Fidelity to the King according to the Laws and their Zeal to the Established Religion according to their Conscience together with their Wives and Children The barbarous Vsage of the Loyal Clergy Ejected Plundred Spoiled and barbarously Consumed in Prison in Exile and with Hunger To relate all the Inhumanities committed against the Loyal Orthodox Clergy their Usurpations upon the Revenues of the Church and their Dilapidations and Ruines of the Houses of God in the Land would require a vast Volume and might deservedly employ a very good Pen which I purposely omit as wanting Ability and Leasure for so Great a Work The Scots being entred into England the Marquess of Newcastle for he had been made such for his Eminent Services marched with his Army to oppose the Progress of this new Enemy He had kept them at Bay for some time by frequent Encounters and Velitations till the taking of Selbie by Fairfax and Lincoln by the Earl of Manchester Both which especially the Latter being very numerous moved after him So that Newcastle unable to fight them all at once and lest he might be inclosed by their Three Armies retreated to York where he was surrounded and besieged by their United Forces The King being very sollicitous for the Safety of so good a Man and so good an Army sent Prince Rupert with great Forces to their Relief The Prince had some Time before relieved Newark having slain a Thousand of Sir John Meldrum's Men who besieged it and reduced the Rest to a Necessity though Six Thousand strong of parting with their Arms and Baggage High with these Successes he marches toward the North and taking Stopford and Leverpoole in his Way relieved the Illustrious Countess of Derby in Laâ—hame House where she had been long Besieged Bolton daring to defend it self was at the second Assault forced Eight Hundred of the Garrison most Townsmen being slain For relying upon their Numbers and Works they had not only abused the Prince by scurrilous Language but hang'd One of his Captains whom they had taken which occasioned this not undeserved Severity After this continuing his March he came without any Opposition to York where he joined with Newcastle the Enemy having raised the Siege upon his Approach with a Resolution to engage them The Besieged upon the Rebels drawing off did some considerable Execution upon their Rear but being secure had no mind to try the Hazard of the War any farther They had been wearied with a long Siege of Nine Weeks and supposing that their Deliverers were also tired with their long March thought it better to leave the Enemy to their own Dissentions for their Generals did not well agree about the Command in Chief than to occasion their Uniting by so hazardous an Adventure But the Prince fatally resolved and not thinking he had done enough in relieving the City if he did not also beat the Scots the only Obstacle to the King's Victories marched after the Rebels and found them drawn up in a Corn-field on the South side of Marston-Moor Four Miles from York The Enemies Three Armies contracted in One was commanded by the Three Generals The Battel of Marston-Moor July 2. The Two Fairfaxes Father and Son had the Right-Wing Manchester the Left and Leven the Main Body consisting all of Scots and each Division had his Auxiliaries and Reserves The Prince observing the Adversaries Order ranged also his Army in Battalia and reserving to himself the Left-Wing gave Newcastle the Right entrusting the Command of the Main Battel to Goring Lucas and Porter And as no Field since these Unhappy Wars did produce so Great Armies so none had been fought with greater Valour Rupert charg'd the Fairfaxes with so much Resolution that he broke them and the Scots their Reserves but pursued them to his own Ruine too far Our Main Battel did also repel the Scots But Affairs went otherwise in the Right the Mancesterians having routed the Royallists and not following them too far fell upon the Prince's and Goring's disordered Troops hindring them to Rally and quite dispersed them It is affirmed That the Three Rebel-Generals quitted the Field leaving to Cromwell Manchester's Lieutenant General the Honour of the Day for he keeping his great Reserve of Horse in a firm Body followed the Cavaliers so close that he hindred them to Rally and Embody again The Fight lasted from Seven till Ten at Night with great Courage and Slaughter on both Sides though the Victory fell to the Rebels as also the Cannon and Spoil of the Field There were Two of Newcastle's Regiments called his Lambs being old Souldiers who fell not unrevenged For the rest being fled they casting themselves into a Ring did alone resist Cromwell's Assaults nor could they however abandoned by their Friends and surrounded by their Enemies be broke until being shot at like Fowl at a Distance and overwholmed with showers of Bullets not then perishing without Slaughter of their Enemies scarce any of these miserable Bravo's escaping tho' worthy of a better Fortune The slain were computed at Eight Thousand the Slaughter made by Cromwell being compensated in that made by the Prince upon the Fairfaxians and especially the Scots being most animated against them His Highness being returned from his Pursuit too late rallying what he could of his dispersed Troops returned with his Remains into Lancashire whilst the Marquess retreating to York left that also and with his Two Sons and very many of his Principal Officers leaving England to its Dissentions and Tumults sailed for Hamburgh York surrendred July 23. The Royallists being thus dispersed York is again Besieged by the Three victorious Armies but wanting Powder wherewith they had furnished their Camp before the Fight the City was delivered up by Sir Thomas Glenham the Governour upon Honourable Terms most of the Northern Counties following her Fortune But the King was more successful in other Places especially where he commanded in Person Waller having lost his Army at the Devizes had raised another in London the Citizens that they might contribute to this Holy War defrauding their barking Stomachs of one Meal by the Week His first Exploit was the Recovery of Arundel-Castle sometime before taken by Hopton Being joined with Balfore and Hazelrig at Winchester not unmindful of his Defeat at the Devizes he did now in some Sort bravely revenge it upon Hopton himself at Branden-Heath near Alsford Branden-Heath Fight Mar. 29. the Lord John Stuart being mortally wounded in the Fight The Foot stood bravely to it at push of Pike till the Royallists being outnumb'red were forced to give Way The Earl of Forth having sent the Cannon away before to Winchester and that he might likewise save the Horse wheeled about with them to Basing and so to Oxford There fell of the Royallists in this Combat near Five Hundred besides the above-mentioned Lord as also Sir John Smith and the Colonels Sandys Scot and Manning The Rebels acknowleged scarce One Hundred of theirs slain besides
Clothes in an instant seized the Guard killing some few and secured the Gate letting in a Hundred and Fifty more who were in Ambuscade near Hand The rest of the Party not far off following and intent upon the Occasion seized upon the Port and City and in it upon the Governour and a great many Persons of Quality with immense Riches and Plunder The Misfortune of Hereford Feb. 3. 1645 6. was followed by the Surrender of Chester a Place of no less Consequence This City had been long besieged for the Rebels under the Conduct of Jones and Louthian had surprized the Suburbs the preceding September And Sir William Brereton joining them with greater Forces Chester makes a brave defence attempted the Town by Assault having made a considerable Breach But they were beat off with much Loss Venables being slain in the Action This Success added so much Courage and Confidence to the besieged that they did not despair of being able to defend themselves and disturb the Enemy In the mean time the King sollicitous for the Relief of this important Place had attempted it but unsuccessfully for being defeated as is already mentioned at Rowton-Heath his Majesty not willing to be shut up in a besieged Place retreated into Wales The Lord Byron a Person of great Honour and Loyalty was Governour of this considerable Garrison who no whit dismayed after the late Misfortune however pressed by the Enemy omitted no Duty of a brave Commander Poynts after the King's Departure fierce with his Victory did not doubt to carry the City by Force not being able to gain it by Threats For beating the Walls with their Cannon from Three several Batteries at once they made Three considerable Breaches which however repaired by the laudable Bravery of our Women were valiantly assaulted by them especially that next the River though repelled with great Loss Sir William Byron the Governour 's Brother had got Four Hundred Horse with Provisions which he attempted to relieve the Place with but he was beaten and himself made a Prisoner near Holt. Neither was Sir William Vaughan more fortunate although followed by Two Thousand Horse for he was forced by Colonel Mitton with additional Troops from the Siege near Denbigh after several sharp Encounters to a Retreat The Enemy returning victorious lay a more close Siege to the City for they now also encamped on the Welsh Side which had hitherto been kept open So that the Place being shut up all round the besieged in time spent all their fresh Provisions and not long after their Patience Whereupon they especially the Citizens began to be very uneasie although their Mutterings did not surpass the Modesty of Words for as they had several times bravely sustained the Insults of the Enemy so they did not suffer themselves to be overcome with ordinary Necessities The Garrison consisted most of Welsh the Officers being of the same Nation resolved to suffer all Extremities for their King rather than the imperious Government of the Rebels Nor were the Citizens less signal in their Valour and Constancy until their whole stock of Provisions was spent Horse-flesh and other Viands less consistent with Nature were now accompted Delicacies but those likewise failing they were necessitated to desire a Remedy for so many Evils in a Surrender which seemed yet worse than the Disease it self at least to the brave They therefore besiege the Governour and humbly intreat him since there was no visible Hopes of Relief that he would be pleased to treat with the Enemy for their Preservation Brereton demanded the same at the same Time by a Trumpeter demonstrating the King's Forces to have been beaten out of the Field every where and their Remains shut up in Garrisons so that there was no kind of Relief to be expected He would notwithstanding and did offer very reasonable Conditions provided they did not refuse them whilst they might have them which he the more easily consented to because he much desired to preserve that Place he was himself upon its Rendition to Command And Byron did not seem altogether averse to the Supplications of the Citizens or the Invitation of this Civil Enemy yet he delayed the matter upon a Report that Colonel Vaughan having joined the Lord Ashley and some Recruits of Welsh and Irish designed again the Succour of the Place But being uncertain of these Preparations and shut up from all Commerce from Abroad he sent the Author of this Relation to see what was to be expected from that Conjunction of the Royallists resolving to attend his Return He having broke through the Enemies Quarters with Five and Twenty Horse found all these Reports to be false which having signified by Fires from the highest Tower of Flint-Castle as was agreed upon designed himself to return by Water into the City again which he might possibly have done by Favour of the quick Tides if he had not been hindred by great Sholes of Ice which filled the River so that with much ado he recovered Flint again He also notified this Misfortune by Fires to the besieged which being perceived considering every Delay now superfluous is surrendered upon honourable Conditions the City was delivered up upon honourable Terms The Garrison was led by the Governour into Wales where it was dismissed but he shut himself in Caernarven where being again besieged he was again forced to surrender upon Conditions and to retire from that War wherein he had behaved himself with no less Valour than Misfortune Fairfax being before this time advanced with his Army within sight of Oxford lay down before it and having observed the Situation of it made a large Quarter capable of receiving Three Thousand Men upon Hadington-Hill Which he also fortified very well and drawing a Line from thence round he strengthened it with other Forts appointing the Colonels Raynsborough Lambert and Herbert to command them Whereby the City was entirely shut up Oxford besieged by Fairfax The Enemy had seriously considered in a Council of War how they might best render themselves Masters of this important Place and at length agreed unanimously that it being well fortified it was safer to famish than force it They judged that the only way to carry it was to leave it to its own Necessities and Dissentions They knew the City was fortified after the modern Fashion the Bastion and Flanks mutually defending each other They saw that the Rivers Isis and Charwell did with their Inundations cover Three Parts of the Town and that the Fourth which pointed to the North was approachable but on that side though otherwise fortified with Two Lines and strongly defended by the Colleges appearing like so many Castles To all this the Garrison consisted of Five Thousand Veterane Souldiers and the Flower of the King's Infantry provided with all Kind of Stores for many Months and commanded by Sir Thomas Glenham Famous for his defending of York and Carlile the latter of which he had kept above Ten Months against
not be cleansed of it but continues still a Monument of this horrid Impiety with this Inscription engraved Hic jacent Car. Lucas Geor. Lisle a Fairfaxio mactati Capell was reserved for the Scaffold who afterwards suffered with no less Constancy and Greatness of Mind than his illustrious Colleagues now did as we shall see in the Sequel of this History Nor was it on Land only that the Sword did rage the Sea also had its Scenes of Blood and Horror for a great part of the Navy detesting the Tyranny of their Old Masters deserted them and revolted to the Prince of Wales The Revolt of the Fleet. Batten one of their prime Leaders having been dismissed by them returned to his Duty and joined his Highness with some more Ships The Sea-men had exposed Rainsborough their Admiral and a Turbulent Leveller by putting him on shore who was afterwards slain in his Quarters by a Party from Pomfret and now embracing the King's Party with universal Consent seemed resolved to expiate their former Rebellion by a Return of Duty and to merit their Pardon by the Eminency of their Services Prince Charles with the Duke of York his Brother who lately escaped from St. James's in Womans Cloaths Prince Rupert the Earl of Brandford the Lords Hopton Willmot Willoughby Culpeper and others of Name and Quality sailed from Holland with this brave Fleet consisting of Twenty Ships of War and came into Yarmouth-Road with design to attempt every thing that was possible for the Relief of Colchester But finding the distance from that City too great and the Shore and Passages possessed by the numerous Enemy his Highness sailed to the Mouth of the Thames carrying Terror and Force with him to awe the City of London But his stay there was not long the Castles of Deal Walmer and Sandwich requiring his Assistance which he attempted by landing Five Hundred Men who though they fought with extream Gallantry were yet forced back with great loss to their Ships again The Castles after this Defeat were immediately surrendered By this time the Earl of Warwick lately made Admiral again had equipt another Fleet in the River and having joyned that of Portsmouth resolved to fight the Prince which he yet delays for the present not only terrified with the Revolt of others but in some doubt of the Fidelity of his own Men. The Prince perceiving this courted the Earl with magnificent Offers to the Return of his Duty But he perfidiously constant persisted in his Rebellion and in recompense of his Services shall see himself disgracefully outed of all Trust and his only Brother the Earl of Holland beheaded for his late Return to his Obedience Some were of Opinion that the Royallists omitted an opportunity of fighting the Sea men being high in Heart and seemingly very Loyal and the Enemy supposed to waver tho the Event afterwards proved the contrary In the mean time the Prince seeing his Land-Forces every where defeated and the adverse Fleet growing daily stronger returned into Holland giving the Command of the Fleet to Prince Rupert But many of the Ships out of an innate levity of their Sailors leaving the Prince returned to their old slavery under Warwick whilst the rest continuing in their Duty stuck close to their New Admiral whose Actions and Adventures shall be hereafter related Some other Fortresses besides those already mentioned declared for the King as N. B. Tinmouth-Castle seized upon by Major Lilburn Scarborough by the Return of Sir Matthew Boynton the Governour to his Allegiance and Pomfret possessed upon the same score by Major Morrice Tinmouth indeed was retaken by Assault the Governour losing his Life with the Place Boynton got Terms not unworthy the Defence he had made and Morrice and being lost bravely exposed himself to save his Garrison Who tho he broke thro the Camp which was the Conditions he had articled for yet was afterwards taken and murthered under colour of Justice in cold Blood The Visitation of Oxford But before we proceed further in these Occurrences it may not be impertinent to take a Review of some Transactions in the entrance of this Black Year 1648. seeing they seem to tend to those monstrous Catastrophes it ended in The first thing our pious Reformers undertook was visiting the Vniversity of Oxford They had long since garbell'd Cambridge to their Interest and will now as much as in them lyes extinguish this other Luminary by removing its Candlesticks and ejecting all the Members thereof that were any ways notable for Learning Loyalty Piety or Obedience to the Church or State as established by Law The Earl of Pembrook being made Chancellor together with several Delegates of the Factious Clergy and some of the Laiety as good Divines as himself were appointed for this Service Which was performed with all the Rigor of an Inquisition none being spared from the Reverend Heads of Colleges to the hopeful Striplings of Sixteen And yet the entrance of this Year had thus much extraordinary in it in that it contributed to the Deliverance of the Duke of York out of the Hands of those worst of Rebels The Duke of York escapes into Holland being conveyed away in a Virgin-disguise and carried into Holland by Col. Bamfeild who afterwards aspersed the Honour of this Service by undutiful Intelligences But to return whence we digressed the Army with Cromwell being absent and in Scotland several Petitions from the Country the Captains Masters and Sailers as also from the City of London were presented to the Men at Westminister requiring with more than ordinary earnestness a personal Treaty with the King This did so far work upon the Presbyterian Faction in the House very jealous and apprehensive of the Power of the Independants that they resolved for their own preservation to make a Peace with the King And The Treaty in the Isle of Wight in order thereunto forthwith recalled their Votes of Non-Address and sent Commissioners with Propositions not much unlike the former with Power to make Peace allowing Forty Days for the time of treating They indeed permitted his Majesty the attendance of several Lords of his Council and Bed-Chamber many of his Servants some of his Chaplains some Lawyers and others But they refused the Assistance of any but himself in treating Nor was it truly necessary for it presently appeared that as he was a Prince of prodigious Parts so he seemed more than humanly inspired who could singly manage so weighty an Affair against Fifteen Commissioners Persons prejudiced and of great Subtilty and with that success that he made Converts of some of his bitterest Enemies and however unwilling forced their very Reason But they having no liberty to recede or any way to remit of the Rigor of their Propositions His Majesty out of his affection to Peace granted many things above their Desires being content to divest himself of most of his Regalities for his time and trust those insatiable Men with the exercise thereof
Marquis of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland but with too precarious and Authority for he was forced to grant every thing the Irish insisted upon and consent that Inchequin should have Munster entire to himself for the subsistance of his Army which was indeed the Ruin of the Old Irish Regiments of that Province The Peace being thus made up and these several Interests however ill cemented seeming to acquiesce in the main their Obedience to the King and Army was raised by the extraordinary Labour and Prudence of the Lord Lieutenant and being reinforced with the considerable Troops of the Lords Inchequin Clanrickard and Castel-Haven they marched towards Dublin Inchequin was by the Impatience of the English and Scots Forces declared Lieutenant General of the Army Raiseth an Army Clanrickard and Castel-Haven seem disgusted with this Preference tho both acquiesced preferring their Loyalty before the satisfaction their Merits might deservedly challenge Col. Jones Governour of Dublin advanced with his Forces as far as the Naas to obstruct the March of the Army but being unequal in Numbers retreated into the City again Ormond had omitted no Caresses to draw this brave Rebel to his Party and Duty again but in vain he obstinately persevering in an Infidelity which he had engaged in for Spite because a Lieutenant Colonel had been preferred over his Head Which may serve for a President not to prejudice deserving Men in their just pretences tho no Excuse can serve to vail those abominable Sins of Perfidy and Rebellion Ormond encamped his Army at Finglas being content at present to shut the Garrison within their Walls and keep them from foraging until the several parts of his Army were come up to him Inchequin now Lieutenant General was sent with a strong Party to reduce the neighbouring Fortresses possest by the Enemies Garrisons which he did defeating also a Batalion of Oneal's Men commanded by Farell marching to the Relief of the Nuncio He also routed the younger Coot with the Dublin-Horse and had Dundalk delivered to him by the Garrison who also entered into the Kings Pay Inchequins Successes notwithstanding the endeavour of Colonel Monk their Governour to the contrary and their promises to stick close to him Trim the Newry and Tredagh it self ran the same Fortune so that all being cleared on that side Inchequin returned triumphant and increased in numbers by so many Victories to the Camp again where it was forthwith resolved by Advice of the Peers and the Council of War to invest and press the City with all their power Dublin the Seat of the Kingdom and the War called by Ptolomy Eblana and by the Irish Balaeleigh because founded upon Piles and Hurdles is seated at the Mouth of the Liffny which would render the Haven very commodious but that it is obstructed by Heaps of Sand often thrown up by Reciprocation of the Sea This City was first fortified with Works and a Garrison by the King and after by the Parliament being now very defensible by its Numbers and Fortifications But the Lord Lieutenant relying upon his great Army consisting of at least Twenty Thousand and the Defection of the Souldiers in Dublin whereof most had formerly served under his Command and daily came over to him Ormond besiegeth Dublin resolved upon a vigorous and close besieging of the Place in Order to which leaving the Lord Dillon with a strong Party at Castel-knock he transferred his Camp to the South side of the City and that he might wholly shut up the Enemy and particularly their Horses and Cattel from grazing he commanded a Fort to be built at Baggot-rath giving the Charge of this considerable Trust to Patrick-Purcell Major General of the Army Some Regiments from England were in the mean time Landed at Dublin under the Conduct of Reynolds and Venables to the Number of Three Thousand Horse and Foot whereupon a Rumor was spread that Cromwell himself designed for Munster as not yet confirmed in their Defection from their late Masters This Report obliged Inchequin to desire the Lord Lieutenant's permission to go thither affirming all his Troops would revolt unless prevented by his speedy Repair to them which Ormond not being in a condition to refuse was forced to assent to He parted then with Eleven Hundred Horse dividing thus the Army whereas the whole did scarce suffice for the Enterprize in Hand Jones the Governour of Dublin perceiving the Progress of the Work at Baggot-rath and considering that if it were finished it would entirely shut him up from all Commerce by Sea as well as Land Aug. 22. 1648. resolved to obstruct it by a vigorous Sally which he did for the Garrison rushing out upon the Pioneers easily dispersed them and with the same Facility dispersed the Watch that guarded them and possessing the Place routed the amazed Irish and their Courage encreasing with their Success they pursued them to the Avenues of their Camp where falling upon the Guards there who seemed rather to look on than prepare for Defence they put them likewise to Flight The remaining Garrison in the Town The Siege is raised seeing the success of their Friends together with the Inhabitants flew all to their Assistance and with very little Pains obtained a very great Victory For the Army being upon the sudden surprized with a more than Panick Fear the Souldiers forgetful of their Defence threw down their Arms and ran away In this Confusion there were about Three Thousand slain amongst whom Sir William Vaughan was one who had also fought well The Prisoners were no fewer Collonel Butler the Lord Lieutenant's Brother and a Hundred Officers being of the Number The Cannon the Camp and the immense Spoils of it sell to the present sharing of the Conquerors and presently after the whole Kingdom the Forces of it being irrecoverably lost by this Blow Ormond who had spent the Night on Horseback in rounding and viewing the several Posts of the Army being but newly laid to rest was raised by the coming of the Lord Taffe General of the Ordnance but too late the Camp being distracted with Fear and its Consequence Confusion He therefore in this General Consternation having in vain opposed himself to this resistless Torrent until abandoned by them that followed him hastened to the Lord Dillon's Camp but those Irish had fled upon the Noise having scarce seen the Enemy About this Time London-Derry was likewise relieved by Owen Roe-Oneal London-Derry relieved the most bloody of the Irish Rebels who leaguing with Coot and Monk as above mentioned forced the Scots from that Siege But as if these Misfortunes had been but light ones they were followed by a grievous Plague brought to Gallowav by a Spanish Vessel which raged with that Fury that it swept away many Thousands in that City and the Neighbouring Country To heighten these Calamities Cromwell the worst of Plagues who ruined not only Persons but whole Cities and Provinces Landed at Dublin with an Army of Fifteen
Fight at Langport He takes Bridgwater Sherburne and Bristol The King's Travels and Labours The Scots besiege Hereford They quit it The Fight at Rowton-Heath Digby and Langdale defeated in the North. Barclay-Castle the Devizes and Tiverton taken Cromwell takes Winchester and Basing-House by Assault The Fight at Torrington The Prince passes into France The Lord Hopton disbands his Army Distractions at Newark The King returns to Oxford The Lord Ashley defeated Continuation of the Rebellion in Ireland IT is now time to return to the Irish History we have hitherto discontinued with design not to interrupt the English And shall now take the same Liberty to represent this to the Rendition of Dublin to the English in one continued Relation The King had committed the Government of Ireland to the Earl of Leicester a Favourite of the Faction upon a Supposition that that Kingdom would be the better provided for But he observing the backwardness of the Parliament however pressed by frequent Addresses from the Council there and by reiterated Messages from his Majesty nearer had no mind tho' invited to it and entrusted with it to stir or engage himself in so hazardous an Enterprise He therefore lest he might seem wholly to neglect his Province commissioned the Earl of Ormond a Person made up of Honour and Loyalty to be his Lieutenant General in that Kingdom which was likewise approved of by his Sacred Majesty the best Judge of Men and Abilities and who afterwards Honoured his Merit with the Chief Government of the whole Which he performed with so much Courage Constancy and Prudence as will raise him a Trophy of Honour in the Annals of Time Upon his Arrival at Dublin with a Troop of a Hundred Horse well armed having been summoned thither by the Lords-Justices he revived by his Presence the desponding Courage of the City He also immediately proposed in Council the raising of a small Army which might in the Infancy of the Rebellion have suppress'd or else stopt its Progress but they being either not able or not willing and the Reader may believe both as will too visibly appear hereafter the Business was laid aside The Conspirators especially in Vlster where they were most predominant having with the Extremity of Rage and Cruelty drowned slain spoiled stripp'd and ejected infinite Numbers of the poor Protestants made Sir Phelim O Neal their General He was of the House of Tyrone but bred up in Lincoln's-Inn and a Protestant till of late though indeed of no famed Conduct or Courage However he took Dundalk which was surrendred to him and besieged Tredah by Sea and Land Tichburne the Governour doubtful of the Event had demanded and obtained the Grant of Succours from Dublin Six Hundred Foot were sent to him under the Command of Major Roper with a Convoy of Fifty Horse for their Security But they were surprized in a Mist by the Irish and defeated scarce one Hundred of the Foot escaping to Tredah with the Major though the Horse with Weems their Commander brake through and returned back to Dublin It is not conceivable what Courage this Success then great infused into the wavering Irish Those who were content to look on before became hereupon Actors in this Tragedy Nay The Lords of the Pale join with the Rebels the Lords of the Pale who had hitherto stood upon their Guard now upon the uncontrouled Progress of the Rebels and the no Appearance of any considerable Forces from England the Breach there betwixt the King and Parliament daily wid'ning to oppose them they also contrary to the sacred Vows of Duty and Allegiance forfeited both by joining with their Countrymen Nay all the Provinces in the Kingdom broke out into a detestable Rebellion being instigated thereunto by their Priests and Confessors with the Appearance nay Assurance of Liberty and Heaven Besides they had understood that their Country was to be enslaved and their Estates to be divided amongst the English Adventurers to each proportionable to the Money raised by them for the Use of the War Nay further that they not only designed to suppress the Rebellion but the very Religion of the Rebels They therefore now declare That they fight for their Altars for their Subsistance and for their Lives seeing their Countrymen were denied Quarter in England So that their taking up Arms was no Rebellion their extream Peril unavoidably obliging them to it These and the like Arguments obliged all to run to their Natural Defence so that there was no Corner exempt from this dismal Infection And yet it was not so universal but that some of the principal of the Nobility continued to their great Honour unshaken in their Fidelity to the King nor so bloody but that some Marks of Humanity appeared in the very Actors in this Tragedy who sheltered cloathed fed and delivered very many from the Barbarities of their Associates Which ought not to be silenced without Injustice and Ingratitude The Rebels settle a Form of Government And now the Rebels finding their Strength and Numbers considerable institute a Form of a Common-wealth and choosing amongst themselves a Council of the most eminent Persons of the Party gave it the Title of The Supreme Council of the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland and framing an Oath of Association by which all were bound to obey them assumed the Form of a Regular Government This Senate consisted of Five and Twenty Six out of each Province the Twenty Fifth being Castle-Haven newly escaped from Dublin where he had continued a Prisoner a great while They also made them a Great Seal coined and raised Money erected several Courts of Judicature appointed several Officers of State and amongst other Points of Regality constituted Four Generals of the Four Provinces Preston for Lemster Barry Munster Owen Roe O Neal Vlster Burk Their Four Generals Conaught They had cleared most of the Inland Countries of the English and did really bear all before them until those few English sent over joining with the Protestants at Dublin put a stop to their Carier In the mean Time they put out their Remonstrance where amongst other things they declare That they had taken up Arms for Defence of the Roman-Catholick-Religion their own Rights and Privileges and the King's Prerogative c. exactly copied afterwards by the Rebel-Parliament in England The Irish had hitherto lived in Amity with the Scots apprehending the Neighbourhood of Scotland and lest they should buckle with Two Enemies at once but finding their Power grow they also fell upon their Quarters using them with no less infamous Barbarities than they had done the English But the Siege of Tredah went but slowly on for tho' they practise all the Arts of Force and Intelligence in the assaulting of it They raise the Siege of Tredah yet upon the Arrival of Sir Simon Harcourt with a strong Regiment out of England despairing of carrying it they quitted it notwithout considerable Loss For the Governour falling in his Rear
matter in hopes of Relief which he seemed to expect from the Conjunction of Goring's Forces with the Oxford-Horse For he had writ from Collumpton that he would be ready in Twenty Days to succour the Besieged Fairfax had also intercepted some of those Letters which made him prepare for a General Assault which he designed with his utmost Vigour and Industry But these were Dreams and all Attempts for renewing the War after the Defeat at Naesby and Goring's Loss of his Foot at Langport but imaginary The Royallists would notwithstanding attempt every Extremity for the Defence of their dear Master and King in whose Safety the Church the Laws and Liberties of all good Men lest they should be enslaved to the worst of Tyrannies were included Bristol assaulted Dec. 10. All things being ready for the Assault the Sign being given early in the Morning by firing Heaps of Faggots and Straw and the Discharge of Four great Guns they fell on upon all sides Montague and Pikering assaulted Lawford-Gate with their Regiments and enter'd it and being followed by Desborough with the General 's Regiment of Horse routed the Defendants and siezed upon Two and Twenty of their Cannon Sir Hard. Waller with Two Regiments of Foot fell upon the Line betwixt the said Port of Lawford and the River Frome and mastered it Raynsborough and Hamond had the like Success by Prior's-Fort which after a brave Defence Price the Governour being slain was forced and all the Defendants cut in Pieces The Lines and Hedges being levelled by Pioneers the Horse entered and charging the King's Cavalry occasioned a Bloody Encounter where Colonel Taylor a Royallist and Major Bethel of the Enemies side were sorely wounded But the Garrison Horse being overpowered were obliged to secure themselves by retreating betwixt the Great Fort and that of Coulston The Enemies Success was not the same on the other side of the Town for the Wall being higher the Defence was easier Welden who attack'd it with Four Regiments being beaten off The Royallists set the lost part of the City on Fire which they also extinguish'd a new Treaty being set on foot at the Desire of Fairfax and surrendered And thus Bristol was surrend'red upon harsher Conditions than the Enemy had formerly presented For the Foot were allowed their Swords only but upon the Prince his Desire and Engagement of Restitution they had a Thousand Arms lent them for their Defence against the Insults of the Club-Men The Enemy lost about Two Thousand Men and a few Officers in this Enterprise Nor did the taking of this Noble City and the Recovery of the Cannon which the King had taken from Essex at Lestithiel which were laid here cost them any more Which will seem less strange when we consider that the King's Party was every where broken But their Vertue was invincible and they themselves above their Misfortunes which they will yet abundantly testifie Bristol being thus taken Fairfax fearing the Contagion retires to Bath a better Air and sends his Souldiers after so many Toils for some Days to fresh Quarters In the mean time whilst the Rebels are indulging upon his Ruines it will be requisite to relate the Actions and Labours which the King underwent in person After the Fatal Battel of Naesby this magnanimous however unfortunate Prince The King's Travels and Labours retired as is said to Hereford To add to his Calamities as the Miserable are usually neglected so he is now also insulted on by the degenerate Scots Ecclesiasticks Who in a Letter most impudently admonish him That acknowledging his great Sins he should seriously and suddenly repent How could he think that God would bear with his fighting against his faithful and pious Subjects his authorising their Murther and Slaughter by the Irish Rebels and his permitting of the Exercise of the Mass and other abominable Idolatry He had wearied the Patience of his Subjects which if he persisted in they denounce would be his inevitable Ruine They advise him Not to neglect the Demands of his faithful Subjects and that he should at length repent and suffer the Son of God to reign over him and his Kingdoms in the sincere Worship and Discipline of his Church c. These barbarous Reproaches from a less barbarous Generation however false might have been in some sort born but to have * Clodius accusat Maechos Rebels pretend to Loyalty Schismaticks to Piety and Superstitious Disciplinarians to rail against Idol Worship where there was none is only proper to such who usurping the Title of God's Vicegerents would reign and domineer over the Kings of the Earth But his Majesty not to be moved with these Impertinencies no more than the scurrillous divulging of his Cabinet being Proof against the Malice of Calumny as well as Fortune after some time left Hereford and with Three Thousand Horse hastens by Liechfield to Bewdly Where falling upon some Troops of Scots Horse he beats and routs them From thence by a swift March he enters Derbyshire and beat Gell at Sudbury and Ashburnham He thence came to Welbeck and ravaging the associated Counties surprising the Guard at the Gate of Huntington enters the City and imposing a reasonable Ransom upon it did the Inhabitants no further Harm He passed by Cambridge which he looked upon with a benign Eye it being the Seat of the Muses and Learning But he fined St. Ives Five Hundred Pounds And finally passing through Ouburne and Doncaster returned to Oxford It is not to be wondred that he obliged some Towns in his March to redeem themselves with no great Pecuniary Mulcts seeing they had always been exempted from any quartering of Armies and had perpetually contributed to the Maintenance of the Rebellion The King had continued his Cavalcade through these Counties with so much Celerity that he baffled the Sedulity of his Followers And though he had been pursued by Ten Thousand Horse the Scottish Cavalry being joined with the English and that with the utmost Obstinacy yet they could not prevent him The Scots however fattened with their Rest and Quarters would not yet leave them without the Allurements of Prayers and Money Being then paid they were perswaded to move Southwards and The Scots besiege Hereford having taken Canon-frome a small Garrison of the King 's they marched directly for Hereford and laid a formal Siege to the place The Convention at Westminster had sent General Leven a Jewel valued at Five Hundred Pounds as their Acknowledgment for his late Success and an Incitement to greater Things This did not a little quicken him and now the City is approached mined battered and assaulted by his no less craving Souldiers But being bravely received and beaten off with great Loss they attempted the Surrender which they had not been able to compass by their Action and Threats by the offer of very fair Conditions The Parliament had also joined in these Demands and the Inhabitants of the Country round forced by Fear added also their
desires to the rest But in vain for Scudmore the Governour rejecting these Invitations with Contempt told them He would deliver the City to none but to the King that had entrusted him with it or to his Majesty's Commands And thus the Scots but raise is after a sharp though no long Siege of Five Weeks seeing there was no good to be done raised their Camp and marched Northwards occasioned perhaps by their Apprehension of the King's Motion from Oxford or rather affrighted with the stupendious Victories of Montross in their own Country Rosseter being commanded thither with Six Thoufand Horse The King having again left Oxford for his private Affairs there no less than his publick abroad grew by the Distractions and Divisions in his own Court daily worse marched to Ludlow with design to relieve Chester long labouring under the Pressures of a close Siege The Parliament hearing of the Kings Motion ordered the Colonels Poynts and Rosseter to observe him with orders that in case he moved towards Hereford they should act by consent with Leven but if he should go towards Bristol they should then move by Communication of Counsels with General Fairfax their Forces being joined Four Thousand all Horse follow the King close And the unhappy City of London to promote this Design of King-Catching as they called it or rather The Common-Council of London order their Members to find each a Horse to persuethe King their own Slavery made a Decree in Common-Council that every Member of it should have a Horse with Accoutrements ready to join with the rest in pursuit of the King His Majesty in the mean time hastens towards Chester and being come to Routon-Heath within Two Miles of it Rosseter falls with great Resolution upon the Royallists who received them with no less Courage The Fight was very hot wherein the Rebels were not only disordered but had been quite defeated and an entire Victory obtained but that Colonel Jones coming in that instant with near a Thousand Men from the Siege of Chester turned the Day by confirming their own Party and restoring to them the Success they despaired of before The Fight at Rowton-heath The King being overpowered with the Accession of these new-Commers lest he should be surrounded by them charged through them and not without much Slaughter on both sides recovered Chester The untimely Death of the Lord Bernard no less eminent for Courage and Loyalty than Illustrious for the Nobleness of his Extraction aggravated the King's Loss he being the Third Brother of the Duke of Lenox slain in his Majesty's Quarrel in this unnatural War The King did not stay long in Chester the Enemy growing upon him after their Victory but retired into Wales still loyal to his Interest he being a Prince however unfortunate insuperable in Afflictions and Superior to all Calamities Nor did he at all despond however harassed trusting that the same God who from small beginnings had raised him once to an Equality with his Enemies in Power might yet of his Goodness restore him in his good time He then by his indefatigable Industry and the Accession of Prince Maurice his Troops with some other scattered Remains had got a considerable Body of Horse together which he divided and delivering Fifteen Hundred of them to Digby and Langdale Digby and Langdale defeated sent them with Commands to endeavour to conduct them to Montross which if these great Men had been able to have compassed might have changed the whole Face of Affairs He had already acted to a Prodigy as will be hereafter declared but they could not reach the Borders and Confines of both Kingdoms For though they had broke Colonel Wren's Regiment of Horse and taken Eight Hundred Foot at Sherburne and Mylford they were afterwards surprised by Copely and Lilburne who being fresh fell upon their wearied Troops and defeated them Carnaby and Hutton Two Knights with some others were slain and Four Colonels together with many Inferiour Officers and Four Hundred Horse fell into the Enemies Hands The Lord Digby's Coach was also made a Prize wherein amongst other Spoils several of the King's Letters too carelesly guarded were found And these as those formerly taken at Naesby were printed with the same Malice and Impudence Nor is it to be wondred that as they began the War with Tumults Scandals and all Kinds of Barbarity so they should end it with the same Arts and the same Brutality Digby was again routed by the Scots upon Carlile-Sands and scarce saved himself by with-drawing with very few Attendants into the Isle of Man and from thence into Ireland So that this whole Party together with its Design was destroyed and vanished But to return to Fairfax into the West where the main Stress of the War was for what happened in other Provinces were rather Velitations and Encounters of Parties than formed Designs of Battels after the taking of Bristol the Enemy consulted what to undertake next Many were of Opinion they should march to the Relief of Plymouth labouring under the Evils of a very long and irksom Siege But that Town having the Sea open and the Parliamentarians abounding in shipping having the Navy at their Disposal it was thought more expedient to dislodge the Royallists out of those Garrisons which impeded the Commerce betwixt London and the Western Counties and so open a Passage for Travellers to and fro at Pleasure In order to this Barclay-Castle as nearest was first attempted This Fortress lying betwixt Glocester and Bristol did not only disturb the Commerce of both those Cities but extreamly incommoded the Country on every side with Excursions Fairfax had formerly sent some Horse to hinder their Cavalcades and now Colonel Raynsborough is ordered with Three Regiments of Foot to besiege and reduce them Which he also did having forced their Out-Works Barclay-Castle taken by Raynsborough and particularly the Steeple and Church which overlooked the Castle For Sir Charles Lucas however brave being unequal to the Enemy in Power was forced to surrender which he did considering the State of Affairs upon no contemptible Conditions In the mean Time Cromwell took the Devizes The Devizes by Cromwell without any great Opposition as also Laicock with the same Facility the Souldiers being permitted to march away with their Arms. And now Fairfax commands him with Three Regiments of Horse and Four of Foot to reduce Winchester and Basing-House the Seat of the Marquis of Winchester whilst he himself marches with the Rest of his Army Westward His Souldiers were mustered and paid and new cloathed Being come to Chard he was advertised that the Royallists had a design to break through his Army and join with the King Which seemed neither incredible nor unreasonable for that being effected the Enemy would be obliged either to divide his Forces which might expose both Parties or follow with his whole Army and so leave the Two fertile Provinces of Devonshire and Cornmall entirely in the Prince's Hands He
as well-nigh always in the open Field Passing thence by Taodan he marched to Esk where he met with the old Earls of Arley with his Sons and a brave train of Friends and Attendants Here he had intelligence that the Lord Burgley was at Aberdene of Aberdene with design to draw the Northern Parts by Money or Force to join with him Which Montross understanding having passed the River Dee he found the Enemy drawn up in Battel Array near the City Burgley had two thousand Foot and five hundred Horse which he placed in the Wings and having chosen his Ground and planted his Cannon at the head of his Army expected the onset Montross had but fifteen hundred Foot for the Lord of Kilpont's Men were gone home to convoy the Body of their Lord who had been murther'd by one of his own Servants and very many of the Atholians were also returned loaden with Plunder after the Victory of Perth and not yet come up to the Army He also placed his Horse which were but four and forty in the Wings Adding some of his Foot to them who for their Agility and Strength were equal to Horses enjoyning them to have a care lest the Enemies Troops surrounded them Which they also valiantly performed for the Charge being given the Enemy was defeated slaughtered routed The Horse escaped for the most part but the Foot having no place to retreat to but the City fled thither But being closely pursued by the Conquerours entring Pell-mell with them the Streets were strowed with their slain Bodies Two days being allowed the Soldiers to refresh in Montross was informed that Argile was advancing with far greater Forces than formerly being also accompanied with the Earl of Lothan with Fifteen Hundred Horse He therefore left Aberdeen and marched to Kintor from whence he determined to lead his Forces to the Mountains and Places of most difficult access In order to this he buried his Cannon in the Earth and disburthened himself of his heaviest Baggage But the Enemy pressing on all sides he marched to Badenoth that he might be out of the danger of their Cavalry those Quarters being scarce passable for Horse The Enemy having left pursuing him he was surprized by a fit of Sickness which extreamly harassed him for some days but being recovered he marched again into Angus hoping either to force Argile tired with tedious Marches into Winter Quarters or to leave him far behind him Having traversed Angus and passed over the Grampian Mountain he came to Strath-bogy to invite the Gordons with his Presence to a Conjunction of Arms with him But in vain being opposed by the Marquess of Huntley who though he did not hate the King envied the glories of Montross too much to contribute to their greatness He went thence to the Castle of Favia which he took but being sharply attacked there by Argile and Lothan had much to do to resist their Power which he yet did by his own Vertue and the rare Valour of his Men. Many days being thus spent at Favia Argile got nothing with so great an Army but Infamy from his Friends and Contempt from his Enemy Montross baffles Argile who flies to Perth Sometime after Montross understanding Argile to be at Deucalidon without his Horse resolved to attempt him which coming to his knowledge Montross being as yet sixteen Miles off he commanded his Men to shift for themselves whilst he secured himself by his flight to Perth Montross being of opinion that an Enemy could be no where so advantageously assaulted as in his own Country flew with incredible speed and industry into Argile where having forced the Marquess to save himself again in a Boat he destroyed and filled the Province with Blood Slaughter Rapine and Fire Nor were the other Neighbouring Countries as Lorn and the rest that acknowledged the Dominion of Argile better used The Royallists having quitted these Quarters they at length met with Argile at Innerlock but charged him with such Fury that they broke their Ranks and pursuing with a great shout defeated them with a great slaughter killing above Fifteen Hundred upon the place Whilst Argile himself placed in a Boat and put off from Shore saw the ruine of his Men at a distance and without any share of the danger After this the Citizens of Elgin surrender'd their Town of their own accord at which time the Lord Gourdon The noble Lord Gourdon joins with Montross and eldest Son to the Marquess of Huntley a Person above all Commendation for the eminency of his Vertues left his Uncle Argile and came over to the King's Party with a very choice Squadron of Friends and Dependants Montross heightened with this accession forced Hurrey Commander of the Rebels Horse refusing to fight upon his Invitation to a Retreat and offered Bayly sent for purposely out of England to whom Hurrey was also joined by a Trumpeter the liberty of Battel But he replied That when he was disposed to Engage it should be by his own not anothers choice The Royallists marched forward to Deucalidon and designing to pass the Tai were upon the point of being ruined by a very mischievous accident which they could not forsee Lodowick Gordon who had born Arms at Aberdeen on the Rebels side had by the mediation of his Noble Brother his Brother Lodowick deserts the army which greatly distresses Montross been reconciled to the King's Party But now whether upon real or pretended Letters from his Father having privately seduced most of the Gordons to a defection carried them away exposing thereby his Brother and Montross to very imminent danger And truly it may be a question whether of these excellent Persons most hated this Perfidy Montross highly troubled with this defection thought how to secure the rest and immediately sent the weakest of them away with all his Baggage with Command to meet him at Brechin This done he with an Hundred and Fifty Horse which was all he had and Six Hundred nimble Footmen marched with incredible Speed to Taodun which he assaulted took and plundered He himself stood upon a Hill which overlook'd the Town when sudden news was brought him that Bayly and Hurrey were with Three Thousand Foot Montross's noble retreat from Taodun and Eight Hundred Horse within a Mile of the Place By that time he had got his Men out of the City which was not done without extream difficulty being scarce to be withdrawn from their Plundering the Enemy was come up within Musket-shot of him His Retreat was admirable wherein he shewed himself no less a worthy Commander than he had done in his former Victories Some advised the General to reserve himself for better times and secure himself by flight with his Horse and others under these desperate Circumstances were of opinion they should not perish unrevenged But he complying with neither instantly sent Four Hundred Foot before and commanding the other Two Hundred to follow he himself closed the Rear with his Horse
Thousand Horse and Foot They were not very forward till they heard the Siege was raised and the Royallists overcome and in probability if Dublin had been taken would never have attempted the Re-Conquest of Ireland But now they flye to share in the Spoils of a regained Kingdom Cromwell Lands in Ireland with an Army and Cromwell will triumph for another's Victory Having refreshed and mustered his Army he marched with it to Tredah This Town was well fortifyed and a Garrison in it of Two Thousand Five Hundred Foot and Three Hundred Horse the Flower of the Royal Army under the command of Sir Arthur Aston a brave and experienced Souldier The Lord Lieutenant had foreseen that this Place by reason of its Neighbourhood and Situation would be first attempted it not being advisable in the Enemy to leave so considerable a Fortress behind him And he hoped he might have time to recruit his shattered Army and repair the Loss of his late Overthrow which he endeavoured with all his Might whilst Cromwell was employed in the difficulties of the Siege But this impatient Conqueror omitting the common Forms of approaching and turnings fell to battering and made two accessible Breaches in the Walls which were Twice bravely assaulted and Twice no less valiantly defended the Enemy being as often repelled until reinforced by Cromwell's presence and conduct renewing the Storm having slain Collonel Wall in the Breach they at length entered A tumultuous offer of Quarter being made and accepted sooner than it ought to have been was the Ruine of the Defendants and by their incautious Facility of the whole Garrison For the Town being thus taken they were all put to the Sword though they did not fall unrevenged for they fought in every Street the Market-place and from the Houses and Towers whither they had retreated Ashton the Governour withdrew into the Castle where the Enemy entring Pell-Mell with his Men slew him Others who fled into a Tower imploring the Enemies Clemency Takes Tredah were forced to yeild to a Decimation about Thirty of the Remainder of them being condemned to the Plantations in the Western Islands There fell besides the Governour several brave Men amongst whom Sir Edmond Varney the Collonels Warren Flemming and Brinn Lieutenant Collonel Finglass Major Tempest and many other Gentlemen and Officers The Garrison being slain the City was spoiled and pillaged and though it had repelled the Fury of the Irish Catholic-Rebels for three whole Years it did not suffice to resist the Force of the English Fanatick Rebels the space of one Week I would not condemn the promiscuous slaughter of the Citizens and Souldiers of Cruelty because it might be intended for Example and Terror to others if the like Barbarity had not been committed elsewhere The Garrison of Trim and Dundalke apprehending the Fate of Tredah quit them which the Enemy having taken possession of Cromwell marches with his Army to Wexfora ' and having routed a Party of Inchequiâ—â— to his way had the Castle betrayed to him 〈◊〉 Strafford that commanded it The Town was otherwise strong by Situation and a good Garrison but being thus surprized was assaulted and entred all being put to the Sword with the same Cruelty as at Tredah Wexford being taken he hasts to Rosse Wexford and Rosse a Port capable of very great Vessels seated upon the Banks of the Barrow After some great shot this Place was delivered undefended and in sight of the King's Army by Luke Taffe who was permitted to pass with his Garrison consisting of Fifteen Hundred Men to Kilkenny besides Six Hundred English who deserted and took Pay with their Country-men Cromwell after so easie a Victory passes the River upon a Bridge of Boats with design to force Ormond to Fight or oblige him to separate his Army The English in the mean time besieged Duncannon which was relieved by an Artifice of Castel-haven's He sent over in Boats the Tract being at least Three Miles by favour of the Night Fourscore Horses with their Saddles and Accoutrements but without Riders These were mounted by English most Reformado-Officers who Duncannon relieved under the Conduct of Collonel Woogan the Governour sally'd out with so much Suddeness and Vigour that the Enemy knowing they had no Horse before and feeling them now fancied that the Royallists from without had broken into their Camp with the Apprehension whereof leaving some Cannon behind they tumultuously ran away The King's Army was by this very numerous and strong being increased by the Forces of Inchequin Ardes and Oneal who being rejected by the Fanaticks had also complied But they omitted a fair Opportunity in not attempting it that is to wage Battle their Souldiers being chearful and willing and the Enemy on the other side weary and faint with so many Toyles and Sicknesses But these Forces how great soever mouldered away through the Dissensions of their Chief-taines for want of Pay and conveniencies by the Aversion of the great Cities and Towns which refused to contribute to the Public and by the daily deserting of the Brittish allured by the Temptation of Cremwel's Mony and his promises of Preferment By these means Reynolds took Carrick in part betrayed to him which the Royallists attempted to recover in vain Cromwell who had lain sometime Sick at Rosse being restored to his Health formed a Design upon Waterford which he notwithstanding deferred when he perceived the Constancy and Resolution of the Citizens to defend themselves And now not willing to tempt Fortune any further The Chief Towns of Munster revolt to the Regicides having taken Passage Fort a very strong Place he resolved to put his Souldiers into Winter-Quarters which he also did very opportunely by the traiterous Surrender of Corke Youg-hall and the other Fortresses of Munster into his Hands Ormond prest also with want of Necessaries to subsist with having attempted Passage and Waxeford this by Inchequin and that by Tarell in vain was also necessitated to send his Army into Winter Quarters but too separate and far distant from each other The Vlster Men except Sixteen Hundred sent to Clonmell returned home to choose another General in Oneal's place lately dead as was agreed Others were distributed into other Places Tasse to Conaught Inchequin to the County of Clare The Confedâ—rates dâ—â—ersed into Quartâ—rs and Dillon into Methe It is scare credible with what Industry and Prudence Ormond endeavoured to allay the wild Animosities and Dissensions of the Confederates though to little purpose which occasioned the daily Defection of the Souldiers And now the Irish as well as Brittish allured by the Regicides Successes and Invitations as also deterred with the Plague that raged amongst them together with want of Pay and Necessaries ran by Troops to Cromwell's Camp Hereupon Ormond seriously considering the untoward State of Affairs having appointed Castel haven Governour of Lemster he himself removed to the County of Clare to raise new Forces to oppose for as much as in him lay
the Enemies Progress But Cromwell being abundantly furnished with Recruits and Provisions out of England the Winter drawing to an End takes the Field and having possessed himself of some Neighbouring Garrisons forced Goram betrayed by the Sedition of the Souldiers causing Hammond the Governour with some of his chief Officers to be shot to Death in Cold Blood This done he marched with his victorious Troops to Kilkenny Kilkenny besieged and surrendered This City the Nursery of the late Rebellion and the Residence of the Supream Council was by the Diligence of Castle-haven well provided with Defendants and Provisions Nor were they wanting in a generous Defence having repelled the Enemies Assaults with Slaughter of them But all Hopes of relief vanishing Collonel-Butler the Governour at length surrendered it upon reasonable Conditions Clonmell ran the same Fortune though Hugh Oneal who commanded there having beaten off the reiterated Assaults of the Enemy and slain above Two Thousand of their Men was necessitated through want of Powder to quit the place which he did with so much Secresie that the Enemy ignorant of it gave very good Conditions to the Towns men next Morning The Bishop of Rosse with Four Thousand Foot and Three Hundred Horse attempted to The Bishop of Rosse taken and hanged relieve it but unhappily being routed and taken by the Lord Broghill who without any Respect or Reverence to his Character caused him to be hanged up The Bishop of Cloger runs the same fate Emir Mac Mahon Bishop of Cloger who succeeded Oneal in the Command of the Vlster Army ran the same Fate for being overcome by Coot and Venables who had joyned him with Two Regiments of Foot and one of Horse of Cromwell's Army he was also hanged Coot with the same Facility over-ran Vlster routing both Scots and Irish that opposed them and rendering himself Master of their Garrisons on all sides Cromwell returns into England It is now Time to sail back into England where Cromwell is likewise hastening leaving his Son-in Law Ireton in Ireland to finish what he had so prosperously carried on and put an End to the Reliques of that War whilst he himself is destined to new Empires and new Triumphs Nor was there indeed any thing of moment done by the Mock-Parlâ—ament without his Consent or in his Absence save that the Regalia and the Revenues of the Church were exposed to Sail and a nefaricus Tribunal of Mock-Justice erected as well to terrifie as enslave the People During these Traverses the Scots apprehending the Changes of the Presbyterians in England were glad to look back towards their own King whom they had so cruelly offended They knew it would be no difficult Business to raise an Army by the Influence of his Name and Title Nor were they mistaken tho taking Advantage of his Necessities they would impose upon him The Scots send Windram to the King and therefore demand amongst other Things That he should take the Covenant ratify the Decrees of the late Parliament revoke his Commission to Montrosse drive Papists from his Court and Presence renounce his Negative Voice in Parliament and name a place in the Vnited Provinces where they might further treat of all Things These Propositions were sent by Windram of Liberton to his Majesty who was then at Jersey whither he was retired out of France upon the little Prospect of Relief from that Court as also to be nearer England where the Levellers were stirring and near Ireland now wholly except Dublin and London-derry at his Devotion The Confederates had earnestly desired his Presence amongst them and 't is not doubted if he had gone thither but that he would have been absolute Master of the Kingdom Others were of another Opinion urging that if he miscarried in Ireland he would also loose the Hopes he had conceived of the Protestants in England and Scotland As if a Sovereign Prince were not permitted to make use of his own Subjects of what Religion soever they were for his Service and Defence especially they being willing to assist him and he satisfied in their Loyalty But when the News of the Overthrow at Dublin came the Scots demands were taken into Consideration Some of the Council seemed to reject all kind of Commerce with that People affirming That as they had sold and betrayed the Father so when their Fear and Covetousness prompted them they would serve the Son and therefore there was no Faith to be given to such Perfidious Men. But others more moderate in their Councils advised the King by no means to omit the Opportunity which so fairly offered it self but immediately to close with the Scots for that Kingdom being recovered his Attempts upon the other would be less difficult The Queen-Mother was also of this Opinion He is returned with a satisfactory Answer and so was Montrosse who offered now to go into Banishment as Strafford formerly to Death voluntarily rather than interrupt so Hopeful a Peace The King at length perswaded tho not without Repugnancy dispatcht Windram back into Scotland with no unpleasing Answer and Assurance that he would do every thing for the Good of his People appointing moreover Breda a Town in Brabant for the Place of Treaty commanding and desiring the Committee of Estates to send Commissioners thither to meet him on the 5th of March following year 1649 Windram being sent into Scotland the King left the Island as well upon Accompt of the Regicides Preparations to invade it as of his being at Breda by the Time appointed for the Treaty Whilst the King is in his way it may be proper to say somewhat of the Royal Fleet under the Command of Prince Rupert The Rebels being too strong for him he was necessitated to shelter himself in the Haven of Kinsale where he had long been shut up by them And now Cromwell approaching the City with his victorious Army to besiege it by Land he was forced to adventure to Sea and did break through the Enemies Fleet with the Loss of Three of his Ships and directing his Course for Lisbone he entred the River Tagus with full Sail where he found not only a friendly Reception but Protection also from that Prince The Rigicides irritated with this Civility declare War against the Author of it and sending Blake with a Fleet blockt up the Mouth of the River extreamly interrupting the Traffick of Portugal by seizing their Ships in their Return home He lay long there but not being able to oblige that King by Intreaties or Force to abandon the Prince he at length his Provisions being spent was constrained to go seek for more The Prince taking the Opportunity of his Removal put to Sea and sailing towards Malaga took and burnt several English Vessels but Blake pursuing him mastered and seized the Roe-buck a good Man of War and forced Five more upon the Rocks and Shore The Prince escaped this Misfortune tho reserved for a greater for being forced into the Western Islands
of Ireland to this Purpose Cromwell having at Length obtained what he had so long coveted the Command of the Forces of the Commonwealth high with this Accession of Honour prepares vigorously for War and hastning to the Army he mustered it near Berwick Sixteen Thousand strong brave Men and well accoutred flesht with so many Victories and confident of Success He thus accompanied enters Scotland having sent his Declaration before him July 22.1650 amongst other Things denouncing War against them because they had proclaimed Charles Stuart King who was their Publick Enemy and had promised to support him against the Common-wealth of England Being come to Dunbar without seeing an Enemy the Inhabitants being all fled tho he had invited and courted their staying at Home he refreshed his Army there with Rest and Provisions brought by shipping out of England From thence he marcht to Musselbourg with Design to attempt the Scots who lay encamped not far off But being opposed by the Rains the adverse Tempests and the Toyls of his Men who lay in the open Field he was forced to return to his Camp again The Enemy pursued him close charging and continually disturbing his Rear until they were repressed by Lambert and Whaley who hastned thither with fresh Supplies The following Night Montgomery and Straugham with Fifteen Troops of Horse fell upon the English with so much Violence that having forced their Guards and beaten a Regiment of Horse that seconded them they brought Terror into the rest of the Army But these recollecting themselves the Scots were charged by Parties that hastened to the Danger from all Sides and being way-laid by Okey in their Return they bravely broke through and returned after much Dammage given and received to their own Camp The King was then accidentally in the Army by whose conduct for seeing the danger of the Men he had hastened to their Assistance their Retreat was secured The Chief of the Army and the turbulent Delegates of the Kirk were much vexed at it urging the Kings Departure Nor would they suffer this magnanimous Prince to stay in the Camp pretending the danger of his Person but more truly lest as it appeared in that Encounter he should gain too much upon the Souldiers Favours and thereby render himself Master of that Army which had been raised by the auspicious Influence of his Name There were Three prevalent Factions in Scotland at that Time The First and Greatest was that of the Parliament and Kirk which would indeed have a King but precarious and one who should govern as they directed Another Faction was of the most rigid Presbyterians These dreaming of I know not what Theocracy or Government by the Church equally abhorr'd both King and Commonwealth as profane But this upon the Defeat of Straugham and Kerr by Cromwell quickly vanished The Third was that of the Royalists but unarmed and excluded from Publick Employments to which the King was forced to retire in Expectation of better Times The English in the mean time raised with some small Successes as the taking of Collington and Red-House by storm endeavoured to draw the Scots to Battle They approached their Camp seemed carelesly to wander under their Trenches and with the contumely of Words daily dared them to fight but in vain for the Scots were fixt not to adventure the Hazard of a Battle but to overcome the Enemy without Danger with Hunger Cold Sicknesses and the Rigor of the Climate Cromwell seeing then he could not force the Scots by reason of the Situation of their Camp nor oblige them to fight out of it his Provisions being likewise spent he determined to bring his Army back to Dunbar which he also did tho not without much Difficulty by reason of the close pursuit of the Scots From thence he resolved to return with what haste he could with his sick and weary Forces by Sea or Land for England for he despaired of any Hopes of Success in this inauspicious Expedition Dunbar is a Sea Town seated betwixt Edinburgh and Berwick surrounded on the Land side with Mountains and Precipices which are likewise so steep that there is but one passage at Copperspeith scarce large enough for Ten Men a-brest which was also possessed by the Enemy who now insultingly bragged which they might also have performed if God had not infatuated their Understandings That they had the Army of the Schismaticks in a Pound And thus this so famous a Leader had brought his Army by ill Conduct into such Streights that all his Glory got by so many Victories had vanish'd in Infamy if Fortune and the Follies of his Enemies had not contributed to his Relief For it would have proved a business of extreme Difficulty to have shipt his Men they pressing so near upon him nor would it have been less dangerous to return by Land all the Passages and Avenues being guarded by an Enemy so numerous and much more healthful as being in the Clime they first breathed in They were Twice as many as the English and hovered like a Cloud upon the Hills about them But their Impatience to overcome lost them the Victory for wheeling to the Right they in Confidence of their Strength descended into the Plain as if they designed to deprive them of all Hopes of Retreating Cromwell perceiving this as if he had cooped himself up but with Design to break out with more Lustre sent Lambert with Six Regiments of Horse and Three of Foot to charge them He was bravely received at first but afterwards by the Fatal Valour of Despair routed the adverse Cavalry The Foot seeing their Horse broke without any resistance ran also away in vain seeking that Safety in their Legs which they had had in their Hands And thus a very great Victory was gained by the English in a Moment wherein Three Thousand were slain and near Ten Thousand taken Two Hundred Colours Fifteen Thousand Arms and the whole spoil of the Camp with the Loss of scarce Three Hundred English Nor did this signal Victory which made them Masters of the South side of the Frith cost them any more For it being known at Edenburgh by the Arrival of Lesley who fled with the Horse the Nobility and Souldiery quitted that City as also Leeth a commodious Station for shipping and posted away to Sterling leaving all except the Castle of Edinburgh to the Disposal of the Conquerors This Battle seemed indifferent to the King who could lose none but Enemies whoever vanquished The Presbyterians were no less averse to him than the Independants and the Scots if they had overcome would have used him no better than they did his August Father at New-Castle They had extorted Conditions from him equal to those their English Brethren had forced from his Martyred Predecessor in the Isle of Wight Nor did those Concessions suffice somewhat was still superadded and obtruded upon him And as if that were not enough he himself as also his Friends were excluded from sharing in the Government
He had no command in the Common-wealth altho all its Forces were raised in his Name And even now their Army being lost they did not cease unseasonably to torment this excellent Prince with their Impertinencies They impose new Conditions upon him pretend to reform his Family and endeavour to extort a Declaration from him against himself and such who were faithful to him Provoked with these insufferable Indignities and with the Impatience of bearing with their reiterated Follies he withdrew himself privately our of their Guardianship and taking Horse under pretence of taking the Air in his Shoes and Steekings he rode towards the Provinces of the North where the Atholians and the Guordons expected him in Arms. It is incredible how unworthily he had been used since his first Arrival in Scotland It may not be impertinent to mention some of those barbarous Passages In his way from Spey to Edinburgh some of the Towns did not only congratulate his happy Arrival with their Acclamations but with their Presents also Aberdene bestowed Fifteen Hundred Pounds upon him which the Commissioners took so ill that to prevent the Liberality of the other Towns they commanded That such who had Money to lavish away should bring it into the Treasury Cautioning hereby that the People should not demonstrate their Affection to their Prince or the Prince be sensible of the good Will of his Subjects towards himself Yet more when the English Parricides had reproached them with their Agreement with their King they declared They would not own his Cause until he acknowledged and repented his own Sins the Transgressions of his Father and the Idolatry of his Mother By all which it is evident That his Majesty was now in the same Danger his Royal Father had formerly been in the Hands of the Presbyterians But the Parliament seriously considering the King's Recess and perceiving their own inevitable Ruin at Hand if they persisted in their Obstinacy and Follies they sent Montgomery with a choice Party of Horse after his Majesty humbly to desire his Return Which he also effected upon promise of better Conditions for the future which were also performed the Grandees being much mollified by their late Overthrow And now the King was admitted as concerned in the Publick Transactions tho the Ministers mainly opposed it not yet sensible of the imminent Destruction which threatned the continuance of their Dissensions and Feuds The King now at the Helm Orders were given out for new Levies his Friends were admitted to Publick Employments and he was crowned with as much Pomp and Magnificence as the Troubles would permit at Scone And now the Minds of the most Seditious being in some sort appeased the King's Standard was set up at Aberdeen and all who were fit to bear Arms were invited to take them up against their invading Enemies Whilst the King is busied in raising Forces Cromwell was no less intent in Prosecution of his Victory Edinburgh and Leith opened their Gates to him And the Castle annexed to the City Inexpugnable in it self by reason of its Situation after no long siege was surrend'red to him He took also all the Fortresses by himself or Liuetenants on this side the Frith so that the King solicitous for Sterling encamped under the Walls of it He removed thence to Torwood where being well entrenched he slighted the Provocations and Attempts of the Enemy resolving to hazard nothing before his new Levies which were raising for him in the Northern Counties were come up to him Whilst the Two Armies were thus in fight of each other a Presbyterian Plot was discovered which was detected by I know not what Letters found in a Ship at Ayre The Design was formed by their Parsons in London who expecting a choice Body of Horse from Scotland under the Command of Massey pretended to raise some considerable Disturbances in Absence of the Army But the Secret being laid open Love and Gibbons for Terror to others were by Cromwell's Recommendation both heheaded Cromwell when he saw he could neither provoke nor compel the King to fight impatient of Delay he commanded Col. Overton to attempt a Passage into Fife which he did with Fourteen Hundred Foot and Four Troops of Horse And after some light Skirmishes landing at North-Ferry he immediately cast up some Works for his Defence where he also contained himself until more Succors came Which quickly happened for Lambert flying to his Aid with Two Regiments of Horse and as many of Foot they fought and defeated Browne who was sent thither by the King with near Four Thousand Men. Him they slew and kill'd and took well nigh all the Royallists Whilst this was in Action Cromwell braved it before the King's Trenches and seemed to design to assault them but hearing of Lambert's Success he marched back with his Army and passing the Forth joined the rest of his Victorious Forces and marching with speed to St. Johnstone after having drained the Mote and planted his Cannon he had the Place delivered to him without any further Resistance The King who had long since designed to march into England is now necessitated to do it and to transfer the War into England which he was not in a Condition to support in Scotland Hearing therefore of the Siege of St. Johnstone whilst the Rebels were busied there he removes his Camp with swift Marches towards England permitting all such who were dissatisfied with the present State of Affairs to depart at pleasure Many especially of the Faction of Arguile and the Kirk leaving him he led the Rest now entirely at his Command along with him Cromwell being informed of the King's Departure sent his Horse after him and having left Monk behind him with Six Thousand Men to finish the Reliques of the War in Scotland follows with the Strength of his Army whilst the rest of his Forces which guarded the Borders endeavour to hinder the King's Advance The Rump terrified with the Rumour of this Invasion condemned Cromwell of Temerity and Precipitation but raised with his Letters prepare for Defence And lest the Provinces wearied with their Tyranny should look back towards their Lawful Prince they fill them with their numerous Troops forcing the Trained Bands of the Counties to joyn with them against the Invading Scots The King's Army not exceeding 12000 Effective Men had entred England July 1. 1651. and being advanced into Lancashire notwithstanding Lambert and Harrisons Interruption with their numerous Cavalry joyning with the Earl of Darby out of the Isle of Man forced their Passage at Warrington-Bridge and continuing their March through the thick Squadrons of the Enemy and the Opposition of frequent Encounters came at Length to Worcester a City affectionate to His Majesty's Service The King left the Earl of Derby behind him in Lancashire to raise new Forces But this excellent Personage however great in Reputation in that Country had scarce got Fifteen Hundred Men together when he was attacked by Collonel Lilbourne with far greater Numbers
and being unequel to those Veteranes after a sharp Fight he was defeated by them And however he escaped their present Fury by Flight he was afterwards taken in the Battel of Worcester and being brought to Chester was there notwithstanding the Quarter given him beheaded by the Regicides finishing his Course with no less Gallantry than he had lived with Glory The King upon his Entry into England was ploclaimed by a Herald at Arms King of ENGLAND SCOTLAND FRANCE and IRELAND which was also done in all the chief Towns as he passed along and was now repeated at Worcester with greater Pomp and Splendour He had by Letters and Messages in his March invited several of the Rebel-Commanders and Governours to the return of their Duty but in vain He had also desired the same of the Mayor and Common-Council of London but with the same success There were however several Noble Persons who came in to him as the Lord Talbot Packington Howard Broughton and others with about Two Thousand private Souldiers The rest kept back either surprized with the sudden Advance of the King and consequently unprovided or terrified with the Cruelty of the Rump and so durst not appear or averse to the Scots now unseasonably mindful of the former Injuries received from them and would not come The King had been advised and it was his own Opinion to march from Warrington directly to London which in probability ought to have been done if the Army had not been so much wearied with their former Toyles and Labours They therefore came to Worcester a Place convenient enough where having recovered and repaired their Strength they might either expect or promote the War Hither Cromwell came Six Days after with the conjoyned Forces of the Party amounting to near Sixty Thousand Souldiers and Trained-Bands and having beaten Massey from Vpton-Bridge approached the Town The Rebels having passed the Rivers Severne and Tame upon Bridges and Boats advance towards the Walls however very bravely opposed by the Scots out of the Hedges and Ditches in their way But the Royallists being out-numbered were forced to retreat towards the City The Rebels having repulsed and wounded Montgomery at Powick Cromwell advancing drew up near ..... Wood. The King with Forbes's Foot a small Body of Horse for Lesley with Two Thousand more stood a loof of and did not approach and some English Voluntiers charged the Van of the Enemy with so much intrepid Bravery that he not only repelled them but took their Cannon which yet he could not keep by reason of their numerous Reserves and Supplies incessantly relieving each other Insomuch that the King having performed all the Parts of a Great Commander by rallying his broken Troops and embodying his scattered Foot and encouraging them by his Example and Presence in their renewed Encounters being over-pow'red by the adverse Legions Duke Hamilton who kept close to him being also wounded of which Hurt he shortly died he was forced to retreat towards the City which he entered on Foot at Sudbury-Gate being then obstructed by a laden Waggon overthrown in the Passage Nor did he long stay there but mounting another Horse when he saw all was lost and that the Enemy entered on all sides he at length slipping away in the Croud escaped out of the City The Royal-Fort defended by Col. Drummund with Fifteen Hundred Men was taken by Assault where all were put to the Sword The slaughter in the City was not less barbarous the Citizens and Souldiers being promiscuously slain all being filled wiâ—h Rapine and Murther There fell as well without as within the Walls where the Slaughter was greatest Three Thousand Five Hundred and the Prisoners were above Six Thousand most of the English escaping by the Benefit of their Tongue Duke Hamilton having his Thigh broken died there and amongst the Prisoners of most Note were the Earls of Derby Cleveland Lauderdale Rothes Carnworth Kelley as also Packington Greves Fanshaw the King's Secretary and many other Noble Persons taken in their Flight It is a Wonder that the King escaped the Diligence of his Pursuers but the Means by which he escaped doubles the Miracle Five Poor Brethren by Name Pendrills with Francis Yates married to their Sister and Three Females their Companions who concealed conducted and nourisht him justly merited the Glory not only of saving a Citizen as they had done before in the Person of the Earl of Derby whom they had formerly secured but of preserving their Prince No Threats of Punishments or Death nor the offer of a Thousand Pounds to those who discovered him would prevail with these however needy Plebeians whose Loyalty surmounted both their Hopes and their Fears The King having spent several Days in this miserable Solitude passed through many Hands of both Sexes and Religions Men and Women of the Middle and Lowest Sort. And by many Accidents and Spottings of Fortune wandering as it were in a Cloud for the space of Two Months he at length going on Board a small Collier and not unknown to the Master at Bright-hemston in Sussex was conveyed together with the Lord Wilmott his Achates and Companion in Dangers into France reserved by Divine Providence for the Glories that attended his Restitution At Rohan he discovered himself to some English Merchants where he changed his Apparel and went the next Day to Paris where his Fame arriving before him he was met in the way by the Queen his Mother and the Duke of Orleance with a great Train of Nobility Thus convoyed he was brought to Court where he was received with the Applause of all Men and the particular Congratulations of the French King and all the Peers of that Kingdom BOOK II. Cromwell enters London Triumphantly Continuation of the Irish Affairs Ormond leaves Ireland and Clanrickard his Deputy there Ireton dyes of the Plague Monk takes Sterling Dundee and Subjugates Scotland The Isles of Scilly Barbadoes Garnsey Jersey and that of Man surrendered to the Regicides Their Greatness They are courted by the Neighbouring Kings and States They send a solemn Embassy into Holland Cromwell cabals Turns out the Mock-Parliament Chooses another Is chosen Protector The Wars with the United Provinces The various Sea-Fights betwixt the Two States Cromwell makes a Peace with them and a League with France The Expedition of San Domingo and Jamaica Blake's success at Tunis and Santa Cruz. Dunkirk taken The Death of Oliver Cromwell His Character THE Scotch Army being defeated at Worcester and Lesley Midleton and the other Chief Officers who fled with the Horse taken Cromwell having sent his Prisoners before him entered London the Westminster and City Senates and Grandees receiving him with all imaginable Honour and Flatteries And now the Common-wealth having overcome all their Enemies exceedingly gloried in their Acquisitions Ireland was also subdued the remaining Natives being transported into Connaught But of these Tumults it will be expedient to treat more particularly Ireton having been left by his Father-in-law to command in Ireland as
Nation from whom having in vain attempted Hispaniola he extorted the Island of Jamaica in the West-Indies and Dunkirk a famous Sea-port nearer Home by the Assistance of the French But these deserve a more particular Narrative He had equipp'd Two considerable Fleets with great Cost and Application one whereof he sent with Blake into the Mediterranean and the other under the Command of Pen and Venables fraughted with Land-Souldiers set Sail about the same Time The Design was kept secret which did not a little amuse the Neighbour-Princes and particularly the Spaniards who sent the Marquess of Leda Governour of Dunkirk into England to penetrate into the Reasons and Designs of these great Preparations But conjecturing by the Ambiguity of the Answers he received that it might concern his Country-men he immediately returned The Fleet arrived happily at the Barbado's one of our Principal Indian Colonies Where as also out of the Neighbouring Isles the Land-Forces they brought out of England consisting but of Three Thousand were made up to at least Ten Thousand Servants and others being invited to take up Arms upon Assurance of their Liberty and Hopes of Plunder But though the Army were great the Provisions made for it were not so the Generals perhaps thinking that they did but need to Come and Conquer With these Forces and vast expectations they sailed towards Hispaniola Being come within the Sight of San Domingo the Spaniards terrified with the Danger abandoned their City and fled into Woods leaving all to the Discretion of the Assailants But the English by the vain Precaution of their Governours fearing I know not what imaginary Ambuscades omitted and lost the Opportunity for leaving the Port Venables landed Ten Leagues from the Town with Seven Thousand Men. The Souldiers were brisk and fierce promising themselves Gold and Wealth even to Satiety But their Joy did not last long for it was proclaimed under pain of Death that none should plunder Gold Silver Jewels or any other precious Moveables or kill any tame Cattle The Souldiers damp'd with this unseasonable Order destitute now of the Solace of Hope it self moved but dully and marching through thick Woods scorching Sands excessive Heat of the Sun and its concomitant unsufferable Thirst they at length came to the assigned Rendezvous Collonel Buller met them there with Three Regiments from the Fleet where they were somewhat refreshed for there was a River of Fresh-water which discharges it self into the Sea The Forces being joyned Venables marches with his Army towards the City having sent Captain Cox who was also their Guide with Five Hundred Men before as a Forlorn And they proved so In the mean Time the Spaniards taking Courage from their Enemies loitering and perceiving the Difficulties they laboured under betake themselves to their Defence and falling briskly upon them in the Intricacies of their Passage with a handful of Men they kill Cox and rout his Party who rushing upon the next Regiment put it to Flight Upon advance of the Army the Spaniards retired into a Fort they had in the Wood. Venables after this brush return'd back to the River with a Resolution to re-assume his Design And having mounted Two Guns provided Scaling-ladders Mortars Granado's and Fire-balls he marches the second Time towards the City But being betrayed by the Errors of his Guides who undertook to lead him a more commodious Way for the avoiding of the Fort he is brought into the same place where they had already fought so unluckily The Spaniards but Seventy in Number sallying hastily out of their Ambushes fell with such Violence upon the Van Guard that the Forlorn being beaten into the next following Battalion that also turned upon their own Army and filling all with Terror they all ran away The Enemy pursued with a great slaughter nor did they retire till they were wearied with killing and carried away Seven Colours in sign of Victory Collonel Haynes having with great Courage endeavoured to make Head against them being abandoned was slain by them and with him Six Hundred more besides several wounded These Miscarriages were followed by the Negligence of the Commanders with want of Provisions so that several of the Souldiers straying in the Woods in Quest of Victuals were snapt up by the Enemy Their Wants growing daily upon them they eat all their Horses which they had brought in a fine Troop with them from the Barbadoes and these not sufficing they at length resolved to leave this unlucky Shore Which they did sailing with their baffled Army to Jamaica where the News of their Defeat not being yet arrived they easily landed the Spaniards there articling for Liberty to depart which they easily consented to This Island is very pleasant Sixty Leagues in Length and Thirty in Breadth But they met here with an Enemy more severe than the Spaniards which was the Plague which in a little Time reduced their Army to sewer than Two Thousand Those who survived being recruited with Provisions and Men from England the Island being also cleared of Spaniards is now become a famous Colony of the English But Admiral Blake's Successes were greater tho' they did not make more Noise in the World The Algerines upon Sight of the Fleet so far superior to theirs making a Peace with him consented to the Restitution of the Brittish Slaves and a Liberty of Commerce But they of Tunis trusting to their own Strength answered Blake's Summons fiercely shewing him by way of ostentation their Castles in the Guletta and their Fleet in that impregnable Receptacle of Porta-ferino Blake resolving always on the brave filling his long Boats with his boldest Adventurers sent them into the Haven to burn their Ships Which they also effected consuming Nine of them with Fire with the inconsiderable Loss of Five and Twenty Men. All this while the Ships of the Fleet thundred terribly with their Cannon upon their Castles and Batteries dismounting for the most part their Guns and forcing the Defendants to abandon their Works The Infidels thus chastised became more submiss being glad to accept of that Pacification they had lately so insolently refused Cromwell being secure Abroad had at Home defeated all the Endeavours of the Royallists as also of the Presbyterians and Democraticks for the recovering of their Liberty All these Attempts were stifled in their Infancy or betrayed in their Growth before they came to any Ripeness effecting nothing but the Ruine of such who were concerned in them and the securing of him in his Tyranny whose Destruction was so passionately desired This cruel Protector had afflicted the Royallists with all manner of Torments in their Persons And now having constituted Major Generals after the Manner of the Turkish Bashaws in all the Kingdom decimated and confiscated their Goods and raging against their Persons with Incarcerations Banishments and Death it self exposed them to all the Miseries their inexorable Malice could invent But seeing that all would not do and that they were Proof against the utmost severity he
we have already mentioned he began with the Siege of Waterford Which Preston who commanded there seemed resolved to defend until finding himself shut up with Approaches and Trenches and attacked with the adverse Cannon but above all seeing no hopes of Relief he surrendered this strong City upon Articles of Indemnity for the Inhabitants and Liberty for the Garrison to march away with their Colours and Arms. Carlaw and Duncannon ran the same Fate at the same Time Young Preston marching away with the Souldiers of those Fortresses All this while the Confederates continue in their unhappy Dissensions the Catholicks and Reformed teazing each other with their wild and unseasonable Controversies No due respect or obedience were paid to the Lord Lieutenant And now the Clergy endeavoured to distract the Protestants amongst themselves animated particularly against Ormond whom they labour with Calumnies to separate from Inchequin and him again by the same Arts from his Excellency The furious Heat of some of the Bishops grew to that height that impatient of the Government of the Protestants they pronounced it abrogated excommunicating all such who dared to disobey their Dictates Ormond having tried all ways to allay these fatal Differences and perswade them to unite for their Common Defence to no purpose perceiving their Obstinacy he resolved to quit them lest he might be involved in their Ruine To these Indignities they of Limerick besieged on one side by Ireton refused him Entrance on the other though he came with Forces to their Assistance under pretence That they themselves sufficed for their own Defence And yet lest the King's Affairs might suffer by their Folly and his Absence he gave the Earl of Castel-haven the Command of the Forces and by the Suffrages of all constituted the Earl of Clanrickard Deputy of the Kingdom Clanrickard having undertaken the Government more to delay the Rebels Conquest than out of any Appearance of Success in hopes it might advantage the King upon his march out of Scotland makes new Levies recruits the Veteranes provides Warlike Instruments and being powerfully assisted by the Ecclesiasticks endeavours to repair the lapsed condition of their Party Not that he thereby fancied the Recovery of the Kingdom but to give the King Time to try the Fortune of a Day with Cromwell as His Majesty had himself inculcated to him by his Letters Nor were the Forces he raised contemptible amounting to Five Thousand but by the continual Aversness of Fortune they effected nothing of moment They indeed took some small Garrisons of Ireton's he being gone to his Winter-Quarters but being assaulted by Collonel Axtel in the Isle of Milech and their Trenches forced they were broken Five Hundred at least of them being slain and drown'd The Residue attempting no further secured themselves in Connaught interposing the River S ..... and the Curluvian Mountains betwixt them and this Fortunate Enemy guarding the Passages and Avenues of that Province the only thing they were now capable of Nor could they long secure themselves there for the Spring advancing Ireton took the Field and having sent for Coot out of Vlster to meet him he Coot under Pretence of besieging Slego thereby diverted the Enemies Forces passing the Colluvian Mountains whilst the other got over the Shannon at Killalo by the Treachery or Cowardise of Collonel Fenel appointed to guard it Having joyned Forces they took Athole and separating again Ireton besieges Limerick and Coot Galloway Limerick however strong weakened with their own Dissensions did not resist so long as it might have done being well garrisoned and well victuall'd but delivered it self the Garrison marching away without their Arms leaving Four and Twenty of the Principal in it to Mercy Of these the Bishop of Firne and several others active in the first Part of the Rebellion were hanged Nor was this Victory less fatal to the Conquerour who did not long survive it being extinguished by the Plague This Monster having been bred up in the Law whereof he had some smatterings had been largely imbibed from his Youth in the Frantick Ravings of the Ecclesiasticks Which Cromwell observing as also his Ingenuity took him into his Fellowship and Family and matching him to his Daughter made him his Son-in-law He was active vigilant and stedfast nor improper for Council or Execution in War and consequently a chief Champion and Contriver in the exerable Regicide Ireton being dead the chief Command of the Army was at present devolved upon Ludlowe a Man bold and daring to whom Three more Collegues were afterwards associated In the mean time Galloway was surrendered Clanrickard having articled for Permission to depart Neither was any more warring there save against some Mountainers and Tories the Garrisons every where opening their Gates and the Souldiery yet in Arms having conditioned their Transportation passed most of them into the Spanish Service in Flanders a Militia not much more Fortunate than their own Ireland being subdued all vailed to the Conquerors General Monk after Cromwell's Departure besieges Sterling which however filled with Arms Cannon Provisions in Abundance and the Records and Monuments of their Kings was tamely surrendered to him Dundee by the Valour of Lunisdane the Governour held out but being over-powered it was taken by Assault and the whole Garrison put to the Sword The slaughter was cruel and the Town no less unmercifully pillaged by the covetous Souldiers which struck such a Terror in others that Aberdene and the rest of the Scotch Garrisons that they might not be involved in so ruinous a Fate prevented it by a timely Rendition Sir Phillip Musgrave had attempted to raise new Forces in Galloway so did also a Convention of some of the Nobility at Ellit but being surprised the Earls of Leven and Crawford Ogelby Musgrave and others were taken Prisoners The Scots made yet one Attempt more under Midleton Huntley Glencarne and other Highlanders but they also were supprest by the Valour and Vigilancy of Col. Morgan There was no Enemy more that appeared and to take all hopes of embodying from them for the future Four strong Cittadels were built in Four principal Parts of the Country viz. Leith Ayre Innerness and St. Johnstons And now Scotland being sufficiently subjugated was subjected to the Laws of England and incorporated into one Common-wealth with that Kingdom During these Traverses Sir John Greenvil had detained some Merchant Ships belonging to the Dutch at Scylly which so irritated the States that they sent Tromp with Twelve Men of War to reclaim them or require satisfaction for the Dammage He had also Instructions to treat with the Governour for the Surrendry of that Place into their Hands but the Secret was not carried so close but that these Transactions were known to the English who thereupon sent Blake with a Fleet to hinder the Alienation of so Important a Place by reason of its exceeding Commodiousness for Navigation Greenvil being thus assaulted on both sides chose rather to deliver the Isles to his Country-men than