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A55189 The character of a good army &c. being a few hints touching the gallantry and fidelity of an army in the late wars who gave the sole honour and glory of all their atchievments [sic] to God alone, whom they exalted daily in these self-denying expressions / written by Capt. Tho. Plunket. Plunket, Thomas, b. 1625. 1690 (1690) Wing P2628A; ESTC R28444 17,060 25

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33.16 17. And that 's the strongest side where God is be they never so few Experientia docet Now for his Army And such an Army as never was the like in all the World for all Vertues I dare swear it They were always true and faithful to their Trust and as valiant upon all Adventures let the Service be never so difficult or dangerous they made nothing of it They did not say Go you and go you no but come Lads let us on on on in the Name of the Lord of Hosts And in truth they went on to a Battle yea to many Battles and Attacks as if to a Banquet and calling upon God while their Enemies were cursing and damning which is still in fashion When they went to storm any great Town or City they were not in the least concerned but fell on with such alacrity and liveliness of Mind as if they had been sure to conquer before-hand Many Cities Towns Forts and Castles they took by pure Valour with very little or no loss at all sometimes nay their very Enemies would say of them and they said true that they made but a Play and Sport of Fighting Yea the soberest of them have said of that Army That they should never beat them unless God would stand Neuter and you know what that implies They never lay still in Summer nor sneak'd into Winter-Quarters while there was an Enemy in the Field or a considerable Garrison untaken scorning to lie still and take Pay for nothing no but were often upon Service even in the deep of Winter not seeking to lengthen out the War for their own private ends but very earnest to put an end thereto which is never found in mercenary Armies who use to say If we catch the Hare this Summer we shall have none to hunt the next The Commission Officers of that Army were sober chaste temperate religious Men free from all sorts of Debaucheries kind to their Soldiers very just in paying them and as severe in punishing Misdemeanors whereby they were both beloved and feared very punctual and discreet in composing Differences between their Soldiers and Land-Lords c. there was neither Plundering Cursing Swearing Whoring Drunkenness nor any such Vices to be found amongst them Most of their Soldiers if not all of them were civiller and soberer in all their Carriages and Behavior than the Officers of other Armies a great rarity never the like seen in any Army but that alone nor I think never will be again They were exercised most commonly on Muster-days and in handling Arms they were second to no Army that ever was most of their Captains being very expert in such Matters many of them having been Members of the famous Military Company of London where they learnt the first Rudiments of War They never stood upon Numbers against an Enemy but whether few or many 't was all one to them in their greatest Attempts For as in Oral Disputes it is not Numbers but strength of Arguments that prevail against the Opponents so in Warlike Disputes it is not numbers of Men but the force of Courage and Resolution in a few that prevails against a numerous potent Enemy whereof they had many Experiences as for instance at Dunbar Fight there was but 5000 of them fought and routed almost 30000 in half an hour's time and all the way up-hill though now they and such as they are scorned and not thought worthy to be employ'd because they cannot pronounce Shibboleth Judg. 12.6 nor say Crows are white which they will never do while they continue to black as they are Verbum sat Rebus in adversis animum submittere noli In the Month of June 1657. 400● of that Army routed 16000 near Dunkirk led by Don John of Austria and the D. of Y. while the French Horse which should have seconded them looked on and never stirred till the Spanish Army fled and then O brave then they cried Sa Sa Sa Sa for they are very valiant against a Flying Enemy Every Regiment had an able sound Preacher for their Chaplain so that every day in the Week while they lay encamped there was a Sermon or two to be heard and always thronged with Officers and Soldiers besides private Prayers in the Tents of divers Colonels and Captains among themselves and which was their practice all along And therefore I can truly say That no City or Corporation in the World could match them in all things especially for Civility and Piety Yea they conquered more with their Prayers than with their Swords I say the weight of their Faith and Prayers were heavier than the strength of their Arms in repressing their Adversaries They pray'd them down as well as fought them down Not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts Zech. 4.6 But some I know before-hand will make a mock to this or they have lost their old wont and no wonder since Clergy-men have done the like even at Scripture-Phrases and so they will at what I shall now deliver viz. In August 1650. not long before Dunbar-Fight the then Governor of Edinborough-Castle viz the Laird Dundass a sober Gentleman hearing of and also beholding and observing with his Prospective-Glass the Order and Religious Exercises of that Army as they lay encamped on a place called Penthland-Hills about a mile from the said Castle was so affected therewith that he cried out to those about him Oh! there 's no prevailing against a praying Army And for my own particular part I can and must declare that I learnt more good in that Army than ever I did in all my Life before yea many bless'd God that ever they came into it for the same Reasons for it was a Nursery of good Manners and a Seminary of Vertue and Piety in both which I am sure they transcended both the Universities for all they stile themselves the Two Great Lights of England But methinks their Lights are grown very dim of late Years or how comes it to pass that there is so much of the works of Darkness practised among them viz. Vice and Wickedness especially in the junior sort which ought to be inspected by their Seniors and would be had they the true Light of the Grace and Spirit of God within them Hundreds of Soldiers have at least been civilized only by being in that Army which before were rude Fellows as many of them confest and chiefly through the good Examples and Encouragements of their sober religious Officers In the Year 1652. that Army made a free and voluntary Collection among themselves both Officers and Soldiers towards the encouragement of Ministers to Preach the Gospel to the Natives in New-England which amounted to many Hundreds of Pounds if not some Thousands the least that any Soldier gave in our Regiment was 2 s. many of them gave 3 s. and 5 s. a man The Company wherein I was then a Lieutenant gave with their Officers 25 l. 15 s. and 6 d. By which