the Association, to secure the left flank, was, at the particular request of Cromwell, committed to Colonel Ireton, who, for that purpose, was made commissary-general of horse. The reserves were brought up by Rainsborough, Hammond, and Pride. The two armies were about equal in number, and the scene of action was a large fallow field, about a mile broad, at the distance of a mile from Naseby. The field was wholly occupied with the respective armies. Fairfax had taken up his position on the brow of a small hill, having sent down a forlorn hope of 300, who were instructed to retreat when hard pressed. On the right wing of the king's army, Rupert charged most furiously; and, though Ireton received him with great spirit, the prince ultimately bore down that wing, a circumstance which was imputed by the adverse party to a disorder occasioned by pits and ditches which had not been observed. Ireton's own horse was killed under him, while a spear was run through his leg, and another into his face; and, in this condition, he fell into the hands of the enemy, from whom he only escaped during their subsequent rout. Rupert pushed on till he came to the baggage, which he commanded to surrender; but the forces stationed to guard it, being well prepared, returned the summons with a brisk fire, and kept him engaged till the royal forces were thrown into confusion in other parts of the field. In the right wing of the parliamentary forces, Cromwell, after a desperate resistance by the royal troops, which conducted themselves to admiration, com pletely routed that wing; but, instead of following the course pursued by Rupert, he sent a small part of his force to prevent the enemy from forming, and wheeled back to the charge of the main body. In the centre, success appeared at first to incline to the king's side, the parliamentary troops having been obliged to retreat upon the reserve, but rallying, they made another most desperate charge, and threw the king's foot into confusion, with the exception of one Tertia, which stood two attacks immovable as a rock; when Fairfax having commanded Captain D'Oiley, of his lifeguard, to attack them in rear, while himself charged them in front, that they might meet in the middle, broke them, and with his own hand he killed the ensign who carried the royal colours. A trooper of' D'Oiley's having seized them, boasted that himself performed this meritorious act; but, when D'Oiley reprimanded him for arrogating the credit of the general's exploit, Fairfax cried out, "let him take that honour, I have enough beside." Rupert had now returned, but he could not prevail on his troops to make a second charge, and a body of cavalry alone still remained undefeated. Fairfax delayed the attack upon it till he could direct against it the flower of his foot as well as horse, and when the adverse party saw such mighty odds brought against them, they fled from the field in spite of the magnanimous efforts of the king, who cried out "one charge more and we recover the day." His conduct this day, which, in spite of fortune, was in reality the King re. treats to Wales. most glorious of his life, was indeed worthy of a prince, and was generously admired by his enemies. The victory was complete; 600 of the royal forces were killed, and 4500 taken prisoners, amongst whom was an immense number of officers; 8000 stands of arms, with all the artillery, bag and baggage, and the king's coach, with his private cabinet, fell into the hands of the victors. The utmost renown was this day gained by Fairfax and Cromwell, and likewise by Skippon. Fairfax had lost his helmet in the heat of the en. gagement; and D'Oiley, regretting to see so valuable a life exposed in every part of the field where the battle raged most, offered him his own helmet; but the general, saying, "it is well enough Charles," declined it, and without this usual protection to his person, performed the gallant feat above commemorated. Skippon, who was now far advanced in life, received a dangerous wound in the side at the beginning of the engagement; and Fairfax, perceiving his condition, advised him to withdraw; but the gallant veteran swore he would not stir so long as a man remained, and continued at his post till the end of the battle *. Charles retreated into Wales, having happily escaped Sir John Gell, who was rapidly marching up to join the parliamentary army, with 2000 horse, and arrived on the day after the battle. A messenger was, on the following day, inter * Rush. vol. vi. p. 41, et seq. Whitelocke, p. 150, et seq. Clar. vol. iv. p. 649, et seq. Append. to Evelyn's Mem. p. 92, et seq. Ludlow, vol. i. p. 151, et seq. Baillie, vol. ii. p. 116, 117. cepted by the parliament from Goring, who said, that he expected to finish the siege of Taunton within a certain time, when he would be in a condi. tion to join his majesty; and it has been thought, that had the intelligence reached the king before the battle, he would have declined an engagement. But as he could not have done this without loss in the meantime, so such information. would probably have only tended to ensure his destruction; for Goring was himself deceived by his own sanguine hopes in regard to the siege, and Gell, with his 2000 horse, besides others, would have augmented the parliamentary army The correspondence found in the royal cabinet, completely proved the perfidious assertions of the king in regard to his negociations with foreign powers for supplies of troops, in spite of the most solemn appeals to heaven, that he never had in *Rush. vol. vi. p. 49. Clar. vol. iv. p. 659. On every disaster, party-men set their wits to work to prove that the battle should not have been fought, or ought to have been gained, and that the course pursued after it was ruinous-though, in reality, no other could have been prudently followed, and none could have been successful. Such is the conduct of Clarendon on this and other occasions. Laing says that Charles should have abandoned all garrisons, and collected the troops, and that, had he done so, he might have still kept the field; for that the parliament could not have occupied the garrisons without dropping active operations. But the garrisons did not all lie in one quarter; and by delaying his retreat for the accomplishment of this object, the king would have exposed his shattered army to inevitable destruction,-while the forces from the garrisons would have been beaten in detail before they could concentrate. Besides, new levies by the parliament could easily have manned the garrisons thus abandoned, and the country, no longer awed by them, would have risen. Then the Scots were marching south. Baillie, vol. ii. p. 118. tended it. They also fully establish the insincerity with which he had entered into treaty with the parliament, and expose some of his intentions relative to Ireland. In a letter, on the 4th August of this year, to Sir Edward Nicholas, he says, 66 Though I could have wished that paines had beene spaired, yet I will neither deny that those things are myne wch they haue sett out in my name, (only some words heere and there mistaken, and some com❜as misplaced, but not much mate. riall,) nor as a good Protestant, or honest man, blush for any of those papers; indeed as a discreet man, I will not justify my selfe; and yet I would fain know him who would be willing that the freedom of all his priuat letters were publiquely seene, as myne have now beene; howsoumever, so that one clause be rightly understood, I care not much though the rest take their fortunes: it is concerning the mungrill parliament; the trewth is, that Sussex factiouseness at that time put me somewhat out of patience, wch made me freely vent my displeasure against those of his party to my wyfe, and the intention of that phrase was, that his faction did what they could to make it come to that by theire raising and fomenting of base propositions t." This quotation has been introduced, as it sufficiently disproves the statement by the apologists of Charles, that the parliament were guilty of unfairness in the publication, in Append. to Evelyn's Mem. p. 101, 2. Clar. vol. iv. p. 658. |