The English Revolution and the Wars in the Three Kingdoms, 1638-1652 by I.J. Gentles

Author:I.J. Gentles [Gentles, I.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General
ISBN: 9781317898450
Google: 6gPKAwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-06-06T01:23:04+00:00

CHAPTER 9

The king vanquished, 1645–46

England: the spring campaign

Montrose’s spectacular run of victories was almost the only good news to reach royalist headquarters in Oxford during the spring of 1645. While divisions at Court and in the Council of War deepened, and personal backbiting became nastier, parliamentarians subdued their animosities in the interests of fighting the war more effectively. Fed by the City’s loan of £80,000, the recruitment, arming and provisioning of the army got off to a quick start. The parliamentary juggernaut gathered strength as ‘every house in London’ became ‘stuffed up’ with arms.1

The armies of Essex, Manchester and Waller were cannibalized to furnish manpower for the New Model. The diplomatic gifts of Philip Skippon, plus the promise of new clothes and weapons for the common soldiers, helped to make the potentially explosive business of extinguishing Essex’s regiments run smoothly. Once the example had been set the regiments of the other two armies also allowed themselves to be absorbed without protest. However, the infantry recruited from the old armies only totalled 7,200 — just half the number needed. The rest had to be conscripted, or ‘pressed’ in the language of the day. The metropolitan region was told to raise 2,500 men, while most of the remainder were pressed in East Anglia and Kent. During the entire period of active fighting the New Model was continually bled by the desertion of its foot soldiers, which meant that new men were continually being pressed. This was a financial drain as well, since it cost between £2 and £2 10s. to recruit and clothe a foot soldier and deliver him to the army. There were good reasons why the foot, though not the horse, deserted in such large numbers. At 8d. a day for a private, the pay was not generous, and it was not always delivered on time. The life of a soldier on active duty was hard — carrying a 60lb pack and often sleeping under the open sky. Drawn from the lowest ranks of society, few of the common soldiers knew or cared about the reasons for fighting against the king. Colonel John Venn noted that ‘most countries [counties] press the scum of all their inhabitants, the king’s soldiers, men taken out of prison, tinkers, pedlars and vagrants that have no dwelling, and such of whom no account can be given. It is no marvel if such run away.’ When all the runaways are taken into account,2 the New Model had nearly reached its target in early June, standing at 20,000 men or more.

No matter how scintillating the triumphs of Montrose and MacColla, they could not offset the deepening gloom that enveloped royalist headquarters at Oxford. The loss of Shrewsbury to parliament depressed the king for days since it cut communications with Wales, where so many soldiers had been recruited, and Chester, the vital port at which soldiers from Ireland were expected to debark. Added to this the Welsh economy was in ruins, and there was quarrelling between rival commanders, as well as a multitude of regional feuds.

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