a small parcel of ground ditched in, and not of easy access of horse, would take no quarter, and by mere valour, for one whole hour kept the troops of horse from entering amongst them at near push of pike ; when the horse did enter they would have no quarter, but fought it out till there was not thirty of them living; those whose hap it was to be beaten down upon the ground, as the troopers came near them, though they could not rise for their wounds, yet were so desperate as to get either a pike or sword a piece of them, and to gore the troopers' horses as they came over them or passed them by." Lilly, Diary, quoted in Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 55. Slingsby very shortly records the Whitecoats' last stand: "altho a great while they maintain'd ye fight, yet at last they were cut down and most part either taken or kill'd". Somerville writes : "nether met they [Cromwell and Leslie] with any great resistance, untill they came to the 254 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. So, in the early dawn, the battle reached its bloody close. Over four thousand lay dead upon the field. 1 The victors rested on the Moor, the dead and dying lying round them. Manchester Marquis of Newcastle his battalione of whyte coats, who first peppering them soundly with ther shot, when they came to charge stoutly bore them up with ther picks, that they could not enter to break them. Here the parliament horse of that wing receaved ther greatest losse, and a stop for some tyme to ther hoped-for victorie, and that only by the stout resistence of this gallant battalione, which consisted neer of four thousand foot, untill at length a Scots regiment of dragounes, commanded by Collonell Frizeall, with other two, was brought to open them upon some hand, which at lenth they did ; when all ther ammunitione was spent, haveing refused quarters, every man fell in the same order and rank wherein he had foughten." ii., 347. 1 The various accounts are unanimous as to the heavy mor- tality of the battle. Rushworth gives the slain at four thousand one hundred and fifty. v., 635. Stockdale, in his letter to Rush- worth, gives the royalist losses at above four thousand killed, about five thousand wounded, and two thousand taken prisoners. Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 76. Clarke's letter to Bartlett says the allies "killed upon the plaine 3500 men ". Ibid., 77. Ash reports the same numbers as Rushworth, but holds that about three thousand was the death-roll of the royalists, while fifteen hundred were taken prisoners. Douglas gives about four thousand dead and fifteen hundred prisoners. The Full Relation gives three thousand as the royalist loss, and fifteen hundred prisoners. The heavy mortality of the royalists was due to the butchering of the Whitecoats. "Most of the Marquess's foot was slain, being as good men as were in the world." writes Cholmley. On the part of the allies the loss was comparatively insignificant. The Full Relation puts them at less than three hundred, and a few officers. Douglas gives the losses of the Scots at less than a hundred, most of whom were killed as they fled from the field. In the armies of Manchester and Fairfax, he adds, the death-roll was even less. Ash, speaking for Manchester's army, gives actually less than ten killed, and about twenty wounded. Stockdale mentions above one thousand of Fairfax's men as wounded. The three Generals, in their official despatch, gave their total losses at a few officers and two or three hundred of the rank and file. G. S. P. (1644), 311. MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 255 rode round to their bivouacs, and gave them thanks and congratulations for their good service. Food and drink he could not offer them, and the war-stained and weary men eagerly drank up the muddy water from the pools and ditches. " Very few of the Common Souldiers," wrote Ash, " did eat above the quantity of a penny loafe, from Tuesday till Saturday morning ; and had no beere at all." The next day, the troops that had run from the field returned to the Moor. Upon Thurs- day, June 4, the reserves from Lancashire and Cheshire came up, and that evening the armies returned to York, 2 whence Rupert, King, and Newcastle had already fled, the Prince to Rich- mond, where he awaited his scattered troops, the others across the sea. a It was perhaps inevitable that a victory in the gaining of which two nations had shared, so momentous in its results, snatched from the very 1 Intelligence. 2 Stockdale's Narrative; Douglas, Diary. Some of the allies were back at Middlethorpe at one o'clock in the afternoon of the 4th. Warburton, Prince Rupert, ii., 433. Cholmley says that it \vii~ not until the morning of the 3rd that the allies possessed them>elves of the royalists' guns and baggage, and that Rupert wa> inclined " to have attempted something upon the enemy, but that lie was dissuaded by general King". EIUJ. Hist. Rev., v., 349. 3 Journal of Prince Rupert's Marches. Ibid., xiii., 737. Cholm- ley offers explanations of Rupert's defeat : (1) Rupert was weak- ened by the absence of many of his own horse "which were gone rambling into York"; (2) many of the Marquis's foot were wanting; (3) he would not have fought that day if the enemy had not forced him ; (4) his army was too near the enemy and in a place of disadvantage ; (5) the want of cordial agreement between Newcastle and Rupert ; (6) the careful handling of the allies' cavalry under Cromwell and Leslie ; (7) " something above reason to be attributed only to the hand of God". Ibid., v., 349. 256 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. jaws of defeat, should arouse keen controversy upon the bestowal of the laurels. Apart from the contribution of individuals, the victory was shared, perhaps in equal proportions, by the left wing of the horse and the right wing of the foot, by Cromwell's and Leslie's troopers and the Scottish musketeers and pikemen. Had Cromwell's wing shared the fate of that under Fairfax's command, nothing could have saved the battle ; Newcastle's regiments must have swept the field before them, and carried back Charles triumphant to his throne. On the other hand, the rout of the royalist horse on both wings would have given the Parliament at the best a drawn battle had not a portion of the foot stood firm. For the impressiveness and signi- ficance of Marston consisted, not in the fact that a few thousands of the victors held a field wrested from the enemy, but that their dead foemen lay round them in almost equal numbers. Yet the ardour of patriotism and the bigotry of sectarian feeling combined to oppose two men, who furnished half the victory, as claimants for the whole. Never on such a scale, and rarely at all, had the armies of England and Scotland fought side by side against a common foe. The fact was as strange and significant as the appearance of the allied Anglo-French army before Sevastopol two hundred years later. Scotland had launched her army across the border with a deep sense that her national honour was in its keeping. Less than a month before the battle, a wail had gone up from the good and patriotic Baillie : " Waller, Manchester, Fairfaxe, and all getts victories ; but MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 257 Lesley, from whom all was expected, as yett has had his hands bound. God, we hope, will loose them, and send us matter of praise also." 1 And now that the great victory had come, Leven was still found wanting, while Cromwell's name swelled the roll of England's successful generals. And Scotland was not without considerable cause for discontent at the manner in which her army's conduct was represented. Stockdale's letter to Rushworth was read in the House of Commons on July 8. a It paid a compliment to Leven's " great experience " in drawing up the forces ; said not a word to suggest that any but Manchester's horse were on the left wing ; only mentioned the Scottish infantry to say that all ran away save Lindsay's regiment ; singled out Cromwell, Manchester, and Sir Thomas Fairfax as having merited most in the concluding episode in the battle, and from first to last gave no indication of the fact that Leslie and his regiments were on the field at all. Stockdale's letter conveyed an obvious impression, that the battle was won by the left wing of horse, and that other than Man- chester's cavalry no one had a share in it. 3 A few days later Ash's account reached Lon- don. 4 It complimented Leven as had Stockdale's ; recorded the fact that there were Scots upon the left and right ; complimented the Scottish infantry, 1 I Jail lie, ii., 170. 2 Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 73. Mail lie writes on July 12 from London : u The Independents sent up one (juicklie, to assure that all the glory of that night was theirs; that they, ami their ( lenerall-major Cromwell, had done it all their alone." ii., 203. 4 It is dated from York on July 10. 17 258 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. but offered no details of their behaviour ; declared generally that many of the Scots " did singular good service," and especially Lindsay ; described Leven's attempt to rally his troops, but gave no hint of the part which the Scottish cavalry had played, or of the fact that part of their infantry held the field throughout the battle. On July 11 the narrative issued as A Full delation of the Victory was pub- lished in London. With the laudable intention of placing the conduct of the Scottish army in a favour- able light, it over-elaborated its case, caused some ridicule, as one may conjecture, by its inaccuracies, and added to the bitterness which the partisans of the two nations were already beginning to show. 1 English opinion at once recognised in Cromwell the one Englishman above others to whom the victory was due.- In the desire to contest with 1 The following characteristics may be noticed in regard to it: (1) it places the Scottish regiments with particular minute- ness ; (2) it mentions those which made the first assault upon the royalist foot ; (3) it attributes the routing of Fairfax's Scottish reserve, not to the enemy, but to Fairfax's own cavalry ; (4) it details the actions of Balgonie's and Eglinton's regiments on the right wing; (5) it slurs over the disaster which overtook half the Scottish right centre; (6) it dwells with emphasis upon Lindsay's and Maitland's regiments, their gallant resistance and hazardous position ; (7) it mentions Fraser's dragoons clearing the ditch for Cromwell; (8) it attributes the rout of the Greencoats and White- coats to David Leslie; (9) it states that the Scottish foot had already driven off the royalist cavalry before Cromwell and Leslie came up ; (10) out of seven commanders whose individual valour it praises, five are Scotchmen. As to its author, cf. Gardiner. War, i., 373 ; Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., xii., 65 ; Baillie, ii., 209. 2 On September 13, 1644, the Speaker conveyed the thanks of the House of Commons to Cromwell, "for the faithful Service per- formed by him in the late Battle near York, where God made him a special Instrument in obtaining that great Victory ". C'.,7.,iii..626. MAKSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 259 England the merit of the victory, Scotland looked for a counterpart of Cromwell, and found David Leslie. As Cromwell's progress carried with him the triumph of the Independents, Scottish Presby- terian feeling rallied yet closer to the support of its champion. In 1645 David Buchanan pub- lished his Truth Its Manifest. Therein he at- tempted to explain and defend the actions of Scotland since the outbreak of the Bishops' Wars. How deeply the memory of Marston rankled is very obvious in his pages. "In this Battell," he writes, " divers gallant men of both Nations had an honourable share of the Victory : but none I hear of, without disparagement to any, did ap- pear so much in action that day with gallantry as David Lesley. Here, those of the party we spoke of a little before, to indear themselves to the people, attribute unto themselves the honour of the day, and stick not to call one of theirs The Siirioiu- of the 1 lir^' Kingdom*, when God knows, he that they then did extoll so much, did not appear at all in the heat of the businesse, having received at first a little scar, kept off, till the worst was past. This had not been spoken of at all, if some idle men to gull the world had not given the honour of the day to those who had but little, or no share in it." 1 1 34. The Commons, on January 29, 1646, described Bu- chanan's production as "a scandalous Pamphlet". On April 13, li>4<). they summoned Buchanan to the Bar of the House, and ordered his work to l>e burnt by the common Hangman. On July 28, 1646, Buchanan was again sent for as a delinquent. C. /.. iv., 422, 507, 628. Baillic writes: " the beginning of the vic- torie was from David Lesley, who before was much suspected of 260 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. To Buchanan Lord Saye replied in 1647. 1 The statement regarding Cromwell he declared a " palpable gross lye ". But as between Cromwell and Leslie he offered a comparison which, with some omissions, expresses the relative achievement of the two men. " Herein indeed," he writes, " was the good service which David Lesley did that day, with his little, light Scotch Xags . . . that when a Regiment of the Enemies was broken, he then fell in and followed the chase, doing execution upon them, and keeping them from rally- ing again and getting into Bodies, whereby Crom- well with his Regiments had the better means and opportunity, keeping firm together in Bodies,- to fall upon the other Regiments which remained, untill they were, one after another, all broken and routed, both Horse and Foot : the Enemies Horse, being many of them, if not the greatest part, Gentlemen, stood very firm a long time, coming to a close fight with the Sword, and standing like an Iron Wall, so that they were not easily broken ; if the Scots light, but weak Xags had undertaken that work, they had never been able to stand a charge, or indure the shock of the Enemies Horse, both Horse and men being very good, and fighting evill designes". ii., 204. He also declares that in consequence of Cromwell's wound. Leslie led on his troopers. ii., 218. David Leslie, soon after Manchester's arrival at York, ''could not be gott to Command in Chiefe, nor yet to cast lots for it, but would have Lieutenant Generall Crumwell chiefe ; yet is he a brave and able Commander of Horse as any". Parliament Scout. May 30- June 6. 1 The Scots Desiyne discovered, in Eng. Hi*f. /.'< r.. v., 351-52. 2 The same fact is noticed in >'>// n-ill>:.<. ii., M47. r f. 7Y< //<*. Royal Hist. Soc.. xii., 56. MAKSTOX MOOK AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 261 desperately enough. I appeal to the consiences of those that were present, if this be not the true Relation of that Battle for substance." Leslie's part in the battle was by no means exclusively what Lord Saye represented. He con- tributed to Rupert's repulse and supported Crom- well at that critical period. Equally he participated in the rout of Goring, and in the butchery of the Whitecoats which ended the fight. But broadly, Lord Saye's criticism is a just one. Without the aid of Leslie, Cromwell had certainly done less. Without Cromwell, Leslie had probably shared the fortune of Fairfax. The achievement of neither can be properly measured if the merits of the one be denied or minimised. What was in fact the dis- tinctively Scottish contribution to the victory came less from the cavalry than from the foot. As was the stubborn defence of the English squares at Waterloo before the coming of the Prussians, such was the merit of the Scottish foot at Marston, and Scotland had taken more solid ground if, in urging a due recognition of her share in the glories of Marston, she had insisted that her infantry had converted what had otherwise been a drawn battle, or at most an encouraging success, into a decisive and determining victory. From the lines round York, to which they re- turned after the battle, Leven and his colleagues despatched to the Committee in London news of their victory : ' " Since our last, the condition of affairs is not a little changed, for on Monday last, 1 C. S. 1'. (H>44 , :U1. A despatch in almost identical language from Lord Lindsay is in Thurloe, i., 38. 26*2 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. upon notice of Prince Rupert's march from Knais- burgh towards us, we resolved and accordingly drew out the armies to have met him, and for that end did march the same night to Long Marston, about four miles west of York, but the Prince having notice thereof, passed with his army at Boroughbridge, and so put the river Ouse betwixt him and us, whereby we were disabled to oppose his passage into York, the bridge we built on the west side of the town being so weak that we durst not adventure to transport our armies over upon it. This made us resolve the next morning to march to Tadcaster for stopping his passage southward. And the armies being so far on their way that the van was within a mile of it, notice was sent us by our horsemen, who were upon our rear, that the Prince's army, horse and foot, were advanced the length of Long Marston Moor, and was ready to fall upon them, whereupon we recalled the armies and drew them up on a corn hill at the south side of the moor, in the best way we could, so far as the straitness of the field and other disadvantages of the place could permit. Before both armies were in readiness it was near seven o'clock at night, about which time they advanced the one toward the other, whereupon followed a very hot en- counter for the space of three hours, whereof, by the great blessing and good providence of God, the issue was the total routing of the enemy's army, with the loss of all their ordnance, to the number of 20 [pieces], their ammunition, baggage, about 100 colours, and 10,000 arms. There were killed upon the spot about 3000 of the enemy, whereof MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 263 many were chief officers, and 1500 prisoners taken, among whom there are above 100 officers, in which number is Sir Charles Lucas, Lieut-Genl. to the Marquis of Newcastle's horse, Major-General Porter, and Major-General Tillyer, besides diverse colonels, lieut-colonels, and majors. Our loss is not very great, being only one lieut-colonel, a few captains, and 200 or 300 common soldiers. The Prince, in great distraction, with only a few horse- men and scarcely any foot, marched the next morning from York northward. We have now lain down again in our old leaguer before York, which we hope within a few days to gain. We are resolved to send a great part of our cavalry after Prince Rupert. We have nothing to add, but that as the glory of all the success belongs to God, and the benefit we hope will redound to the whole kingdom, we have appointed this next Sabbath for a day of public thanksgiving through- out the armies, so your Lordships would appoint a day for the same to be kept throughout the kingdom, and notice sent to us thereof, that we may all together join in it." Elated by their victory the allies resumed the siege of York. Upon July 4 their batteries were again opened upon the city, and one of its towers was destroyed.- On the llth, cannon were planted, scaling ladders were prepared, and all was ready for a general assault. But dispirited by their late defeat, and by the Marquis's defection, the be- 1 The thanksgiving was celebrate*! at York on Sunday, July 7. Ruslnvorth, v., C.:!7. - Douglas. 264 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. sieged were in no position to withstand it, To the summons to surrender they replied with a request for a parley. On July 13, accordingly, the allies sent in Commissioners, and on Monday the 15th, the city agreed to capitulate. Sir Thomas Glemham, to whom the Marquis had resigned his command, engaged to surrender the city, its forts, ordnance and ammunition by eleven o'clock on the morning of the 16th ; the garrison were to march out with flying colours to Skipton, or to the next garrison town within sixteen miles of the Prince's army ; their sick and wounded were to be free to depart upon their recovery ; no interference was to be made with the trade or liberties of the city ; two-thirds at least of the garrison which the victors should introduce into the town were to be York- shire men ; residents in the town were to have full liberty to move into or out of it unmolested ; and the churches and buildings of the city were not to be defaced. 1 So, on Tuesday, July 16, the long siege came to its close. Early in the morning, the army of the besiegers drew up about a mile from Mickle- gate, and through their lines the garrison marched out about a thousand strong. Leven, Fairfax, and Manchester at once entered the abandoned city, and proceeding to the Minster, heard a sermon of thanksgiving from Robert Douglas, Leven's chaplain. - 1 Rush worth, v., 637 et seq. 2 Ibid., v., 640. Douglas gives notes of his sermon on the following Thursday : " I was appointed to preach before noon the thanksgiving, and Mr. Someone [Simeon Ash], Manchers minister, MARSTON MOOR AND THE SIEGE OF YORK. 265 On July 20, leaving Fairfax in possession of York, Manchester's and Leven's armies withdrew towards Leeds. 1 For the Scots some period of rest was much needed. Six months had elapsed .since they passed the Tweed in January. In the interval, they had been almost continuously con- fronted by the enemy, either in the field, or behind the walls of Newcastle, Durham, and York. But the conquest of the North of England still remained incomplete, and in its reduction there opened the prospect of service to the joint cause of the two Kingdoms, in which the Scottish army could fulfil its part alone and unaided. To that service, after but a brief interval of rest, Leven turned. to preach afternoon. My text was Psalm 12, the last v[erse]. The heads of the sermon followes. This day is a day of thanks- giving for delyvery from enemies ; and this Psalme of thanks- giving for delyvery. The enemie resembles ours. I shall take up all in three : 1. The termes of praire ; 2. The matter of praire ; 3. The resolution of the praiers, etc." 1 Douglas, Diary. Leven remained in York over Sunday the 21st. 266 APPENDIX TO CHAPTEK VII. THE BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR. A CONTINUATION OF TEUE INTELLIGENCE. 1 UPON the thirtie of June (being the Sabbath) towards evening, we had certain intelligence that Prince Eupert with his Armie were quartered at Burrowbrigs, within twelve miles of York, and that he intended to fight with us the next day. Hereupon the three Generalls resolved that night, and in the morning to raise the Siege, that they might be able to encounter the great Forces now ready to assault them, with hope to returne unto the Siege, upon the repulsion of the potent enemy. You will easily beleeve that there was much joy, and many manifestations thereof in the Citie, upon removing of the Forces, which had so long begirt it on every side : And truly many of our hearts were oppressed with heavinesse, looking upon this providence as speaking divine displeasure against us, but our God hath mercifully made known the ground- lesnesse of our doubts and discouragements, for ever blessed be his Name. Upon Mundy, July 1 we marched with all our Forces unto Hessammoore (on the South-side of the River Owse) with hope there to meet with Prince Rupert in his way towards York. In the afternoone our Army was set in Battalia and our Souldiers were full of joy, expecting to have a Battail with the enemy, because we were assured by our Scouts that the Prince with his whole body would passe that way. But Prince Rupert 1 Kings Pamphlets, E. 2. 1. THE BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR. 267 understanding our preparations for him, did passe on the other side the River, and while a party of his horse did face us on the Moore (which was neare a Bridge, for their secure retreat at pleasure) the Prince himselfe, with 2000 of his horse, went into York, for the reliefe of that distressed people. Upon this so sad and unex- spected a disappointment, our hearts generally were filled with sorrow, but yet, in the midst of our sadnesse, many of us did incourage each other unto an hopefull expectation of a comfortable issue from the good hand of our God, whose Name we had uncessantly supplicated for the happy speeding of this great concernment. The night drawing on, wee marched unto long Marston (a Towne at hand), where very few had either the comfort of con- venient lodging, or food : our Souldiers did drink the Wells dry, and then were necessitated to make use of puddle water : Most of our horse quartered in the Moore that night. Upon tuesday morning, a partie of the enemies horse, having faced us awhile, wheeled back out of sight, which gave us cause to suspect that the maine body was marched towards Tadcaster (having relived Yorke), where he might cut off the River, and so both scant us of provisions and get down suddainly into the South. Here- upon our foot, with Artillery, were commanded to advance towards Tadcaster. The Scots (marching in the Van that day) being got almost to Tadcaster, and the Earle of Manchesters foot being two or three miles from Marston, we had a very hot alarum that the enemy with all his strength was returned to the Moore : While our horse faced the enemy, the whole body of foot were called back, with all the speed which they could possibly make : and indeed, hope of a battaile moved our Souldiers to return merrily ; which also adminstred matter of comfort unto all who belonged to the Army. Before our foot could get back (which was about two or three a clock) the enemy was possessed of the Moore (a ground 268 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. very advantageous) and had in many small bodies bespread themselves, that their Army did extend two miles (as its judged) in length : Yea, by the improving of this opportunite, they had by divers regiments of Muskettiers so lined the hedge and ditch betwixt themselves and us, that our Souldiers could not assault them, without very great apparent prejudice. We were compelled to draw upon our Army, and to place it in battalia in a large field of Kie, where the height of the corn, together with the showers of rain which then fell, prov'd no small incon- venience unto our Souldiers ; yet being on an hill, we had the double advantage of the ground, and the wind. Here the Noble Commander Generall Lesley exercised his Martial abilities with unwearied activity and industry. He hasted from place to place to put all our Forces in battell array, which he did to the satisfaction and admira- tion of all that beheld it : the other two Generals acting also in their own Armies. How goodly a sight was this to behold, when 2 mighty Armies, each of which consisted of above 20000, horse and foot, did with flying colours prepared for the battell looke each other in the face. The posture of our Army, when drawn up, was this ; Most of Generall Lesley his Horse, together with the Horse of the Lord Fairfax, made the right wing. The Earle of Manchesters Horse, with some of the Scotch Horse, were the left wing. Generall Lesleyes Foot were on the right hand, the Earle of Manchesters Foot were the left hand of the Lord Fairfax his foot who were the body. There were 3 or 4 Brigads placed for a Reserve. Our Army being thus Marshalled, towards six or seven of the clocke we advanced about two hundred paces to- wards the Enemy, our Canon (which had plaid one or two houres before from the top of the Hill) was drawne forward for our best advantage, our signal was a white Paper, or handkerchiffe in our hats ; our word was God with us. The Enemies signal was to bee without bands and skarfes. Their word was God and the King. THE BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR. 269 Our Army in its severall parts moving downe the Hill, was like unto so many thicke clouds, having divided themselves into Brigades, consisting of eight hundred, one thousand, twelve hundred, fifteen hundred men in a Brigade. And our Brigades of Horse, consisting some of three, and some of foure Troopes. The enemy (as some Prisoners report) was amazed and daunted at our approach, not expecting any assault till the next morning. Upon the advancing of the Earle of Manchesters Foote, after short firings on both sides, wee caused the enemy to quit the hedge in a disorderly manner, where they left behind them foure Drakes. The Lord Fairfax his Briggade on our right hand did also beat off the Enemy from the hedges before them, driving them from their Canon, being two Drakes and one Derni- culvering, but being afterwards received by Marquesse New-castles Regiment of Foot, and by them furiously assaulted, did make a retreat in some disorder. This advantage espyed by a body of the Enemies Horse, they charged through them unto the top of the hill. But one Regiment of the Earle of Manchesters Foote seeing the Enemy, both Horse and Foot, pursuing an advantage, did wheele on the right hand, upon their Flanck, and gave them so hot a charge, that they were forced to flie back disbanded into the Moore, And these Enemies were so opportunely met in the Moore, by a body of our Horse, that many of them were killed in the place, and about two hundred by the Scots Horse were taken prisoners. Before this time, Lieutenant Generall Cromwell had with much Gallantry charged through and through, and routed two of the bravest Brigades of Horse in the Enemies right wing, wiiere were the stoutest Men and Horse which Prince Rupert had. Our Horse and Foot with undaunted courage did put the Enemies right wing to flight, forcing them both from their Canon and Ammu- nition : But when they came up to the Enemies left wing, 270 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. hoping that our right wing had done as good service as themselves, they were disappointed, for our Horse there were beaten back : And although the Scots Musquet tiers had fired there most bravely, and to good purpose, to the dissipating of the Enemies Foot, yet their Horse there stood still in full bodies ; our left wing was neither wearyed by their former hot service, nor discouraged by the sight of that strength which yet the enemy had unshaken and intire, but continuing and renuing their valour, they charged every party remaining in the field, till all were fully routed and put to flight : our men pursued the Enemies about three miles, till they came neere unto Yorke. Prince Rupert and Marquesse Newcastle escaped with difficulty, if the Prince had not hid himselfe in Beane Lands, hee had beene taken. The Earle of Manchester with much labour did Rally five hundred of the Souldiers who were leaving the field in great disorder, and brought them backe againe to the battaile. The worthy Generall Lesley was much offended with the SouJdiers who shrunk from the service of the day : and having indevoured both by words and blows to keep them in the Field, with much wisdome and affection hee pressed this argument ; " Although you run from your Enemies, yet leave not your Generall, though you flie from them, yet forsake not mee ". Many of the Scots, both Commanders and others, did singular good service, and stood to it stoutly, unto the end of the day, amongst whom the Earle of Lindsey deserves much honour : And as for them of each Nation who went away, they have by their Ministers and others been so sharpely reproved, and their fault in such sort aggravated, that there is hope they will regaine their credit by good service upon the next occasion. And Sir Thomas Fairefax (whose former worthy ex- ploits have rendred him famous) lost no honour this day, for although many of his Souldiers did faint and fall backe, THE BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR. 271 yet his heart continued like the heart of a Lion, stout and undaunted. For he stayed in the Field until being dis- mounted and wounded, hee was brought off by a Souldier. The hurt which Sir Thomas Fairfax received is in his face, but (God bee thanked) wee feare no danger. The runawayes, with other poore people who attended the Army, did grievously plunder our Wagons and other Carriages, for the Wagoners, Carters, etc. being affrighted with the flight of our owne Souldiers, did leave their charge in the hands of such who love to spoyle. It was a sad sight to behold many thousands posting away, being amazed with panick feares. Here occasion was given to remember Keynton Battaile, whereby the hearts of some were upheld with hope, when others gave up all as lost, with much dis- pondency of Spirit. Upon our coole and re-collected thoughts, such of us who desire to acknowledge God in all his wayes doe firmly pitch upon these conclusions. The Lord saw that wee were apt to rely upon the Arme of flesh, and there- fore much humane strength failed us. And because, if the whole Army had continued couragious, wee should have ascribed the glory of the victory unto man, therefore it pleased the Lord, in reference to his owne praise, to lessen our strength, that his owne Arme might bee exalted. The Enemies being all beaten out of the Field, the Earle of Manchester, about eleven a clock that night, did ride about to the Souldiers, both Horse and Foot, giving them many thanks for the exceeding good service which they had done for the Kingdome ; and hee often earnestly intreated them to give the honour of their Victory unto God alone. Hee also further told them, that although hee could not possibly that night make provisions for them, according to their deserts and necessities, yet hee would without faile indevour their satisfactions in that kind in the morning. The Souldiers unanimously gave God the glory of 272 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. their great deliverance and Victory, and told his Lordship with much cheerfulnesse that though they had long fasted, and were faint, yet they would willingly want three daies longer, rather then give off the Service, or leave his Lordship. And here I should move your compassions towards poore Souldiers if I should largely relate the wants which that night (and sometime since) they were pinched withall. They having drained the wells to the mud, were necessi- tated to drinke water out of ditches, and out of places pudled with the horse feet : Yea, through the scarcity of Accommodations, very few of the Common Souldiers did eat above the quantity of a penny loafe from Tuesday till Saturday morning, and had no beere at all. That night we kept the field, when the Bodies of the dead were stripped. In the morning, there was a mortify- ing object to behold, when the naked bodies of thousands lay upon the ground, and many not altogether dead. Wee judge that about three thousand of the Enemies were slaine ; but the Countreymen (who were commanded to bury the Corpes) tell us they have buried foure thou- sand one hundred and fifty bodies. Amongst the dead Men and Horses which lay on the ground, wee found Prince Buperts Dog killed. (This is onely mentioned by the way, because the Prince his Dog hath been much spoken of, and was more prized by his Master then Creatures of much more worth.) Wee tooke all the Enemies Cannon, Ammunition, Waggons, and Baggage. The Earle of Manchester hath for his part, ten pieces of Ordinance, one case of Drakes, foure thousand and five hundred Muskets, forty barrels of Powder, three tun of great and small Bullet, eight hun- dred Pikes, besides Swords, Bandileers, etc. Wee tooke fifteen hundred Prisoners, of which many were men of quality and great esteeme; Sir Charles Lucas, Lieutenant Generall to their Horse ; Porter, Major Generall to their Foot ; Major Generall Tilliard THE BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR. 273 (a stout Souldier, who came from Ireland), the Lord Gorings Son, with divers field-officers. Divers men of good quality were slaine ; Sir William Wentworth, Sir Marmaduke Langdon, Sir Thomas Met- tom, Monsieur S* Paula, a Frenchman, and divers others. The white, smooth Skins of many dead bodies in the field gives us occasion to thinke that they were Gentlemen. The Lord Grandison, with others, came wounded into Yorke. Now it is admirable to consider how few men wee lost in the Battaile. In the Earle of Manchesters Army ; Captaine Walton had his leg shot off with a Cannon bullet, and Captaine Pue (a Foote Captaine) was slaine: wee found onely six more of our Foot slaine, and about twenty wounded in the Moore. Our greatest losse of Men was among them who ran away, and the Carriage- keepers. Many of our Souldiers (the Horse-men especially) met with much Gold and Silver, and other Commodities of good worth : And indeed they deserved such incourage- ments, by their excellent service and brave adventures. Wee heare that there were warme words passed betwixt Prince Rupert and the Marquesse Newcastle in Yorke, after their Bout ; they charging each other with the cause thereof. The Prince told the Marquess, That hee made not good his promise in his assistance ; but the Marquesse replyed in such a manner as moved much passion. It is reported that they parted in great discontent. According to our Intelligence, the Marquesse, with Generall King, Lord Withrington, and twenty more of good Ranke, went into Scarborough ; and that they are gone beyond Seas. Prince Rupert is marched into the Dales, the Moun- tainous parts of Yorke, to Recrute his broken Armie. Upon Saturday, six thousand of our Horse and Dra- goones marched after him. 18 274 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. The three Generals are returned unto their old Quarters, having againe besieged Yorke. Sir William Brereton and Sir John Meldrum are corne from Lancashire unto us, not knowing of our Battaile or Victory till they came hither. Being now with us they are desirous to stay till some assault bee made upon Yorke, which is intended within few dayes. The Successe of this Service will be the subject of our next Intelligence. Upon the Sabbath day, we solemnly throughout the Army gave thanks to God for our Victory : And the Earle of Manchester hath sent his Letters of Request, that through the whole Association there may be a day of thanks-giving for this great mercy. Wee desire the sanctification of our Experiences ; and resolve to wait upon our God for further favours ; which wee expect through the help of his peoples prayers. SIM. ASH. JFrom the Leaguer before Yorke, July 10, 1644. A FULL RELATION OF THE VICTORY OBTAINED (THROUGH GODS PROVIDENCE) BY THE FORCES UNDER THE COMMAND OF GENERALL LESLEY, THE LORD FAIRFAX, AND THE EARL OF MAN- CHESTER ; BEING ABOUT TWENTY SEVEN THOU- SAND HORSE AND FOOT. AGAINST HIS MAJES- TIES FORCES UNDER THE COMMAND OF PRINCE RUPERT AND THE EARL OF NEWCASTLE, BEING MUCH ABOUT THE SAME NUMBER. FOUGHT <>X MARSTAM-MOOR, WITHIN 5 MILES OF YORK, ()N THE SECOND OF JULY, 1644. 1 My earnest desire to satisfie your expectation, and the fear which I have least our affairs here should not bee truly represented unto you, hath moved me to give you this short account of the late Fight : 1 Kings Pamphlets, E. 54. 19. THE BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR. 275 Upon Munday last, understanding that Prince Rupert, with about Twenty thousand Foot and Horse, did march towards us, our whole Army arose from the Siege, and marched towards Longmarston Moor, about four or five miles from York, where we quartered that night : But the Prince having notice of our march, passed with his Army by the way of Burrowbridge ; so that by reason of the interposing Eiver we could not hinder his passage into York : Whereupon we marched to Tod caster, to pre- vent his going Southward ; but before our Van was ad- vanced within a mile of Todcaster, we were advertised that the Prince was upon our Reare, and was come the length of Longmarston, where he drew up his Army in a place of great advantage, having the addition of the Earle of Newcastles Forces, reported to be about 6000. With as great expedition as could be, our Army was called back. In the mean while, the Enemy perceiving that our Cavalry had possessed themselves of a corn hill, and having discovered neer unto that hill a place of great advantage, where they might have both Sun and Winde of us, advanced thither with a Regiment of Red Coats. and a party of Horse ; but we understanding well their intentions, and how prejudiciall it would be unto us if they should keep that ground, we sent out a party which beat them off, and planted there our left wing of Horse ; having gained this place, Generall Lesley gave order for drawing up of the Battell : The right wing of Horse was intrusted to Sir Thomas Fairfax, a man of known Valour and Resolution, it did consist of his whole Cavalry, and three Regiments of the Scottish Horse, commanded by the Earl of Dalhousie, Earl of Eglington, and Lord Balgony ; next unto them was drawn up the right wing of the Foot, consisting of the Lord Fairfax his Foot, and two Brigades of the Scottish Foot for a Reserve. In the main Battell was the Regiments of the Earl of Lindsey, Lord Maitland, Earl of Cassilis, and Kelheads, and two 276 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Brigades of the Earl of Manchesters ; In the Reserve was the Earl of Backleigh his Regiment, the Earl of Lowdons, Earl of Dumferlings, Lord Coupers, Generall Hamiltons, Generall of the Artillery, Edinburgh Regiment had a Brigade of Manchesters : Upon the left Wing of Horse was the Earl of Manchesters whole Cavalry, under Command of Lieut. Generall Cromwell, and three Regiments of the Scotish Horse, Commanded by Generall Major Lesly, and upon their left hand, neer a crosse ditch where the enemy had a Regiment of Foot, was placed the Scotish Dragoones, under the Command of Colonell Frizell : Orders being given to advance, the Battell was led on by Generall Hammilton, Lieutenant Generall Baylie, and Major Generall Crawford ; the Reserve being committed to the trust of Generall Major Lumsdaine : There was a great Ditch between the Enemy and us, which ran along the front of the Battell, only be- tween the Earl of Manchesters foot and the enemy there was a plain ; in this Ditch the enemy had placed foure Brigades of their best Foot, which upon the advance of our Battell were forced to give ground, being gallantly assaulted by the E. of Lindsies regiment, the Lord Mait- lands, Cassilis, and Kelheads. Generall Major Crawford having overwinged the enemy set upon their flank, and did very good execution upon the enemy, which gave occasion to the Scottish Foote to advance and passe the Ditch. The right wing of our Foot [i.e. Horse] had severall misfortunes, for betwixt them and the enemy there was no passage but at a narrow Lane, where they could not march above 3 or 4 in front, upon the one side of the Lane was a Ditch, and on the other an Hedge, both whereof were lined with Musketiers, notwithstanding Sir Thomas Fairfax charged gallantly, but the enemy keeping themselves in a body, and receiving them by threes and foures as they marched out of the Lane, and (by what mistake I know not) Sir Thomas Fairfax his new leavied regiment being in the Van, they wheeled about, and being THE BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR. 277 hotly pursued by the enemy came back upon the L. Fairfax Foot, and the reserve of the Scottish Foot, broke them wholly, and trod the most part of them under foot. Sir Thomas Fairfax, Colonell Lambert, and Sir Thomas his brother with five or six Troopes charged through the enemy and went to the left wing of Horse, the two Squadrons of Balgonies regiment being divided by the enemy each from the other, one of them being Lanciers charged a regiment of the enemies foot, and put them wholly to the rout, and after joyned with the left wing of Horse, the other by another way went also to the left wing ; The Earle of Eglingtons regiment maintained their ground (most of the enemies going on in the pursuit of the Horse and Foote that fled) but with the losse of four Lieutenants, the Lieut. Colonell, the Major, and Egling- tons Sonne being deadly wounded, Sir Charles Lucas and Generall Major Porter having thus divided all our Horse on that wing, assaulted the Scottish Foot upon their Flanks, so that they had the Foot upon their front, and the whole Cavalry of the enemies left wing to fight with, whom they encountered with so much courage and reso- lution, that having enterlined their Musquetiers with Pikemen they made the enemies Horse, notwithstanding for all the assistance they had of their foot, at two severall assaults to give ground ; and in this hot dispute with both they continued almost an houre, still maintaining their ground ; Lieut. Generall Baily, and Generall Major Lumsdain (who both gave good evidence of their courage and skill) perceiving the greatest weight of the battell to lye sore upon the Earl of Linsies, and Lord Maitelands regiment, sent up a reserve for their assistance, after which the enemies Horse having made a third assault upon them, had almost put them in some disorder ; but the E. of Lindsey, and Lieut Colonell Pitscotti, Lieut. Col. to the Lord Maitlands Regiment, behaved themselves so gallantly, that they quickly made the enemies Horse to retreat, 278 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. killed Sir Charles Lucas his Horse, tooke him Prisoner, and gained ground upon the foote. The Scottish Dragoons that were placed upon the left wing, by the good managing of Colonell Frizell acted their part so well, that at the first assault they beate the enemy from the ditch, and shortly after killed a great many, and put the rest to the rout. L. Generall Cromwell charged Prince Euperts horse with exceeding great resolution, and maintained his charge with no lesse valour. Generall- Major Lesley charged the Earle of Newcastles brigade of Whitecoats, and cut them wholy off, some few excepted who were taken prisoners, and after them charged a brig- ade of Green-coats, whereof they cut off a great number, and put the rest to the rout, which service being performed, he charged the enemies horse (with whom L. Generall Cromwell was engaged) upon the flanke. and in a very short space the enemies whole Cavalry was routed, on whom our fore-troopes did execution to the very walls of Yorke ; but our body of Horse kept their ground. Lieut. Generall Cromwell and Major-generall Lesley being joyned, and receiving advertisement that our Foot were engaged with the enemies Horse and Foot, marched to their assistance, and met with the enemies Horse (being retreated upon the repulse they had from the Scottish Foot) at the same place of disadvantage where they had routed our Horse formerly ; and indeed their successe was answerable, if not much worse, for we routed them wholly, killed and tooke their chief e Officers, and most part of their Standards. After which we set upon the reare of their Foot, and with the assistance of our maine battell, which all this time stood firrne, we put them wholly to the rout, killed many, and tooke their Officers and Colours ; and by this time we had no enemy in the Field. We tooke all their Ordnance being in number 25, neere 130 barrels of Powder, besides what was blowne up by the common Souldiers, above an hundred Colours, and ten thousand Armes besides two Waggons of Carbines and Pistols of THE BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR. 279 spare Arrnes. There were killed upon the place 3000, whereof, upon a judicious view of the dead bodies, two parts appeared to be Gentlemen and Officers. There were 1500 prisoners taken, whereof Sir Charles Lucas, Lieu- tenant-generall of the Earl of Newcastles Horse, Major- generall Porter, and Major-generall Tillier, besides divers Colonels, Lieutenant-colonells, and Majors. The losse upon our part, blessed be God, is not great, being onely of one Lieutenant-colonell, some few Captaines, and not 300 common Souldiers. Upon Wednesday, the day after the fight, P. Ruperts Sumpter-horse was found in the Wood, with some of their provisions ; upon Thursday morning the Souldiers being drawn to their Armes upon a false Alarm, occasion was taken to march towards Yorke to our old Leaguer ; about seven of the clocke the Towne was summoned to render upon mercy, whereunto answer was returned under Sir Thomas Glenhams and the Maior of the Townes hands, that they could not give it up upon such termes ; and if they shall continue in their obstinate refusals, we are resolved by Gods assistance to storme it once this weeke following, for our Scaling-ladders and all other necessaries for a storme are in readinesse, there not being 500 fighting men in the Towne besides the Citizens ; especially, the enemy having quitted their great Fort for want of men to maintaine it. We heare that there have beene some differences betweene the Prince and the Earle of Newcastle, which appeare to be more reall that they have parted since ; the Earle of New-castle, Generall King, and the Lord Wid- rington are gone to Scarsborough, and as wee understand since, are shipped for Holland, 'and Prince Eupert toward the North ; his Rendezvous was twelve miles on the North side of Yorke, where appeared about fifteene or sixteene hundred horse, and eight hundred foot. Upon Thursday at night he was at Richmond, so that it is yet doubtfull whether he intends for the Bishoprick of Durham or Lancashire ; if he shall goe to Durham and those parts, 280 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. we hope Calender (who for certaine is before New-Castle) will entertaine him ; however, we have sent after him all the Scottish Cavalry, all the Lord Manchesters, 1000 of the Lord Fairefax's, and one thousand Dragoons, in all seven thousand. While I was about to close my Letter we received information that the Lord Clavering with about 2000 foote and horse are joyned with the Prince, and that he is gone to Lancashire, whereupon Sir John Meldrum with the Lancashire and Scottish foot that were there formerly, and Sir William Brereton with 1500 horse are returned the neerest way to Lancashire to stop the Prince his passage into the South till our Horse be able to overtake him. The three Generalls have sent the bearer hereof, Captaine William Stewart (a Scottish officer that did good service in the late fight), to the Parliament with the Earle of New-Castles commission for being Generall, and his Commission for making of Knights, which were taken at the fight, together with some Letters of Sir John Hothams, whereby it is clearely made known that he intended to betray Hull to the Enemy ; There are likewise sent by him all the Coronets and colours which could be got from the Souldiers, who esteeme it a great glory to divide them in peeces and weare them, and before Proclamation was made for delivery of them had disposed of the most part of them. At the leaguer neere York, July 6, at ten at night. THE DIAEY OF MR. EGBERT DOUGLAS. * Upon the 2nd of July, it was resolved to march to Tod-castle, 2 to attend the enemie his south coming ; and when some of our Scottish foot were advanced within half a mile of Todcastle, the enemie came upon our rear, we were forced to march back. The enemie drew up on 1 Historical Fragment*, relative to Scottish Affairs from 1635 to 1664. Edinburgh. 1833. 2 Tadcaster. THE BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR. 281 the moore, our armies were drawn up upon the corn- fields, and lay above the moore ; ours were long in draw- ing up. In the afternoon our cannon played upon their right wing, their cannon played back againe ; God pre- served me, their cannon coming very near me. The battell was drawn up ; upon our left wing were all Manchester's horse, about 3 thousand, and 3 regiments of ours, the Majors, Balcarrasses, Killburnes, also Man- chesters foot were there, commanded be Generall Maior Crawford, a Scotsman ; the horse were commanded be Cromwell and David Lesly. Upon the right wing was Sir Thomas Fairfax, with 3 thousand horse and 3 regiments of ours, Eglintoun, Dalhousie, Bargenie, with Fairfax Dragooners, and com- manded men of ours. In the battell we had our foot with some of Fairfax foot, and so in the reserve and rear. The battell joyned about seven at night, our left wing with their right wing, where Prince Rupert commanded with Urie. Upon their right wing was Goring and Sir Charles Lucas. In the battell, Newcastle and Kinghorn, horse and foot, charged the enemie first. Barnadie, one of Manchesters commanders, muster master Generall, he charged, but till they came on the rear of our horsemen, but came not up againe. Then Cromwell charged verie weel, but at the first charge he was lightlie hurt, went off, and came out againe, as was managed by David Leslie. Our Scots horse on that wing did good service, both in cutting off the foot, and charging with Manchesters horse. In this mean tyme, some of the enemies horse charged the battell, Fairfax briggade of foot fled, the Edinburgh and artillerie regiment followed, first the Chancellor and Maclaines fled, some levie of all the horsemen of the enemy charged up where they were fleeing, Generall Lesly came up for horse to beat them in, and went to- wards the rescue of horse ; in that same instant, all Fair- 282 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. fax 3 thousand horse fled at once, our horsemen upon that hand stood till they were disordered. Many officers hurt, there our foot, Dudop, and the ministers regiments were run down, Lieutenant Harison was killed ; Ancient Murray, Francis Hart, very ill ; Dudop was taken, and after a space [of about '?] some 20 dayes, tooke a fever, and died. That day God shewed many signs of favour and power. 1. The first cannon the enemy shot, 3 at once, there came a clap of thunder lyke that same, and no more. 2. God would not give the victorie to so great a multitude, we were then 24 thousand, the enemy 20. Therfor he dismayed more then the halfe ; they that fled, ran fast away ; they that stood, God made stand to it indeed. 3. God would not have a generall in the army, he himself was General). Leslie went to Bredford, Fairfax to Carford, my Lord Manchester was fleing with a number of Scots officers. God used me as ane instrument to move him to come back againe ; for I was gathering men a mile from the place, and having some there he drew that way, and having a purpose to goe away, and some of our officers, as Collonell Liell, was persuading him to goe away, but I exhorted him before many witnesses to goe back to the field, and he was induced ; we came back about 5 or 600 horse ; he only of all the Generalls was on the field. 4. God gave a great victorie, more nor we knew there were, by the accounts of these that buried the dead about 4000 there was of them, many private men, above 1500 prisoners. Sir Charles Lucas, Lieutenant-Generall Goring, Generall Winter and Poyter, 20 piece of cannon taken, all their ammunition and baggage, about 6000 armes, about 100 colours ; upon one of the corners was drawn a Lyon and a Mastiff under, and at the mouth of it, Kinbolton Kinbolt, and beagle out of its priapism ; and written above, Quousque abutiminis patientia mea. Upon another was drawne a round head and a hand with an axe, and written on it, Fiat Justicia. THE BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR. 283 5. God did preserve these that stayed marvellouslie ; of all our armie there were not ane hundred killed ; the most part of them killed running, few of them killed standing ; there was 800 hurt, many in running ; of the others not so many either hurt or killed. I myself was particular of the mercies of the day ; altho' the enemy charged upon both hands, yet God preserved me : Blessed be his name for this glorious Victory ! That night we stayed on the fieldes all night ; on the morrow I viewed the dead ; we keeped the fieldes all that day. 284 CHAPTER VIII. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. WHEN Leven followed the Marquis of Newcastle into Yorkshire in the spring of 1644, his rear in Northumberland and Durham seemed tolerably secure. Newcastle was menaced by the regiments which had been left there in February. South Shields was held by a Scottish garrison. Morpeth and Sunderland were similarly protected. The re- capture of these positions would not only undo the work accomplished by Leven since his arrival in England, but would also create a timely diversion while the fate of York hung in the balance. The execution of the project fell to Montrose, on whose movements throughout April and May the war in Northumberland and the Bishopric chiefly centres. After the battle of Hilton, Montrose had made his way to Scotland, but soon returned to Nor- thumberland, where Leven's withdrawal offered opportunity of useful service for Charles. 1 At the beginning of May he arrived at Newcastle, and about the 10th led an expedition against Morpeth. The castle repulsed his first attack, and Montrose, 1 Wishart, 46. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 285 sending for six guns from Newcastle, sat down to the siege of the place. After nearly three weeks, during which the Scottish cavalry under Michael Welden endeavoured to relieve it, Morpeth fell on May 29. 1 Shortly after his success at Morpeth, Montrose recaptured the fort at South Shields which had fallen to Leven on March 20. It had been placed under the command of Captain Rutherford of " Ranfertlie," who treacherously surrendered it to Colonel Clavering. Somewhat later, the garrison in Sunderland recaptured it, and Rutherford was tried and condemned by a Council of War. It was however deemed necessary that the matter should be more thoroughly investigated, and the Committee of Estates, on June 14, gave orders to suspend the sentence lately passed upon him. 2 Leven, then at York, complied with their order in the following letter to Lauderdale : 3 1 Somervilles, ii., 306 et sey. The fight is referred to in Spald- cling : "Thair wes ane fight about Morpot, quhair diuerss of our Scnttis foot soldiouris wes overcum by the banderis, strippit out of thair elothis and armes, and send hame naikit". ii., 379. In il l>ccreit of Foirfaltor" against him, Montrose is indicted "For invading and intakeing of ]?e castle of morpeth . . . For .loyneing himselfe wt eollonell clavering and his forces about the tyme of the invading of ]?e said castle of morpeth." Acts, vi., pt. i., 316. 2 Balfour, iii., 186. In the " Decreit of Foirfaltor" Montrose \v;is further indicted for "assaulting of ]>e forte vpon the water of Tyne called the Southsheills, keiped and haldin for the tyme be the said capitan Thomas rutherfuird for the vse and be the com- and of ]?e comittie of }>e estates of this kingdome, and forceing the said capitan Thomas rutherfuird to yield the said forte to the said colo'i clavering." Acts, ibid.,317. :1 Thurloe, i., 37. 286 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Leaguer before York, the 21st of June, 1644. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LORDSHIP, In obedience to a letter from your lordships of the 14th instant, I have given order, that after a Counsell of warr hath tryed captaine Thomas Kutherford, who gave over the fort at South-Sheels, and hath cleered the proces, the same, with the said captaine, shall be sent to bee disposed off as your lordships shall thing [sic] good. I doe forbeare at this time the writing of our proceedings heere, till wee may know what becomes of prince Rupert and his forces, whom wee are now looking for to come visite us, and are makeing ready for his wellcome. After which your lordships may expect a particular accompt of all our affaires from, My Lord, Your Lordship's most humble servant, LEVEN. For my most noble lord, the earle of Louderdale. The energy of Montrose was also expended upon Sunderland. Towards the end of May, the town was only saved by the energy of its seamen, who placed themselves under arms, planted cannon on the walls, and with the help of Colonel Charles Fairfax, repulsed Montrose, Musgrave, and others engaged in the attempt. 1 With Montrose at large in Northumberland and Durham, the reduction of the North was no nearer accomplishment than at the commencement of the year, when the Scots had entered England. So long as he was engaged before York, Leven was powerless to confront Montrose. A supplementary army was essential. Writing from Y'ork, on May 1 Whitelocke, i., 270. Vane had induced Leven and Fairfax to detach some cavalry from York against Montrose. 0. S. P. (1644), 242. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 287 24, to the Committee of Estates at Edinburgh, Lindsay clearly pointed to that fact. " Wee intreat your lordships," he wrote, " to delay no tyme in sending of these forces into England ; for yf it had beene done in tyme, a few horsemen, with our foote forces there, and collonel Welden's regiment, might have beene more than sufficient for the securing of both these countyes opposeing the commission of array, and bringing the town of Newcastle to great straits, which we feare shall now become a work of greater difficulty to a stronger power." l " The delay," wrote Baillie, " lies given time to the Marques of Montrose to make havock of the northern counties, which will make the siege of Newcastle the harder." : On June 3, Vane was commissioned to proceed to the Scottish army to discuss the means by which Newcastle and the northern counties might be " rescued from the power of the enemy now master of the field there ". 3 On the 20th, the Committee of Both Kingdoms recommended that more Scottish forces should be brought into England. 4 A week later the Committee wrote to the Estates desiring their assistance. 5 The Scots had already taken measures to that end. A supplementary army was being raised under the command of Lord Callander. On June 18 he received instructions : " You shall ... be all meanes endevo r to reduce and secure the Toune of newcastell, castell of Tynemouth, and all other places possessed by the enemy, for the vse of the 1 Thurloe, i., 36. 2 Baillie, ii., 196. 3 C. S. P. (1644), 197. 4 Ibid., 257. 5 Ibid., 283. 288 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. king and parliament of England. And make such vse of the forces in Beshopricke as may conduce most for these ends, Bot Avith a speciall regaird for the saifty of the Toune of Sunderland." 1 Callander's advent was looked for with con- siderable anxiety. On June 20, Vane assured the Committee in London that he was expected at Newcastle on the 23rd. 2 On June 23 he wrote again : " The Earl of Leven told us this night that he heard for certain the Earl of Callender with his army is marched into England, which at this time is not unseasonable ". 3 It was, however, on June 25 that Callander commenced his march, with a force of from seven to ten thousand men. 4 Before applying himself to the reduction of Newcastle, Callander secured the positions north and south of the Tyne which Montrose had weak- ened. On his march through Northumberland he recaptured Morpeth, 5 and crossing the Tyne at Newburn, 6 passed into the Bishopric. On July 24 he summoned Hartlepool, and Sir Edmund Carew and the garrison marched out on the following afternoon. Stockton surrendered without a blow on the same day. Major Douglas and six com- panies of foot were placed in Hartlepool. Stockton was left in charge of a Captain and one hundred and twenty men. 7 The way was now clear upon Newcastle. i Acts, vi., pt. i., 112. 2 (7. & P. (1644), 257. s Ibid., 266. 4 Ibid., 331. Rushworth gives Callander ten thousand men. v., 645. Lithgow, who is probably the more reliable, gives him six thousand foot and eight hundred horse. Relation, 9. Turner give? him only five thousand. Memoirs, 38. 5 Whitelocke, i., 262. 6 Turner, ibid. 7 Thurloe, i., 41 ; Turner, 38 ; H. AT. 0., Kept, xiii., pt. i., 181. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 289 Single-handed however, his forces weakened by the garrisons which had been placed in Hartle- pool, Stockton, and probably Sunderland and Morpeth, an exacting siege was beyond the capacity of Callander's command. Opportunely, the capitulation of York on July 16 enabled Leven to advance to his aid. But Leven's own army was thinned by its six months' service. On July 18, shortly before his departure from York, he wrote on that matter to the Committee at Edinburgh : l York, July 18, 1644. MY LORDS, As in my former letters, I must likewise by this intreat that your lordships will take into consideration the weakness of the severall regiments of this army, occasioned by much service and very hard usage, since our coming from Scotland ; and that yow will be pleased to further the bearer hereof, captaine Ingles of Inglistoun, for the bringing up of all such as were wanting of the lord Maitland regiment at there first setting furth ; 2 as also for seasing and apprehending of all such as are run away of late ; that condigne punishment may be inflicted upon some, and the rest sent to there cullors. My request is not only for this, but for all other regiments which are come out of our country upon this service ; the perform eance whereof will verie much encourage those that are heir, further tha service, and tye me to remaine Your lordships' most humble servant, LEVEN. Km- the right hon. the lords and others of the comity of estaits within the kingdome of Scotland. 1 Thurloe, i., 39. 2 The strength of each regiment under Leven's command in January, 1(544, was almost invariably ten companies. Maitland's Midlothian regiment possessed that number. None were above that strength, and only three below it the Mearns and Aberdeen, thr Ministers', and Sinclair's regiments. Rushworth, v., 604. 19 290 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Leven was not disposed at once to enter upon an enterprise, which bade fair to be as arduous as that he had just completed. To the Estates, nervous regarding Rupert's reported approach towards the Borders, he wrote emphatically : Leeds, the 27th of July, 1644. MAY IT PLEASE YOUE HONOURS, I receaved your letter of the 20th instant, and therein your lordships directions anent the disposall of our cavallry, upon information yow have receaved of the prince his march into Cumberland and being at Kendall. My lords, the earle of Manchester his forces and ours are now divided ; and wee are lying heere for the refresh- ing of our soldiers, who have ben much wearied with six months continuall service ; so as in that posture, without evident danger, I cannot separate our horse from our foot. But if wee shall find any truth to be in that information (which as yet doeth not appeare), or if the prince shall have any designe either against that kingdome, or our forces in Bishopwrik and Northumberland, no considera- tion whatsoever shall hinder me from marching with our whole army towards those parts, being therunto obliged by the dutty I owe both to our native countrey and to your lordships commands. But if the prince shall make his [way] southward (which is rather supposed), 2 wee shall, God willing, so dispose of ourselves as may best witnesse our desires to prosecut that worke, for which your lordships have sent us hither ; and in all conditions shall ever bee most ready to obey such commands as shall come from your lordships to Your lordships most affectionate freind and servant, LEVEN. For the right hon. the lords, barons, and burgesses in parliament at Edinburgh. 1 Thurloe, i., 40. 2 On July 26 Rupert was at Chester. Eng. Hist. Rev., xiii., 737. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 291 Callander had therefore to rely upon his own forces, and those which Leven had left in February, 1 to take the first measures against Newcastle. Ad- vancing on Gateshead from his camp at Usworth on July '27, he took possession of it after a stub- born encounter. He informed Lauderdale of his success : - " The report of the enemies intention to fall in upon Scotland, and the hopes I had of the generalls speedie march northward, made me com- mand the generall major Ramsay, the lord Mont- gomrie with his regiment, and colonell Cambell with eight hundereth comanded men, to march in the night, and seize upon Gaitsyde ; bot they were prevented by the appearing of the day, and the enemies drawing out both horse and foot to the windmylne. 3 Upon the knowledge hereof, I marched with the armie within two myles of New- castle, and gave ordors for beating of the enemies in, which was done, so that before the soune sett they were verie neir the port at the bridge end, and at night made the port unusefull for the enemies falling out by barricadoeing of it, so that there is nothing without the port in Gaittsyde unpossessed by ws. Notwithstanding whereof, if the generall resolve not to march hither, or that T be pressed by a powerfull enemie, which I verie 1 On July 31, Callander declared that he might be compelled to call up the four companies of foot and one troop of horse then at Morpeth. He contemplated reinforcement by the Merse, Teviotdale, Annandale and Nithsdale regiments. Thurloe, i., 41. 2 Thurloe, i.. 41. The letter is dated from " Oseworth Leaguer," July 31. 3 The Windmill hill at Uatoshead. 292 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. much doubt, I shall be necessitat to quitt it. and reteir to Sounder-land." l On the following day, a struggle took place for the possession of the bridge connecting Newcastle and Gateshead. Lithgow describes it : " The next day he [Callander] begunne to dispute for the enjoying of the bridge, with the fierie service of Cannon and Musket, which indeed was manfully invaded, and as couragiously defended. Yet, at last, in despight of the enemy, he gained the better halfe of the Bridge, and with much adoe fortified the same with earthen Rampiers and Artilerie, which still so defensively continued untill the Towne was taken in by Storme. This being regardfully done, he caused to erect five Bat- teries, along the Bankhead, and just opposite to the Town, from whence the Cannon did con- tinually extreame good service, not onely against the walls and batteries, but also against particular places, and particular persons : Besides the fre- quent shooting of Pot-pieces, and other fireworkes of great importance, which daily annoyed the Inhabitants within Towne." With the capture of Gateshead, Callander had l Cf. C. S. P. (1644), 385. Lithgow, an eye-witness, also de- scribes the engagement on the 27th : "My Lord Calendar, send- ing some horse and foote to clear the way for the Gatesyde, they were rancountred with the enemye at the tope of the wynd mill hill, where being prevented by night, and the enemye stronger than they, they were constrained to turne back. Whereupon the next day the Lieutennant Generall himselfe came up with the residue of his armye, and fiercelie facing the enemy, beat them from the hill, chased them downe the Gatesyde. and hushing them along the bridge, closed them within the towne." Relation, 0. 2 Relation, 10. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 293 done all that was possible until the main army under Leven arrived. The strength and circumference of the walls of Newcastle demanded a stronger force than Callander could bring against them. On the east, the wall climbed along the side of Pandon dene to its north-eastern angle at Carliol tower. This portion of it was inaccessible to direct assault and was still further strengthened by the Shieldfield fort, which stood about a quarter of a mile to the north-east of Carliol tower. Lithgow gives a description of it : " Vpon the Townes Northeast side, and a little without, there was a fortresse erected, called Sheiffield Fort, standing on a moderate height, and Cham- pion-like commanding the fields ; the modell thus : It standeth squarely quadrangled, with a foure cornerd Bastion at every angle, and all of them thus quadrat ; they are composed of earth and watles, having the Northeast side of one bul- warke pallosaded, the rest not, save along the top of the worke about they had laid Masts of Ships to beat down the assailants with their tumbling force. At the entrie whereof there is a wooden drawbridge, and within it two Courts du guard, the graff'e without is dry and of small importance, save onely that repugnancie of the Defendants within, which commonly consisted of three hun- dred men." ] Along the northern extent of the wall there was no marked eminence on which artillery might be placed. Immediately fronting Pilgrim street gate, however, the ground rose to its highest ele- 1 Relation, 16. 294 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. vation towards Barras bridge, and another slight elevation ran up from Xewgate and St. Andrew's Church to the Leazes. On the west, the wall was open to attack along its upper length, while the high ground at Elswick and Benwell overlooked its lower reaches. But from the Xevil tower to Closegate direct assault was difficult, though min- ing operations there were easier than elsewhere. Within the town the citizens had done their utmost to prepare for the threatened attack, though Marley had only the trained bands on which to rely. Lithgow, who would hardly underestimate their strength, calls them " but eight hundred of the Traind Band, and some nine hundred besides of Voluntiers, prest-men, Coliers, Keill-men, and poore trades-men ; with some few experimented Officers to overtop them ". " The streets," he adds, " that were answerable to their barrocaded Ports, and in frequent passages, were also casten up with defensive breastworks, and planted with Demi-culverines of irone : And above all other workes, the towne Castle itself was seriously en- larged, with diverse curious fortifications, besides breastworks, Redoubts, and terrenniat Demilunes ; and withall three distinctive Horne-workes, two of which exteriourly are strongly pallosaded and of great bounds. Nay, the very Capstone of the battlements round about the Towne were surged and underpropd with little stones" ready to fall on the besiegers should they attempt to scale the wall. The gaps in the battlements were filled with lime-stone, and only narrow slits allowed to remain. All the gates were closed and bar- THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 295 Headed save for the postern gates. The trench outside the walls had been deepened, and " steeply lyned with clay-mixt earth," to prevent the be- siegers from planting their ladders. 1 On August 1 David Leslie and some troops of horse set out from Yorkshire for Newcastle. 1 ' " I wische," wrote Callander to Loudoun, 3 "your lord- ships comands had bein as possitive for the speedie advancing of the foote heere, as it was for the horse ; for this worke being of great difficultie, a river divyding the armie without a bridge, the enemies being masters of all the boatts and keills, the wncertaine approache of an enemie, 4 and cer- taintie of the winter requyres thair present march- ing northward." On August 7, Leven broke up his camp about Leeds and marched northwards. 5 On the 10th he was at Bishop Auckland, and the next day Callander rode out to meet him. On the 12th, the army advanced to Gateshead, while Leven paid visits of inspection to Sunderland and Hartlepool. On Wednesday the 14th he crossed the Tyne at Newburn, and established himself at Elswick, near the Tyne and west of Newcastle, on the following day. 15 Upon his arrival, Newcastle was at once encompassed. A bridge of boats above Elswick connected the two armies on the north and south of the river. 7 Callander, who so far had concen- trated his forces at Gateshead, crossed the river 1 Relation, 14, 40. 2 Rushworth, v., 645. 3 Thurloe, i., 42. 4 Sir Thomas Glemham with about three thousand horse and foot was in Cumberland. C. S. P. (1644), 423. 5 C. S. P. (1644), 423. * Douglas. ' Lithgow, Relation, 11. 296 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. below Newcastle on August 15, and planted two batteries on the east of the town before Sandgate. In a despatch to Edinburgh he described these operations : l " Wpon Thursday e the 15 of this instant, I croced the water likewayes, a little beneathe the towne at the glasse workes, takeing with me the lord Sinclaire and the earle of Marachells regi- ments, with some commanded men, whom I ludged that nicht (notwithstanding of many cannone shott from the towne and Sheilfeild fort, and musquett shott upon bothe syds) in the Sandgaitt, whair I am now bussied about the making of approaches towards the towne, and I have recovered as many keeles and boats as lies maid a bridge over the water a little beneathe the glasse houses. 2 " The seiging of this towne is much hindered for want of materialls, as spaids, shooles, mattockes, etc. And as the beleaguering of it will be great charges, so the souldiors are putt to extraordinare dewtie. And wee cannot gaitt so mutche money as will be halfe monethes meanes to evry officer, foure merks to every trouper, and a shilling to ilk foot souldior, for the comissaree heere hes it not. Whairfor seeing thair paines and labour is great, your lordships would be pleased to send up money heere for thair farder encouragement, and give ane speciall comand and ordor to the thesaurer of the armie or his deputs, that thir forces may gaitt some satisfaction, and not to be distinguisched in that 1 Thurloe, i., 45. 2 The bridge was guarded by Lord Kenmure's regiment. Lithgow, Relation, 12. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 297 only from the armie ; for it seemes they ar by paye and proviant, thoughe nothing short and inferiour in dewtie. 1 " The last ineall whiche was sent heere was directed to Hartlepoole, which is now returned back to Sunderland for the wse of this armie, in respect of our necessitie and of the evillnesse of the victuall whiche was heere ; yitt seeing that is a place very fitt to be a magazine, your lordships wold take it to your consideration, and send victualls thair." The town being already begirt, Leven on August 16 proposed a parley : To the Maior and Aldermen of Newcastle. As it hath ever been our chiefest care to make our intentions (for the purity of Religion, his Majesties happinesse, and the setled peace of his Kingdomes) publike and manifest to the world, so we do now in a speciall manner desire to give satisfaction to this City in every thing which may advance the weale thereof. That all scruples and misunderstandings may therefore the better be removed, and your City may reape the sweet fruits of peace, which other Cities under obedience of King and Parliament do quietly enjoy, We have thought good hereby to represent how fitting we conceive a meeting to be of some judicious persons from either side, that you may thereby know our high respects to his Majesties honour, and great desire to shun all further effusion of blood, and preserve your City from the extremitie of War. LEVEN. Klswick, Aug. 16, 1044. 1 On the Kith, Callamlcr and his chief officers complained that their army ' lies nut mutch l>ciu takin notice of" by Leven. Thurloe, i., 43. s Weekly Intelligencer, August 20-27. 298 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. On the following day, Marley and his colleagues replied : Newcastle, Aug. 17, 1644. MY LORD, Wee have perused and well weighed your Letter, and must return this Answer, That whereas you desire to make manifest your intentions for the purity of Eeligion, his Majesties happinesse, and peace of his Kingdomes, we wish it were so (and not rather pretences), and whereas you write in a speciall manner to give satisfaction of your desires of our weale and peace, Is it possible we should believe you in this, when We see you are the one and only disturbers of our welfare and peace? But to remove all scruples and misunderstandings : We doe declare to you, and the whole world, that our love and obedience is so much to King and Parliament, that if you can shew us Commission from his Majesty and the Parliament to undertake what you desire, wee shall most willingly con- descend thereunto : but otherwise we neither dare, nor will meete or treate in matters of so great importance, And besides, must needs thinke all your intentions and designes are but to delude ignorant people : And to con- clude, if your high respects to his Majesties honour, the shunning of further effusion of blood, the preservation of Newcastle from mine and extremity of War, be reall, return home with your Army, live in Peace, and let your neighbours enjoy the same : If not, we know and trust that God who is with us is above all against us, and in this cofidence we shall ever remaine Your affectionate friends, if you please, Jo. MAKLAY. NICHOLAS COLE. THO. LYDDELL. ALEX. DAVISON. FRAN. BOWES. EALPH COLE. KALPH COCK. LEONARD CARRE. ROB. SHAFTOE. 1 Kingdomes Weekly Intelligencer, August 20-27. The letter is printed in True Informer, August 17-24, in somewhat different language, and wrongly dated. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 299 The siege was therefore pushed forward. Leven and Callander were already in possession of the suburbs outside Sandgate, Closegate, Pilgrim street gate, and Newgate, and an attempt by the besieged to burn the houses on the bridge had been recently frustrated. 1 Leven had enlisted the services of three thousand colliers, keelmen, and others, to help in the mining operations. 2 On August 20, they were sufficiently advanced in the neighbour- hood of Closegate to move the besieged to make a sortie. Douglas describes it : " The enemy fall on about 3 afternoon, near Clossgate, where Lynd- say and Metland had the guard in the works, the souldiers fled ; there was taken Lieutenant Colonell Sir James Maxuel, Major to E. Clidsdales regi- ment, ane ensigne, and some 9 or 10 common soul- diers, some '2 or 3 killed ; the officers were not there that day ". On the following Saturday, August 24, the besieged made a sortie on the north, where the besiegers' mines were " within a stonecast of the wall ". Baillie, after entertaining Douglas at dinner, went with him to view the works. " A little after I came from the works," writes Douglas, " the enemy fell on, horse and foot, upon the works keeped be Cossil and Kilheads regiment ; the souldiers ran away. The reason was no officers were attending ; they were beaten in again, some two killed, as many wounded, as many taken, both the days of outfall." : 1 True Informer, August 17-24. 2 Whitelocke, i., 294. They were commanded by "a false rebellious Scot " named John Osborne. Bourne, Newcastle, 233. 3 Douglas speaks of this sortie as taking place "at the works at Pilgrim street called Newgate". 300 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. The absence of officers on furlough, and the weakening of his forces through deserters, pre- sented a serious difficulty, and Leven found it- necessary to draw the attention of the Estates to the matter. 1 Elswick, 22 August, 1644. EIGHT HONOKABLE, As I have written before by several officers that are come home, I must by this againe put yow in rnynd to be pleased to grant your orders and warrant for sending to the army all such as have run awaie from there cullers and are come home, as also all such as have beine wanting of the numbers that were appointed to come away at first out of the severall shires of the king- dome. And seeing colonell Douglas of Kelheid is shortly to returne, whose cariage with his regement hath beine nothing inferior to those of the best in this service, he may be so taken to your lordships consideration, that all the furtherance which possibly may be affoorded may be granted to him for recruting of his regement. The doeing whereof will much encourage him, and others of his quality, and still oblige me to remaine Your lordships affectionat freind and servant, LEVEN. For the right honorable the lords and others of the committee of estates of the kingdome of Scotland at Edenburgh. Early in September, Leven's forces were still further weakened. After the battle of Marston Moor, Montrose had returned to Scotland, hop- ing to draw Leven after him, and thereby save Newcastle and the North from sharing the fate of York. On September 1, he won the battle of Tippermuir and possessed himself of Perth. His success alarmed the Committee at Edinburgh, and 1 Thurloe, i., 46. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 301 on September 3, three regiments were withdrawn from Newcastle, and marched towards Scotland under Callander and Lindsay. 1 On the 10th Leven sent the Committee advice regarding their employment.- Elsweek, 10 Sept., 1644. EIGHT HONOURABLE, I Receaved your lordships letter directed to the committee and myself, which represents to me the dis- temper of your affairs, and the slow progress that is made in right ordering the same. Wherefore yow will give me leave (though at this distance) to present my humble advyce. I conceave it necessary, that my lord Calander be furthwith ordered to advance with those regiments of horse and foott which came from trie army, and as many more as the weell of the business may require, leaveing my lord marquis of Argyle and his forces to make sure the hills, and cutt off their retreat, and follow the enemie close, and carefully watch over all his motions, and fall on them before they acquire strenth in their march northward ; for that course may prove dangerous, and it is more easy to stop the spring in the beginning then afterward when it comes to be a flood. The countrey gentlemen and others may be appointed to keep the passages at Stirling or other places needfull, and have a care to order all things aright among themselves. Truly I suppose that the power and forces which were dispatched from hence were able to have overcome all those beginnings, if they had then speedily fallen to action. But I hope your lordships will happily redeem the tyrue, and our countrey too, from the many miseryes which the insolency of a barbarous enemy fastning himself in the hart of our nation may cause. Neither shall yow need to fear any alarme from the south, 1 Douglas. - Thurloe, i., 47. >.'/. a short letter from Leven on the same subject, dated September 17. Ibid,, i., 4J>. 30*2 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. for the title remanent of forces which our cavallary has left unrouted in Westmoorland, 1 and now retired to sir Thomas Glenham in Carlile, is altogether unable for any attempt upon your borders. I shall desire to perswade yow likewyse that the enemy can expect no supply from the king nor prince Kupert, for he is gone to Corn well, where they are both sufficiently engaged, and not in that condition to lend them any assistance. Yow may there- fore the better resolve to goe on speedily and hopefully, weighing the danger of delay, and the dissaffection of that countrey whether the enemy seemes to bend his course. 2 If there be any further help your lordships doe desyre or expect from this army, let me be advertised thereof, and your lordships shall sie my readines, though wee should be the more streightened about this toun, against which, blissed be God, wee ha've fairly proceeded, and shall hasten the bussines the more, that wee may be usefull, and apply ourselves for your desired happines. Thus hopeing that every man will bestirr himself actively, and keep his station loyally and christianly, and above all things purge the countrey of malignancy, I continew my hearty wishes for the peace and tranquillity of that nation ; and hoping your lordships will pardon me for my frie expressione, I will never cease to approve myself, My lord, Your lordships humble servant, LEVEN. For the right honourable the lords and others of the committee at Edinburgh. In spite of the weakening of his army, Leven pushed on the siege of Newcastle vigorously. In the last days of August a London news-sheet re- ported : " The Scots are casting up with incessant 1 On the 18th, Sinclair informed the Estates that David Leslie with "his whole cavalrie " had been sent into Cumberland. Thurloe, i., 49. 2 Towards Aberdeen. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 303 labour what works they can, both by day and night, to defend themselves. In the mean while, our Pioners are as busie at worke under ground as our Canons are playing above it. The endeavours on both sides are indefatigable, and in the thick clouds of smoke the thunder of the Canon per- petually disputing." l " For our present condition," wrote Crawford on August 26, " wee are useing our best diligence for advanceing of our designe against this toune." : So hopeful seemed the prospect, that on September 7, Leven sent to the English Parliament a confident assurance of the imminent conclusion of the siege, with news of the successes of his cavalry in Westmoreland : Elseweek, Sept. 7 1644. MY LORDS, It hath pleased God to favour our Cavalry with a seasonable successe in Westmerland, by routing and scattering all the power there under the command of Sir Philip Musgrave and Collonel Fletcher. Upon the fourth of this instant, they killed divers on the place, and took above a hundred prisoners, two foot Colours, and one Standard ; all had been taken, but that the Horse run away with the foot colours. Most of the prisoners are dismissed to their own homes, having given an Oath that they shall never lift up Armes against the King and Parliament. Sir Philip Musgrave, Sir John Lowther, and many who have been most active in these times, are thinking on a fair way how to submit themselves, and have been dealing with Major Generall David Lesley for that effect. We hope that Country shall be wholly reduced very shortly. 1 London Post, August 27. - Thurloe, i., 47. 3 Weekly Account. September 11-18. 304 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. We have now approached to the Grafts of this Town, ready to passe our Galleries, and in a fair way (by Gods blessing) to make a short end of the work. And in regard of the late troubles fain out at home by the landing of the Irish Rebels, which hath diverted much of our supply from thence, there being great necessity of Ammunition for the service here, I must intreat your Lordships to cause forth- with dispatch hither Powder, Match, and Cannon Balles, whereof some must be of twenty-four pound, some of twelve, and some of nine pound. 1 If this be not speedily performed, the worke in hand may suffer some prejudice, which I thought good to represent unto your Lordships, And rest Yours, etc. LEVEN. The approaches being advanced so near to the town, Marley and his colleagues were again invited to a conference : To the Major, Aldermen, Burgesses, and Conmion- councell of the Towne of Newcastle. The answers you have returned to the severall letters you formerly received from those now in the service of the King and Parliament, sufficiently manifest and de- clare to all the world your evil dispositions and affections to their affaires, and your hands may one day rise up against you in judgment if you prevent it not. But that no honest ways, or lawfull means may be left unassayed for the good of the Town (if the Lord please to open the eyes of the inhabitants to see what is for his glory, and their 1 On September 14, a warrant was issued for the despatch of two hundred rounds of 24 lb., 12 lb., and 9 Ib. ball to Newcastle. On the 16th, two hundred barrels of powder were ordered thither by way of Sunderland. 0. S. P. (1644), 501, 511. Of. C. J., iii., 623-24." 2 A Particular Relation of the Taking of Newcastle. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 305 own weale), We the Committees of both Kingdomes have thought fit once more to incite you for your own benefit to treat about that love and obedience which you seem to say, in your last to the Lord Generall his Excellencie, you delare to all the world you beare to King and Parliament ; to which triall and test we doe now the more earnestly incite you, to the end the further effusion of Christian blood may be prevented, and a right understanding among those that seem to make profession, at least as you doe, of one and the same ends obtained. And because we have seen by experience, you have heretofore trusted to rotten reeds and broken staves (and peradventure some amongst you may perswade with you to doe so still), 1 not trusting onely to your owne strength within, but also relying upon others without your walls who may fail you if you lean upon them, and in your greatest confidence utterly deceive you, and by that means bring you suddenly to ruine ; Consider sadly of your present condition, and though it should please God to give you his grace to doe as true hearted Englishmen, loyall and faithfull to the Crown of England, and the true Keligion therein professed, ought to doe, yet endeavour to acquit your selves like rationall men, which is the last advice in this kind you are like to receive from us, your friends if you hearken to our advice. Signed in the name and by the warrant of the Com- mittee of both Kingdomes. Sic Subscribitur SlNCLARE. W. ARMYNE, Klswick, 7 September, 1644. Probably ignorant of the reverse which David Leslie hail inflicted upon the royalist forces in 1 The Scots were probably aware that Marley by no means carried the whole town with him in his policy. The Parliament Scout. August )S-1.">, describes the position within Newcastle: "the Soukliers are discontented within, the Governour goes not out without a guard". 20 306 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Westmoreland, and still with hopes that Montrose's efforts in Scotland might compel Leven to abandon the siege and follow him thither, Marley and Leonard Carr sent an answer not less resolute than their first, three weeks before : ' [September 8, 1644.] [MY LORD,] We have received your Letter, and seriously con- sidered thereon, and if you can shew us any thing under His Majesties hand that we should yeild up the Town unto you, we will obey it. But whereas you tell us we trust to broken Eeeds and rotten staves, we confidently say again and again, that the God on whom we reive is our strength and the Eock of our Faith, wherein the strength of our walles doth consist, is so firm that we fear not your threats, your Canon, nor what can be invented against us ; And desire you to consider this, and avoid effusion of bloud, from Your friends, if you take our advice MORLEY. CARRE, etc. Signed by Warrant of His Majesties Charter. It was clear that resolution such as the letter expressed would yield only to force. " As for that famous Garrison at Newcastle," a royalist news- sheet 2 reported with obvious exaggeration, "the hungry Scots have been so beaten by it, that the number before the Toune lookes so small as if none were there but Itoit^t Scot*. Their horse are all gone off into Scotland to secure their ample Patrimonies at home. . . . The Scots before New- castle are neither numerous nor couragious, being 1 Weekly Account, September 18-24. 2 Mercurius Aulicus, September 29-October 5. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 307 bravely tamed by that excellent blow which the Garrison bestowed upon them on Monday was seavenight and the Saturday before (Saint James day), at which two times the brave men of Newcastle slew and tooke above 500 Scots, killed a principal Commander (we remember not his Scottish name), and tooke 3 peices of Ordinance." The spirit which inspired the citizens' dogged defence finds expression in a sermon by Wis- hart, delivered in the Church of St. Nicholas on September 29, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels. 1 " Come I now, then, to my exhortation, and I shall deliver it in the very words of Joab to Abishai his brother, and to the Host of Israel, when they fought against the children of Ammon. 'Let us be of good courage and play the men, and behave ourselves valiantly, and God will do what seemeth Him best ; ' and let no man say, ' Oh, our help is far from us,' for if our eyes were but opened we might perhaps see all the mountains about us full of those fiery chariots and horses, so that they were more that were for us than all that are against us. I attest the consciences of you all when you look back again to the weeks and months of this siege which are already passed, and call to mind your own opinions and judge- ments. What, thought you that this handful of ours could not only have resisted that equally mighty and malicious enemy, but also so often beaten, killed, and taken them in their very forts and works, in so far that our friends are stricken with admiration and joy, our enemies with amazement and fear, and ourselves more encouraged and strengthened than at the first hours ? " Who amongst us was so wise and vigilant as to foresee and so prevent that blow intended against us by blowing 1 Wisliart, xxii. 308 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. up of our own powder, whereby many of us had been miserably massacred, and the rest made an easy prey and spoil to our cruel enemies ? When a great part of the match was burnt, when the fire was come within a finger length of the powder, and we all sleeping secure, who was there so ready with water to quench that fire, to prevent that blow, and not only to preserve us, but that same powder, to work much vengeance upon our enemies ? Sure I am, God Himself was the Author of that deliver- ance, and if by the ministry of any second cause, surely none so likely as this of our text, that of some holy angel at His charge and command. And blessed be His name for it for evermore. " So, yet more recent amongst many notable experiences of that kind since the beginning of this siege, on Monday last, 1 the day of the election of our Magistrate, when that thundering shot came between the sword-bearer and our chiefest Magistrates, who pulled them back, and made them halt the while ? Who interposed his shield to receive it, or his dagger to divert and put it by '? Who did it ? Sure I am it was only God, and likelier no means than this same ministry of the angels, at His charge and command. So, who took the aim, who gave the fire to that our piece at West gate, whose breach was covered with their pieces, which caw'd a crew of our enemies to the ground at once ? Surely He who directed the stone of David's sling against the brain pan of Goliath." The garrison were not wanting in other causes for encouragement. Within a few days of Wishart's sermon, they discovered " the lowest Myne next to the river syde," near Sandgat^, and to prevent its being drowned, Callander gave orders for it to be fired. Again, in the early morning of October 3, they discovered and drowned two more, and a third 1 September 23. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 309 on October 4, " whereat," writes Lithgow, " the enemie growing insolent, gave order for ringing of bells all night". 1 On the other hand, the London news-letters gave an invariably encouraging account of the siege. " The letters this week," writes one,' 2 " from the Leaguer before Newcastle doe certifie, that the besiegers have plaid upon the Town with their Ordnance for divers dayes together, which have done such gallant execution that they have battered many houses in the Town, and thorow want and feare there do daily come from the Enemy (though with difficulty) many of the Inhabitants." Another declared 3 that the garrison was on half rations of food, and dying of the " flux ". Another reported 4 the capture of " one of the wharves belonging to the Towne, by which meanes they can straighten it more than before ". Yet another 5 declared that all the cannon on the walls had been dismounted by the besiegers' fire. It was even stated that the town was ready to submit but for Marley's in- fluence,' 1 and that the garrison had offered 30,000 to be allowed to march out, and had been refused only because Leven would not include the Scottish Lords in the town in the bargain. 7 Leven determined to bring matters to an issue. His magazines had been replenished^ and his 1 Lithgow, Relation, 20, 21. 2 Weekly Account, October 2-'.). 3 Conntrey M ''.<* n r, October 4-11. I MI mn-in.-i <'iricus, October 10-17. I'nrliament Scout, October 10-17. II True Informer, October 12-19. " London Post, October 23. * True Informer, October 12-11). 310 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. mines were approaching completion. 1 On October 14, therefore, he summoned the town to sur- render : To the Maior, Aldermen, and Common-Councell of the Towne of New-Castle. We Alexander, Earl of Leven, Lord Generall of the Scottish Armies, That it may bee more manifest, and appeare to all men, how exceedingly we desire you to prevent those evills which cannot be longer avoided, Notwithstanding you have been formerly invited by our severall Letters in all faire manner to think on those wayes which might conduce most to your well-fare, Doe by these presents require, and summon you, to give up and surrender the Towne of New-Castle to us, to be kept for the use of King and Parliament ; That Citizens and Souldiers may be safe, and the Towne being preserved from ruine may enjoy the fruits of setled Peace, whereof other Townes reduced to the same just obedience doe now liberally taste. You are likewise earnestly desired by no means to conceale this our last offer and warning from the Citizens and Souldiers, As you will be answerable to God and these whom it may concerne. If in these things you faile, you may then expect the extremities of warre, And wee professe our selves and the Army under our conduct to be altogether free and innocent of whatsoever bloodshed and other Calamities may ensue through your obstinacy. Hereto we expect a present Answer. Given under my hand at Elsweeke before New-Castle, 14 October, 1644. LEVEN. On the following day, Marley and twenty-nine of the Common Council delivered their answer : 144 We re very near the point." Lithgow, Relation, 23. -A Particular Relation. 3 Ibid. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 311 Newcastle, Octob. 15, 1644. MY LORD, Wee have received your Letter wherein you require and Summon us to give up and surrender the Towne, as you say, for the use of King and Parliament, alleadging diverse reasons mixt with threats to move us thereunto, all which we have well weighed and considered, and as formerly, so now return this Answer, that wee declare to you and all the world that we keep this Town for the use of his Majesty, and that wee have full Power and Authority from his Majesty so to doe ; and if either you or any other can shew us better or later warrant from his Majesty, we will submit. And although wee neither dare nor will acknowledge that disloyalty to our lawfull King (which you call reducing to just obedience) is the way to preserve us from Ruine, and to enjoy the fruits of a setled Peace ; yet, that you and all the world may see we desire to shunne the effusion of Christian blood, We desire you send us in writing upon what termes and conditions you would have us deliver up the Towne, and then we shall return you a further Answer (which we hope will be satisfactory), and if this will not give you content, proceed and prosper as your cause requires, and let the blood that is or shall be spilt lye upon their soules and consciences that deserve it, and if we be the fault, Let this subscribed under our hands testify against us. lo. MARLEY. LEONARD CARR. To this letter, carefully phrased to convey the possibility of surrender on reasonable terms, Leven returned an immediate answer : l Elswick, Octob. 15. RIGHT WORSHIPFULL, Wee have received your Answer to our last, wherein, as in all our former Letters, we conceive we have 1 A Particular Relation. 312 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. used no threats, but faire and peaceable expressions, such as can be in differences of this nature ; But that our con- stant desire to shun the effusion of Christian blood may more and more appeare to you and all the world, We doe again desire, without any further delay, that Hostages may be sent from either side, and judicious men appointed to treat on such termes and conditions as may put an happy end to the businesse, and to meet in such a place betwixt the Towne and the Camp, or within the Towne, as shall bee thought fitting by you. Hereto we expect your Answer, and remain your loving Friend, LEVEX. Marley gave that evening to a consideration of Leven's letter, and on the following morning de- spatched a reply, raising an objection intended to delay the nomination of hostages for another twenty-four hours : l Newcastle, 16 Octob. 1644. MY LORD, We received your second letter, directed as the former, and upon good consideration we could have wisht (that according to our desires in our former leter) you would have sent in writ the conditions and termes you desire the Town upon, that we might altogether have considered and condescended to what had bin most fitting and convenient for us to grant, but since you like not that course, but desire hostages may be sent, and some ap- pointed to meet and treat at a place convenient, We must acknowledge and confesse that we doe not hold that power in us to grant, as Major, Aldermen, and Common counsell, but solely to be in Master Major, as he is Governour of the military affaires, who we find very willing to condescend 1 A Particular Relation. The signatures to this letter are nearly identical with those of the 15th. The absence of some shows that a minority was disposed to surrender. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 313 to any thing that may tend to the honour of His Majeste, the welfare of Newcastle, and the shunning effusion of blood, if you please (to write unto him for that purpose). And so, wishing a happy and honest peace in all his Majesties Dominions, we rest. Leven accepted the proposed method of nego- tiation, but conveyed a mild protest against the delaying tactics which Marley was somewhat obviously employing : l Elsweek before Newcastle, Oct. 16. EIGHT WOESHIPFULL, I Conceived for your further exoneration it had been most fitting to write to your selves as Master Major, and the Aldermen and Common-counsell of the Town ; but now since I understand by themselves that the power is solely in you, as Governour of the Military affaires, I will apply my selfe to your owne way, and shall here repeat my former desires, that Hostages may be sent, and a place appointed without further delay, to meet and treat on such things as may most tend to the honour of His Majesty, and the welfare of Newcastle, being alwayes most willing to shun the occasions of effusion of blood. Hereto we expect your answer to-morrow before ten o'clocke, and that you will likewise make known to us the names and qualities of your Hostages, and such as you think fit to nominate to treat, and the place appointed for meeting, according as our Commissioners shall be in readinesse against the same time. Thus I remaine your loving friend, LEVEN. Marley received this letter late at night, and the drummer who brought it was kept within the town while he sought out a further pretext for delay. In the morning he replied : 1 A Particular Relation. - Ibid. 314 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Newcastle, 17 Oct. 1644. MY LORD, I Received your letter so late that I was forced to keepe your Drummer all night, and I am very glad to see that you and I aime both at one end, which is His Majesties honour, Newcastles welfare, and the avoyding effusion of blood, and I wish those that treat may be of the same mind ; but whereas you desire me to name Hostages and men to treat, I desire you to name yours, and I shall sute them as well as I can ; for you know there is no Noble-men with me but two of 'your owne Countrymen, 1 yet we have Knights and other men of good esteem. I shall also desire that there may be but three appointed to treat, and each to bring but one man, and know what guard you will send with your hostages that I may send the like, the place of exchange, and that the treaty may be at Newcastle, and when I know your mind in these things, we shall appoint the time of meeting, and if we hold close and sincerely to those ends by you pro- posed, I doubt not but God will blesse our endeavours and set us at peace, and I hope in his good time, these distracted Kingdomes ; which that it may be shall be the daily prayer of Your loving friend, JOHN MARLAY. Leven at once accepted Marley's suggestion : Elsweek before Newcastle, Oct. IT. 3 RIGHT WORSHIPFULL, I Have received your letter, and that the businesse may the sooner be brought to a period, I have appointed Sir Adam Hepburne of Humby, the Treasurer of our 1 The Earl of Crawford and Lord Reay. The latter had reached Newcastle from Denmark in January, 1644. Cf. Guthry, Memoirs, 133, 139, 140. 2 A Particular Relation. 3 The tract inaccurately prints " Oct. 18 ". THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 315 Army, Sir David Hoom, Colonell, 1 and John Eutherford, 2 with a Secretary, and each of them a servant to attend them, to treat with such persons as you shall be pleased to nominate within the Town of Newcastle, and do not conceive any necessity of guards to be sent with the Hostages, except onely one Officer to receive them at the Green-field, on the north side of the great sconse, betwixt it and our line ; and I shall herewith also desire that twelve of the clocke may be appointed the time of meeting, and that by this Drummer you may send hither a note of the names of such persons as you intend to appoint for hostages, to be exchanged at the time and place above mentioned. An happy conclusion of the treaty is the desire of Your loving friend, LEVEN. In the course of the afternoon Marley replied : Newcastle, 17 Octob. 1644. MY LOED, I Have received your letter, and doe approve of those men you name to treat, being all strangers to me ; and likewise that there is no necessity of a guard, onely one Officer to meet them at the place appointed. But you desire that the meeting may be at twelve of the clock, and that I will send the names of those I intend to appoint as hostages, to be exchanged at the time and place above mentioned, which is impossible ; for I received your letter halfe an houre after twelve, and certainly you meane not twelve at night ; but I will keepe promise, and to that purpose, this night I will send you the names of the hostages I intend to send to the place appointed, and the time to be to morrow at nine of the clocke in the fore- 1 Sir David Home of Wedderburn. 2 Provost of Jedburgh ; appointed on June 19 on the Com- mittee accompanying Callander. Acts, vi., pt. i., 114. :! A Particular Relation. 316 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. noone ; as for those that are to treat, I intend to supply the place of one my selfe, and shall send you the names of the rest. And so, wishing a happy end to these and all the troubles of his Majesties Dominions, I rest, Your loving friend, JOHN MAELAY. Later in the afternoon, Marley sent the names of his Commissioners and hostages : l Newcastle, 17. MY LORD, According to promise I send you the names of the hostages and of those appointed to treat, and shall keep the time and place mentioned in my former letter, and have set downe their names hereunder. I will say no more, but desire that during the time of the treaty, these courses may be holden which are accustomed in warre ; and so I rest, Your loving friend, JOHN MAELAY. Gentlemen appointed for the treaty. Sir John Marlay, Knight, and Governour. Sir Nicholas Cole, Knight Baronet. 2 Sir George Baker, Knight : 3 and a Secretary. Hostages. Collonell Charles Brandling. 4 Lievtenant Coll. Thomas Davie- son. 5 Capt. Cuthbert Carr, late Sheriffe of Newcastle]. On the following morning, Friday, October 18, the hostages from Newcastle " came out to the Sandgate," and the Scottish Commissioners entered 1 A Particular Relation. 2 Ex-Mayor of Newcastle. 3 Recorder of Newcastle. 4 " Charles Lumbay " is the name given in Douglas's Diary as that of the first hostage. 5 Mayor of Newcastle in THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 317 the Town. 1 It is probable that Marley had no intention of seriously considering the propositions which were put to him, but used the occasion to attempt to further postpone an assault. Writ- ing on the following day, after Newcastle had fallen, Sir Adam Hepburn gave an account of the the meeting : " I should have gone into Newcastle at the tiine when the Packet went from hence on Thurs- day, but was put off till Friday by these obstinat mischreants, especially the Maior of that Town. Sir David Hume, John Rutherford of Jedburgh, and I, went in on Friday at nine in the morning ; we had Commission from the Generall and Com- mittee (if we found reall dealing) to yeeld to all honourable Conditions for preventing the effusion of blood, notwithstanding all the Provocation we had from them. The Maior, Sir Nicholas Cole, and Sir George Baker were treating with us : they gave us big words : do what we could, they would not so much as come to speak of Conditions of ren- dring up the Town. And after three or four hours Debate, all they would condescend unto was, To think upon their Propositions, and send them to the Generall within three days ; one of which Propositions to be, as they affirmed, and Mordicus adhered unto, That when all Conditions were agreed upon, they should give Hostages for de- livery up of the Town after twenty days, if llelief came not to them. And because we who were 1 A Particular Relation. Rushworth, v., 047. -A Letter From. Newcastle, R. R. The letter is to Loudoun, dated from Newcastle on October 19. 318 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. commissionated from the Army were limited to Friday at night to conclude or give over Treatie, we desired them to write to the Generall to know his minde concerning those delays, and we should either stay till his Excellencies Answer did come, or would carry it, and return if we had further Commission. They w r ould not grant this favour to us ; but told us, They would let us go, and they should write to the Generall to morrow. I went thus far on with them, which was more then in Policie I should have done : yet so fain would I have effusion of bloud shunnd, that I told them in plain terms, That if they did write any thing, it should be that night. They sent out a Letter that night, about eight of the clock, wherein they averred many untruths, and told, They would send their Propositions on Munday next. It was late before many of us could be got together to give Answer : Those who met thought it fittest to return an Answer and to send such Conditions as we would grant ; and to certifie them, That if they did not accept them, and send out Hostages for performance, the Generall would no more treat." It was about mid-day, or somewhat later, when the Scottish Commissioners left the town. The report of their mission either forced Leven to the conviction that Marley would not yield except to a successful assault, or that a demonstration against the town was likely to bring its authorities to their senses. In the course of the afternoon he " set all to work against the town ". Callander's Gateshead batteries were distributed among those THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 319 on the north, east, and west of the town. 1 Regi- ments were moved into position on the rising- ground at Barras bridge, compelling Marley to withdraw his men from Shieldfield fort, who on their retiring, " despightfully burned their two Courts du guard to the ground," thereby rendering the fort useless to the besiegers. 2 His evident intention to deliver an assault had the effect which Leven had perhaps contemplated. At eight o'clock in the evening, he received the following letter from Marley and his fellow Com- missioners : 3 Newcastle, 18 Oct. 1644. MY LORD, We have had some discourse this day with your Commissioners ; but you have bound them to have our answers to your demands in so short a time, as we could not give them that satisfaction as we would gladly ; con- sidering they demanded that which was not according to your Propositions, namely, his Majesties honour, and the welfare of Newcastle. But we are so unwilling to see Christian blood shed, as that if you please to rest satisfied till Munday, we shall then, God willing, send you Pro- positions as we hope will give content. If this will not serve, we trust God will deliver us out of your hands, and so we rest, Your loving friends, Jo. MAELAY. NICHOLAS COLE. G. BAKEE. With some difficulty Leven gathered his chief officers to a meeting, 4 and late at night sent 1 Lithgow, Relation, 24 ; Douglas. 2 Lithgow, ibid. 3 A Particular Relation. * A Letter from Newcastle. 320 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. in the following answer, with the Articles of sur- render attached : - 1 Elsweek before Newcastle, Oct. 18. EIGHT WOKSHIPFULL, I Eeceived your Letter this night at eight a clocke, wherein you show that you had some discourse with the Commissioners sent from this place, and alleages they demanded that which was not according to my Pro- positions, namely, his Majesties honour, and the welfare of Newcastle, and promise to send Propositions on munday next. As your assertion of the Commissioners demands is more then you can make good, that they were against either His Majesties honour or the welfare of the Towne of Newcastle, Sir, I admire how you are not ashamed still to continue in your delatory way, and draw on the guilt of innocent blood upon your head. You demanded a Treaty, and Commissioners to be sent into Newcastle, which was accordingly granted, who expected that you should have proposed conditions and propositions to them, whereby a happy and peaceable conclusion might have been made : and albeit you would neither propose to them, nor suffer any thing to be put in writing, yet they were content so farre to open themselves to you, even in the particulars that could have been demanded either for the Officers or Souldiers, Townesmen or Strangers, that no better conditions had been given to any Towne reduced to obedience of King and Parliament within England. This your dealing makes it too apparent, that what ever your pretences be, your intentions have not been reall ; yet such is my earnest desire and reall intention to shun the effusion of Christian blood, that I have caused to draw up such honorable conditions as you cannot in reason refuse, which I have herewith sent you ; whereunto if you agree, I desire that you send to my Lord Sinclair his quarters at Sandgate to morrow, being the 19 of October, at or before 1 A Particlar Relation. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. six l a clocke in the morning four or five sufficient hostages for delivery of the Town upon these conditions by night, betwixt and munday 21, at two a clock in the afternoon ; and if you faile in sending out these hostages at the hour appointed, I shall take it as a refusall, and give up all treaty ; and in the ineane time no cessation untill the hostages come out upon the conditions foresaid, whom we expect before or at eight a clocke, or not at all. So I rest Your friend, LEVEN. The conditions on which Leven was prepared to accept the surrender of the town were as follows : 2 Officers, soldiers of the Garrison, and " strangers and sojourners " desiring to leave the town should have liberty to do so, to proceed with arms, horses, and baggage to any place within forty 3 miles of Newcastle not already beleagured, and be accom- modated with " draughts in their march " ; the sick and wounded in the town should have liberty to remain until their recovery, when they would be allowed to leave the town on the same conditions ; the citizens should be protected from violence in their "persons, houses, families and goods," and have the same liberty of trade and commerce en- joyed by other towns already reduced to the obedi- ence of the King and Parliament ; the liberties and jurisdiction of the town should be "preserved inviolate conforme to their ancient charters " ; citizens who desired to go to their country houses should have protection and safeguard on their 1 A misprint ; eight A.M. was the hour. -A Particular Relation; 0. S. P. (1644-45), 51 ; Rushworth, v., <>49. ' Sixty miles, in ''. ,S. P., ibid. 21 322 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. journey ; no free billet should be granted upon any inhabitant without his consent ; the whole army should not enter the town, but only a com- petent garrison. The terms offered by Leven, permitting the garrison to march out with the honours of war, were fair and reasonable. He, however, stipulated that hostilities should not be discontinued until eight o'clock the next morning, when he looked for an acceptance of his proposals. At early morning on the 19th his batteries opened fire on the town from all sides. The cannonade lasted until eight o'clock, when the answer of the besieged was expected. Shortly after, it reached Leven, and was as follows : 1 Newcastle, 19 Octob. 1644. MY LORD, Wee received your Letter, wherein you say we cannot make good that your Commissioners demands are against either his Majesties honor, or the welfare of New- castle. We wil give you but one reason amongst many ; Whether it be for his Majesties honour that the Town of Newcastle should be rendred to any of another nation ; nay more, if it be for the honor of the English Parliament ; and that it is not for our welfare is so clear, needs no answer. And whereas you say you wonder we are not ashamed to be so delatory, having demanded a Treaty ; We say, we wonder you can be so forgetfull, knowing we have your letter to show that the treaty was your owne motion. But for Answer to the rest, and to your Articles ; We say, the delivery of Newcastle is not of so small moment but, if you intend as you say, time may well be given till munday for giving answer, for in case we should 1 A Particular Relation. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 323 give consent to let you have this Towne, there is divers more Articles then you have set downe, both fit for us to demand and you to grant. Therefore, if you would shun effusion of bloodshed, as you professe, forbeare your acts of Hostility until we give you Answer upon Munday, wherein we will not faile ; otherwise we doubt not but God will require an account at your hands, and besides, will keep and preserve us from your fury. So expecting your Answer, We rest Your friends, Jo. MAELAY. NICH. COLE. G. BAKEE. Receiving no answer, Marley despatched a letter to Sinclair, the tone of which is in marked con- trast to the rest of the correspondence : : Newcastle, 19 Octob. MY LOED, I Have received divers Letters and Warrants subscribed by the name of Leven, but of late can hear of none that have seen such a man ; besides there is strong report he is dead. Therefore to remove all scruples, I de- sire our Drumer may deliver one letter to himself. Thus wishing you could think on some other course to compose the differences of these sad distracted Kingdomes then by battering Newcastle, and annoying us who never wronged 1 A Particular Relation. The Tract says this letter was sent "while the Army wa- in action". Rushworth, however, says that the Scots interpreted it as a "Jeer and Affront," and opened fire in consequence. v., 650. Referring to this, one of the besiegers writes from Benwell on the l'.)th : "this morning the Major sent forth a Drummer with a letter, enjoyning him to deliver it with his own h'and to Generall Leven, if there were such a man in the world ; for he did beleeve he was dead. The Generall returned him answer by the Mr^-mirer, hee hoped to doe him some service yet before he died." A True Relation of the taking of Newcastle, K. P. 324 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. any of you ; for if you seriously consider, you will find that these courses will aggravate and not moderate distempers. But I will referre all to your owne consciences, and rest Your friend, JOHN MAELAY. To open the walls for his storming parties, Leven had four batteries in position ; one upon the west, covering the mining operations at Westgate and White Friar Tower ; one facing Newgate and the north-western angle of the wall ; a third menac- ing its northern stretch at Pilgrim street gate and Carliol tower, and a fourth opposite Sandgate. Their fire succeeded in making three breaches, at Closegate on the south-west, at Newgate, and near Carliol tower. Four mines had been prepared to breach the wall for the assault, at White Friar tower, West- gate, and two at Sandgate. Of these, the two at White Friar tower and Sandgate, being " the most available," were sprung at three o'clock. Two were fired about five o'clock, one of them at West- gate, and the other, which miscarried, was also at Sandgate. 1 The infantry had been under arms since ten o'clock, " drawn up, standing on their armes, while the breaches were in readinesse, and the 1 Lithgow locates only the mines at White Friar tower and Sandgate, but mentions two others. Perfect Passages st;it<-> that mines were successfully sprung at White Friar tower and \\Vstgate, and that at Sandgate were "some mines". Lithgow Baye that one was successfully sprung at Sandgate. T*he fourth, or ineffectual mine, must therefore have been at Sandgate. Hep- burn's Letter states that the Scots "entered at two Mynes" at that quarter. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 325 Mines sprung V Their officers had already settled their positions for the assault with dice, the most coveted places going to those who threw the fewest " blacks ".- The first brigade/ 5 in three divisions, extended from Westgate to the river at Closegate. Its first division included the Loudoun-Glasgow and Tweeddale regiments, and entered the town at Closegate through a breach made by the artillery. Its second division was formed from the Clydes- dale 4 and Edinburgh regiments, and was ordered to force the breach made by the mine below the White Friar tower. The third division consisted of the Galloway and Perthshire ;> regiments, and had Westgate opposed to it. The second brigade was concentrated against the formidable Newgate. It consisted of the Angus, Strathearn, Fife, East-Lothian, and a fifth regiment which cannot be identified. The third brigade was also concentrated, attending the battery engaging Pilgrim street gate and Carliol tower. It was formed of the Kyle and Carrick, the Nithsdale and Annandale, the Mearns and Aberdeen, the Linlithgow and Tweed- 1 A Particular Relation ; Lithgow, Relation, 24. 2 Lithgo\v, ibid. "The names of the commanders at the several quarters are given in Perfect Passages and A Letter from Newcastle. 4 Lithgow places the Clydesdale at Westgate. Relation, 26. They were stationed about Closegate on August 20. Douglas, Diary. ''Perfect Passages places the Galloway regiment only at West- gate, and does not mention the Perthshire. 8 A Letter from AY/r,^s//r places five regiments here, but gives the names of four only of the commanders. Perfect Passages gives no clue to the fifth. 326 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. dale, and the Merse regiments. 1 The fourth bri- gade at Sandgate, under Callander's command, consisted of Sinclair's and the Stirlingshire regi- ments. Attached to the Stirlingshire were Sir John Aytoun, 2 Sir John Wauchope of Xiddrie, 3 and the Master of Cranston. 4 So soon as the nature of Marley's reply was understood, the four batteries again opened fire upon the town, while the mines at White Friar tower, Westgate, and Sandgate were hastily completed. At about three o'clock, Leven was informed of the danger to which the mines at White Friar tower and Sandgate were exposed by the counter-mines of the besieged. He gave orders for them to be fired at once, and for the assault to follow. For two hours besieged and besiegers engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict on the walls. At about five o'clock, the mines were sprung at Westgate and Sandgate, opening the walls to the Scots at those quarters. Almost simultaneously, their artillery effected a breach at Closegate. The regiments poured into the town, and sweeping along the narrow streets, the eastern and western sections of the army made their way to the Market place. The town was won, save for the castle, where Marley was already displaying a flag of truce. ^Perfect Passages does not mention the Linlithgow and Tweed- dale. 2 Appointed a member of the Committee of War for Fife Sheriffdom on July 24. Acts, vi., pt. i., 202. n Appointed June 19 to accompany Callander. Ibid., 114. 4 Appointed on the Committee of War for Edinburgh Sheriff- dom on July 24. Ibid., 200. Perfect Pasxmji:* attaches Aytoun and Wauchope to the Stirlingshire. The wording is ambiguous in regard to Cranston. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 327 The interest with which the siege had been followed appears from the large number of pamphlets which described its termination. The Scots, disappointed of an adequate share of the laurels of Marston, welcomed the opportunity to announce a success in which no competing Crom- well had participated. By their Commissioners in London the following account was presented : l " Early in the morning, the Cannon began to play upon the wals from their severall batteries while eight a clocke, at which time the Hostages should have come out, or otherwise they were to expect the extremities of warre ; but since none came, the service continued from all the Batteries, and the Regiments were drawn up, standing on their armes while the breaches were in readinesse, and the Mines sprung. About three a Clocke in the afternoon, the enemy by their countermines had very neere approached some chambers where the powder was lodged for blowing up the walls, which being signified to his Excellency, he forthwith ordered that fire should be given to these two mines endangered, 2 and thereafter to maintaine the breaches carefully, while the generall assault should be made from all quarters. A little after, the day failing, and the breaches being made, though not so large and passable as was needfull for so desperate service, the word was given, and the signe made, to give fire to the rest of the mines, 3 and for the Regiments to advance all at once towards the breaches, and those places of the wall which were opened by the mine ; but they met with no small opposition, and nothing was left undone by the enemy to repell the fury of the assault. They played very hotly and desperately from the Castle upon the breaches, and from the flanking-towers of the walls with 1 A Particular Relation. 2 At Sandgate and White Friar tower. ;; At Westgate and Sandgate. 328 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. scattered shot ; yet the Regiments advanced without any shrinking, though the Cannon played from many places upon their ful open bodies, so that the difficile-accesse to the breaches, and the mighty advantages of their walls and works within the Towne, made a considerable losse of Souldiers and Officers of good quality. Yet not- withstanding all difficulties and resistances, they acquit themselves as became a people that considered the im- portance of so high a cause, and minded nothing but the happinesse of both Kingdomes ; and after two houres very hot dispute upon the breaches, they found their first entry l at the mine sprung on the west side of the Towne, neere to Close-gate ; and after their entry, were furiously charged three severall times by the horse which were in town, but the charge was gallantly sustained and the place maintained, while the reserve of that post came to assist. 2 Therafter they marched for the relief of the rest of the breaches, and so the souldiers gave over and forsook the wals, and the whole body almost of the Army entering, they became masters of the town, which tasted off no lesse mercy and favour after the Victory then they found valour in obtaining the same ; for after their entry, the Souldiers did quite vanish, sheltring themselves in houses, the Inhabitants kept close their doors, the Regi- ments marched thorow the streets without any insolency or disorder, never offering once to rifle a house or cut off either citizen or Souldier ; they were presently after their entry in peaceable possession of all the corners and streets, and on a sodaine, all tumult, feare, and noyse did cease. " Upon the first entry, the Governour, Lodovicke Lyndesay, sometime Earle Crawfoord, the Lord Maxwell, 1 Cal lander, according to Lithgow, entered first at Sandgate. Relation, 30. Sir James Turner also gives the first entry at Sandgate. Memoirs, 39. A True Relation of thf taking of Newcastle by the Scots by Storm, K. P., says the breaches were entered "all at once ". 2 Perfect Passages states that the reserve entered at Westgate. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 329 Doctor Wishart, a man of a dangerous temper, who had seasoned the people both before and the time of the siege with bitter Malignancy, Master Gray, and Alvay, 1 and others of the perverse crew, authors of all the evils which might justly have fallen upon the Town so exceedingly obstinate, according to the rule of warre, did all betake themselves to the Castle, whence they cast over a white flag, and beate a parle, but before notice could be taken thereof, all the service was neere done. The principall houses of the towne were preserved from plundering by the Officers ; the common Souldiers that night, after they had long kept their armes without doing any wrong or violence, entred some houses of the meaner sort, not safe guarded, and did a little pillage and take away the goods out of them, but lesse than ever any people or Army did in the like case, which was the testimony of the most Malig- nants and Papists themselves, expressing in these very words, that no History can paralell where lesse cruelty and insolency, and more mercy were shewne in any Towne gained by storme, which ought to be no small matter of gloriation, when the enemies are constrained to acknow- ledge, that the wayes and practises of those who have often declared the purity of their intentions are now found out to be nothing different from their profession. And indeed it were to be wished that the wel affected in the Kingdom had as great feeling of the advantage given to the cause, and the good they received since the comming in of that Army to England, as the enemies to the peace and happinesse of both nations are sensible of the hurt done to them and their designes." 1 1 Vicar of St. Nicholas's. 2 Perfect Passages, October 22-29, gives the following account of tin- assault: "Generall Leven drew out 20 Companies of Foot, commanded by Col. Barklew, and Lievt. Col. Robert Home, and Ser. Major John Haddon, who were placed against the Breach that was made at Close-gate, and Col. lames Rae, Lievt. Col. Melve, and Major David Logan, were commanded by Sir Alexander Hambleton, with ten Companies of Foot were to storm upon the 330 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. On the evening of his victory, gained at a relatively small loss of life on both sides, 1 Leven springing of a Mine under the white Tower. Also Col. William Stewart, Lievt. Col. Gorden, and Major Agnew, were to storm upon the springing of a Mine at the West gate, where they were placed with 10 Companies of Foot. M. John Bailey, Lievtenant Generall of the Foot, with his one Lievtenant Colonell Bonar, the Lord Cooper, the Earle of Dumferlin, and others, with 50 Companies of Foot, quartered at Newgate ; the Earle of Cassilis, Lord Douglas of Kelhead. Wedderbury, and the Earle Marshall, with 30 and odd Companies, were to endeavour with their great peeces of Canon and Petars to make breaches and storme ; and the Lord Sinclar with his leavied Regiment of 5 Companies, the 10 Companies of Sterlingshire, under the Lord Levingston, Ayton and Nidder, and the Master of Cranstoune, were to fall on upon the springing of some Mines ; and accordingly at a fit time as was appointed, thej- all plaid their parts gallantly ; the Glascow- men entred at a breach, and slew many marching into the town with great valour. A strong party within opposed Colonell Rae, who entred upon the springing of a Mine with some losse and many hurt, but the Westgate being opened, uppon entrance, the Scots Reare came up and drave the enemy from their Works. The Galloway men also having sprung their Mine, made entrance through with some losse, and drave one part before them in the Town one way, as the other did the other part ; and the 5 Regi- ments at New gate made a great breach, and entred valiantly ; where Major Robert Hethburne was slaine, and 3 Captains and divers' others. Lievt. Col. William Home fought bravely, as also Col. Patrick Hethburne, as also Angus men, and the rest, whose valour was so great as never could be more exprest by men." The following account is in a broadside, entitled The Taking 1 The losses sustained by the Scots in the course of the siege and final assault are variously estimated. The author of the letter in The Taking of Newcastle states that, in the assault, the Scots did not lose a hundred men. Lithgow puts the number at two hundred and ninety-nine, of whom thirty-eight were officers, besides seven or eight hundred wounded. Douglas gives them at "about 100" soldiers, and "about 31" officers. Of the besieged, The Taking of Newcastle states that the Scots "killed very few, after they were entred". Perfect Passages, however, asserts that they killed five or six hundred of the townsmen, and imprisoned three or four hundred others. Cf. L. J., vii., 43 ; Ads, vi., pt. i., 299, 351. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 331 took measures to carefully secure the town. 1 On the following day, Sunday the 20th, he himself of Newcastle : or Newes From the Armie, printed at Edinburgh, by .lames Lindesay, 1644: "After the using of all faire meanes for reducing the Towne of New-Castle unto the obedience of King and Parliament, and their obstinate refusall of such conditions, as better could not have been expected by people in their case, Yesterday, being Satterday, the nineteenth of October, our Bat- teries began to play by the breake of day. And toward three a Clocke in the afternoon, foure Breaches were made in the Wall. Our Mines, one at Close-gate, and three at Sand-gate were sprung, anf A'/iov/s//- . and A Tnu: Il''ln-ti<>n nf tin* Tit Icing of A", wcattle li;i tin- N'-o/s //// Storm. Of. Buchanan, Truth Its Mnitfist, 35. 334 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. to the justnes of their Cause ". l Douglas preached from the text : " He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth ; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder ; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still and know that I am God : I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of Hosts is with us ; the God of Jacob is our refuge. " : While the Scots were celebrating their victory, Marley, hard by in the castle, was penning a sub- missive letter to Leven : 3 From the Castle in Newcastle, the 21 of Octob. 1644. MY LOED, Although you have the fortune of War against me (and that I might, I confesse, have had honourable tearmes from your Excellency), yet I hope your Noblenes will not thinke worse of me for doing my endeavours to keep the Towne, and to discharge the trust repose[d] in me, having had strong reasons so to doe, as is known to many. And now whereas I am compelled to betake my self to this Castle, I shall desire that I and those with me may have our liberty, and your License to stay or goe out of the towne with your safe Passe to his Majesties next Garrison, which is not beleagured, with our Horses, Pistolls, and Swords ; And to have 14 daies time to dis- patch our Journey, so many as please to goe. And truly, my Lord, I am yet confident to receive so much favour from you, as that you will take such care of me as that I shall receive no wrong from the ignoble spirits of the vulgar sort ; for I doubt no other. I must confesse I cannot keep it long from you, yet I am resolved, rather than to be a spectacle of misery and disgrace to any, I will 1 A Particular Relation ; Lithgow, Relation, 38. 2 Douglas, Diarii. s A Particular Relation. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 335 bequeath my soui to him that gave it, And then referre my Body to be a spectacle to your severity ; But upon these tearmes abovesaid, I will deliver it to you. And so intreating your Answer, I rest, Your Friend and Servant, JOHN MARLAY. For his Excellencie, the Earle of Leven, Generall of the Scottish Army. Marley's terms were not accepted, and on the following day, October 22, he surrendered at dis- cretion. He was " committed to his house by a strong guard to defend him from the fury of the incensed people, for he is hated and abhorred of all, and he brought many families to ruine". 1 On the following day he was taken from his house and confined in " a Dungeon trance within the Castle," from whence, on October 29, he was transferred to the custody of the Sheriff of Northumberland, who " had much a doe to keep him from being tome in peeces by the inhabitants in the Towne, and by those common sort of people whom hee had forced to take up Armes ". 2 Newcastle's fall occasioned widespread rejoicing. On October 24 the Committee of Both Kingdoms gave order, " that the several garrisons be adver- 1 A 1'arHcnlar Relation. Lithgow says that seventy-two " Officers, Inio-niers, and prime Souldiers" surrendered in the castle. Rela- tion, :>'.>. \Yhitelock, i., 323, srnt.'- that over five hundred people were in the castle with Marley. They included Wishart, Alvey, Crawford, Maxwell, Harvio, and others I)oui, r las,Z)ian/),and Master Gray (A Particular Relation). Lord Reay was taken before he could escape thither. 2 Lithgow, Relation, 39; Kingdomes Weekly Intelligencer, October 29-November 6. 336 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIK. tised of the taking of Newcastle," and on the follow- ing day a circular was issued to them to that effect. 1 On the 25th, "The Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled, having received certain Intelligence of God's gracious Providence, in de- livering the Town of Newcastle into the Hands of our Brethren of Scotland, come in to our Assistance ; do Order, That publick Thanks be given to God on our and their Behalf by all the Ministers within the Cities of London and Westminster and the Lines of Communication, on the Lord's Day next, for this great Blessing from the Lord of Hosts ; And the Lord Mayor of London is desired to take care that timely Notice be given to the several Ministers of the several Parishes and Places afore- said ".- On the following day, it was further ordered that the offertory collected on the day of thanks- giving should be devoted to the relief of those who were prisoners in the hands of the royalists. In addition to the thanksgiving on the 27th, the fall of Newcastle was also celebrated on the 30th, the day of public humiliation. 3 The capture of the town, indeed, furnished very practical cause for rejoicing. The Mercuritts Jiri- tiiiticux* remarked jubilantly: "Did I not tell you that the Scots meant to send us coales this winter ? And now the fulfilling of this Prophecie cannot but be very comfortable this cold weather : Me thinkes I am warme with the very conceit of Newcastles being taken, though our London Wood-Merchants (perhaps) grow chill upon the busines, and begin 1 C. S. P. (1644-45), 69, 71. - C. J.. iii.. f>77. 3 Ibid., 679, 680. 4 October 21-28. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 337 to look cloudy after this Northerne storme." l Baillie sounds the same note in a letter to William Spang on October 25 : " the news of Newcastle has filled the city with extream joy. The great God be blessed againe and againe for it. The people would have perished of cold without it." : On those who had so long maintained the de- fence of the town hard conditions were imposed. On October 25 a resolution passed the Commons, 3 that Sir John Marley and Sir Nicholas Cole "must expect no pardon". On October 31, 4 the Commons directed that Marley should be pro- ceeded against " according to the Course of War". On November 19, 5 twenty-eight of the Newcastle royalists were ordered to London in custody. On December 5, eight of them were disabled from holding office in their corporation, and on Decem- ber 13, fifteen were ordered for committal to prison " for levying actual War against the Parliament ". 7 The fall of Newcastle was followed, on October 27, by that of Tynemouth castle. " Lord General Leven," wrote Armyne on that day, "according to his usual manner, was not backward to make trial 1 Coal was sold in London at 4 the chaldron. Echard, ii., 482. On November 30, 1646, coal was offered at Newcastle at, 5s. 3d. the chaldron. Corporation Record*. 2 ii., 238. 3 a /., iii., 676. 4 Ibid., 682. Ibid,, 700. ' ; U>iit d'etre of her alliance with England was being but half-heartedly pursued. " Wee must uncessantly renew our former desires to you," tin- plague when he left them. So that though we cannot reach them in that high hill, yet God can you see." The infected men " were put into Lodges in the Fields, and the Chiefe Chirurgeon there dangerously sicke, who I hear is since dead." Riddell to Glemham, ibid. The plague made its way to Scotland. Mt'iiinrwlls, ii., 425. Douglas writes : " Upon the 4th [November] I came to Haddington, but got hardly lodging, because the pest was at Newcastle". The schedule demanded by Leven showed the castle to be possessed of 29 guns, 50 barrels of powder, 500 muskets, and hall and match. Weekly Account, October 31-Nov- ember 6. 1 " 1st of November, I came towards Scotland, the 1st day to Morpet with the General, and dyned, and from that to Anick. I'l'iin the 2d day I came to Berwick; and upon the 3d day (being the Sabbath) I taught there to the garrison upon Psalm 56, at the beginning. Upon the 4th I came to Haddington."- Douglas, Diary. Sir Lionel Maddison writes that Leven wa- returning to Scotland on November 28. C. S. P. (1644-45), 163. - Lithgow, Relation, 40. 340 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. wrote Sinclair to the Committee of Both Kingdoms on October 23, " that all other Affairs whatsoever set aside, you will so far take to heart the setting of matters of Religion in the Worship of God and Government of his House in this Kingdome, as you may in your owne and our Names become earnest sollicitours with the Assembly of Divines to put that businesse to a period." " No greater incouragement than this," he continued, " can come to the Hearts of all those that are ingaged in this Cause with you, nor can any meanes be so powerfull to remove these great prejudices raised against our Cause by the abundance and variety of Sectaries, Separatists, and Schismaticks living amongst us, to the great scandall of the Gospel and Professors thereof." 1 "Now let England look seriously to it," wrote Buchanan boldly a few months later, " for the same very sins which have been committed in Scotland, and for which it lately hath been punished in a high measure by the heavy rod of a chastising and angry God, are now raigning in England, namely, ambition and avarice, with many more which have not been seen in Scotland : for example ; heresies, errors, and Sects of all sorts, to the dishonour of God, and to the withdrawing of the People from his Truth, are connived at, and countenanced by some of those who are in Authority. Of this sin Scotland is free." : But arrayed against the Scots and their desire for Presbyterian uniformity was a body of opinion which increased in volume as Cromwell, its ex- 1 A Particular Relation. 2 Truth Its Manifest, Preface. THE SIEGE OF NEWCASTLE. 341 ponent, rose to the mastery of Army and Parlia- ment alike. A difficult position, surely, that of a Parliament which ratified the Solemn League and Covenant on the one hand, and framed the New Model on the other ! Calvin and anti-Calvin ! Uniformity and Independentism ! Scotland's un- easiness at her ally's behaviour was all the greater in that she had entered the war with the zeal of the missionary rather than of the political reformer. Not without reason she accused her ally of mala fi. "I should have 'hid myself [among the stuff]' to have avoided so great a charge ". Xkort Memorials, 566. 346 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. their concurrence in an Ordinance for raising 21,000 a month for the Scottish forces. 1 On the 20th the Lords concurred, and imposed a tax upon the Northern, Eastern, and Midland counties for that purpose. 2 On March 8, the Scottish Estates replied to the letter inviting their further aid. They were doing their best, they declared, to prepare their forces, and had appointed a Committee to act with Leven, to dispose of their army where its presence was most required. 3 On the same day, in conse- quence of Sir Marmaduke Langdale's success at Pontefract, an urgent appeal from the Committee of Both Kingdoms was sent to Leven to hasten his march into Yorkshire. Money for his army, they assured him, would soon be forthcoming/ But before the Scots consented to move, they re- quired something more definite than promises of ultimate payment. Without arms, ammunition, or money, 5 their Commisioners urged on March 19, *L. /.,vii., 209. - Ibid., vii., 224. The assessment was laid upon the following towns and counties (those distinguished by * were assessed for the New Model also) : * London, * Middlesex, Westminster, * Kent and the *Cinque Ports, * Essex, * Surrey, *Southwark, * Sussex and the Cinque Ports, * Hertford, 'Cambridge, *Ely, 'Suffolk, 'Norfolk, * Norwich, 'Huntingdon, 'Bedford, 'Lincoln county, Lincoln, * Rutland. Nottingham county, Nottingham, 'Derby, York county, York, Kingston-upon-Hull, Lancaster, * Leicester, * Northampton, Cheshire, Stafford, * Warwick. Coven- try. Cumberland, Northumberland, Newcastle, Durham. West- moreland. ' L. /., vii., 290. Of. Acts, vi., pt. i.. 400. 4 C. S. P. (1644-45. . 339. 5 C/. Ibid., 335, 342, for the condition of Douglas's, Cassillis's, and Cranston's regiments in Northumberland, and for an order from Leven at Newcastle on March 13. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 347 the army's " present marching cannot be ex- pected V The approach of Prince Rupert into Lanca- shire, however, and the danger which menaced Sir William Brereton's garrison in Beeston castle, induced Leven so far to comply with the wishes of the Committee as to despatch David Leslie thither, with four regiments of horse -and two thousand foot. 2 In conveying their thanks to Leven for his ready aid, the Committee assured him that money and provisions would be despatched to him on March 17 or 18. 3 But the Scots were chary of launching their army southward. " The troubles of Scotland," they explained, " by Irish rebels and malignants, occasioned by the engagement of that kingdom in this cause, are a hinderance to the present strengthening and recruiting of that army from thence, and that upon their marching south- ward, there is a necessity of leaving behind them such forces as may secure the garrisons there ; we desire you to move the Houses speedily to put the northern forces in such a posture as there may be a competent strength for defence of those parts, to join with the Scottish army for opposing the enemy, in case their forces shall draw north- ward.'" 4 Leven was naturally apprehensive lest his de- parture from the narrow barrier between Newcastle and Carlisle should tempt the enemy into Scotland 1 L. J., vii., 283. 9 Ibid. ; C. S. P. (1644-45), 348, 3r>:.'. 3 Ibid., 352. 4 Ibid., 392 ; L. J., vii., 311. In the Calendar the letter is dated April 7. 348 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. to join hands with Montrose. 1 However generous his ally might be in guaranteeing supplies, he was not disposed too hurriedly to transfer his army beyond the Humber. To Lord Montgomery in Yorkshire he sent very cautious instructions : Newcastle, 10th Apr., 1645. MY LORD, I receaued your letter ; and becaus I am certified from Yorke that Prince Rupert is upon his march toward Newworke, yow shall therefore be very careful to keep a good watch and good intelligence, sending out your partie as farr [as] you conveniently may. I conceaue that party you have sent to the pass at Richly not very safe at that distance, being so farr from your selues, and so neer Skip- ton ; whereof I wold haue yow takeing special! notice, and looking weell to it ; for yow wilt better know the nature of the place, and the expediency of their being there, then I can weell considder at this distance. Those things I leaue to your care, and for present shall remain your assured freind, LEUEN. For my Lord Montgomry, to be found at the quarters in Hally- fax, or els where in those parts. On April 22 Leven explained his position in a letter to the Committee of Both Kingdoms : 1 On February 3 Montrose had written to Charles : " I doubt not before the end of this summer I shall be able to come to your Majesty's assistance with a brave army". Napier, Mon- trose, 303. In March, Charles was certainly contemplating joining Montrose in Scotland. Guthry, Memoirs, 147. In consequence of Montrose's victory over Argyll at Inverlochy on February 2, Leven had been compelled to weaken his army by despatching troops to Scotland under Baillie and Hurry. 2 Fraser, Montgomeries, i.. 278. * L. J., vii., 343. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-4(3. 349 Newcastle, the 22th Aprill, 1645. EIGHT HONOURABLE, I received your Letter, 1 with the inclosed Inteli- gence giveing Notice of the Two Princes Retourne towards Chester, and therefore desireing that Generall Leiuetant Lesley might bee ordered to apply tymely Assistance to Sir William Brereton, whome I had appointed to repaire to that Party under his Commaund, and dilligently to enquire of the Enemye's Strength and Motions, and there- after, as their Forces should inclyne, to behave himselfe as the Weale of those Parts most concerned, and the Publique Safety should require. But I conceive, whatever Way they direct their Course, little Addition of Strength may bee expected either from the Lord Fairefax or Sir William Brereton, and that the Enemye's combined Power (if a Part thereof bee not otherwise diverted) will bee to unequall to deale with and encounter. I shall use all Endeavours to hasten the advanceing of this Army, some Regiments whereof have now listed, and are moveing already towards their appointed Randezvous ; and could wish that the Enemye's Forces might not bee suffered altogether to direct their Forces to these Northerne dis- affected Partyes, where they may possibly collect too much Strength. I shall desire alsoe that now when Sir John Meldrum is in the Way of Recovery, and [h]as done soe many good Offices to the Publique, there might bee Care taken how to make Use of him in these Tymes. And thus for the present I remaine, Your Lordship's humble Servant, LEVEN. For the Committee of both Kingdomes, London. Leven's unwillingness to move was increased by the fact that, on April 25, Fairfax and the New Model were ordered to raise the siege of Taunton 1 Dated April 15. C. S. P. (1644-45), 410. 350 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. in distant Somersetshire, 1 while on May 4, Rupert and his brother Maurice joined Charles at Oxford.-' The Scots remained the only considerable barrier between Charles and Montrose. But on May 7 Charles and Rupert set out from Oxford towards the Severn. 3 Their movements completely changed the plans which the Committee of Both Kingdoms had formed. On May 3 the Houses had written to Leven, urging him to advance in order to protect the rear of the New Model from any attack on Rupert's part. 4 On May 10 he was desired to concert measures with Lord Fairfax at York, and to resist the King if he should make a dash upon Scotland. 5 Upwards of four thousand troops from Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire received orders to join Fairfax at the rendezvous which he and Leven should appoint." On May 13 the Committee again wrote to Leven, that the King appeared to bend his march toward Chester, and that should he succeed in entering Lancashire and Yorkshire, " in all probability the disaffection of many in those parts may furnish his army with very great numbers ". They urged him at all hazards to secure Lancashire and Yorkshire, and proposed to send two thousand horse and five hundred dragoons under Colonel Vermuyden to his support, and were willing to send him further assistance. 7 1 C. S. P. (1644-45), 433. 2 Dugdale, 79. 3 Journal of Rupert's Marches, in Eng. Hist. Rev., xiii., 738. L. /., vii., 350. 5 C. S. P. (1644-45), 478 ; L. J., vii., 364. 6 C. S. P. (1644-45), 477. 7 Ibid., 485. After leaving Oxford on May 7, Charles and Rupert marched in a north-westerly direction to Market Drayton, THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 351 The Committee's plans were open to the grave objection, that before they could be carried out, the position which had suggested them would probably have wholly changed. To concentrate the various forces which were ordered to the support of Leven and Fairfax would be a lengthy operation. Meanwhile, the New Model was to besiege Oxford, 1 with the possibility of Charles repeating Rupert's tactics at York in July, 1644.' But to Leven the graver objection presented itself, that while the New Model remained at Oxford, and his own composite forces were slowly mobilis- ing, Charles might slip by, strengthen Carlisle, 3 and even pass into Scotland. On May 13, Leven proceeded to Knares- borough to consult with Lord Fairfax. He declared himself ready to advance if his army was provided with draughts and provisions sufficient for eight or ten days. On May 17 he received the Committee's letter of the 13th, in which, while the choice of a rendezvous was left to his own discretion, the Committee indicated a decided preference for Derbyshire. Leven, on the COn- apparently threatening Lancashire. But from that point their army, on .May 22, turned towards the east, reached Loughborough on .May 28, and then turning southward, was defeated at Naseby on June 14. Cf. Journal of Prince Rupert's Marches in loc. a<., and map in Gardiner, Civil War, ii., 209. 1 G. S. P. (1644-45), 486. 2 Cf. Gardiner, Civil War, ii., 211. 3 On April 21, Leven and his Committee had written to the Committees of Cumberland and Westmoreland to recommend them to raise forces " to keep in the garrison at Carlisle." and thereby release the Scottish cavalry in that county. On April 24 the two Committees agreed to provide three thousand foot and six hundred horse for that service, and to be ready to commence the siege on May 8. C. S. P. (1644-45), 423, 427. 352 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. trary, was of opinion that their suggestion offered Charles precisely that opportunity which he was anxious to avert. He therefore determined to remain where he was, and to guide his own by Charles's movements. 1 By May 20 Sir William Brereton had raised the siege of Chester, and was anxious to co-operate with any forces which might reach him to hinder Charles's advance in the di- rection of Cheshire or Lancashire. Lord Fairfax suggested that the Scots should combine with his forces in Yorkshire, and thence move forward against Charles. 2 But Montrose's victory at Auld- earn, on May 9, increased Leven's determination not to be drawn away to too great a distance from the Borders. He determined to transfer his army into Westmoreland to confront Charles if he should advance in that direction, and wrote to Brereton to tell him of his movements : Rippon, 21 May. 7 in the morning. RIGHT WOBSHIPFULL, I received your severall letters, whereupon I re- solved to breake up presently and march with as much swiftnesse as can be, and seeing his design bends that way, which you expresse in your two, I shall direct my course by Westmorland tymely to oppose his advance, and as well to assist you as to stopp his breaking through into Scotland. If you find not yourselfe in that Condi- tion as to keepe your ground, draw backe safely upon me, and I shall committ noe delay by night or day to be present with you, hopeing by Gods blessing to recovere 1 L. /., vii., 390 et seq. - L'. S. P. (1644-45), 505, 509. 3 State Papers, Dora. Charles I., dvii., 75. The letter was mis- directed to Lord Fairfax. Fide infra, 354. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 353 any thing that may be lost in the interim. As touching the sending a party to you, I cannot spare soe much strength as may doe you good, and it might endanger the Army to divide. There was noe other way to get my Artillery brought along with me than this way, which I must follow, whereof I thought good to certifie you, and shall continue to give you tymely notice of my motion, as I expected the like from you to know the Enemy es. Soe he concludes that remaines Your assured friend to serve you, LEVEN. For the right honoble the Lord Fairfax. Leven's refusal to carry out the recommenda- tion which Fairfax and the Committee in London had made to him was received with consternation. 1 On May 23 the Committee at York declared that in consequence of Leven's action, " this country is left in worse condition by many degrees than when they came up hither". Yorkshire was open to attack, they complained, should Charles move in that direction.- Though the Scottish Commis- sioners in London begged that too hasty a judg- ment should not be passed upon Leven's conduct,* there was some disposition to object, that in his l Cf. Buchanan, Truth Its Manifest, 37 et seq. On May 22 two men were ordered for committal to the gatehouse, "for scandalous words spoken against the Scottish nation". C. S. P. (1644-45), 513. - L. J., vii., 397. ; 7 /'/.//< I'll/I'^, Dom. Charles I., dvii., 102. Leven wrote on the -ami-day to the Commissioners of Parliament at York, repre- senting "the gre;ir impediment \ve find through the want of draught and provisions ". <'. ,s'. P. (1044-45), 537. 358 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. designed to joyne with this Army may be drawne together in one body and united to Col. Vermuyden, and if they can not be able to divert the Enemyes course, to attend upon his motions, and move slowly towards Us while wee meet. I have written this Morning to S r W m Brereton that he appoint such numbers as he may spare out of those two Counteys to joyne with him, likewise to prevent evills as much as can be while it please God wee further advance ; Wherein I shall committ noe delay, and doe the likeliest of every thing, being confident that God will divert our Courses to his Glory and the Kingdomes good. And I hope he shall constantly endeavour, who remaynes, Your Lordships humblest Servant, LEVEN. For the right honorable the Lord Generall Fairfax. After the writing hereof, I received your Lordships with the enclosed from S r Wm. Brereton, and can add nothing in Answere thereto, but give your Lordship new assurances of my care to hasten my advance with all the speed that can be. I have againe written to Col. Vermuyden, which I leave to your Lordship to consider and dispatch the same with dilligence. L. Though he professed himself to Fairfax as anxious to join him, Leven was resolved not to quit a post of advantage until every trace of the danger which had called him there had been removed. Equally against the possibility of an immediate return was the condition of his commis- sariat. He had touched upon it in his letter to Fairfax. To Richard Barwis, one of the Parlia- ment's Commissioners in the North, he wrote to draw his attention to that matter : 1 State Papers, Dora. Charles I., dvii., 104. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 359 Appleby, 29 May, 1646. [SIR,] Because the Army may now possibly returne to Yorkeshire, I have therefore expressely sent the Bearer heirof, the thesaurer deput of the Army, to receave your resolutions positively in writt, concerning some solid way of entertainment of these forces, horse and foot, employed in the Service at Carlile, And what provision of meill and chise wee may expect here against Saturday at night for entertainment of our Souldiers, And what draught and carriages for putting forward our march. Wherein wee expect you will not disappoint the Service, but take care to accommodat us with such necessary provisions, without which wee can not be usefull for the publick safety. You will therefore consider, if wee be not tymely provyded, the burthen may lye the longer and heavier upon the County, and wee can not be to blame therefore. I remain, Your assured friend, LEVEN. With some protest, Barwis agreed to send pro- visions and draught horses to Appleby by June I, 1 and the Committee of Both Kingdoms undertook that the counties through which the Scottish army passed should supply it with provisions. They desired Leven to interpose between Charles and York in the event of the King marching in that direction. Should he march southward, they de- sired Leven to march into Nottingham or Derby- shire, leaving some of his own and Lord Fairfax's horse and dragoons for the protection of the Borders. 2 On June 1 the Committee wrote more urgently, that Rupert's storming of Leicester ren- dered Leven's presence in Yorkshire imperative. 3 1 C. S. P. (1644-45), 542. * Ibid., 549, 555. 3 Ibid., 553. Leicester fell on May 31. Journal of Rupert's Marches, in Eny. Hist. Rev., xiii., 739. 360 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. But Leven remained undecided. To Fairfax, who begged him to march towards him " without further scruple," l he replied : Apleby the 1 Junij 1645. My LORD, I received both your Letters, one of the 30 th , the other 31 st instant, with the Intelligences there inclosed, and appointed a meeting with the Generall persons and officers of the Army to acquaint them with the desires thereof, and to consult upon those things which shall be thought necessary for the weell and advantage of the publique affaires. And thereafter your Lordship and the Committee shall be certifyed of our resolutions, wherein wee shall committ noe delay,. But wee finde some diffi- culty of provisions and draughts, wherein all the dilligence shall be used that can be. Thus I remayne till the next occasion, Your Lordships most humble servant, LEVEN. For the Right Hono ble the Lord Fairfax, Lord Generall of the North, and the Committee at Yorke. Among Leven's anxieties was the condition of affairs at Carlisle. Between his own troops and the county levies engaged in the siege considerable friction existed. Lieutenant-Colonel Beecher, of Sir Wilfred Lawson's regiment, wrote indignantly to the Parliament's Commissioners at Newcastle : " On Saturday last [May 30], Lord Kircudbright gave order that the 300 commanded men who came from Newcastle should take possession of the last sconce I made against Carlisle. I went 1 C. S. P. (1644-45), 542, 546. 2 State Papers, Dom. Charles I., dvii., 111. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 361 to him and persuaded him to give a stop to his men for that night, until I had acquainted my colonel with it, who, on being informed of this, gave me express order not to part with it. On the Lord's day next, I received peremptory order from his Lordship to quit the work at my peril, as he commanded in chief, and he would see whether I durst disobey him. I submitted that 1 knew my colonel had a commission to command in chief all the English forces in Cumberland, and power to question my life if I disobeyed, but if his Lordship could show me a commission giving him power to command my colonel, I would obey his order, otherwise not. He said I was a base and saucy fellow to question his power, but that he would have the work performed in despite of me. I desired his Lordship to forbear those expressions, and to countermand his men, lest if they should offer to take the work by force there might be mischief done, for I neither could nor would part with the work without order from my colonel. In great rage, he replied, ' I desire no better occasion to cut you all in pieces '. We then parted, and I gave order for the keeping of the work, and presently repaired to my colonel, who sent me an express command in writing not to quit the work. But that night, our ' dear ' brother gave order that :><)<) foot and 3 troops of horse should immediately beleaguer our sconce, and not suffer any relief to come to our men, which they did till 9 o'clock next day, about which time my colonel met him, and then he drew off his men." 1 To the Scots it 1 C. S. P. (1644-45), 558. 362 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. was of considerable moment that the Border for- tresses should be in their hands. Beecher and Kirkcudbright already expressed a mutual jealousy which showed itself later when Carlisle had fallen, and both England and Scotland claimed the right to garrison it. Anxiety lest Charles might direct his march into Scotland had so far pinned Leven to the narrow neck of land between Newcastle and Carlisle. But that danger, which had threatened on the West and then on the East, ceased altogether when Charles, after the fall of Leicester, moved back towards Oxford. 1 On June 6 the Committee of Both Kingdoms begged Leven to march south- ward " with all possible expedition ".- On the 7th both Houses addressed to him a similar re- quest. 3 Now that the Eastern Association and not Scotland was threatened, he complied readily. Breaking his camp at Appleby, and leaving the siege of Carlisle in progress, he hastened south- ward. On June 12 he was at Doncaster, and would have been yet further advanced but for the want of provisions and draught horses. 4 1 Journal of Rupert's Marches, in Eng. Hist. Rev., xiii., 739. 2 C. S. P. (1644-45), 571. 3 L. J., vii., 419. 4 C. S. P. (1644-45), 589 ; L. J., vii., 428. On June 10 the Com- mittee for the advance of Scottish loans, sitting at Goldsmiths* Hall, reported that most of the counties named in the Ordinance of February 20 " have not collected any money at all ". On June 12 the Committee of Both Kingdoms recommended an applica- tion to the City for a loan. C'. S. P. (1644-45), 583, 588. On June 20 an Ordinance was passed in Parliament for raising 31,000 a little more than a quarter of the sum due for the Scottish army. L. J., vii., 441. Their march to Doncaster had been possible only by Parliament's permission to them to purchase provisions with promissory tickets. C. S. P. (1644-45), 556, 596 ; L. J., vii., 403. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 363 While Leven halted at Doncaster, the victory of the New Model at Xaseby on June 14 relieved the Eastern Association of danger. The Com- mittee, however, continued to urge him to hasten his advance towards Leicester, and assured him that a month's pay would be soon forthcoming for his army. 1 Leven therefore moved forward, and on May 20 was at Mansfield. From there he wrote to the Committee : Mansfield, 20 June, 1645. "My LORDS, I receved your Letter directed to the Comittee and myselfe, representing your Desires for the speedy Advance of this Annie, and expressing your care to pro- cure from the Citty of London a Monthe's Pay, and alsoe their Suite to the Comittee of the House of Comons, that equall Care may be had of our Army as of their owne, which we cannot but with Thankfullnes acknowledge to be no small Matter of an Encouragement, and doe take it as an Assurance of the same Care for the rest of the Monthes. And we doe hereby likewise make known to your Lordships that, in Obedience to your Desires, we are thus farr advanced, being most willing to apply our- selves with all Chearfullnes to whatsoever Undertaking may conduce most to the improving of that late Victory, wherewith you were alsoe pleased to acquainte us, in that Way which shall be propounded for the Happines of this Kingdoine and the strengthning of the firme Union of both, then which we have nothing more in our Care, and shall imbrace all Opportunities to evidence our constant Affection to this common Cause, for the regayning of a blessed Peace, and Settlement of Religion. But, because 1 G. S. P. (1644-45), 592. The letter is dated June 14. A post- script announced the victory at N;i>cl>y. 2 L. J., vii., 44'.). 364 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. your Lordships are shortly to receive more particuler Accompt of our Waies and Intentions by M r Kennedy and M r Gillespie, I shall forbeare to add any Thinge for present, but remaine, Your Lordships most humble Servant, LEVEN. For the Right Honorable the Lords and others of the Comittee of both Kingdomes. After a tedious march, Leven reached Notting- ham on June 22. 1 He had obeyed his instructions, and now took the opportunity to associate Callan- der and Hamilton with himself in an earnest remonstrance to the Committee. " There be neither few nor small occasions and discourage- ments," they wrote, " from the mis-representation of our Actions, and mis-apprehensions of our intentions, from the cooling, if not changing, of that affection formerly expressed, both towards our selves, and towards divers of our Countrey-men." "Notwithstanding," they declared, "our Actions have been, are, and shall be reall testimonies of our constant resolution to pursue actively the ends expressed in the Covenant, and to adventure our selves, and whatsoever is dearest to us, in this Cause." They pointed to the unequal treatment which their army had received as compared with the Parliament's other forces, and strongly urgod " the expediting of the Reformation of .Religion and uniformity in Church-government, together with the speedy prosecuting and ending of this War, that we may return home with the comfort 1 L. J.. vii., 450. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 365 of Religion and Peace setled, the fruits of our endeavours much wished and longed for V Having made his protest, Leven asked for precise instructions as to the service required from his army : Nottingham, 25 June, 1645. MY LOEDS AND GENTLEMEN, I did formerly signify to your Lordships, etc., beeing here in this Place, where we doe not desire to lye improfitable (though our Provisions were both sufficient and sure), but to undertake what may be of most Ad- vantage for the Publique Good, and waite to heare from your Lordships what you shall thinke to propound unto, my Lords, Your Lordships humble Servant, LEVEN. For the Right Honorable the Comittee of both Kingdoms. On June 26 a similar inquiry was sent by Fairfax to the two Houses. 3 With Leven's army already in the Midlands, the Committee resolved to concentrate the New Model upon Taunton and the south-western districts, and to employ the Scots against Charles in the West. On June '27 orders were sent to Leven to march towards Wor- cester. 4 1 Buchanan, Trnflt It* Manifest, 45. The letter is there dated June 12. It should probably be June 22. '-/>. ./., vii., 462. "/&?., vii., 463. *Ilnd., vii., 464; C. S. P. (1644-45), 621. On June 25 the Com- mittee had written : " We conceive that if you march presently toward Worcester it may perhaps be had without much difficulty, and you be there in a very fit posture to oppose the King's motions if he should return northward, or to join with or assist our army, or receive assistance from them, MS then 1 shall be occasion, and our affairs will be put thereby into a hopeful con- dition ". Ibid., 611. 366 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. The capitulation of Carlisle on June 28 enabled Leven to fulfil the Committee's directions without misgivings. But it was not sufficient that Carlisle should have surrendered. Leven was resolved that for security in the future it should receive a garrison of his own forces. Writing to Armyne and the Parliament's Commissioners at Penrith, he had expressed his views very clearly : l Mansfield, 20 June, 1645. GENTLEMEN, I understand that the towne of Carlile doeth desire articles of treaty and capitulation, which have mad me to send Lieutenent Generall Lesly with full power and instructions in such things as concerne the interest of our nation, entreating you soe far to condisend and comply with him in this bussines, that in reguard of the great hazards which our forces have adventoured upon, the extrieordinary pains they have taken, and the losses which they have sustained, and in reguard of the nearnes of that toun to our borders, and the usefullnes thereof for the safety of our Countrey, that it be not infested by the dissafected and malignant party in the northerne counties, which want not their ouen correspondents upon our Southe borders, And in reguard of the necessity of entertaining and continueing a good understanding And niutuall confidence between the Kingdomes, The toun of Carlile may be delivered in to the custodie of the said Lieutenant Generall, untill the further and more full agrement between the Kingdomes, and the pleasure of the honourable houses of parliament declared theirupon. And this wee have the greatter reasone to desire, because having now advanced soe far southe, and being willing to undertake any action 1 State Papers, Dom. Charles I., dvii., 127. Another letter from Leven to the same is in L. J., vii., 480, and in C. S. P. (1644-45), 606. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 367 which the honourable houses shall commend unto us, and having no intention for any other of their garision touns to be in our custodie, only wee think it necessary to desire the Gouvernament of that toun for the reasones mentioned, And further because wee know not but the Enemy may, according to their former resolution, endeavor to send a flying Armie that way into Scotland. Soe, expecting satisfaction from you, As you may from us in any thing wherein wee can doe you a good office, I remain, Your loving friend to serve you, LEVEN. Sir Thomas Glemham, the Governor of Car- lisle, was not averse to apply the jealousies of his adversaries to his own advantage. A messenger from him reached Fairfax at York on June 21, to inquire on what terms his surrender would be accepted, and to whom he should deliver the town. Fairfax wrote to Leven for his advice regarding Glemham's message, which he declared to be " of so strange a nature as we never yet received, nor heard to be offered to any before this time 'V Leven replied : Nottingham, 23 June, 1645. EIGHT HONOURABLE, I wish the messenger who came from Sir Thomas Glenham had cornde forwards to this place, by whome I might have knowne the particulers of the message more clearely then I can understand by your Lordships letter, which mentioneth a strange offer, whereunto your Lord- ship knows not what replye to make. I can farr less 1 C. S. P. (1644-45), 603. 2 State Papers, Dom. Charles I., dvii., 131. An imperfect copy of this letter is in L. /., vii., 464. 368 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. know, who have not spoken with the Messenger. How- soever I have sent Lieutenant Generall Lesly, with power from me concerning that Treaty and capitulation with the towne of Carlile, trustinge theire shall be such a compli- ance and agreament betwixt him and the Commissioners of the parliament upon the place, as shall give satisfaction to all who are concernd in the busines. And soe I remain, Your lordships humble servant, LEVEN. I must intreat your lordship, because there be some lords and others comeing here to the Committee with the Army, and wee will possibly remove at a further distance, that your lordship would affoord them a safe convoy, as they shall acquaint you. For the right honourable the Lord Fairfax, etc. On June 26, David Leslie met Sir Thomas Glemham to debate the conditions of surrender 1 . Armyne and the other Commissioners watched his proceedings jealously. " We cannot but think it very strange," they wrote to him, " that you and those under your command should so frequently have intercourse with our adversaries, without acquainting us in the least measure with your negotiations." " We desire you," they warned him, " to advise well of the treaty betwixt both nations, and the solemn national Covenant, that there be nothing wanting on your part, as there shall be none on ours, to preserve that mutual concord, correspondence, and good agreement, which all honest and true-hearted men, and men of honour, will labour to preserve to their lives' 1 C. S. P. (1644-45), 613. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 369 end. We have sent Captain Hudson to satisfy Sir Thos. Glemham, that if he treat with us con- cerning the delivery of Carlisle upon honourable and just terms, he shall be sure to have them observed by us, and as far as the Parliament of England hath any power." l " You may now be pleased to know," Leslie replied on June 27, " we have signed an accord for surrendering the town, which was a thing much longed and wished for by us all, and I hope you will not only be sharers of our joy, but likewise heartily approve thereof. As for securing the place, till the Com- mittee of both kingdoms determine of a Governor, I shall put in it a sufficient garrison." : " We conceive you are in the Parliament's service," Armyne retorted, " and we do hereby demand that an Englishman may be Governor of Carlisle, and such English forces put into it as may be thought fit to secure that place until the pleasure of the Parliament be further known." : Much as Leslie's action was resented, Leven and his Com- mittee insisted that their retention of Carlisle was necessary " for the safety of our Borders," and hinted plainly, that if it were denied them, their army might be compelled to draw back towards 1 C. .S. P. (1044-45), 614. On June 27 the Commissioners wrote to the Houses to complain of Leslie's conduct. L. /., vii., 481. On June 26 a Committee of both Houses asserted that the Treaty of alliance stipulated that Carlisle, and also Newcastle and Berwick, so soon as they were captured, " shall be delivered over into the hands of such persons and garrisons as shall be appointed to receive and defend the same by the two Houses of Parliament ".C. S. P. (1644-45), 613. "Ibid., 618. 24 370 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. the North. 1 For the present, therefore, Carlisle retained its Scottish garrison. Leven was at length ready to advance upon Worcester. For the first time since the war had opened, the Scots faced the possibility of direct conflict with the King. In 1639, in a similar position, hostilities had been averted by a timely petition. Some of Leven's officers were anxious to adopt that course now, and Sir James Turner was commissioned to draw up their petition. Callander was approached, but refused to give any official sanction to a measure which would be very jealously regarded by Scotland's ally. The project was therefore abandoned.' Leaving Nottingham on July 2, Leven passed through Tamworth and Birmingham, and was at Alcester on July 8. 3 Fairfax's victory at Langport on July 10 drew away such royalist reserves as could be spared from Wales. The consequent 1 L. J., vii., 486. 2 Turner, Memoirs, 40. The officers appealed, as a precedent for their petition, to " the laudable custome of both the first and the second Covenanters ". 3 H. M. C., Kept, viii., pt. ii., App. 62; Dugdale, 80. The army was followed by a large number of Scottish women. Nicho- las writes about them to Rupert : " They plunder notably in the country, nothing inferior to the Irish women slain at Xa-cby. I hear that the Earl of. Leven is troubled that the rebels gave no quarter to the Irish at Naseby, and saith that he will not engage his Scots but at good advantage, for he finds the country not well satisfied with their coming southward, and if the King's generals should give private order that no quarter be given to his Scots soldiers . . . which he confesses were but equal, the small num- ber which he hath would be soon destroyed, and he should speedily be at the mercy of the English." Gardiner, Civil War, ii., 263. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 371 weakening of Charles's position in the West offered an opportunity of which, on July 15, the Com- mittee begged Leven to make use. Immediately upon receiving the Committee's directions, 1 Leven advanced from Alcester to Droitwich. For the passage of the Severn two routes were open to him ; one by Bewdley, where Charles had crossed in June, after his defeat at Xaseby ; - the other, and nearer one, by Upton. Leven chose the former, having intelligence that the bridge at Upton was broken. 3 So soon as his army was across the Severn, Callander, David Leslie, and Middleton were sent forward. On July '2'2 they summoned Canon Frome. Colonel Barnard, who commanded the garrison, returned answer, that he would hold the place " as long as he had a drop of blood in his body ". Callander ordered an assault, and though the place was strongly fortified, took it with a loss of sixteen killed and twenty-four wounded. Placing a gar- rison in it, Callander advanced towards Ross in pursuit of a body of the enemy. Leven mean- while, advancing slowly over very bad roads from Bromyard and Ledbury, reached Hereford on July 30 and proceeded to invest the city. 4 The development of the war, its unexpected duration, and the friction which had appeared in 1 C. S. P. (1045-47), 19. 2 Journal of Rupert's Man-he:-, in l-'.mj. Hi. everything tends to induce the Scots to come to terms, to which the unfortunate state in which they are situated in their own country may still further contribute, and the apprehension they have lest the English may get the better of them, and im- prove the condition of this country at their expense." Fother- inghain. Mmtti'i-i-nl. i., 6. 2 L. J., vii., 514. 3 On July 18 an ( )rdinance of both Houses had appointed Com- missioners to reside with the Scottish army before Hereford. ' . & /'. (1645-47), 23; U. /., iv., 210. 374 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. who am not to speake or heare any Thinge of Publique Concernment, but what shal bee recommended to me by them. I shall adde nothinge, but remaine Your loveinge Freind, LEVEN. Leven had barely drawn his army about Here- ford, when events compelled its withdrawal north- ward. Fairfax's capture of Bridgewater on July 23, following closely upon his victory at Langport, rendered Charles's position north of the Severn pre- carious. 1 Should the New Model co-operate with the Scots, he might find himself hemmed in. He therefore determined to escape from a position of such peril. On August 5 he marched out of Cardiff, slipped past Leven, crossed the Severn at Bridgnorth, and on August 18 reached Doncaster.- " If the Scots give us any time," Digby wrote to Rupert, " we do then promise ourselves with confidence a good army suddenly, [but] if they advance up after us with their whole army, that must allow us some time before they can reach us, and when they do, if the worst come to the worst, we shall be able to make a retreat from them to any part of England his Majesty pleases, with less difficulty and hazard than [when] we gave them the slip in Wales, and so by that means have hindered their progress and gained the winter upon our backs ; if they follow us but with their horse only, perhaps we may be strong enough to beat them, or happily Montrose, being so prosperous in Scotland 1 Of. Warburton, Prince Rupert, iii., 137 et seq. 2 Journal of Prince Rupert's Marches, in Eng. Hist. Ser., xiii., 739 ; C. S. P. (1645-47), 70. Vide map in Gardiner, L'ivil War, ii.. i'.V>. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 375 as we hear he is, may afford us such timely supplies as may enable us to turn upon them ere we come to the borders, in case we are not strong enough of ourselves to adventure it." 1 So soon as Charles's movements were known in London, an urgent recommendation was addressed to Leven- to send so many of his cavalry as he could spare in pursuit of the King. He had already done what was required from him, and had de- spatched David Leslie with eight regiments of horse, one of dragoons, and five hundred mounted mus- keteers to follow Charles. 3 The forces of Yorkshire, Nottingham, Derby, Rutland, Lincoln, and Cam- bridge received orders to place themselves under Leslie's command, 4 and on August 22 he was able to report from Bawtry that all fear of Charles's immediate approach towards Scotland was at an end. ' One crisis had been averted, but another and a more dangerous one presented itself. While Scotland was expending her military resources in England, her own territory was denuded of the requisite means of defence, and Montrose was en- abled with the greater ease to carry all before him. The Estates had already ordered a supplementary army of between eight and nine thousand men to rendezvous at Perth on July 24." On August 15 Montrose's victory at Kilsyth wiped it out of 1 C. S. P. ( 1645-47) ,'.71. 2 On August 13. Ibid., 62. 3 L. /., vii., 538. On August 15 the Speaker conveyed to Lcvrn the thanks of the Commons for "so vigilant and season- able a service ". C. S. P. (1645-47), 67. 4 Ibid., 68. 3 L. J., vii., 550. Cf. C. S. P. (1645-47), 112. 6 Ads, vi., pt. i., 431. 376 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. existence, and laid Scotland at his feet. 1 News of the disaster reached David Leslie at Nottingham.- Leaving others to deal with Charles, he returned to Scotland in order, if possible, to retrieve the position. 3 Even before Kilsyth, Leven's position at Here- ford was precarious. He was severed from his cavalry, and hampered by the want of foraging parties ; for though ammunition and even a chest of medicines had been sent to him, he obtained provisions with the utmost difficulty. 4 For ten days his army was almost without bread, and sub- sisted upon beans, green corn, and fruits." It was futile to expect satisfactory service from an army in such a condition. Astley, too, was endeavour- ing to raise Herefordshire and Monmouth for the relief of Hereford, when Charles, emboldened by Montrose's victory, returned towards the Severn, and on September 2 entered Worcester. At once abandoning the siege, Leven re-crossed the Severn at Upton, and marched northward to his old quarters in Yorkshire/' 1 Cf. Wishart, 122 et seq. ; Britanes Distemper, 139 ; Baillie, ii., 417 et seq. 2 G. S. 1'. (1645-47), 112. 3 Ibid., 94. * Of. G. S. P. (1645-47), 40, 49, 56. On August 15 the Ordinance for providing money for the Scottish army was re-enacted for a further period of four months. Ibid., 65. 5 Buchanan, Truth Its Manifest, 44. 6 C. S. P. (1645-47), 96, 112 ; Journal of Rupert's Marches, in Eng. Hist. Rev., xiii., 740. Digby declared that the Scots admitted having lost fifteen hundred men at Hereford. C. S. P. (1645-47), 117. Birch affords no details of the siege of Hereford. He gives September 5 as the date of Leven's withdrawal. Memoir, 113. Symonds gives September 2 as the date, and remarks that the Scots were then "gott neare the towne, and had made two THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 377 Leven's withdrawal from Hereford intensified the suspicion which England had long felt regard- ing his army's conduct. The Scots, wrote Sir Robert Honeywood to Vane on September 9, " have fallen under a general suspicion, not only amongst the common sort, but people of the best quality, which their slow proceedings before Here- ford and their now retreat from it hath not at all lessened ". " They have lost affection here," he added, " and will do more unless their armies engage more truly for the future, and their counsels and ours be more united, whereby they may gain the hearts of the people again, which are not lost, but are in suspense." l The time had in fact come for a clear under- standing between the allies. Early in September, Commissioners from both nations met at Berwick to discuss the situation. The English Commis- sioners, while they expressed their gratitude for Scotland's assistance and a desire for its con- tinuance, demanded that the Scottish garrisons in Carlisle, Warkworth, Tynemouth, Newcastle- upon-Tyne, Hartlepool, Stockton, and Thirlwall should be withdrawn.- But not even David Leslie's victory over Montrose at Philiphaugh, on September 13, lessened the determination of the Scots to hold the northern fortresses which pro- breaches, . . . two mynes, and drayned the ditch". Diary, 232. According to Dugdale, the Scots raised the siege on September 1, were at Charlcote in Warwickshire on the 9th, at Stoneleigh on the 10th, and at Nuneaton on the llth. Diary. 81. 1 C. S. P. (1645-47). 127. -Ibid., 114. Cf. Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 16. 378 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. tected their Borders. 1 Some of their leaders were already in correspondence with Montereul, and favoured the idea of the Franco-Scottish alliance which he advocated,- if it would establish the object they had at heart, and put an end to the prolonged war. On September 29 their Commissioners in Lon- don made strong representations upon the situation as they viewed it. Beyond the fact that their army had received but one month's pay in seven months, 3 " it may bee equally considered by the Honnorable Houses," they urged, " when now the Kingdoms of Scotland, out of their earnest Desire, upon the Grounds contained in the Covenant and Treaty, to procure the Peace of this Kingdome, have denyed themselves, and loosed their owne Peace, and are obliged by Covenant, Treaty, and joynt Declaration of both Kingdomes, never to lay downe Armes 'till the Peace of both be setled, to what Straights the Kingdome of Scotland is brought". 4 The Com- missioners accurately voiced the feelings of their constituents. Honour forbade them to tear up the agreement with England until the object of the alliance had been secured. 5 If they dwelt upon their army's needs, it was largely because the neglect of them tended to prolong the war, and to delay their release from an already irksome compact. While the Xew Model was engaged in the 1 C. S. P. (1645-47), 194. 2 Gy. Montereul's despatches, in Fotheringham, i., 8 et seq. 3 L. J., vii., 619. * Ibid., vii., 631. 5 Cf. Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 22. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 379 South-west, and Charles roamed at pleasure between Oxford and the Trent, an obvious and effective means of service was opened to the Scottish army, whereby the conclusion of the war might be hastened. On September 25, the two Houses concurred in requesting that the Scots should leave Yorkshire and undertake the siege of Newark. 1 The request was received in no cordial spirit. Leven himself, disheartened by the in- cessant anxieties of his position, was even desirous of surrendering his commission. He wrote to the Earl of Eglinton : Northalerton, 24 Sept. 1645. MY LOED, I could not but congratulat the happy victory wherewith God hes blissed yow against the Eebells, and shew you lykewyse how glad I wes to hear of your be- haviour and your sones. Truly there is no better meanes of acquyring honour then to releive a distressed contrey, and I pray God that advantage may be effectually prosecuted to the comfort of that people. I referr your lordship to the publict papers, concerning the nixt under- takeings of this Army, which is remitted to the determina- tion of the meetting appointed for that purpose. I must shew your lordship my intention to lay doun my charge, being now become unable to performe such duty as I wold for the publique ; and therefore I shall earnestly entreat your lordship to be furthering and assist- ing to me in procuring an exoneration, that I may be fairly discharged, as I haue written to the Estates for that effect. Having no more to add for present, I remain, Your lordships humble seruant, LEUEN. For the right honorable the Earle of Eglinton. 1 L. J., vii., 598. 2 Fraser, Montyomeries, i., 27'.'. 380 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Leven's desire to be released from his com- mand was over-ruled, but shortly after his letter to Eglinton, he left his army in Yorkshire and proceeded to Berwick. He was followed by com- plaints from the Yorkshire Committee regarding the conduct of his forces, and replied with patient courtesy : Berwick, 6 October, 1645. GENTLEMEN, I received a Letter of yours, dated at Yorke, the 4th of October, and in it an Accompt of the Country People's Greivances against our Army. I have not bin many Dayes from them, and am exceeding sorry to heare that soe short a Tyme hath bred soe greate a Change in their Carriage. My Care hath ever beene, and shal bee, to preserve them in Order, and the Country from Oppression ; and as I have ever beene ready to heare the just Complaints of the meanest, and to give them Satis- faction and Reparation, soe I shall make it a Request unto you, that all Complaints of these Kinds you mention may bee ready at my Retourne unto the Army (which for that very Cause I shall hasten) ; and you shall see Redresse of them to the full. Which is all for the present can be said to you at this Distance, by Your very affectionate Freind. Subscribed, LEVEN. While Leven remained at Berwick, a further effort was made by Charles to open negotiations with him. An attempt had been made to gain him in September, 2 before Charles left Wales, but Leven had returned no answer to the overtures then made to him. On October 4, Lord Digby wrote from 1 L. /., vii., 643. Cf. Ibid., vii., 640. 2 Of. Gardiner, Civil War, ii., 343. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 381 Newark to press an answer from him. The letter was committed to a trumpeter, who, as he rode northward, proclaimed the hope of the royalists that Leven would bring back his army " to Newarke for the King, with as much Joy as ever he did come for the Parliament". At Northal- lerton the letter was received and opened by Sir Alexander Hamilton, who was in command during Leven's absence. He forwarded it to Berwick, where Leven submitted it to Argyll, Lauderdale, and Lanark. With their concurrence he resolved to send it, and his answer to it, to London to be submitted to Parliament. 1 His answer was as follows : 2 Barwicke, this 9th of October, 1645. MY LORD, I receved here, upon the 8th Instant, a Letter from the Lord Digby, bearing Date from Newarke the 4th of October, a Copy whereof is here inclosed, relateing to One formerly sent by him by His Majesty's Comand, upon a Subject highly importing the Peace and Happinesse of all His Dominions. To which Letter I can returne no Answere, having never receved it. But had it come to my Hands, or any Motion of that Nature, I should, as I have done with this, addressed them to the Parliaments of both Kingdomes, or their Commissioners, as only capeable of receving and answering such Propositions. I am, my Lord, Your Lordship's humble Servant, LEVEX. For the Cheife Comander of the Forces now with His Majesty. Meanwhile, negotiations for the further employ- 1 L. J., vii., 638-39. -Ibid., vii., 638. Cf. Fotherin^ham, Montereul, i., 33. 382 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. ment of the Scottish army proceeded slowly. The Scots were still resolved not to surrender the northern garrisons, while they demanded assurance that their army should not suffer in the future the neglect with which it had been treated in the past. Upon that matter the Houses gave answer on October 5, that if the Scottish army would under- take the siege of Newark, one month's pay and a sufficient store of ammunition should meet it there by November 1. " It is to be hoped," wrote Vane, " that upon these second desires of the Parliament, the Scots' army will come to Newark, and then all will settle again, and we may jointly make use of our good success to the speedy settling of the dis- tractions of the kingdom, which may God grant." But so long as Parliament insisted upon an im- mediate withdrawal of their garrisons in Carlisle, Newcastle and elsewhere, the Scots would not move. The Houses accordingly, on October 21, condemned their failure to appear before Newark as " not only unserviceable, but prejudicial to those ends for which their assistance was desired ". They censured the Scots for the unauthorised contributions which they were levying from the northern counties, and threatened to withhold payment of the monthly payment for their army unless the practice was abandoned. They de- manded the instant withdrawal of the Scottish garrisons, and undertook to provide 30,000 on condition that Leven's army reached Newark by November 1.- But if further help was to be obtained from 1 G. S. P. (1645-47), 183. *Ibid., 200; L. J., vii., 654. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 383 the Scots, it was obvious that concessions must be made. On Xovember 13, therefore, it was intimated to the Estates, that while the speedy surrender of the northern garrisons was im- perative, yet, " that the Kingdom of Scotland may not be straitened for time," March 1, 1646, was appointed as the date by which their evacuation must be completed. 1 Satisfied by a concession which might in fact leave them in possession of the northern fortresses so long as the war con- tinued, and relieved from immediate danger in Scotland by Montrose's defeat at Philiphaugh. the Scots were willing to resume an active part in the prosecution of the war. On November 27, Leven forced the passage of the Trent at Muskham Bridge,- and on the following day established his lines upon the north of Newark, while Poyntz and the English forces invested the town on the south/ 5 He entered upon the siege in a somewhat despon- dent spirit. To Eglinton he wrote : 4 1 C. S. P. (1645-47), 220 ; C. J., iv., 341. 2 Leven described the action in a despatch : " Upon the 26th of this Instant Xovember, haveing come to this Place, within a Mile of the Towne, I caused drawe a Lyne close to Muscombe Bridge, whereupon I placed Muskatteirs, and sought all Meanes to crosse the River, and storme the Sconce upon the other Side ; but the Enemy, apprehending the Designe, fell out Yesterday Morninge before Breake of the Day, and attempted the cutting of the Bridge, from which they were beate of bee our Muskatters with little Losse. Afterwards they sett Fire to the Drawe-bridge ; but our Forces falling on, did beate the Enemy backe, and ex- tinguished the Fire, which made them forsake their Works, soe that wee now are Musters both of Bridge and Sconce." L. /., viii., 29. 3 Cf. G. J., iv., 362. Leven was appointed to the Command-in- Chief. L. J., viii., 20. 4 Fraser, Montgomeries, i., 279. 384 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Greatmoscome, 28th Nov. 1645. MY LORD, Becaus I am aboundantly perswaded of your integrity and straight desyres for the peace and happines of our poor distressed kingdome, I haue thought it necessary with all earnestnes to desyre your lordship to employ your utmost endeavours to preserve an union at this tyme in the Parliament, and labour to sie justice ministered equally, to the confusion of the enemyes of God and his cause, and the comfort of that afflicted countrey. For truly it seemes very strange to honest men, that there should be any to appear for those that haue done all that lay in their power to mine their countrey. 1 I haue great confidence in your lordship, which makes me writ thus friely. Yesternight wee came to this place, and took the bridge of Moscome, and the sconse on the other side, within les than a mile of the river. I pray God saue us from your divisions at home. Though I haue not led such an inconsiderable party these many yeirs, 2 yet there shall be nothing left undone by me which may contribute to the publict good. If your lordships sone, Colonel Robert, com hither to us, I shall strive to supply your absence, and in euery thing approve myself to be Your lordships most affectionat seruant, LEUEN. For the right honourable the Earle of Eglintone. The treatment of the Scottish army before Newark showed but little improvement. On December 5 the Scottish Commissioners again drew attention to its inability to fulfil the work 1 The Scottish Estates opened on November 26, and proceeded to deal out punishment to Montrose and his party. Cf. Balfour, iii., 341. 2 He wrote from Newcastle on December 17 to urge the sending of recruits. Ibid., iii., 338. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 385 required of it so long as it was stinted in money, clothes, and other necessaries. 1 On December 10, the two Houses in a formal paper reviewed the whole question of their financial relations with Scotland. They pointed out, that before the Scots entered England in 1644, a Committee was consti- tuted to supply their army with money, with agents to collect the assessments upon the counties liable for its support. Their first intention had been to pay the army out of the confiscated estates of " Papists and other delinquents," but when that fund proved insufficient, a tax was laid upon the northern counties, and ultimately extended to other " the most entire and quiet parts of the Kingdom ". From these sources, they asserted, from October 6, 1643, to November 1, 1645, the Scots had received 220,629, besides 88,000 paid to them during the siege of York, 10,000 for clothes before their army undertook the siege of Newcastle, above 53,000 in respect of the sale of coals at Newcastle and Sunderland, and also smaller sums and " free quarter and disorderly plundering " in divers parts of the Kingdom.- En- couraged by their financial statement, the Houses proceeded to admonish their ally " with freedom and brotherly affection ". They complained that their wishes as to the conduct of the war had 1 L. J., viii., L".I. '-'//-47 . 250. 25 386 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDEK LESLIE. not been invariably regarded, and that in partic- ular, Leven's delays in the North, " where no enemy was," had lost the fairest opportunity of concluding the war which so far had appeared. As to the conclusion of a peace, on which their ally so much insisted, there was " no earthly thing more in our thoughts and desires," they declared, and that in the endeavour to obtain it, they had " done and suffered as much as any Kingdom in the World 'V Leven remained but a short time at Newark. Early in December he returned to Newcastle. He could not be ignorant of the endeavours which Montereul was making to bring the Scots to an understanding with Charles. That he was per- sonally averse to such a course he had shown already on two occasions, and as the opinion of the majority inclined more and more towards diplomatic negotiations, the consequences of which he feared, he withdrew with the greater anxiety into the background." To Eglinton he wrote again : 3 1 L. /., viii., 34. 2 Turner, however, expresses the opinion that Leven was reluctant to leave Newark, and to sacrifice the opportunity of enriching himself. The view which I have presented rests solely upon inference, but it appears to me consistent with Leven's character and actions. Cf. Turner, Memoirs, 40. 3 Fraser, Montyomeries, i., 280. Balfour mentions a letter from Leven dated January 11, and Sir William Fraser infers that Leven wrote it from Newark. Balfour does not say so. Nor have I found evidence of his presence at Newark until Charles's arrival in the Scottish camp in May. His name is not mentioned in con- nection with the muster on January 17, at which time David Leslie was clearly in command, and he was at Newcastle on February 23. Cf. Balfour, iii., 362; Melvilles, i., 416; L. /., viii., THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 387 Newcastle, last December, 1645. MY LORD, I receaued both yours of the 27 of this instant December, for the which I giue you most hearty thankes, and doe earnestly desire the continuance of a good corre- spondence betuix us, which shall neuer be omitted by me at any tyme when occation presents. The Earle of Kut- land, Lord Willoughbye, Sir William Armyne, and certain others are come doun to the Armye, 1 and I haue written to the Parliament that they would be pleased to send up some able men and of quality e to treat with them, as weel for the good of the Armye, as for the surrender of the toun,- or any thing els that may fall out for the good of of the seruice. Our Armye is now in a uery miserable condition for the w r ant of maintinence, and as yeet there is uery litle care taken for the supplye thereof. There is 15,000 lib. come doun to the Armye, and certain other prouisions. I am uery sorry for the slow progresse that is made in setling your distracted effairs, and pray God giue them all straight and honest hearts to prosecut this work faith- fully. I am uery euill satisfied that your sonns two reg- ments did not come heer, and should have done any thing that might haue been for their good. I haue no further to writt to you for present, but to entreat your 84. 118, 121, 254. From Rossiter's letter (infra, 390), Leven does not appear to have been at Newark on March 5. That he had in fact temporarily retired is supported by the fact that, on February '.. The Speaker of the Commons conveyed to the English Com- mi-Moners in Scotland, a jewel and a letter of thanks for Leven, ' a> a testimony of their greate respects vnto him, and highe me of his fidelity and gallantry". Melvilles, ii., 96. He had, however, on January 8, been appointed on a Commission to treat wirli the English Commissioners at Newark. Act*, vi., pt. i., 502. 1 Their instructions, dated December 16, are in C. S. P. (1645- 47 . -_'J4, and in L. J., viii., 4:i. - Newark. 388 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. lordship not to forget me, as I shall euer be mindful! and willing to express my selfe, My lord, your lordships humble seruant, LEUEN. For the right honourable the Earle of Eglington. To the annoyances which the Scots had already encountered another was now added. The English Commissioners, who had been sent in December to reside with the army before Newark, had been directed among other matters " to take care that exact musters be made from time to time of the horse, foot, and train of artillery under the Earl of Leven, and certify the same to the Parliament V Upon January 17, 1646, a muster of the Scottish forces was held, and they were found to number four thousand one hundred and thirty-six horse, two thousand eight hundred and thirty-six foot, and fifty men attached to the train of artillery, a total of seven thousand and twenty-two men. 2 1 C. S. P. (1645-47), 264. 2 L. /., viii., 186. Officers were not included in the cavalry totals. The following were the regiments and their strength : Cavalry. Leven's, 518; David Leslie's, 625; Middleton's, 360; Balcarres's, 369 ; Hamilton's, 328 ; Sir James Ramsay's, 412 : sir John Brown's, 532 ; " Vandruske's," 304 ; the " commanded party," 164 ; Life-guards, 102; Welden's, 170; College of Justice, 69 ; two troops under Colonel Hamilton and Captain Disney, 103. Foot. Earl Marischal's, 372 ; Tullibardine's, 482 ; Sinclair's, 403 ; Livingstone's, 230 ; Sir Thomas Ruthven's, 325 ; Sir Arthur Erskine's, 247 ; Home of Wedderburn's, 534 ; Colonel Scot's, 243. Artillery. Officers and men, 29; waggoners, 21. The original muster roll is at the Rolls' Office [State Papers, Military, Charles I., ii., 1646], and covers 458 pp. The muster was held at Musk- ham and Southwell. Dalhousie's, Kircudbright's, and Fr.-i- horse and dragoons were on January 19 lying between York and Newark, and were not included in the muster. Cf. L. J.. viii., 118. They had received orders to proceed to England on Decem- ber 16, 1645. Ad*, vL pt. i., 487. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 389 The Parliament's anxiety in the matter proceeded partly from a suspicion that false returns were being made, 1 partly with a view to settle an ade- quate sum for the army's support,- largely because the Scottish horse exceeded the number agreed upon in the Treaty of November 29, 1643. 3 But such motives were in fact superficial, and beneath them was the antagonism of the Independents to the Scots which Cromwell had already expressed. While the Presbyterians and Sectaries were mak- ing overtures to Charles, each eyed jealously the military resources of the other. When, therefore, on February '2 the Lords resolved that the Scottish horse and dragoons should be reduced to three thousand, Manchester, Essex, and nine others dissented. 4 The proposal to communicate the resolution to the Scottish Commissioners led to close party divisions. On February 12 the Lords divided equally on the question, and a second division was required on the 13th before the com- munication was sanctioned. Meanwhile the siege of Newark proceeded slowly. Though the Scots had been before the town for eight weeks, the English forces were still incomplete at the end of January. "Foot are still wanted there," wrote the Committee, " without which the siege and reduction of that place cannot 1 C. S. /'. 1045-47), 361. -The English Commissioners offered 2500 ;i week, one- thinl in money, and two-thirds in provisions. L. J., viii., 118. :: lliil., viii.. i:7. 4 Ib id., viii., i:31>. The Commons concurred on FeKmai-y 0. Ilii'l.. viii.. 145. JWi.viii., 102, 103, 104. 390 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. be effectually proceeded with. The rest of the forces lie there useless for want of the foot ap- pointed for that service." l The Scottish army was equally hampered by inadequate supplies of food and other necessaries. On February 3 their Commissioners complained, that for the past two months their foot soldiers had not received eighteen pennyworth of provisions weekly, and that at that moment there was not 10 worth of food in their magazines. 2 At the beginning of March the besiegers began to close in upon the town. On the 2nd they " drew to their quarters ". The garrison faced them in considerable numbers, but refused to be drawn from the shelter of their guns. 3 Three days later, however, observing that David Leslie and a considerable body of his troops were occupied upon an island in the river to the north of New- ark, the garrison fell out upon Sinclair's regiment, and engaged them until reinforcements arrived, when they drew back into the town. Colonel Rossiter furnished an account of the engagement to the Parliament's Commissioners at Lincoln : Balderton, March 5, 1646. RIGHT HONOURABLE, In obedience to your Lordships commands, I went this morning to the Generals quarters, and from thence to 1 C. S. P. (1645-47), 322. 2 L. J., viii., 143. Cf. Ibid., viii., 178. :) Ibid., viii., 201. 4 The letter is printed in A Great Fight at Neicarke : Where the Lord Sinclares Regiment beat 1000 Foot and JfOO Horse, and drave them into Newark. K. P. Rossiter had been blocking up Newark since November, 1645. a S. P. (1645-47), 227. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 391 Lieutenant-Gen. Lesleyes, to wait upon them in viewing Newarke on this side, which they intended, but whilst we were at Lieutenant-Gen. Leslyes quarters, the enemy sallied forth of Newark with all their horse and foot they could possibly make, being about 1000 foot and 400 horse, and fell upon the Scots guard in the Island, with an intention to take from them a work which the Scots were making to keep them from grazing any cattell in the Hand. Muscomb bridge being down, the Scots could not get any reliefe over to their men, but verie slowly in boats, so that the enemy over-powred their horse, being but four small Troops, and made them retreat towards Muscomb bridge with some losse, though not much. Then the enemy attempted the work, but were beat off with some losse. Assoone as the Lieutenant-Generall received the Alarme, he and the rest of the Company with him hasted with all speed over the river, where he commanded the horse to Eally, and led them himselfe to the work, and took out some foot thence, and some other foot which came over the river, and marched up to the enemy, who retreated after some small skirmishing into the Towne. What losse we had I cannot certainly learne, but as near as I can judge we had one Captain, and two Lieutenants, and about eight souldiers slaine, and fifteen or twenty souldiers wounded ; the enemy left some dead on the place, and we hear they had one Captain and divers others slain and wounded. I do verily believe the enemy were full double in number to the Scots both horse and foot. This advantage is got by it, that it is resolved forthwith to make a bridge from Winthrop side, at the very point of the to Muscomb, which will not onely serve for a correspondency betwixt the Scots and the Col. Grey, but also serve for an inlet to both sides into the Island. Lieut. Gen. Lesly will guard one end of the Bridge, and Col. Grey the other. The Lieutenant-Generall and the rest are verie desirous that all possible meanes may be used for the reducing the enemy, and expresse 392 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. their forwardnesse by approaches or other wayes to do their parts. If your Lordships please to hasten downe the Pinnace, it may be of good use for whilst the bridge is making. I shall upon all occasions desire to expresse my selfe, Eight honourable, Your Lordships humble Servant, EDW. EossiTEE. 1 1 The Pamphlet also contains a letter from one of the Commissioners at Lincoln, in which the following account of the engagement is given : "This inclosed will shew you what the Newarkers lately attempted with a great deale of resolution, comming up to the Workes even unto push of Pike ; and if the Scots had not been stout and resolute Foot (they who knew them say, They are the best men in the Army, and the oldest Souldiers, being the Lord Sinclares Regiment) if it had fortuned any other Regiment to have been there in their stead, it is feared that they would scarce have done so well. They were extreamly overpowred with numbers. " Now all men may see (that which some have not heretofore beleeved) that Newarke is a considerable Garison to the Kin jr. seeing that they can spare such a number for a salley, and be able to keep the Towne and Workes besides. "The truth is, it happened very fortunately that the successe proved so well, having no greater strength. We had not halfe so many men as they had, and yet most of the Scots Commanders ; also Poyniz and with him divers of his chiefe Officers, and Colonel 1 Rossiter, and many of his chiefest Officers were at the same time in the Isle, into which none could goe in to them, nor they passe out from thence but by Boates, and that way there could not passe above ten or twelve at a time ; so that if those Forces the Newarkers would have surprised had been routed, our men (amongst whom were so many great Officers) would have been in a Pinfold ; yet the Enemy had not so much courage as to take or try their opportunity to the uttermost, but through a pannick fear apprehended our men to be in number greater then really they were : their terrour being the greater in seeing our men come over, and still increase so fast as they could by that weake meanes, so that they conceived that the whole body of the Scots Army was comming upon them. "Colonell Grey was there with Colonell Rossiter, who saith, THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 393 By March 14 a bridge of boats had been con- structed at Winthorpe, and another was being prepared. Artillery had been sent for from York, and the Scottish foot had been strengthened by the arrival of Dunfermline's regiment. The blockade was converted into a siege, and on March 28 the town was summoned. Bellasis, who commanded the garrison, refused to yield, and in the course of the operations which followed, the Scots captured one of the outlying works. On April 27 the town was again summoned, when Bellasis signified his willingness to treat. 1 The siege of Newark was already secondary to a negotiation, which, if successful, would place both the town and the King himself in the hands of the Scots. Montereul had joined Charles at Oxford in the first week of January. He was careful to represent to the King, he wrote to Mazarin, " that the Scots not only wished to preserve him, but that it was their interest to do so ; ... whereas, on the contrary, the decision that the Independents had taken to ruin him might be seen by his Majesty in all their actions ". But however willing they might be to serve him, Montereul stated explicitly that the Scots would make no concessions upon the subject of religion. On that matter Charles was equally resolute. "He That he did never see them doe better service. Their High-land Foot charged with tin- Scuts Hoi-si-, and gave fire, and wheeled amongst our Horse very nimbly and actively, and so gaulled the Enemy exceedingly. 'The Line is now begun, and all our materials are now in rcase for a siege, and the next week we shall lay in." 1 L. /., viii., 220, 251, 271. -".:,. i".ii;. 394 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. pointed out to me," wrote Montereul, " that there were two things which principally induced the Scots to wish the change of Church government in England : one, the hope of being paid what was owing to them out of the revenues of the bishops who have been driven away ; and the other, the fear they have always had lest the bishops, that remain at present in England, may at some future time return to Scotland." To a large extent, Charles was accurate in his judgment, but he entirely failed to grasp the crusading spirit which animated the Scots in their desire for the establish- ment of Presbyterianism in England. Invariably insistent upon the scruples of his own conscience, he could not understand that his opponents might be similarly swayed. He would give an under- taking, he told Montereul, that the Scottish Kirk should not be interfered with, and he would provide a " well-assured fund in Ireland," from which all arrears due to their army should be satisfied. Such were his utmost concessions. 1 The nature of Montereul's negotiations with Charles was already suspected, and the possibility of the King's seeking the shelter of the Scottish army, Montereul wrote on January 22, was " already somewhat openly spoken of " in London.- Sus- picion was turned into certainty when the Houses learnt that the Scots were also in treaty through Will Murray with the Queen, nor were they con- vinced by the resolute denial which the Scottish 1 Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 104 et seq. Cf. Charl I. in 1646, 3 tt seq. 2 Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 117. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 395 Commissioners gave to the accusation. 1 Charles and Montereul continued their intrigues, the one with David Leslie and Sinclair at Newark,- the other with the Scottish Commissioners in London. By March, Montereul had succeeded in drawing a written undertaking on their behalf from Sir Robert Moray, that if Charles came to their army he would be received " with all honour and respect," on the stipulation, that in addition to the proposals made to him at Uxbridge re- garding the Church, Militia, and Ireland, he should sign the Covenant either before or upon his arrival in the Scottish camp. 3 Montereul clearly understood that if Moray's paper represented the last word which the Scots had to say, all hope of a successful conclusion to his diplomacy was at an end. He again ap- proached Moray, and drew from him on March 16 a second declaration, in which the protection of the Scottish army was offered to Charles on the understanding, that he would consent to the settlement of ecclesiastical matters being left to the Parliaments and Assemblies of the two nations, that he would signify in advance his assent to the form in which religion might be established by them, and that he would surrender the control of the Militia to his Parliaments for a period of seven years. 4 Unless Charles's objection 1 L. /., viii., 124, 152, 182. 2 Charles I. in 1646, 13 ; Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 126. ;1 Ibid., i., 163. 4 Momy's -rcond declaration is printed in Gardiner, I'iril War, iii., 75. Mr. Fotheringham confuses it with the first. Cf. a note in his Monte-renI, i., 177. 396 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. to Presbyterianism proved so strong that, as he was reported to have said, " he would sooner die in a ditch " than sanction it, there was a reason- able prospect that Moray's ultimatum might be accepted. Montereul at least was hopeful. He assured Mazarin that both the English Presby- terians and also the City were with the Scots, and were prepared to co-operate with them should the Independents refuse to fall in with the conditions propounded to the King. 1 But the very causes which appeared to Mon- tereul to strengthen the Scots in their proposals to Charles hindered his acceptance of them. It was on London rather than Newark that his mind was fixed. In his own capital he would have the better chance, he supposed, of playing off his opponents against each other. The suggestion even of his return to London, he wrote to the Queen, made Montereul " open his pack . . . least I should there join with the Independents against the Scots ".- The Houses received Charles's pro- posal to return to London on March 24. On April 1 they despatched an answer which compelled him to understand that in that direction the door was closed. 3 The Scots alone remained, and on April 3 Montereul left Oxford for Newark, " to prepare and adjust my reception there," Charles wrote to the Queen. 4 Montereul took with him the terms on which Charles was willing to become the guest of the Scots, The King stipulated that he should be 1 Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 177. 2 Churls I. in 1G4(J, 30. :; L. J., viii., 249. 4 Charles I. in 1646, 31. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 397 received as " their natural sovereign," and be allowed " all freedom of his conscience and honour," while the Scots were to " employ their armies and forces to assist his Majesty in the procuring of a happy and well-grounded peace . . . and in recovery of his Majesty's just rights ". In regard to religion, Charles declared himself " very willing to be instructed concerning the Presbyterian government," and " to content them in anything" that should not be against his con- science. 1 It was impossible that such terms should satisfy the Scots. Montereul wrote frankly from Newark on April 16 to Sir Edward Nicholas at Oxford : " I am not bold enough to give any advice to his Majesty. I cannot, however, help telling you, that if he can make a better arrangement anywhere else, he ought not to think any more of coming here." Balmerino, who had set out from London to direct the negotiations at Newark, was not in the camp when Montereul arrived. Without his sanction the army Com- mittee would do nothing, and the anxious French- man remained for two days, he told Mazarin, in the utmost fear least Charles had already set out from Oxford, and " had been either taken prisoner or killed on the highway V The utmost that Montereul could draw from the Scots was a promise to send a cavalry escort to meet the King at Bosworth, and a more considerable force 1 Clarendon, /S. P., ii., 220, quoted in Gardiner, t'iril //"//. iii., 87. - Fotheringham, Mntir<'nl, i., 181. : '/W., i., 185. 398 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. at Burton. They requested, however, that when they met him, Charles should give out that he was on his way to Scotland, and so enable them to appear to have diverted him from a step so dangerous to both Kingdoms. They required him to come to them with no military following, and they refused to entertain his project of send- ing Montrose as his Ambassador to France. As to the Church Establishment, they expected him to satisfy their wishes as soon as possible. 1 Charles meanwhile remained impatiently at Oxford. He was ready to join Montereul at Newark " at an hour's notice," he wrote to him on April 19, " wishing nothing better at present than to be in person in the Scottish army ". " Exeter is to be surrendered to-morrow," he con- tinued, " so that one must expect this place to be invested in a very few days, and rather than allow myself to be shut up here, I have resolved to run every risk to go to them, if that do not appear quite impossible." A few hours later he received Montereul's discouraging report of his embassy. Against the Scots his anger broke forth. They were "abominable relapsed rogues." he wrote to the Queen, " Montrevil himself is ashamed of them ". His position, he wrote on April 22, was " much worse than ever, by the relapsed perfidious- ness of the Scots ". 3 He was resolved to wash his hands of them. " I intend (by the grace of God) to get privately to Lynn," he wrote to Henrietta Maria, " where I will yet try if it be possible to 1 Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 180. 2 Ibid., i., 183. 3 Charles I. in 1646, 36, 37. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 399 make such a strength as to procure honourable and safe conditions from the rebells ; if not, then I resolve to go by sea to Scotland, in case I shall under- stand that Mountrose be in condition fit to receive me, otherwise I mean to make for Ireland, France, or Denmark, but to which of these I am not yet resolved." 1 On the eve of his departure, more encouraging news reached him from Montereul.- But with the enemy already pressing in upon him, there was no time to resume his negotiations with the Scots. On April 27, with Jack Ashburnham and Dr. Michael Hudson, his chaplain, Charles rode out of Oxford in disguise. 3 It was by a devious route that the King pro- posed to reach Lynn. 4 Still with hope that some encouraging message might reach him from the capital, he bent his course towards London. 5 At Hillingdon, between Windsor and Harrow, he halted, but no message reached him. Turning northward he passed St. Albans and Cambridge, 1 Charles I. in 1646, 38. 2 Gardiner, Civil War, iii., 96. Cf. Ashburnham, Narrative, ii., 71. ; \Vhen Charles was brought to Newcastle three weeks later, it was observed by one who witnessed his arrival, that "theHaire of His Majesties Face is not shaven (as some have writ), but cut round, both on the Chin and upper Lipp also. His Lock is cut off, and his head rounded." Perfect Occurrences, May 15-22, 1646. Hudson is described in one news-sheet as, "the race Parson and guide from Oxford ". Kingdomes Weekly Intelligencer, May 19-25, 1646. In another he is called "the Race-running Parson Hud- son, who hath as much Religion in him as one of his Race- horses ". Ibid., May 5-12, lt>4<. 4 Vide map of Charles's wanderings from April 2" to May ."> in Gardiner, Civil War, iii., 98. 'Fotheringham, Mont treat, i., 192. 400 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. and on April 30 reached Downham, a few miles from Lynn and the sea. Charles had already despatched Hudson to Monteretil to endeavour to secure better terms from the Scots. He reached Newark on April 29, and found Montereul at Southwell, a few miles from the Scottish lines. The following night, Hudson declared in his evidence regarding the King's escape, 1 Montereul " told me they would conde- scend to all the Demands which the King and Mountrell had agreed to make to them before Mountrell came from Oxford (of which Mountrell told me the summe), but would not give any Thinge under their Hands. I desired, to avoid Mistakes, that the Particulars might be set downe in Writeinge, lest I should afterwards be charged with making a false Relation. And soe set the Propositions downe in Writeinge : "1. That they should secure the King in his Person and in his Honor. " 2. That they should presse the King to doe nothing contrarie to his Conscience. " 3. That Mr. Ashburnham and I should be protected. " 4. That if the Parliament refused, upon a Message from the King, to restore the King to his Rights and Prerogatives, they should declare for the King, and take all the King's Friends under their Protection. And if the Parliament 1 Hudson's depositions are in Peck, lib. ix., No. 10. Of. further evidence in H. M. C., Kept, xiii., pt. i., App. 368 tt seq., and a favourable estimate of Hudson's truthfulness, in Gardiner, Civil War, iii., 100. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 401 did condescend to restore the King, then the Scotts should be a Means, that no above four of them should suffer Banishment, and none at all Death." 1 The anxiety of the Scots to obtain possession of the King proceeded chiefly from their desire to work upon his conscience towards the great end they had in view. That he desired instruction and illumination in the principles of Presbyterianism he had already assured them. What their conduct might be should intellectual pressure fail they were neither asked to say, nor was it opportune to declare. So far as words and actions could impress the fact, they had given the clearest indications that whatever efforts they might make on behalf of the threatened Monarchy, in the ecclesiastical polity of the English State they were determined upon reform. While the King accepted their aid with a mental reservation never to grant the terms upon which they offered it, they on their part refrained at a critical moment from candidly reiterating that, in regard to the Covenant, their convictions were unaltered and unalterable. Judged by other than the cruder standard of diplomacy, the engagement was not entirely creditable to either side. As a move in a complicated position it was probably inevitable. Receiving from Montereul - a verbal assurance 1 Uf. Fotheringham, i., 192, for Montereul's account of these negotiations. It agrees substantially with Hudson's evidence. 2 That Montereul was not entirely satisfied appears from his letter to Du Bois on May 1, in which he emphasises the advice : "Do not be hasty in concluding anything with the Scots". Ibid., i., 187. 26 402 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. that the Scots accepted his propositions, Hudson rejoined Charles at Downham on May 1. How- ever unsatisfactory he might regard the absence of a written undertaking from the Scots, Charles resolved to accept their verbal promise. On May 2, rejecting Ashburnham's advice to proceed by sea to Newcastle and allow the Scots to follow him, he rode out from Downham. On May 4 he slept at Stamford, and on the following day pre- sented himself at Montereul's quarters at South- well. 1 For a month past, the Scots at Xewark had been prepared for the King's arrival, and Leven had rejoined the army to direct its withdrawal. Yet it was necessary to reassure English opinion by representing, with defective veracity, that Charles's action was spontaneous and unexpected. On May 6, therefore, Leven and his Committee wrote to the Committee of Both Kingdoms to inform them of the King's arrival. " We believe your Lord- ships will think it was Matter of much Astonish- ment to us," they added, " seeing we did not expect he would come into any place under our Power. " : To the Scottish Commissioners in London, Leven sent one of his secretaries, who gave them the following account : 1 Hudson's deposition, in Peck, ibid. 2 Peck, lib. ix., No. 9; L. J., viii., 311. Of. Ibid., viii., 305; C. S. P. (1645-47), Ixiv., 433. 3 This account, which I have not seen quoted elsewhere, is in a pamphlet among the King's Pamphlets in the British Museum [E. 337. (11)], and is entitled The Secretary of the Scots Army, His Relation to the Commissioners concerning the King, hmc his Majesty came within two miles of London; the Garrisons he marched thorow, and his camming to the Scots, etc., London, May 11, 1646. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 403 The King is now with the Scots Army. The first time that wee can learne where His Majestic was after he came out of Oxford, was on Saturday the Second of May Instant, and then he was within some two miles of London l as is told the Army, and on Monday night, May the fourth, His Majestie lay in Stamford upon a bed with His Cloathes on all night, and that morning passed two of the Parliaments Guards, but could not be knowne, because His Beard was shaved, and His Lock cut. On Tuesday Morning His Majesty came to Southwell to the Scots Army, and Generall Leven having Intelligence that His Majestie was come into their Garrison, for some Officers that were upon the Guard that saw Him, had some suspition of Him that it was the King, who making it knowne, a search was made three houres before they could heare where he was. And about noone His Majesty sent to Generall Leven, letting him know he was there (and that he was then with the French Agent) and that he would cast Himselfe upon them, where-upon there was advertisement given to the Scots Commissioners of His Majesties being there, who with Generall Leven went to His Majestie and caused him to remove His Quarters to Kellam,- Lieutenant Generall David Leslyes Quarters, where there was much amazement to see into how low a condition His Majestie was brought. Generall Leven had some Treatie with His Majestie about the surrender of Newarke, 3 desiring Him to give 1 This is inaccurate. Charles was at Hillingdon on April 27. - - Desired him to march to Kellum [Kelhani] for security."- Hudson's deposition in Peck, ibid. 3 "There did E. Lothian, as president of the Committee, to his eternall reproach, imperiouslie require his Majestie (before he had either drunke, refreshd, or reposd himselfe), to command my Lord Bellasis to deliver up Xeuarke to the Parliaments forces, to signe the Covenant, to order the establishment of presbiterian government in England and Ireland, and to command James (irahaino (for so he called Great Montrosse), to lay doune armes ; all which the King stoutlie refused; telling him that he who had 404 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Order to Bellasys the Governour for the delivery thereof, and His Majestic offered to surrender it to them, but Generall Leven answered, that to remove all jealousies they must yeeld to have it to be surrendred to the Parliament of England : and His Majestic was prevailed with to send to the Governour to give Order for the surrender thereof to the Parliament of England accordingly, which was [a] greed Wednesday the 6 Instant by the Commissioners, as may appeare by the following Articles. After which agreement the Scots Forces (being willing to ease the Country there-abouts, who have beene so long charged with so great an Army) with all cheerefulnesse and willingnesse removed their Quarters North-ward, the King still remaining with Lieutenant Generall David Lesly, and care being taken for fresh Clothes, and other refreshments for His Majestic : and the Generall taking care to remove to some more convenient and fresh Quarters, and being resolved to take care and charge of His Majestic, untill both Kingdomes be agreed to which to submit for the disposing of His Majesties Person. On May 4, the day before Charles came to Southwell, instructions had been sent to Sir James Lumsden at Newcastle to prepare for the King's arrival. 1 The surrender of Newark on made him ane Earle had made James Grahame a Marques. Barbarouslie used he was, strong guards put upon him, and centinells at all his windows." Turner, Memoirs, 41. 1 Baillie, ii., 514. The following items of intelligence were circulated in London while Charles was on his way to Newcastle : " From Newcastle they write, that Baronet [Sir Francis] Lidels house (formerly the residence of the Governour, at present of his Lady) was the sixth of this Instant preparing for his Majesty, and what those parts can afford called for in, the Governours Lady providing her self otherway ". Moderate Intelligencer, May 7-14. "We have seen a Letter this day from Newcastle, bearing date the 7 of this instant, intimating that they expected the King to be there the next day. That a house was provided for him, as also a THE CAMPAIGN OF 1645-46. 405 May 6 enabled the Scots to withdraw north- ward, and on the following day their army set out, Charles riding in advance under the charge of David Leslie and the cavalry. 1 Already he chafed at his position. At Sherburn, writes Turner, " I spoke with him, and his Majestic haveing got some good caracter of me, bade me tell him the sence of our armie concerning him. I did so, and withall assurd him he was a prisoner, and therefor prayd him to think of his escape." : Upon the King's departure from Durham on May 13. Leven issued a severe proclamation, com- manding his officers and men " to forbeare to have any dealing, or entertaine any correspondence, or have any company upon the march, or in any the quarters, with any person whatsoever formerly in strong Guard to secure, his person, untill the Parliament should otherwise dispose. These are fair expressions, nor shall we other- wise ;i> yet be well opinionated of that [Scottish] Nation, although we must confesse there goes strange reports." Kingdomes Weekly Intellii/vncer. May 5-12. " From Newcastle we are advertized that there is great preparations making for the entertainment of his M;i ; e>ty, and that one of the bravest houses in the Town is pro- vided for him . . . they expected his Majesty at Newcastle the 8 of this instant May. . . . Multitudes of people expect and hope that the King will be in or near London shortly." Weekly Account, May 13-20. 1 Peck, lib ix., No. 10. A letter, apparently from one of the English Commissioners, dated from Balderton, May 7, is printed in the pamphlet already quoted. It states that Charles "this afternoon man-lied away Northwards with all the Scots Army, both Horse and Foot, wee believe it is onely into fresh Quarters, till the desires of the Parliament may be signified unto them, how they would have the Army disposed of. Wee have found a very exceeding faire correspondence with the old Scots Generall and all the Commissioners, who have beene ready to comply with us in all reasonable demand- ". 2 Memoirs, 41. 406 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. service against the Parliament of England," or " to seek or receive any gift, pension, or mark of honour from his Majestie". The proclamation of these orders, writes one who was present, " did no little vex the Malignants, but blessed be God ! the Cockatrices were crushed in their shels". 1 On the same day Charles entered Newcastle. 1 A Declaration Published in the Scots Army, Proclaimed by Order from Generall Leven at Durham, May 13, 1646, K. P. Charles had already commenced his disputations with the Scottish divines. On May 12, at Durham, " there were with the King in His chamber, Generall Leven, Sir Henry Gibb, and others, but there are always some of the best and ablest Scots Ministers with the King". Perfect Occurrences, May 15-22. 407 CHAPTEK X. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. IN receiving Charles into their guardianship, the Scots had acted upon a sound and intelligible im- pulse. From no point of view had the alliance with England been sufficiently productive of bene- ficial results to tempt an indefinite continuance of it. Even in its financial aspect it had produced little more than illusory promises of ultimate payment. In November, 1646, the Scottish army had received no pay for six months, 1 and its soldiers, even those in immediate attendance upon Charles, were long since in rags. 2 But more vital in determining Scotland's atti- tude was the political outlook in England. Even her fellow Presbyterians there were disposed to terminate the alliance, if only because the dis- banding of the Scottish army was the inevitable condition upon which the army of Fairfax could be dissolved, and the chief strength of the Inde- pendents be thereby destroyed. 3 The hope of securing uniformity in religion, which had been Scotland's chief incentive at the outset, was rapidly fading. And over and above these considerations, 1 L. J., viii., 555. 2 Weekly Intelligencer, August 18-25. :i Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 259. 408 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. and for all the fact that the earliest blows against the Monarchy came from her, Scotland halted far from the political ends which England realised. Republicanism, Communism, the political faddisms of Levellers and Fifth Monarchy men, such were the developments of what at the outset had been but a temperate protest against an unbridled Kingship. The vast balance of Scottish opinion, on the other hand, remained loyal to the Monarchy, though circumstances compelled opposition to the King for the time being. Nor may Scotland's dealings with the King be dismissed as selfish and sordid bargaining. Scot- land was prepared to make the largest efforts for the King. How far she should realise her intentions rested with Charles himself. On her side, the conditions of her aid were simple and straight- forward. She looked to Charles to sanction and establish that same union of religion which her ally, the Parliament, had failed to bring about. Upon that basis of agreement, some of her leaders were prepared now, 1 as in the later days of the " Engagement," to carry back Charles to his throne by force of arms if need be. It rested with Charles, and with Charles alone, to determine whether the aid which was offered him should or should not be rendered. True, Scotland's ideal was as impractic- able as that which not seldom marks the enthusiast. But throughout she held consistently by it, abducted the King of England from his own Parliament, as it were, in order to realise it, and surrendered him 1 Of. H. M. C., Kept, xiii., pt. i., App. 360. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 409 when the great experiment had been made and had failed of result. The King entered Newcastle on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 13, escorted by a detachment of some three hundred horse. " Some that at- tended upon his Majestic rid before all bare," writes an eye-witness, 1 "then his Majestic marched with the General!, and some other Scottish officers, divers of whom also that were neer the King rid bare. There went none out of the Towne of New- Castle to meet his Majestic, neither the Scottish Lords that were in the towne, nor the Deputy- Mayor thereof, nor any other, either inhabitant or other. His Majestic was not received in triumph (as some would have had it to be done), nor did they in any solemne manner take notice of his Majestic. The King rid in a sad coloured plaine suite, and alighted at the Generals quarters (now the Court). There were no guns discharged, neither by land nor by water, by way of triumph. There was no acclamation by shooting with muskets, sounding of trumpets, or beating of drums, and yet there were both Kettle-drums and trumpets good store in New-Castle ; yet were they so far from any publike way of triumph, that they did not sound or beat so much as when one troop of Scottish Horse march into New- Castle." Another eye-witness -' describes the King's arrival as being "in a very silent way, without bels ringing, or bagpipes playing, or Maior and Aldermen, not as at Doncaster ". A single shout 1 A De.clarn.ti'in l'nliH.*li>- ; Moderate Intelligencer, .May 28-June 4. 2 Moderate Intelligencer, May 21-28. 3 Ibid. 4 Kingdom Weekly Intelligencer, June 10-23. 414 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. a prisoner he told her a week later ; "I cannot call for any of my old servants, nor chuse any new without leave ". " Xone are suffered to come about me," he wrote again, in a peevish mood, " but fools or knaves (all having at least a tincture of fals- hood), every day never wanting new vexations, of which my publick devotions . . . are not the least." l Such complaints were for his wife alone. Outwardly he was anxious to appear compliant to the demands made upon him. On May 19 he had written to both Parliaments and to the City of London, to assert his desire that some accommo- dation might be arrived at for " the settling Truth and Peace". 2 Montrose received a command to disband his forces in Scotland, 3 and Oxford sur- rendered a few weeks later. A profound believer in the gospel of procrasti- nation, and with a keen relish for dialectics, Charles entered upon his controversy with Alexander Hen- derson upon his arrival at Newcastle on May 16. 4 It had not been Charles's intention to personally combat Henderson in the cause of Episcopacy and the English Establishment. Henderson, how- ever, desired him to do so, and Charles agreed. " I shall not contest with you in it," he wrote to Henderson on that matter, " but treating you as My Physitian, give you leave to take your own 1 Charles I. in 1646, 40, 42, 44. 2 L. J., viii., 334 ; Acts, vi., pt. i., 635 ; His Majesties Message to the Kingdome of Scotland, K. P. ; His Majesties Letter, K. P. 3 Napier, Montrose, 400. 4 Moderate Intelligencer, May 21-28. Aiton gives the date of his arrival as May 15. 588. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 415 way of cure." But the efficacy of the cure must depend in some sort upon the temperament of the patient, and Charles in his first letter offered little hope of Henderson's treatment prevailing over the errors which he had been invited to correct. The controversy at least relieved the tedium of Charles's irksome restraint, and kept open the hope that his conversion to the Covenant was possible, if not imminent. But Henderson's health broke down. In August he was too ill to continue his attend- ance upon Charles, and Blair took his place as chaplain. 2 About August 10 he left Newcastle, 3 after making a final appeal to Charles " to hearken to councel ". 4 On August 19 he died at Edinburgh. 5 While Charles was immersed in his controversy with Henderson, an intercepted letter, which he had written to Ormonde in April, was on June 6 read in Parliament. Therein he specifically de- clared that he had an understanding with the Scots for their military aid should the need arise." Hud- son had also been captured and examined, and though the Scots resolutely denied that they had given any such undertaking to the King, 7 their 1 Tin- Papers which Passed at Sew-Castl<; 1. The correspondence is also printed in Aiton's Appendix. He endorses D'Israeli's opinion that Charles was the author of the h've letters which Henderson received. Ibid., 591. Warwick declares that Charles was "desti- tute of all aids "in their composition. Memoires, 295. z M(.l>r<(t> I nti-ll ;. 3 Ibid., August 6-13. * Ibid., August 20-27. 5 Aiton, 598. A long " Elegy on the Death of Mr. Hinderson " is in Kinydomes Weekly Intelligencer, September 15-22. Of. Aiton, 672. 6 C. J., iv., 567 ; L. J., viii.. 366. ~ L. J., viii., 364. 416 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. desire to arrive at a definite understanding with him was intensified. In the first weeks of June, their Commissioners at Newcastle, on their knees and with tears, besought him to accept the Cove- nant. He retired to his bedchamber, whither the deputation followed him with renewed suppli- cations. 1 Harassed by these importunities, Charles was already considering the advisability of flight, He might again propose to return to London, he told the Queen, but "the best put-off" would be to come to her.- On June 27 he was attacked from another quarter. On that day there arrived an embassy from the Scottish Assembly. It consisted of Andrew Cant, Robert Douglas, Robert Blair, Andrew Fairfold, Dagleish and others. Their instructions were to " let his Majesty know what the Church censure is," should he refuse to accept the Covenant. 3 On Sunday, July 5, Cant preached at the Court. Pointedly addressing the King, he declaimed : " Thou peece of Clay, where thou sittest, think of thy Death, Resurrection, Judge- ment, Eternity ". He alluded to the many lives which the war had cost Scotland, but ended " in a most compassionate way with offer of mercy upon repentance ". Cant's auditors were moved to tears, and the King himself was observed to change countenance as he listened to the preacher's vigorous onslaught. After the sermon, Charles invited Cant, Blair, and the other Scottish divines, 1 Moderate Intelligencer, June 11-18 ; Dugdale, 92 ; Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 212. 2 Charles I. in 1646, 50. 3 A Letter from Newcastle, K. P. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 417 to discuss with him " a case of conscience which he would put to them". 1 The lay and ecclesiastical Commissioners of Scotland had both urged their views upon Charles. The army was equally interested. On June 26, Leven and nearly one hundred officers were ad- mitted to an audience, and begged the King "to comply with the just desires of his Parliaments ". On the following day, they issued a declaration as to their part in Charles's surrender at Newark. Such a statement, they declared, was necessary " in this juncture of Time, when all means are essayed by Enemies of Trueth and Peace to disparage our Proceedings ". They denied any kind of col- lusion with Charles ; on the contrary, they wished " exceedingly that he would comply with the Councells of his Parliaments". Charles gave a short reply. He joined with them in their hope of some speedy termination to the present troubles. When that hope was realised, he assured them, he would be " very solicitous to finde out some meanes of honourable employment for so many gallant men as are imployed in this Annie ".- Meanwhile, in spite of mutual distrust, both nations concurred upon the peace-proposals to be presented to the King. On June 25 Argyll ad- 1 M-i-nt<- Jiitrlligeiicer, July 9-1(5. The Kingdomes Weekly In- t'liiij'-iu; ,\ July 14-21, says of the Scottish preachers : " they court him [Charles] not in their Sermons, nor lay pillowes under his. elbuwcs, as too many of the Court Divines have done; no, they spcakc truth with power". - Tin: Declaration of the Lord Generall, The Generall Officers and the rest of the Officers and Souldiers of the Scota Annie, K. P. ; A Ldttr from 27 418 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. dressed the Committee of both Houses at West- minster, and accepted unamended the propositions which the English Parliament had drawn up. 1 Therein Charles was required to sanction the Covenant, uniformity of religion in England and Scotland, to surrender the control of the Militia for twenty years, and to sanction the proscription of those who had been his most resolute supporters.' 2 On July 13 the propositions were despatched to Newcastle in the care of six Commissioners. On July 23 the Commissioners reached Newcastle," and were received with no more ceremony than had been accorded to Charles in May. 4 Leveii called on them soon after their arrival, 5 and in the evening they received notice that the King would grant them an audience on the following afternoon. 6 Argyll, and Hamilton, whom Fairfax had re- leased from captivity, had already reached New- castle, 7 to support the English Commissioners. Montereul, the French Envoy, used his utmost endeavours to induce the Scots to rest content with milder conditions, such as Sir Robert Moray had propounded a few months before." But they told him frankly that "times were changed, and iL. /., viii., 392. 2 Rushworth, vi., 309; Thurloe, i., 77; also in pamphlet The Propositions of the Lords and Commons for a safe and well grounded Peace, K.P. 3 Scottish Dove, July 22-31 ; Rushworth, vi., 319. 4 Moderate Intelligencer, July, 23-30. 5 Whitelocke, ii., 54. 6 Rushworth, vi., 319. 7 Burnet, Memoirs, 279 ; Guthry, Memoirs, 181 ; Britanes Dis- temper, 197. 8 Cf. Montereul to Mazarin, in Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 152. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 419 that what was possible six months ago, when their king had an army in the west of England, and several good garrisons in other places, cannot be considered so now ". So far from mitigating the severity of the propositions, the Scots would, he declared, " but find means of changing therein what concerns their religion, which they do not consider to be securely enough established by these proposals 'V Bellievre, who arrived in Newcastle at this juncture, added his entreaties to those of Montereul. " The Scots," he wrote to Brienne, " omit nothing of whatever they think calculated to induce the King of Great Britain to accept purely and simply these proposals, and to satisfy the English in every respect." " For my part," he added, " I omit neither prayers nor threats, always conveyed with the necessary temper, nor anything that I think can induce the Scots to oppose the ruin of their king, and take upon themselves the glory of his re-establishment." He had tried bribery ; for the Scots, he declared, were " ava- ricious, but poor, without credit, and very selfish ".- His failure to work upon their cupidity, however, should at least have convinced him that he had to deal with men to whom the King's acquiescence in the principles which they urged upon him was of paramount importance, and above the grosser considerations of finance. 3 On Friday, July 24, the Commissioners, accom- panied by Argyll and Loudoun, had an audience 1 Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 23-13. Of. EarU of Ancrtm and Lothian, L, !!:;. 3 0. /., iv., 042. 4 Ki>th(>riu7. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 423 ground that union of the two Churches on which Scotland's hopes were chiefly set ; but how long would her ally remain faithful to that ideal ? The development of English parties had revealed the fact only too clearly, that the growing force in English politics did not want Presbyterianism of the Scottish type. The Solemn League and Cove- nant had bound Scotland to fight Charles. Was she therefore liable to continue a war which would carry her against Cromwell ? Both nations had in fact outgrown the alliance, and on August 12 the Scots intimated their willingness to withdraw their army from England so soon as the debts due upon it were discharged. 1 While both Parliaments were preparing for the evacuation of England by the Scottish army, the Scots resolved upon a last appeal to Charles. There was in that Kingdom a party which was still prepared to make considerable effort in the King's behalf,- but Hamilton, who accompanied the deputation from the Estates to Newcastle, now as in July was bent upon impressing on him the necessity for surrender. On Friday, Septem- ber 4, the Scottish Commissioners arrived at Newcastle, and " were received into the Towne with very much gladnesse by many who pray that they may prevaile with His Majestic". 3 On Suii- 1 L. J., viii., 401. Baillie writes on August 4: "The King's answer hes broken our heart: we see nothing but a sea of new more [sic] horrible confusions. We are afraid of the hardness of God's decree against that madd man, and against all his king- domes. We look above to God ; for all below is full of darkness." ii., 386. 2 Cf. Charles I. in 1646, 64. 'A Letter from Newcastle, K. P. 4'24 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. day, September 6, " His Majesty heard wholsom doctrine preached unto him, addresses of godly Ministers, to perswade him to barken to the requests of his Kingdomes". 1 On the 8th,- the Commissioners were received by Charles. He employed the same tactics as in July, save that he was less complacent. He had been " freshly and fiercely assaulted from Scotland," he told the Queen, 3 and he would give no answer other than a reiteration of his desire to proceed to London, and there debate the questions at issue between himself and his Parliaments. 4 On the 9th, Hamil- ton, Lanark, and Callander made a further appeal to him to yield. But Charles remained obdurate, and Hamilton hinted the consequences of his attitude. The King at once rose. " I know the business very well," he said, and dismissed them/' On the 10th, Blair, Douglas, Cant and other ministers brought their influence to bear upon Charles. Their arguments failing to move him, Cant broke out, "Sir, I wish I may not say to your Majesty, as the Prophet said to Amasiah, ' Refuse not counsel lest God harden thy heart to destruction'". "You are no prophet," retorted Charles. " But yet," said Cant, " I may tell you what the Prophet said to the man in such a con- dition."' After another futile interview with the King on the llth, 7 the Scottish deputation left Newcastle. 1 A Letter from Newcastle, K. P. 2 Ibid. 3 Charles I. in 1646, 63. 4 Whitelocke, ii., 69. s A Letter, etc. 6 Moderate Intelligencer, September 17-24 ; A Letter from 'Ibid. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 425 Since they were not prepared to use their army in his behalf, nothing remained for the Scots but to prepare for its withdrawal. They had already furnished a statement of the sums due to them. They computed them at so large an amount as 1,929,415 6s. 8d., of which sum 684,000 repre- sented their debts in England. After much debate and advancing of proposals and counter proposals, they agreed to accept 600,000 in full satisfaction of their claims. But Parliament was not satisfied even with so huge a lessening of the account, and finally Scotland was fain to accept 400,000, half of which should be paid before the army with- drew. 1 The City was at once approached for the necessary loan, upon the security of the Bishops' and other delinquents' property. - Side by side with the question of the Scottish army's withdrawal went that of the disposal of the King himself. On September 24 a Committee of both Houses was appointed to deal with the matter. 3 The Scots, on October 12, advanced a not unreasonable claim to be allowed some voice in its deliberations, but the Houses firmly resisted the proposal, and the Commons on November 28 passed, and despatched to the Scottish Commis- sioners, a resolution declaring the exclusive right of the English Parliament to dispose of the King so long as he remained on English territory. 4 1 C. J., iv., 04<>. <;:>4, (i.V.); L. J .. viii., 487; cf. Fotheringhum, Mmtt-r-iii, i.. 2.v.. Parliament mputed 1,462,769 6& :; tin- total amount rcrcivnl ly tin' Scots in money, provisions, etc. 2 C. J., iv., 005 ; L. /., viii.. 489. :! C. J., iv.. ;?:>. 4 Rushworth, vi., :JL". : 0. ./.. iv.. 7:)(>. Of. F>tlifringham, i.. -!'.>'.. 426 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. The resolution of the Parliament affected Scot- land's patriotism and her honour alike. Fully determined not to grant Charles an asylum unless he yielded to their terms, the Scots, Montereul declared, finding themselves "reduced either to commit the unheard-of dastardly act of delivering up their king ... or to be brought into conflict with all the army of the Independents," were even contemplating the advisability of abetting his escape. 1 " What embarrasses most the Scots," he wrote to Mazarin in October, " is to see them- selves burdened with the person of their king, which they can neither deliver up to the English, nor put into prison without perjury and infamy, and are not able to preserve without danger and without drawing down upon them all the armies at present in England."' It was already in Charles's mind, however, by his own action to relieve the Scots of the difficulty in which they found themselves. Though Bellievre warned him, that " were he to abandon his king- doms, matters would be settled in such a manner as would render it very difficult for him to conquer them," Charles was disposed to seek safety in night. On September 16 he wrote to his daughter, the Princess of Holland, to ask her to send a ship to the Tyne. 3 As to remaining in England, he wrote to Hamilton frankly, ten days later, " I will not be left in England when this Army retires. . . . Those at London," he explained, " think to get Me into 1 Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 284. 2 Ibid., I, 295. 3 Gardiner, Civil War, iii., 144. The ship was nominally to carry letters between himself and the Queen. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 427 their hands by telling Our Country-men that they do not intend to make Me a Prisoner : O No, by Xo means ! but only to give Me an honourable Guard forsooth ! " 1 In November, the Dutch ship for which Charles had asked arrived in the Tyne. " The P. of Orange hath sent hether a ship of 34 gunnes to doe what the King commands," wrote Sir Robert Moray from Newcastle on the 21st. " Shee stayes here under pretence of being carined, but will be ready, as I take it, at all times for the King's pleasure." : Her Captain, upon his arrival, "de- livered some packets from the Prince of Orange to His Majesty, and hath treated with the French Embassadour, and the Earle of Dumfarlinge, Sir James Hamilton, Vantrumpe, and Mr. Murrey, and other Agents at Newcastle ", 3 On November 18, Hamilton, Murray, " with divers Scottish Gentlewomen, went to Tinmouth Castle in a Barge, who were saluted with three piece of ordnance from the Dutchman of war ; after, there went the Captain to the Castle, whom the Governour re- quited with three other pieces : after, all of them came aboard, the Captain, Sir Charles Floyd, and some others meeting them ; and having drank severall healths, at end of each there went oft' severall guns : after, the Captain came to New- castle ". 4 The arrival of the Dutch man-of-war was accom- panied by that of a large number of the King's ad- 1 Burnet, Memoirs, 289. * Hamilton I'apers, 128. 3 Diutinus Jlritanicu*, November 25-December 2. 4 Moderate Intelligencer, November 19-26. 428 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. herents at Newcastle and the surrounding 1 districts. 1 Leven already suspected some plot on the King's behalf. On December 3 he and Lumsden issued a proclamation, commanding all who had borne arms against either Parliament to leave the town within twenty-four hours. The Captain of the Dutch ship was also examined, and caution was given to the Governor of Tynemouth Castle to be on his guard. - But in spite of Leven's proclamation, the royalists still remained in the town, in large numbers " very high and bold ". " The Cavaliers," says a news- letter, " increase and resort more and more thither ; as if the late proclamation had rather been an in- vitation then prohibition. There are many of especiall quality, both Captaines, Lieutenants and Ensignes, lately taken into Tyn mouth, and all in capacity of common souldiers, such is the peoples feares, that they think this to purport some new designe. They give out harsh speeches, as that those Northern parts, in particular Tynmouth and Newcastle, must once more be in their hands ; and, saith the Letter, is like to be if not timely pre- vented " " There are divers Malignants," says another letter from Newcastle, " that quarter about Gateside, Redhugh, Fellen, Netherworth and Over- worth, on the Southside ; some being gone over the Bridge to Lambton, and so to quarters further. On the Northside, some are towards Walker and Willington, and so towards Tynmouth. That way lie 1 Kingdoms! Weekly Intelligencer, December 8-15. 2 Whitelocke, ii., 92 ; Moderate Intelligencer, December 10-17; Kingdomes Weekly Intelligencer, December 22-29. 3 Moderate Intelligencer, December 10-17. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 421) the great ones that came from Oxford. The Major of Newcastle . . . had notice of some of the Kings ould officers in St. Johns and about the Kings Lodging, some about Stone Gate and other parts, that were in the Town and uncivill. Some of them were sent for and apprehended." 1 In London it was reported,- that the Dutch ship " gives out he must stay five moneths longer, unlesse called off by expresse order from his Admiral. There are five other ships expected there, men of war also, who are rig'd and appointed at the cost of Prince Rupert, with them certain Holland men of war are to joyn." Elsewhere than to the Continent, every avenue of escape was closed to Charles by the emphatic instructions which, on December 24, the Scottish Estates drew up for their Commissioners who were proceeding to Newcastle. They were instructed to inform him that it was in vain to look for any help from Scotland against his English Parliament. 3 On the same day, the first step towards Charles's escape was taken. There was in Will Murray's employ at the Court, a Groom of the Privy Chamber, named Tobias Peaker. On the 24th, according to his own statement, 4 he was sent to summon the Captain of the Dutch ship to the 1 Mercurius Diutinus, December 16-23. - Moderate Intt'lliyencer, December, 10-17. * Acts, vi., ]>r. i.. ('>:'>:>. 4 IVaker's Deposition, taken at York by Skippon on January 7, 1047, is in Peck, ii., 368 et eg. Murray, Levitt, and the Dutch Captain, however. <^ave a flat denial to most of his statements. t'f. /.. /.. vii-i., 703 et w<[. If 1'eaker's story may not be implicitly trusted, it is at least harder to suppose him guilty of such very minute and circumstantial lyin^, than to account for the motives which would induce those who were eima^ed in the plot to deny 430 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Court. Later in the day, Peaker was required to carry down 100 to the Captain at his inn, the Peacock on the Quay-side. A page named Levitt received the money from Murray, but not finding Peaker, took it back to Murray's bedroom and hid it under the bed. From its hiding place Peaker ultimately fetched it, and took it to the Captain, who returned with it to his ship at Tynemouth. In the evening, Peaker was sent to Tynemouth to inquire if the Captain was pre- pared to leave the river in face of any opposition he might encounter from Tynemouth castle. The Captain, while expressing his preference for the day-tide on which to leave the river, was ready to do what was required of him. With that infor- mation, Peaker returned to Newcastle the following morning, December 25. l Of what took place at Court on that eventful Christmas Day, Peaker either was or affected to be ignorant. Levitt told him that Charles was up very late at night, but that the project, whatever it was, was abandoned owing to the wind not proving favourable. 2 Skippon, who heard the evidence at York, supposed that Murray had arranged for Charles to leave the Court in dis- guise, make his way from the town by one of the sally ports, and once on board the Dutch ship, to sail for France or Hanover. y In London very con- the acts of which Peaker accused them. Substantially, Murray admitted no more than having had some negotiation of an inde- finite nature with the Dutch Captain. leaker's Deposition, in Peck, ii., 368-70. 2 Ibid. 3 The Kings Declaration at Xeiccastle, K. P. Cf. Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 402. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 431 flic-ting rumours were prevalent. One news-sheet stated : ] " Pandon gate was endeavoured to be opened, and the Sally Port adjoyning : a key was set fast and broken. Mr. William Murrey was very late at Court that night, comming downe the staires at so unusuall a time, though he gave the officer the word, yet he stayed him in the guard 3 hours untill the Governour sent for him ". Another declared : 2 " Sandgate was opened, and one in grey cloathes going thither from the Kings Lodgings was looked on with suspition (it is not directly said it was the King), but he turned about, and went back to the Kings Lodgings, and up into his Majesties Chamber ". Murray's resources were not yet exhausted. A day or two later he and Sir Robert Moray met at the Angel Inn, and Peaker was sent for to join them. He was ordered to ride to Hartlepool with a letter to the Governor, Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas, and to inquire what ships there were in that port, and the names of their Captains. On the 31st, Peaker started on his new mission. He had proceeded only half a mile beyond Gateshead, when, as he declared, beginning to ponder " the consequents of that business," and " not being willing to be accessory to an action which might prove so prejudicial to the kingdome," y he turned 1 Moderate Intelligencer, December 31-January 7, 1047. '-' I Effect Occurrence*, January 1-8, 1647. It i* a tradition in Newcastle that Charles attempted to escape by the Lort burn, and had got as far as the grate in the middle of the side when he wa> apprehended. The story is most improbable. The burn was little better than a sewer. :I Peaker's Deposition. 432 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. hack, and divulged the whole business to the Mayor of Newcastle. He showed him, also, the letter with which Murray had entrusted him. It ran as follows : " Noble Governour, this bearer can ac- quaint you with a journey I am commanded to undertake ; here is neither ship nor wind fitting. I desire therefore to begin my voyage at Hartle- poole, if there be any accommodation where you are." It was decided that Peaker should fulfil his mission to Hartlepool, and return with a report to the Mayor. He, however, got no farther than Dur- ham, when hearing that Douglas had come in to some horse-races near Newcastle, he returned to the Mayor, who had already put Leven upon his guard. On January 1, Leven confronted Murray with the evidence in his possession. Nevertheless on the following day, Peaker, who had resumed his duties at Court, was told to go once more to the Captain of the Dutch man-of-war, to bid him ob- tain permission from the authorities to re-victual his ship, a pretext, probably, for bringing her up the river to Newcastle. Peaker's courage, how- ever, had evaporated. Leaving Murray, he called on the Mayor, obtained his pass and rode to York, where, on January 7, he gave evidence regarding the plot before Major-General Skippon. 1 1 Montereu) informs Mazarin that " a barber whom Will Moray was employing in order to manage the king's escape " had divulged the plot. Bellievre possibly refers to Peaker : " All generally have been much dissatisfied with the intention it is re- ported the King of England has had to leave England, of which they say they are at present assured on the deposition of a valet of Sir Robert Moray, which, however, contains nothing precise, according to what I learned from those who have seen it."- Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 407, 412. Gf. Guthry, Memoirs, 185. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 433 The news of the plot on Charles's behalf drew from the two Houses an earnest recommendation to Leven to exercise his utmost vigilance. Leven replied : T Newcastle, 12 Januarii, 1647. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LORDSHIP, I received a Letter from your Lordship, in Name of the Honnorable Houses, with the inclosed Vote con- cerning the disposeing of the Person of the King, wherein your Lordship shewes me that a Committee is to bee sent hither for that Effect, and in the meane Tyme desire the Continuance of my Care. In Answere whereunto, I shall assure your Lordship, That as I have hitherto with all Faithfullnes beene willing to doe whatsoever might witnesse my Zeale to the Publique, soe shall I with the same Constancy (in the Particuler concerning the Care of his Majesty's Person) use the best Meanes and En- deavors which may conduce most to the preserving a faire Correspondence, and rnaintayning the happy Union setled betweene the Two Kingdomes. And soe I remaine, Your Lordship's most humble Servaunt, LEVEN. For the Right Honnorable the Earle of Manchester, Speaker of the House of Peers, and to the Honnorable William Len- thall Esquire, Speaker to the House of Commons ; by them to be communicated to the Two Houses of Parliament as- sembled at Westm'r. Charles's treatment became increasingly severe. 2 On December 26 a stricter guard was ordered at the Court. 3 The Scottish Life-Guards were de- tailed for this duty, and on December 31, four officers from each of the Scottish regiments were appointed for the same purpose. Charles was still 1 L. J., viii., 681. J < 'A sterling ql k is comeing doune from the parliament of England ". Acts, vi., pt. i., 644. 3 Mercuritis Diutinus, ibid. There was some delay owing to the Scot* not having provided a sufficient number of tellers. Cf. L. J., viii., 679. 4 Rushworth, vi., 323 et seq. 5 The receipt for the first instalment is as follows : " Knowe all Men by these Presents, that upon the one and twentieth Day of January, one Thousand six Hundred and Forty Six, I John Drummond, Deputie to Sir Adam Hepburn Kt., Treasurer to the Scotts Annie in England, have (accordinge to certain Articles of Agreement, agreed upon between the Committees of Lords and Commons of the Parliament of England, and Commissioners of tln> Parliament of Scotland, authorized thereunto by the Parlia- ments of each Kingdome respectively, bearing date 23 Decemb., 1646, and in Pursuance of the same, and in the Time, Place, and Manner therein prescribed and appointed) received of William (Jibl.s K.MJ., Alderman of the City of London, and Thomas Noell and Francis Ashe Esqs. appointed by an Ordinance of both Houses, of the sixteenth of November last, to be Treasurers for the Money arising uppon the Sale of the Bishops Lands), the somme of Eighty Eight Thousand Pounds Sterling. Which, together with Twelve Thousand 1'onnds received at London by 436 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. within six days after the English garrison entered Newcastle, and within one mile of the town. The Scots meanwhile were to evacuate Newcastle and Tynemouth, and to receive nine hostages l for the payment of the second instalment. 2 Within ten days of its receipt their army was to be out of England, and Carlisle and Berwick were to be put into the condition in which they had been before the Scottish occupation. The remaining 200,000 was to be discharged by "12 and 1'2 moneths ". 3 The last scene in Charles's long imprisonment at Newcastle had arrived. On January 7, 1647, the Commissioners from Scotland, appointed to superintend his surrender, arrived in the Town. 4 On Saturday the 23rd, the Earl of Pembroke and the other English Commissioners, who had left Lon- don on January 13, 5 arrived. They were received the Commissioners of Scotland, in the Name and for the Use of the Kingdome of Scotland (for which the said Commissioners have given an Acquittance), is in full Payment for the first hundred Thousand Pounds appointed and agreed to be paid by the Kingdome of England to the Kingdome of Scotland by the said Articles of Agreement. "In Witnesse whereof I have hereunto putt my Hand and Seale, the Day and Yeare first above written. " J. DRUMMOXD, Commissar Deput." Peck, ii., 370. 1 Among them was " Master Dellavell of Seaton Dellavel, he that marryed Gen. Levins daughter ". Moderate Intelligencer, De- cember 17-24. Leven's third daughter, Anne, married Sir Ralph Delaval. Melvilles, i., 438. 2 The receipt is in Peck, ii., 371- 3 The above details are in the Moderate Intelligencer, December 17-24. Of. Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 353. 4 The Kings Declaration at Newcastle, K. P. The Moderate Intel- ligencer, January 17-24, puts their arrival at seven o'clock P.M. on the 6th. 5 Rushworth, vi., 394. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 437 with marked courtesy by the Scots, 1 though Leven, who was in attendance upon Charles at golf, was unable to meet them.- In the course of the even- ing the Scottish Commissioners waited upon them at their lodgings, and their deliberations were continued on Monday the 25th. 3 On the 26th the English Commissioners presented themselves at Court. They told the King that they were com- missioned to conduct him to Holdenby. Charles replied shortly, that the matter demanded some consideration, and that he would give his answer in a day or two. 4 He had already sought from the Scottish Commissioners some expression upon the entertainment he might expect in Scotland should he be allowed to proceed thither. " We shall humbly desire," they answered, " that we may not now be put to give any answer." 5 Before re- plying to the English Commissioners he once more approached the Scots. He wished to know whether they did in fact mean to surrender him. Their answer left him with no hope of assistance from them,' and late on the evening of January 28, he expressed his willingness to set out for Hol- denby on the Wednesday following. 7 1 Mi-rcurins I)iuti>ui*, January 27-February 3 ; The Kings Answer tn tin- Commissioners, K. I'. ; A Letter from Newcastle, K. P. 2 "His Excellency Generall Leven was then with the King; Hi- M;i;<'-ric being then at Goffe, whither he never goes, nor any where else out of the Towne, but his Excellency waytes upon his Majesty, considering how strict a charge is laid upon him by both Kingdomes." A Letter, etc. :; Iln'fi. 4 Montereul tn Maxarin, in Fotheringham, i., 440. 5 Rush worth, vi., 394. " Ibiil... vi., :V.)8 ; Fotheringham. Mmiti'irnl, i., 441. 7 Ibid. Tin AV//t<-.. prints a letter from Newcastle, dated January L'S : "Sir, I was making up my Letter, it being 438 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. On February 3 Charles left Newcastle. Upon his departure, proclamation was made that none who had served in arms against Parliament should approach him. 1 Carriages and teams of horses had been requisitioned for his use, and Parliament had voted 3000 for the expenses of his journey to Holdenby. Accompanied by the Commissioners, the nine gentlemen appointed by Parliament to at- tend him, and guarded by an escort of nine hundred horse, he reached Durham at about two o'clock. - On February 16 a new chapter in his stormy history opened at Holdenby. 3 On January 25 the Scottish forces withdrew from Yorkshire, and on the following day, Hartlepool and Stockton were given up. Tynemouth castle and the fort at South Shields were surrendered a few days later. 4 On January 23 Leven wrote to the Commissioners in regard to these matters : almost night, to send it to the Post. But yet I am invited to adde a line or two of newes, which is this, That just now the Kings Majesty hath resolved that hee will go with the Commissioners to Hornby, and hath appointed Wednesday next to be the day that his Majesty will set out from hence . . . Wednesday night his Majesty intends (God willing) to be at Durham, which hath much revived us ; for this morning I feared you should not have had so good News." 1 Whitelocke, ii., 113. z lbid. Merctirius Diutinus, January 27-February 3, statos : "there comes with the King to Holdenby, the 9 Commissioners, the 9 Gentlemen appointed by the Parliament to attend his Majesty, and the Convoy of Souldery, and the Country are summoned to send in Carriages and Teames to goe along with them, for carriage of such things as his Majesty appoints to be brought along with him ". They proceeded by short marches, "to avoid such Inconveniences as possibly might befal us in travelling late in the Evening". L. ./., viii., 713. 3 Rushworth, vi., 398. * L. J., viii., 700. 5 Ibid., viii., 702. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 439 Newcastle, 23th Janu. 1647. EIGHT HONNORABLE, Yours of the 21th did come to my Hands this Afternoone. I have given strict Orders to all those under my Comaund that they shall take noe Money by Advance after their Bemovall from their Quarters, the Coppy where- of was sent to you. The Complaints mentioned to bee in- closed in your Letter did not come to my Hands ; l and when any shall come worthy of Censure, it shall bee examined, and the Persons punished according to their Fault. I have already given Orders to the Governors of Stockton and Hartlepoole to quitt those Guarrisons on Monday or Tuesday next, the 25th Instant, soe that these Governors will bee either ready to deliver the Garri- sons, or you will finde them empty of our Souldiers. I gave Order to the Leiuetenant Generall of Horse to march to this side Tees, conforme to the Treaty. This Garrison of Newcastle and the Garrison of Tynmouth Castle will remove on Saterday next, the Penult of this Moneth, and all the Forces under my Commaund will bee on the North Side of Tyne that Day. And howbeit there be Six Dayes allowed after the rendring the Garrisons for Delivery of the last 100,0002., yet the Committee here and I conceive it wil bee a greate Burthen to the County of Northumberland that our whole Army should bee in these Parts untill the Six Dayes bee past, and therefore wee are content you make all the Hast you can to deliver the last 100, OOO/. ; and, if you please, wee shall receive it upon the First, 2d, or 3d Day of February, at the Place appointed. That is all I can say for the present ; and remaine, Your Lordship's humble Servaunt, LEVEN. For the Right Honnorable the Earle of Stanford and remanent Commissioner at North Allerton. 1 Vide L. J., viii., 701. 440 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. A few days later, Leven answered a letter from the Commissioners on the same subject : Newcastle, 26 Jan. 1647. EIGHT HONNORABLE, I received your Lordship's Letter, desireing our Quarters to bee removed, that you may march with your Forces neere Newcastle on Friday, 2 wherein I shal bee most willing and ready to give your Lordships all that Sattisfaction which can bee expected of One who wisheth an happy and speedy Close of Busines ; haveing accordingly given Orders to the Forces on South Side Tyne, soe to order and hasten their March that, those Parts being cleered of them, your Forces may repaire to Durham and Gateside against the Tyme desired. And that the Gam- sons of Newcastle and Tynmouth Castle may bee delivered against the Tyme lymitted by the Articles of Agreement, there shal bee noe Losse of Tyme on our Part ; but all Care and Diligence used to prevent the Tyme (if it could bee possible), in the Eendition of your Garrisons, and marching of our Forces, w T hich shall bee all, both Horse and Foote, on this Side Tyne upon Friday next, the 19 3 Instant. And whereas your Lordship renewes your Desires that the Army may pay whatsoever they take in the Country ; as I did by former Orders strictly prohibite the leavying any Cesses after the Beinovall of the Army from the severall Quarters, and the demaunding of Moneys by Way of Advance, soe shall especiall Care be had that nothing bee taken but necessary Entertain- ment for Subsistence upon the March, untill the Moneys bee distributed, and noe Cause of Offence bee given, but a faire and freindly Partinge, to the maintayninge and strengthening of the happy Union betweene the King- domes, which is the constant Desire of Your humble Servaunt, LEVEX. For the Earle of Stanford and rest of the Commissioners at North Allerton. 1 L. /., viii., 703. 2 January 29. 3 i.e., 29. THE KIN(i AM) THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 441 The 88,000 paid at Topcliffe on January 21 reached Newcastle three days later, "and now," wrote a correspondent on the 28th, " is dividing amongst them, each one reaching out for his share 'V In preparation for the arrival of Skippon and the English garrison, the Scots had already established their head-quarters at Morpeth, and Leven had in Newcastle no more than five hundred men when, on Saturday, January 30, Skippon ar- rived.- An hour later, the Scottish troops paraded before the Court. 3 Leven had enjoined upon them the- necessity of a " friendly and brotherly parting," 4 but as they marched out of the town they were assailed by galling vituperation, and the English officers had some trouble " to prevent the women from following the Scottish troops and throwing stones at them while they were leaving it". 5 1 The Kings Answer, etc. The writer adds, that the Scottish Captains of foot received over 50, Captains of horse 100, and others in proportion ; further, that the second instalment of money left Northallerton on January 27 and was expected in Newcastle on the 20th. 2 Ibid. ; Rushworth, vi., 398. Leven had left Newcastle before Skippon's arrival. L. J., viii., 701. The keys of the town were at once surrendered to Skippon. Wliitelocke, ii., 112. Tynemouth castle was surrendered at six o'clock the same evening. Arch. jEL, xv., 220. 3 Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 444. 4 In a proclamation dated ;it Newcastle, January 18. C. S. P. (1C.45-47), 517. 5 Of the Scots' departure A Letter from Nevrn*tl>' states : " most of them goe very willingly, especially those who are consider- able, though indeed some of them are discontented. Gen. Leven carries himself most excellently in the managing thereof." The Kln a different account: -'The Scotch officers behave themselves very inoffensively. ... As for the common Souidiers, they have such warm quarter, that I believe they 442 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Upon its arrival in Scotland the army was almost entirely disbanded. By a resolution of January 27, 1647, the Estates had provided for the maintenance of a standing force of seven regi- ments of foot, five Highland and two Lowland, with a strength of six thousand men ; twelve hundred horse ; and two hundred dragoons. Of these, Leven's army was called upon to contribute four out of the five Lowland foot regiments, and six hundred and forty cavalry. 1 The military union of the two nations, and the circumstances under which it was severed, left no indefinite effects upon the relations of Scotland with her late ally. Montereul, in February, 1047, gave Mazarin a shrewd forecast of the future. " I do not know," he wrote from Newcastle on the the eve of Charles's departure, " what will be the result of the bargain that the English have just concluded with the Scots, but it seems to me that they have not separated very satisfied with each other ; . . . but," he added, " it will be very difficult for the enmity that is between these peoples to remain long without breaking out." : That her ally, who had refused to consider Scotland's right to share in the disposal of the King of England, should taunt her with the baseness of a Judas, added to the bitterness which the abortive alli- goe away very unwillingly, considering the season and the cold climate through which they march." The Moderate Intelligencer gives the time of their departure as 3 P.M. The Scots left behind them twenty guns which had formerly belonged to the Earl of Newcastle. A True Relation from the King, K. P. 1 Acts, vi., pt. i., 672 et seq. Of. Turner, Memoirs, 43. 2 Fotheringham, Montereul, i., 444. THE KING AND THE SCOTTISH ARMY. 443 ance bad produced, caused a revulsion of feeling towards Charles himself, and inspired, in some degree, the romantic loyalty which she lavished upon his descendants. 444 CHAPTEE XI. LEVEN'S LATER YEARS. As Montereul had predicted, the relations between England and Scotland upon the termination of their alliance hurried on inevitably towards war. By the irony of circumstance, Scotland, who had given a race of Kings to England, found herself called upon either to sanction their expulsion or to incur the hostility of the kindred kingdom to whom she had sent them. And the causes which seemed adequate for the condemnation of the Stuarts in England were not equally valid in the case of Scot- land. The constitutional problem which confronted the Stuarts to their ruin in England made but little appeal to the political sensibilities of those north of the Tweed. The great force of English middle- class feeling which wrecked the Stuarts in England had its counterpart in -Scotland. But as it had its origin in a different cause, so its outlook and its aspirations were different, and in a direction in which the Stuarts' misgovernment was not similarly felt. Her middle-class lacked both the education and opportunities which secured the political predominance of its counterpart in Tudor and Stuart England. In the achievements of Cabot, Frobisher, Davis, Raleigh, whose voyages had, LEVEN'S LATER YEARS. 445 in the development of commerce, broadened the basis of the English constitution, and created new interests which demanded careful nurturing, O' Scotland had taken little if any part. Her de- mocracy had sprung from the Reformation, and its representation and interests alike were in the Assembly rather than in the House of Estates. With the fatal foreign policy which the Stuarts con- sistently followed, coquettings with France, Spain, and Holland, English commercial interests were vitally concerned, though Scotland was interested in a comparatively indirect degree. Neither upon constitutional grounds, therefore, nor upon the platform of foreign policy was it possible for Scot- land to see eye to eye with England in the argu- ments which demanded the abandonment of her own royal dynasty. While the current of opinion in Scotland flowed towards Charles and the threatened Monarchy, Leven refused to swim with it, and even made some efforts to stem it. His enthusiasms were centred in Kirk rather than King. 1 Upon the disbanding of the army in February, 1647, though he was retained in the Command-in-Chief of the regiments which were kept on foot, he held but an advisory position, and the active command was given to David Leslie.- In March, 1647, the Estates showed their appreciation of his "grave 1 .Mi'. Firth quotes a Scottish <-..uplet: " Leslie for the Kirk and Middleton for the Kin-. But deil a bit will any fight but Ross and Augustine''. Scotland and the Commonwealth, 8. - Acts, vi., pt. i., G72, 710, 725. 446 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. wisdome, vigilancie, and indefatigable panes, constant fidelitie, gallant conduct, and everie gift desireable in ane great Leader of armies " by voting him a jewel of the value of ten thousand merks Scots. 1 In 1648, Leven opposed the invading of Eng- land on Charles's behalf unless religion were fully secured in the " Engagement "."-' Hamilton's party, however, proved stronger than that of Argyll, and though Leven's aid and experience would have been welcomed, 3 he was unwilling to lend them to a project with which he heartily disagreed. He approached the Estates, therefore, and in May, 1648, surrendered his office. 4 His caution was at least justified in the result. Hamilton and Callander were hopelessly beaten at Preston, and Cromwell followed up his victory by a visit to Edinburgh, during which he was entertained at dinner by Leven in the castle. 5 As the result of his negotiations, Cromwell secured the disbanding of the Scottish forces, save a body of fifteen hundred which were kept on foot under Leven's command. 6 The execution of Charles in January, 1649, induced a wider expression of attachment to the ill- fated royal House than Hamilton's enterprise had 1 Acts, vi., pt. i., 777. 2 Turner, Memoirs, 51, 52. :i Baillie, iii., 40. * Acts, vi., pt. ii., 68, 88. Baillie declares that Leven was influenced by "threats and promises" on the part of Hamilton and Callander. iii., 45. "Carlyle, Cromwell, Lett. Ixxvii. Of. H. M. C., Kept, x., pt. vi., App. 168, 171 ; Turner, Memoirs, 69. 6 Carlyle, Cromwell, Lett. Ixxv. LEVEN'S LATER YEARS. 447 produced in the previous year. Charles the Second was proclaimed at Edinburgh, and an army was summoned on his behalf. Less than half a century had passed since Scotland had given her Kings to England. But already England could neither tolerate them herself nor suffer their own King- dom to receive them. Leven probably shared his country's resentment at the vassal position which England claimed to impose on her. But he was an old man, and less anxious even than in 1645 to pit himself against Cromwell. On June 23, 1650, he again desired to be relieved of the office of Lord-General. But the Estates were reluctant to entirely lose his services, and he consented to retain the nominal command, and to surrender to David Leslie the active conduct of the war which Cromwell threatened. 1 At Dunbar,- on September 3, 1650, Leven was present, 3 fled with the routed troops to Edinburgh 1 Balfour, iv., 58. Of. Acts, vi., pt. ii., 587. " Old Generall Leven (who lay still during the time of their late engagement against England) hath taken up a Commission as Generall, David I.c-ly, Lieuteuant-Generall ". Perfect Weekly Account, July 17, 1650. 2 Though Leven was present and nominally in command, Dunbar was David Leslie's rather than Leven's battle. Jt would at least be futile to attempt a narrative of it after Dr. Gardiner's SD recent treatment of it in his Commonwealth and Protectorate, i., 301 et seq. I have printed in the Appendix to this chapter a number of pamphlets and news-letters from the King's Pamphlets, refer- ences to which will be found in Dr. Gardiner's account of the campaign of 1650. ;i ln a petition to the Commonwealth shortly after Crom- well's death, Leven explained that "hauing then the tytle of general!," he "was thereby obliged to be with the Scotch army at Dunba,rr".Melvilles, i., 432. He probably supported or in- spired Leslie's cautious tactics on Doon Hill. Cf. Gardiner, Commonwealth and Protectorate, i., 318 ; Hill Burton, History, vii., 24. 448 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. when the battle was lost, 1 and in the following De- cember received from the Estates a full exonera- tion for his conduct in the battle. 2 In March, 1651, he made a further appeal to be relieved from his position as Lord-General, pleading " such waik- nes (the inseparable companion of old aige), that he is not able to performe that service that ather the importance of the publict affairs, or his duetie and affection to his Maties service doeth requyre of him ". For all his infirmities and his seventy years, the Estates were loath to entirely lose the services of one whose past achievements stood out in bolder relief by the side of the recent disasters. Once more he was induced to retain his command in the army, and to "be only redy to geive his best advyse in every thing concerneing the sam ". 3 With characteristic attachment to duty he con- tinued to fulfil the charge imposed upon him. In June, 1651, his wife, Agnes Kenton of Billy, died at Inchleslie, and Leven's attendance upon the army at Stirling prevented him from even being present at her funeral. 4 Though the dispensation of the Estates relieved him from assuming the command of the ill-fated army which was routed at Worcester on the anniversary of Dunbar, he continued to direct the movements of the war as a member of the Committee of Estates. On August 27, 1651, Colonel Alured and eight hundred of Monk's cavalry, having intelligence that the Com- mittee had appointed a meeting at Alyth in For- 1 Acts, vi., pt. ii., 769. - Ibid, vi., pt. ii., 618, 624. id., vi., pt. ii., 651. 4 Lament, Diary, 37. LEVEN'S LATER YEARS. 449 farshire, surrounded and captured "Leven and a large number of his colleagues. 1 While the capture of the Committee at Alyth completely paralysed Scotland's military efforts against the Commonwealth, 2 to Leven it was the first personal disaster in a long and consistently prosperous career. On September 4 he was with other prisoners sent by sea to England. 3 Upon his arrival in London he was confined to the Tower, but the intercession of his son-in-law, Kalph Delaval of Seaton Delaval, and the inter- vention of Cromwell himself, secured some miti- gation of the hardships of imprisonment, and ultimately obtained his release upon parole, and his transference to his son-in-law's custody at Seaton Delaval, where, save for occasional visits to London, he resided until 1654. 4 It was but natural that his services to Sweden in earlier days should secure him her interest now. On Sep- tember 17, 1653, Queen Christina petitioned the Commonwealth in his favour. Her intervention 1 Firth, Scotland and the Commonwealth, xviii., 9. -Alun;d, in H letter from before Duncleeannouncinghissuccess, declared : " Not above 2 of the most considerable men of the Com- mittee of st;tte are left, besides those who are here". The Mer- i-nrinn Politicus, September 11-18, remarked jocularly: "All the nobility of Scotland that are at liberty may all sit about a joint- stool ".Firth, Ibid., xviii., 320. ; Firth, Ibid., 14. 1 r. X. 1\ (1651-52), 13, 1(5, 17, 28!), 432 ; Ibid. (1652-53), 65, IOC, 103. Cf. Melvilles, L, 431. *Melville8, ibid. It seems probable that Leven, in return for the (Queen's intercession, endeavoured after his enlargement to raise a regiment in Scotland for her service. Monk encour- aged the policy of removing disturbing elements from Scotland by that means. Charles, however, in a letter to Leven, dated 29 450 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. was successful, and on May 25, 1654, Leven re- turned to Balgonie. The fine imposed upon him was remitted, and the sequestration upon the greater part of his estates was removed. 1 He lived but a few years longer, but long enough to see his enemy Monk appear as the immediate agent in Charles the Second's restoration. In 1661 the old soldier of Gustavus Adolphus and of the Covenant breathed his last. 2 August 2-12, 1655, forbade him from proceeding further in the matter. Cf. Firth, Scotland and the Protectorate, xxxii. ; Thurloe, iv., 163 ; and for Charles's letter, Firth, Ibid., 297. ^amont, Diary, 89; Acts, vi., pt. ii., 777, 797, 800. For a petition from Leven regarding Colonel Overton's retention of a portion of his estates, cf. Melvilles, i., 432. 2 Ibid., i., 388. 451 APPENDIX TO CHAPTEE XI. THE following letters and despatches relate to Cromwell's Scottish campaign from June to September, 1650 : A BRIEF RELATION. 1 Edinburgh, 18 and 21 June [1050]. Some Letters from Edinburgh of the date above written coming to hands, they were not intended to give us this notice : They say they yet know not where their King is, having not heard of him since he went to Sea in a storm, but have heard that some of the company he left behinde were gone by land towards Denmark, makes them think he may be there. They say also, that the edge of many is much taken off from him since their taking of Montross his Papers ; 2 That they much doubt whether he will ever much further the work of Reformation, and the Kirks interest among them ; That they doubt their closing with him will bring upon them a War from England, which they complain they are not in such preparation for as they desire ; That there hath been a great division between the Lords in their Parliament and the Barons and Burghs there, 3 the Lords would have a further Levy of an Army for their defence, the others would have that which they have to be yet better purged from Malignants, the Kirk and the honest Party, as they call themselves, fearing to fall otherwise under the power of their own 1 Kings Pamphlets, E. 607. 1. 2 Montrose, after his defeat at Carbisdale, was brought to Edinburgh a prisoner on May 18, 1650. 3 Of. Gardiner, Commonwealth and Protectorate, i., 303. 452 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Army ; That they have at last agreed upon a Levy, but they fear it will be too late, the alarms come so thick upon them that the Army of England is soo neer them ; That the afternoon of that day, there was to be a meeting and conference with some of the Ministers about a Levy ; That many did encline to have 12,000 foot and 3000 horse listed, and brought to a rendezvous, and then returned to their dwellings, and might after be raised upon very small warning for any service ; That 'twas thought that course would be carried, the rather for that they were no way able to maintain them on foot without the utter mine of the Countrey, unless they could be brought into England, which now they doubted they should not be able to do, the English Army being so far advanced upon the Borders ; That their Countrey is extremely impoverished, and that they know not from whence to have any con- siderable help. That the contest in the Parliament hath been so high, that there hath been talk to have a Committee of 15 for purging the House ; That they carry Ammunition and Provision to Striveling Castle, and begin to fear that Edinburgh will not be safe, and that in case of danger, the Parliament shall remove to St. Johns-Town. The letter further complains that David Lesley, and all that Party, do not love them ; That if the King come to a power in those hands, they fear it will be dangerous to them : But if they had him in their hands, they doubt not they might mannage him well enough. This with much more is in those Letters, which had the ill hap to miss the hand they were sent unto, therefore this part of their intelligence they must receive in common in print. THE PERFECT WEEKLY ACCOUNT. 1 Wednesday, July 17 [1650]. By Letters from Barwick with the last Post as followeth. The Scots are very rife upon the Borders, they 1 Kings PamphlF THE ENGLISH ARMY IN SCOT- LAND. 1 Stonehill Garrison, Aug. 23, 1650. In my last I told you of our marching backe to Musleborough, where we stayd Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday, taking in provisions ; and on Sunday the 17 marched backe to our old Quarters on Pencland hills. Whilst we stayed at Musleborough, Fields Orders were given for the possessing and fortifying of two Houses, l Kfiiijg 1'amphletg, E. 610. 8. 468 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. one belonging to Mr. Hamilton, who with his man were guides to that party that fell so desperately into our quarters in Musleborough, and both kild on each side the House. The other was a Frontier to Dalketh, and another Garison formerly kept by a Dragoons neere Edenborough (but quitted). The former (being neer the Waterside) is intended as a Magazine for provisions for the Army ; in it there are 140 Foot commanded by Cap. Hughes, one of Col. Fenwickes Captaines, and forty Horse under Lieut. Wilkinson of Col. Lilburns Regiment, and twenty Dragoons. And the latter to secure the pas- sages betweene the Garrison and the Army, it being in the midway betweene both : in it there is a party com- manded by Cap. Webb of Col. Malliveres Regiment. We had intelligence of the killing two of our Foot souldiers that went to seek provisions in the Country, besides one of Col. Daniels that was kild by some of the Enemies Horse, adventring too far into their quarters towards Edenburgh when the Army was encampt on Pencland Hils. In the Armies march from about Musleborough to Pencland Hils, the Enemy drew out several 1 bodies of Horse, which faced us in the .way, but came to no en- gagement ; they also fired at our men out of severall Houses which they had Garisond in the way. At his Excellencies comming up on the hils he sent two Troops of Dragoons to possesse Collinton house, which is a very strong House within halfe a mile of Redhouse (a Garrison of the Enemies) which annoyed our men upon their former march thither. A Sergeant of Col. Coxes Regiment was executed on a Gallows on Pencland hils, though there was no tree to hang him on, for being present w T ith some Souldiers of that Regiment when they plundered a House, and himselfe took away a Cloke : and so tender is his Lordship of any injury to be done to the Country, that he renders good for evil. There were three Souldiers condemned with him, but THE CAMPAIGN OF DUNBAK. 469 his Excellencies mercy was extended towards them, and a pardon brought them immediately after the execution of the other. In the meane time severall great bodies of the enemies Horse, to the number of 2 or 3 000, were drawne out on the West side of Edenburgh betweene the Kiver Lieth and the Sea, 1 and having an advantage of a passe over the River (which they supposed our designe was to take), severall parties of theirs came and pickeerd in the sight of our Army, but upon the drawing up of our parties, retreated back. His Excellency in person drew out a forlorn and went before them ; when he came neer them one of them fired a Carbine, upon which his Excellency called to him, and said, if he had been one of his Souldiers he would have cashierd him for firing at such a distance, whereupon he that fired, having formerly served L. G. Lesly, comming up told him he was Cromwell himselfe, and that he had seen him in Yorkshire with his Master. There are 39 of the Runawaies that went from the army brought prisoners by Sea from Barwick, where they were apprehended by Col. Fen wick the Governour. More are comming, and some of them wil be made exemplary ; 27 of those already brought were, Monday, Aug. 19, con- demned at a Court-martial. Divers women and others get away by night from Lieth by Land and water, and steal back into the Country : by which we perceive they are in some straights for want of provision. We wonder to see such a false relation printed as goes under the name of one Mr. Brookes at the Angel in Cornhill, Numb. 3, wherein he relates the taking of Leith, which if it were done, our worke were soon at an end, it being the most considerable place, and the onely considerable Port town in Scotland. Certainly none in the Army would mention such a fiction, when we see the Enemy in it every day. Tuesday, Aug. 20, there was a parley between Maj. Gen. Lambert and other Officers of 1 On August 21 Leslie established himself ;it CWstorphine. 470 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. ours, and Col. Straughan and others of the enemies Army : much was said to convince each other, but it amounted to nothing. Lieut. Gen. Lesleys Trumpeter came with a Letter, and Declaration of their Kings (as they call it) which He hath now subscribed, 1 but was drawn up by the Kirk ; the effect was in confessing his Fathers and his own guilt in the late War, and promising for the future to doe nothing but by the advice of the Kirke and State. There is also a sheet of paper, entituled A Supplication of the Officers of the Army to the Committee of Estates to purge the Army and Court of Malignants without respect of persons, and the Committees thanks to them and promise to doe it. This day the Enemy drew their whole Army, Horse and Foot out of Leith, they gave them out to be 30,000. They left a Kegiment of the horse and 1000 commanded Foote in it. The King was then at Dumferline with a Life-guard of Horse, and two or three Companies of Foot ; but when we expected an Engagement they retreated back to Leith. Our Army is begun to intrench on Pencland Hils. Wednesday, August 21. A Counsel was called of all the Field-officers and Captains. The business was to relate what transactions had been, and how the Scots having combin'd with their King, and scornefully sent his De- claration before anything could be offered farther in an amicable way to prevent the misery of what must follow by force, or that we should doe our utmost endeavours to reduce them, using all meanes which an envading Enemy will doe one against another. And as they were speaking every Man his heart, whereby there might be a knowledge how it was with them, there came an Alarum that the Enemy was drawne out severall waies towards Sterling, towards the provisions. There was pickering neere Col- lington House - with the Dragoones, and the Enemy had a Captaine of theirs slaine and two prisoners. The Enemy 1 On August 16. 2 Colinton House, on the Water of Leith. THE CAMPAIGN OF DUNBAR. 471 are reduced to such extremity for want of provisions that they must move one way or other, and I doubt not but God will fill this hippocriticall Generation with whom we have to deale with their own waies. This night a party of Horse and Foot are drawne out upon a considerable designe, of which more by the next. A LETTER FROM A COLLONELL OF THE ARMY TO A MEMBER OF THE COUNCELL OF STATE. 1 Muscleborough, 31 Aug. 1650. Since my last we have againe twice attempted to ingage the Scots Army. Upon Tuesday last, we marched with an endeavour to interpose betwixt Edenburgh and Sterling, and by that necessitate the Enemy to fight. And accordingly wee advanced with our whole Army, but they being in view of us (only a river parting), discerned by our march what we designed, and so hastened their march untill they came to a Passe neare us, and drew up in Battalia. We did the like, all being confident we should within a quarter of an houre have an ingagement, and as we judged could not be prevented, the ground appearing equally good on both sides. The Word given out was [Rise Lord], the body of Foote advancing within lesse then twice Musket shot, and then was discovered such a Bog on both our wings of Horse that it was impossible to passe over. Thus by this very unexpected hand of Pro- vidence were we prevented, and only had liberty to play with our Cannon that evening and part of the next morning, which did good execution, as wee beleive, upon them. We had very strange and remarkeable deliverances from theirs, though they played very hard upon us, and that with much art, but the Lord suffered them not to do us much hurt ; we had not slaine and wounded above five and 1 Kiny* I'd. in j>li!> it, E. (512. 8. 472 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. twenty men. We finding it not possible to ingage them, and far from our Provisions, divers of our men having cast away their Bisket, with their Tents, out of a confi- dence they should then fight, We therefore resolved upon our march back to the Sea side. The Enemy like- wise hastened towards Edenburgh. Wee did beleeve their design was to gain a Passe or two and so interpose betwixt us and our Provisions, which they might easily have done, being before us, but the Lord gave them not courage to do it. We found them drawne up near Edenburgh by Arthurs hill, and not at all interrupted our march, but not long after we got over the Passe. They instead of offering to advance upon us, retreated behind one of their Garisons, and so marched on that side of the Passe wee came over, up towards those hills wee left. So we finding an impossibility in our forcing them to fight, the Passes being so many and great, that as soone as we get on one side they go over on the other, that the Councel yesterday was very unanimous on this, that it was to no purpose further to march after them, but in- clined generally to fall upon Garisoning of Dunbarre and other considerable places nearer Tweed, and after one Garison compleated (if we have no better complyance) proceed to some more severe course then hath bin yet taken. I know many among you w r ill thinke it strange we have done no more against them : I wish they may eye the Lord, and not man. We have this satisfaction, there is no meanes left unattempted by us. We have done our utmost, and the Lord therein gives us comfort, besides many remarkeable testimonies of his presence. Of late we have understood those who have the name of honesty among them begin to be better satisfied, and more desirous of an Agreement. They are not so of a peece as they were, but their disaffection about the King and other divisions increase. They see themselves in a snare, and would gladly many of them get out. We are assured their honest men will not long hold in with them. THE CAMPAIGN OF DUNBAR. 473 The Lord I doubt not but one way or other will very emi- nently appear with us. Muscleborough, 31 Aug. 1650. Having taken Eedhall, Monday the 26 instant, wee advanced from Penckland hills, about two miles to the water of Leith, and the next day we marched on, resolving (if possible) to ingage the Enemy, who were drawne up that morning in Battalia, as if they intended to have stood us. But as they observed us wheeling to the Westward to come upon them, they remooved from their ground, and gained a passe, where there was a boggy ground of each side. Our men w r ere drawn on with all possible speed, not knowing the ground to bee such, and were in a short time set in order. Never more resolution and willingnesse knowne to have engaged an Enemy then was in our men at that time ; but when we should have fallen on, neither wing was able to come at them, and then we perceived that, notwithstanding all their bravadoes the day before by Sir Jo. Browne, by whom they sent us word they were resolved to give us a faire meeting, yet their haste towards us was not to engage us, but to stop us from comming at them. We stood in Battalia that afternoone and next morning, the Cannons playing hotly on both sides, and though we were much the fairer mark, standing upon the pitch of a rising ground, yet it pleased God our losse was much the lesse. We had onely about foure that dyed upon the place, and about 18 or 19 wounded ; and of the Enemy about 100 wounded and killed, one Col. Mennes and a Captain, and a Lieutenant of Horse, and an Ensigne killed of theirs. We have lost since our comming into Scotland, by the Enemy, onely one Commission Officer, viz., Col. Lilburnes Cornet, who was killed at the charge at Muscleborough. There was severall strange shot, one was at Major Hobsons Troopes, which was drawne close together to prayer, and just as 47-t LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. the Amen was said, there came in a great shot among" them, and touched neither Horse nor man. The next morning, having but two daies provision left, and seeing we could not in that place engage them, we drew back to our old quarters on Penckland hills, and the Enemy drew between Edenburgh and Leith, as if they would that night have attempted our Garisons on the East side of Eden- burgh, and have interposed between us and our bread and cheese. The 29 instant we marched to the Eastward of Edenburgh, and seeing the Enemy drawn up from Arthurs Hill to the Sea side, we possessed ourselves of the next ground to them, within Canon shot, resolving there to have endevoured to engage them, but they very gallantly drew away between Arthurs Hill and Cragmiller, a Garison of theirs, our Canons some of them reaching them and doing, as we understand, notable execution upon them. Thus from time to time they avoyded fighting, neither is it possible, as long as they are thus minded, to ingage them ; so that to follow them up and down is but to loose time and weaken our selves. Methinks this people deale with my Lord as did the Irish Army ; so that as his work w^as to take in garisons, Ours, its humbly conceived, wil be to make a considerable Garison or two, and spoiling what of their Country we canot get under our power. I suppose you wil have a full account hereof. This day we march. I think if ever there was an unworthy jugling, which the Lord will witnesse against, its among those with whom we have to do. Straughan at a conference since my last, being asked seriously by one what he thought of their King, and whether he conceived him any whit the better since his signing the late Declaration, replied that he thought him as wicked as ever, and de- signing both their and our destruction, and that of the two, he thought his hatred towards them was the more implacable. THE CAMPAIGN OF DUNBAR. 475 A BRIEF RELATION. 1 On Saturdaie afternoon, 2 we marched from Muscle- borough. The ship came that night to Dunbar, and the Lord General with his Armie to Haddington, and quartered in the Town. The Enemies Armie followed within a mile of us, and that night, with 400 Hors and 400 Musqueteers behinde them, fell down to Haddington, and gave us an hot Alarum, but their Armie advanced no- nearer. On Sunday morning, the first of this instant Sep- tember, our Drums beat, and wee marched away to Dunbar ; the Enemies Armie (which consisted of 18 Eegiments of Foot, which, with their Hors and Dra- goons, as themselves compute, made up 27,000) close to our Rear, sometimes ^within a mile, and sometimes within half a mile. Our Armie was about 12,000. On Sundaie night wee came to Dunbar, and the Enemie drew up their whole Armie upon a verie high hill or mountain within a mile of the Town, 3 our Armie standing in Battalia in the Corn-fields between them and the Town, readie to engage. Our Train was first placed in the Churchyard at Dunbar, which stands in the Towns end toward Barwick, and is about 50 or 60 yards from anie houses ; which, that it might not bee subject to a surprise, if the Enemie should anie waie march about with anie part of their Armie towards it, the Lord General com- manded that it should bee brought down to a little poor Scotch-farm hous in the middle of the Field where our Armie quartered. Monday morning, before Sun-rising, the Enemie drew down part of their Armie toward the Foot of the Hill, toward our Armie. The place where wee were was a Peninsula, and wee had not a mile and half from Sea to Sea, which made David Leslie, who was General of the Armie in the Field, to say that hee would have all our I'umphUts, E. 612. 10. -August :il. : Doon Hill. 476 LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER LESLIE. Armie dead or alive by next day, seven of the clock in the morning. The Lord General, Major General Lambert, and Lieutenant General Fleetwood spent most of Monday in drawing up of our Armie into Battalia where the}' had stood the night before. There was between the two Armies a great ditch, of fortie or fiftie foot wide, and near as deep, with a rill of water in the bottom, which would bee a verie great disad- vantage to that party who should first attempt to pass it. Upon the brin[k] of this ditch there was a little house, and by it a shelving path where the Enemie might with greater facilitie than anie where els com over. About five of the clock that Monday morning, there was twentie four Foot and six Hors sent to that house to secure that passage. The Enemie sent down two troops of Lanciers, who caused our six Hors to return. Those Lanciers killed three of our Foot, took three prisoners, and wounded most part of the rest ; so the Enemie remained master of the Pass, which yet they presently acquitted. Among the three taken by them, there was one stout man who hath but one hand, yet hee had thrice discharged his musket before hee was taken. The Prisoners beeing brought to David Leslie, hee asked the souldier with one hand whether our Armie did intend to fight. Hee answered with the confidence of a Souldier by a question, What did hee think they came for but to fight ? The Scots' General asked again, how they could fight when they had shipped awaie half their men, and all their guns ? l The Souldier told him, that if hee pleased to draw out his Armie, hee would find that wee had both men and Guns enough to fight him. The General presently released him, and sent him back by a Trumpet.- About four of the clock that afternoon, our General and his officers went to Dunbar to refresh them- 1 For Leslie's error on this matter cf. Gardiner, Commonwealth and Protectorate, i., 320. "This incident is also mentioned in Carte, Collection, i., 382. THE CAMPAIGN OF DUNBAK. 477 selves, dinner beeing there provided for them, which they made verie short, and were again in the field by five of the clock. About four of the Clock that afternoon, the Enemie brought down their Train to that part of their Armie which they had before brought down to the foot of the Hill, their Hors beeing feeding in the Corn on each wing of their Armie. That night our Armie, by Command, advanced close to the Ditch as they could, and plac'd their Field-Pieces in every Regiment, that wee might be in readiness when the Enemie should attempt anie thing upon us. On Tuesdaie morning at four of the Clock, a Brigade of our Armie drew down to possess themselv's of a Pass upon the Eoad between Edinburg and Bar wick, by which, beeing had, they might with the more ease pass over to the Enemie to fall upon them. This Brigade consisted of three Regiments of Hors : viz. Major General Lam- berts, Commissarie General Whaleies, and Colonel Lil- borns, and two Regiments of Foot. This gave the Enemie a great Alarum, and a warm dispute there was about that Pass, which lasted above an hour, the great Guns firing the while at both bodies where they stood. Our Brigade gain'd and possess'd the Pass. The Enemie thereupon charging strongly with their Lanciers, our Hors gave a little waie ; but our Hors immediately Rallying, and our 'Foot advancing l and Charging the Enemie, they presently put them to the Rout, it beeing by this time about six of the Clock in the Morning. The Enemies Foot seeing this Rout and Flight of their Hors, presently threw down their Arms, and fell to Run. And the left Wing of their Hors, who had not been in anie Action hitherto, seeing this, Fled also. Our Armie both Hors and Foot pursu'd them to Haddington, which was eight Miles, and som of Colonel Hacker's Regiment 1 For Cromwell's Hank march cf. Gardiner, Commonwealth . : captures Leicester, 359; letters to, 370, 374 ; men-of-war provided by, 429. Kushworth, his narrative of Newburn fight, 132. Russell, Cornet, 464. Rutherford, Captain, 285, 286. Rutherford, John, Provost of Jedburgh, 315, 317. Ruthven, General, 35. Ruthven, Sir Thomas, regiment of, vide Scottish Army. Rutland, Earl of, 387. Rutland, levies of, 375. Rymer, Mr., 357. Ryton, Leslie at, 124 ; parsonage rifled, 1 Id. 33 514 INDEX. SADDICK Hill, Leven establishes himself on, 208. Saville, Sir William, 53. Scotchmen, in Continental armies, 42 ; in England in 1638, treatment of, 48 ct seq. Saye, Lord, his Scots Designc discovered, 260. Scarborough, Marquis of Newcastle flies to, 273. Scot, Colonel, 388. Scrimsher, Lieut.-Colonel, 200. Seaton, Lieut.-Colonel, 18, 19. Selby, stormed and taken, 212, 213. Self-denying Ordinance, the, 345. Shaftoe, Robert, 298. Sherburn, Charles I. at, 405. Shet, Cornet Joseph, 464. Shields, South, Scottish garrison at, 142 ; the Earl of Newcastle builds a fort at, 172 ; Scottish garrison at, 177 ; fort at, captured by the Scots, 205 ct seq. ; Scots seize ships at, 207 ; Montrose recaptures fort at, 285 ; Scots surrender the fort at, 438. Short Parliament, the, refuses to endorse Charles's policy towards Scot- land, 92. Sinclair, Captain, 331. Sinclair, Lord, his troops at Duns, 72 ; at Aberdeen, 157 ; regiment of, in Ireland, 161 et scq ; accompanies Leven to Ireland, 167 ; at the siege of Newcastle, 296, 305, 320, 323, 330, 333 ; urges the English Parlia- ment to settle religion, 340 ; Charles intrigues with, 395 ; regiment of, vide Scottish Army. Skene, Sir Andrew, 160. Skippon, Major-General, hears evidence regarding Charles's attempted escape from Newcastle, 430, 432 ; Newcastle and Tynemouth sur- rendered to, 441. Skipton, Scots near, 348. Slingsby, Sir Henry, regiment of, 234. Smith, John, 66. Solemn League and Covenant, the, ratified by England and Scotland, 174 ; Scottish army to be raised for, ib. ; the Scots agree to dissolve, 423 ; present their accounts, 425 ; bitterness engendered by the alli- ance, 442 ; divergent outlook of the two nations, 444. Somerville, John, letter of, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217. Somerville, Lieut.-Colonel, 184. Southwell, Scottish army mustered at, 388 ; Charles at, 402, 403. Spynie, Lord, 19. St. Andrews, Archbishop of, letter of Charles I. to, 88. St. Johnstoun, the Estates may have to remove to, 452 ; Charles II. at, 460. St. Paula, Mons., 273. Staffordshire, levies of, 350. Stamford, Charles I. at, 402, 403. INDEX. 515 Stamford, Earl of, visits Scottish camp at Duns, 73 ; letters of Leven to, 439, 440. Stanmore, Scots necessitated to march by, 356, 357. Stannington, Leven delayed at, 184. Stewart, Captain William, 280. Stewart, Colonel, 162. Stewart, Colonel William, regiment of, vide Scottish Army. Stirling, pass at, to be guarded, 301 ; war materials sent to, 452 ; Charles II. at, 454 ; plate, etc., brought into, ib. ; Cromwell's Declaration received at, 455. Stirlingshire regiment, the, vide Scottish Army. Stockton, the Scots forbidden to occupy the castle of, 144 ; surrendered to Callander, 288 ; England demands withdrawal of Scottish garrison in, 377, 383 ; Scots withdraw from, 438, 439. Stoneleigh, Scottish army at, 377. Strafford, Earl of, Lieut.-General of the army in 1640, 90; admonishes Lord Conway, 105 ; opposes Charles's intention to leave London for York, 107 ; orders Conway to hold the Tyne against Leslie, 114 ; joined by Conway at Darlington, 124. Stralsund, Leslie appointed Governor of, 7, 21 ; Gustavus Adolphus's interest in, 17 ; siege of, 18 et seq. Strathearn regiment, the, vide Scottish Army. Straughan, Major, has the confidence of the Kirk, 454 ; supposed to be dead, 458 ; said to have undertaken to bring in Cromwell alive or dead, 464; wounded, ib ; attends a parley, 470; thinks Charles II. " as wicked as ever,'.' 474. Suckling, Sir John, his cavalry troop, 119, 136. Sunderland, customs of, impounded by the Scots, 142 ; trade with pro- hibited, 172 ; Scottish garrison at, 176 ; Scots enter, 198 ; Marquis of Newcastle near, 199; Leven marches from, 204, 205, 213; keels from, cut off by the royalists, 213 ; garrison of, recaptures fort at South Shields, 285 ; Montrose attempts the seizure of, 286 ; Callander ordered to secure, 288 ; Leven visits, 295 ; money received by the Scots from sale of coals at, 385. "Swaden Fetheris," 65. TADCASTER, the allied armies retreat from York to, 230. Tamworth, Leven at, 370. Taunton, Fairfax ordered to, 349. Tees, River, boundary between English and Scottish armies in 1640, 144. Teviotdale regiment, the, vide Scottish Army. Teviotdale, Sheriff of, 68. Thirlwall, England demands withdrawal of Scottish garrison in, 377, 383. Thirty Years' War, the, 16