The Great Civil War in Lancashire (1642-1651) Part 14

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Campaign of Wigan Lane]

Not knowing what other surprises might be delivered in such a hostile country Lilburne moved his camp next morning (Sunday, August 24th) two miles further east to Hoghton, and that day Colonel Richard Shuttleworth and a number of others from the neighbourhood came to him at Hoghton Tower and remained till evening; showing that the county was not entirely hostile to the Cromwellians. On the previous evening Lilburne had received two companies of foot from Chester, and there also arrived another company of newly raised foot from Liverpool; but he was still waiting for Cromwell's regiment which was now reported to be at Manchester. The royalists, however, had also heard of their advance, and thinking to surprise Worsley before he could join the cavalry, and having also the promise of reinforcements in Manchester themselves, they marched out of Preston towards midnight on Sunday and proceeded south.

The movement was not one of flight as has been suggested, and as Lilburne at first thought. He did not hear of their march until 8 or 9 o'clock next morning when intelligence was brought by an old woman. At once he started off in hot pursuit, and came up with the royalists about mid-day near Wigan. But Lilburne, when he found that the royalists were not flying, still held off, hoping to be able to march on their flank to Manchester. The royalists, however, had now resolved to give him battle, and about 3 o'clock in the afternoon they were seen advancing along the lane which led out of the town towards Standish.

It was a gallant company of royalists who rode out of Wigan that August afternoon to make their last stand for the King in Lancas.h.i.+re. In command was the Earl of Derby, the uncompromising enemy of the Parliament; and with him were Sir Thomas Tyldesley, the hero of many fights, the perfect exponent of all the cavalier virtues; Lord Widdrington, "one of the most goodly persons of that age, being near the head higher than most tall men, and a gentleman of the best and most ancient extraction";[231] Sir William Throgmorton, who had been Major-General in Newcastle's Yorks.h.i.+re army; Colonel Boynton, some time Governor of Scarborough for the Parliament, and their chief instrument in the discovery of the Hothams' plot to betray Hull; with many others of equal bravery but of less note. Opposed to them were the stern, well disciplined cavalry of the Cromwellian army. The two forces were absolutely typical of the opposing armies of the Civil War. It is said that when Lilburne's men saw that they must fight they turned on the country people who had come out to see their march and dispersed them with harsh words.

The two forces were nearly equal in cavalry,[232] for the Earl of Derby had by now 600, and Lilburne his own regiment, which would be 600 if the ranks were full; and Lilburne also had about 60 horse and dragoons which Birch had mounted for him from the Liverpool garrison. The royalists were superior in foot, having 800 to the Cromwellians 300; but the advantage was not so great as it appeared, for the Manxmen whom Derby had brought over with him were poor fighters; and moreover the battle was essentially a cavalry engagement, in which infantry played only a subordinate part. Wigan Lane was then a broad sandy lane bordered by hedges, and was thus as unsuitable a position for manoeuvring cavalry as could be imagined; but the time was too short for Lilburne to choose any other ground. Placing his musketeers behind the hedges, he awaited the royalist onset. The place had other memories for him, and perhaps for some of his men; for it was here that he had driven in Hamilton's rearguard in the campaign of 1648.

Difficult as the ground was, the combat which ensued was the fiercest of all the 10 years fighting in Lancas.h.i.+re. So furious was the royalist charge that they drove back the Cromwellians far along the lane. In the confined s.p.a.ce no manoeuvring was possible, and for nearly an hour the cavalry fought at close quarters. At length at the third charge Lilburne brought up a small reserve, and the superior steadiness of the veterans of the new Model prevailed over the impetuous bravery of the cavaliers.

The royalists wavered and began to give ground; Widdrington fell dead, Tyldesley was unhorsed and shot down as he attempted to extricate himself from the press;[233] Derby himself was wounded, and Lilburne's men chased the now broken royalist squadrons down the hill into Wigan.

The pursuit and slaughter continued through the streets and town. The rout was complete; Throgmorton and Boynton were also among the slain which numbered 300; 400 prisoners were taken, and the rest of the force melted away. In an hour the hopes of the royalists in Lancas.h.i.+re had been destroyed.

The Earl of Derby, who had fought with his accustomed bravery, was surrounded by six of his men and succeeded in reaching the town, where he slipped in through an open door of a house in the Market Place and lay concealed until nightfall. He had a number of slight wounds about the arms and shoulders, and his beaver which he wore over a steel cap was picked up afterwards in the Lane with thirteen sword cuts upon it.

In the middle of the night he left his place of refuge disguised in a trooper's old coat, and accompanied only by Colonel Roscarrock and two servants, made his way out of the town and rode away to join the King.

Events had moved with too tragic suddenness for news to come to those waiting in the Isle of Man. There is in the Tanner MSS. a short letter written by Henrietta Stanley on August 11th from Castle Rushen to Tyldesley who was superintending the embarkation of the troops at Douglas. The girl writes light-heartedly, in high hopes of the success of the expedition which fair winds were just about to set free to sail, and closes with a playful message to Colonel Roscarrock about a book.

Now, just fourteen days later, the royalist army had been scattered, Tyldesley was slain, and Roscarrock one of the three who rode away under cover of darkness with the wounded Earl of Derby. But no tidings of the disaster came to Castle Rushen for many weeks. After long waiting, the Countess sent out a pinnace but it was driven by contrary winds upon the coast of Ches.h.i.+re, and fell into the enemy's hands.[234]

Journeying as quickly as his wounds and weariness would permit, Derby reached the house of a Mr. Watson at Newport in Shrops.h.i.+re, where he met a friend, who conducted him to Boscobel House, which was then only occupied by two servants, William Penderel and his wife (Friday, August 29th). This was just a fortnight after he had landed at Preesall.

Resting there until Sunday, the Earl was then guided by Penderel to Gatacre, and so reached Worcester. Pursued by ill-fortune to the last, he arrived there bringing the news of his own disaster, only two days before the Battle of Worcester; where Cromwell, with an army more than twice as numerous as the Scots, had no difficulty in gaining a complete victory. Derby fought in the battle, and after the defeat his chief care was for Charles' safety. He was one of the few n.o.blemen who attended the King to Kinver Heath near Kidderminster; and it was by Derby's advice that Charles was conducted to White Ladies, and from there, under the care of the Penderels Richard and William, to Boscobel. "This is the King," said Derby to William Penderel, "thou must have a care of him and preserve him as thou didst me." Thus saved from the first pursuit, Charles after many narrow escapes reached Brighton and crossed to France.[235]

Derby then joined the retreat northwards with Leslie, the Earl of Lauderdale, Lord Talbot and others. They were attacked by Colonel Blundell, but managed to make their escape. Soon afterwards, however, they fell in with another skirmish and were captured. A Lancas.h.i.+re captain named Oliver Edge was riding by himself to see what had become of the 'forlorn,' when he noticed a party of horse in the field behind him. Fearing they were enemies he hastened back towards his regiment; when to his surprise all the hors.e.m.e.n dismounted and surrendered themselves prisoners. The Earls of Derby and Lauderdale were the most important of those captured. Edge gave the prisoners quarter but his action was over-ruled by the Parliament through no fault of his own.

Derby afterwards wrote of Edge as "one that was so civil to me, that I and all that love me are beholden to him." The Earl with some other prisoners was carried to Chester Castle.[236]

After the battle of Wigan Lane, Lilburne sent up Lieutenant Turner to London with letters to the House of Parliament which were read on August 30th. After hearing the letters Turner was called in to give an account of the battle; and the House made him a present of 100, at the same time voting to Lilburne the sum of 500 and lands to the yearly value of 200. This was to be raised out of some delinquent's lands, and was in satisfaction of two former votes of 1,000 each which remained undischarged. The Sunday after the battle (August 31st) was named as a public thanksgiving.[237]

The Earl of Derby's papers were referred to the Council of State to see whether they contained anything of importance (August 30th); for so hasty had been his flight from Wigan that all his baggage, including his cloaks with his Orders, fell into Lilburne's hands. On the following Monday Sir Harry Vane, the younger, reported to the House that papers of great importance had been found in the Earl's hampers, and as a result of their examination the Council of State decided on September 10 to represent to Parliament that Derby was a fit person to be brought to trial and made an example of justice; and that he should be tried by court-martial at Chester.[238] Parliament made the required vote on the following day, September 11th.

The irreconcilable hostility of the Earl to the Parliament, his high rank, and especially his prominent part in the last campaign, rather than his personal character, probably decided the Council of State to deal hardly with him. He was not a dangerous man. But it was thought necessary that an example should be made. Much has been written by royalists of the perfidy of putting him on trial for his life after quarter had been given; but Derby must have known that Edge's promise was liable to be over-ruled by a higher authority; and in any case it could have made little difference, for if Derby and his companions had not surrendered at Newport, they must have been captured during the next few days.

The trial began at Chester on September 29th. The Earl of Lauderdale had been sent to the Tower, and Giffard, another of those who had surrendered, escaped from Bunbury in Ches.h.i.+re. Two other prisoners, Sir Timothy Featherstonhaugh and Captain Benbow were tried at Chester with Derby. After the resolution of Parliament on September 11th, a commission was directed to Major-General Mitton, Colonel Duckenfield, Colonel Mackworth, Colonel Birch, Colonel Henry Brooke, Colonel Henry Bradshaw, Colonel Thomas Croxton, Colonel Gilbert Ireland, Colonel John Carter, Colonel Twistleton, Colonel Mason or any three of them. Most of the names were those of officers of the Ches.h.i.+re Militia Regiments enrolled in Hamilton's invasion of 1648. Birch and Ireland were the only two Lancas.h.i.+re names, and neither of them attended any of the sittings of the court martial. Mackworth was chosen President. He was Governor of Shrewsbury, and on Charles' march it was thought that he might be prevailed upon to surrender the town, but he returned a rude denial.

Most of the other members of the commission were comparatively unknown; indeed it was not a dignified court by which to try a great n.o.bleman.[239]

The articles against Derby were that he had in defiance of the Act of Parliament of August 12th, 1651, making it treason to hold correspondence with Charles Stewart, received a commission from him, proclaimed him King at several places in Lancas.h.i.+re, had raised forces to a.s.sist him, and on their defeat had himself fought in the Battle of Worcester. The Earl did not attempt to deny his acts, but he asked for more time to consider his answer, and the court was adjourned until the following day, Derby being furnished with a copy of the articles. Next morning (September 30th) at 8 o'clock in the morning the other two prisoners were tried. Derby was then brought to the bar, and pleaded that he was in the Isle of Man on August 12th and had never heard of the Act under which he was being convicted. His request for counsel was considered and allowed, and at the Earl's own suggestion Mr. Zancthy, a Chester lawyer, was named. The court then adjourned, and it was decided that the Earl should have liberty at 9 o'clock next morning to plead his own case. Later in the day a request was made on his behalf that he might have Sir Maurice Enslow or Sir Robert Brerewood as counsel instead of Zancthy, but this was refused.

Next day the Earl again pleaded that he was ignorant of the Act of Parliament of August 12th, and further that Captain Edge had given him quarter, and therefore that a court-martial had no authority over him; and he appealed to Cromwell to support his claim. The court, however, over-ruled the plea, and decided with two dissentients that there was cause to proceed to a conviction according to the articles proved. It was objected that quarter could not be allowed to traitors, and it cannot be supposed that Derby would have acted otherwise had he known of the Act of August 12th. The two voting in the negative were Twistleton and Delves, and the former desired his vote to be recorded. When the court met in the afternoon, however, and decided that the Earl was worthy of death and should be executed at Bolton on October 16th, Twistleton was one of those who voted. Delves was apparently not present, but of the nineteen members, none voted in the negative.

Regarding the place of execution ten voted for Bolton, and eight for Manchester; against the name of Lieutenant-Colonel Finch no place is given. So that it was only by a bare majority that Bolton was fixed upon.

The trial of the Earl of Derby was really only a pretence of justice. As in the case of Charles I., two years before, the verdict had been decided upon before the court met. The result was a foregone conclusion, for Parliament had resolved to put Derby out of the way. As a matter of law his excuses were good enough; but no one could suppose that the trial would be decided by technical points. Of course the Earl had not heard of the Act of August 12th, but it would have made no difference if he had; and he knew quite well that he had been exempted from pardon by the Parliament years before, and must have been fully conscious of the risk he ran in taking part in the invasion of the Scots. The Council of State had evidently decided also that the sentence of the court-martial should be carried into effect. They had written to Colonel Duckenfield on September 30th "As to what you mention of the Earl of Derby, order has been given by Parliament concerning him, which is to be effectually pursued, without expecting any interposition from Council."[240]

Nevertheless great efforts were naturally made to secure a reprieve. On September 29th, after the first day's sitting of the court, Derby himself directed two pet.i.tions, one to the Council, and the other to Parliament, promising to surrender the Isle of Man if his life should be spared. He also wrote to Lady Derby to surrender the Island, but no hope was given that his pet.i.tion would be granted even on these terms.

As a matter of fact the Isle of Man was not surrendered until November.

After the Earl's death Duckenfield and Birch led an expedition against it, and landed troops; but the Countess asked for terms, and before any fighting took place capitulated. Castle Rushen was given up on November 1st, and Peel Castle on November 3rd. Duckenfield thought that the terms were satisfactory, because "these Castles might have cost a great expense of blood, time and charge, besides several other difficulties which in this Island are to be undergone in a siege, which are only obvious to such as be upon the place."[241]

To return, however, to the trial of the Earl of Derby, Charles, Lord Strange, now appeared upon the scene. He was a worthless person of whom his father had written "I have no good opinion of him; he is not ashamed of his faults."[242] Strange was only 14 on the breaking out of the war, and had therefore been too young to have any considerable part in affairs. But a few years later the exile of the Isle of Man became irksome to him and he left his parents and went to France, where he spent most of the next few years. Now, however, he returned, and a reconciliation was made; and to do him justice Strange seems to have used great efforts on his father's behalf. He journeyed to London, but no one in London would intercede for the Earl, the intention of Parliament being evidently too well known. Derby then applied personally to Cromwell, emphasising the illegality of his condemnation by a court-martial after having received quarter. There seems to have been no doubt that Cromwell was anxious to secure the Earl's reprieve;[243] but Parliament would not listen to him. Other means were then used.

President Bradshaw was tried through his brother, Colonel Henry Bradshaw, one of the Earl's judges, and Brideoak, one of Derby's Chaplains, applied to Speaker Lenthall. Brideoak pleaded so well for himself that he was made Lenthall's own chaplain and Preacher at the Rolls, but he failed to secure his patron's pardon.

Finding there was no hope of reprieve the Earl made an attempt to escape which was very nearly successful. One night he found some pretext for being on the lead roof above his chamber, and procuring a rope slid down and escaped from the city. The alarm, however, was raised, and he was recaptured on the roodee, having unawares discovered himself to his pursuers. Before attempting to escape, he left on his table a letter to the Countess advising her to make the best terms she could with Colonel Duckenfield "who being so much a gentleman born will doubtless for his own honour's sake deal fairly with you."[244]

After this Derby was of course more carefully watched. He made one final attempt in a pet.i.tion to Lenthall on October 11th. In this he offered no vindication, but cast himself entirely on the Parliament's mercy, stating that he had been persuaded by Colonel Duckenfield that Parliament would spare his life. He again offered to surrender the Isle of Man, to take no further action against the Government, and to be imprisoned or banished as the House might direct. If this was refused he particularly asked that the place of his execution might be altered from Bolton, because "the nation will look upon me as a sacrifice for that blood which some have unjustly cast upon me"; and he claimed that the charge of cruelty at the capture of Bolton was never once mentioned during his trial, which indeed was quite true. This pet.i.tion was not brought forward in the House till Tuesday, October, 14th, the day before that which had been fixed for the execution. The House voted by 22 votes to 16 that the pet.i.tion should be read, Sir William Brereton being one of the tellers for the ayes; but no action could be taken, for if a reprieve had been intended it would have been decided upon long before.[245]

The Earl's last hours were moving and dignified enough; and told chiefly by Rev. Humphrey Bagguley, who was in attendance upon him during the few days before his death, they lose nothing in effect. Bagguley, with the Rev. Henry Bridgeman, Vicar of Wigan and brother of Orlando Bridgeman, together with Lord Strange, were the three who remained to the last. The authorities at Chester showed unnecessary cruelty in forbidding the Earl's children intercourse with him; but his second and third daughters, Lady Katherine and Lady Amelia were allowed to spend most of Monday, October 13th, with their father. Next day Derby was informed that he must start for Bolton on the following morning, and that evening he wrote his two last affectionate letters to his wife and children in the Isle of Man. Next morning he duly set out for Bolton, after his fellow-prisoners had been permitted to say farewell to him at the Castle gate. There was one sadder farewell still to be gone through. The Earl rode on horseback and about half a mile out of the town was met by his two daughters in a coach. Alighting from his horse he kneeled down and prayed for them before taking a final farewell. "This was the deepest scene of sorrow my eyes ever beheld," says the narrator, "so much grief, and so much tender concern and tender affection on both sides, I never was witness of before." That night the cavalcade rested at Leigh, and next day with a guard of 60 foot and 50 horse the Earl reached Bolton about noon. His request to be allowed to visit Sir Thomas Tyldesley's grave had been refused. After resting two hours at an inn the Earl was conducted to the scaffold, which had been built near the Cross partly of timber brought from the ruins of Lathom House.

Not very many people were present besides the soldiers on guard; but a tumult arising from some unexplained cause interrupted Derby in his last speech. He seems to have been afraid of the hostility of the crowd, but the soldiers with more reason feared a demonstration in his favour, for most of the onlookers evidently pitied him.[246] The Earl's last words were heard by few of those present, but they were taken down in shorthand and afterwards printed. In them he again repudiated the charges of cruelty made against him. After having spent some time in private prayer, the Earl gave the signal to the executioner by lifting his hands, and his head was severed at one blow. The body was taken by Lord Strange to Haigh Hall, near Wigan, and the next day to Ormskirk, to be buried with the former Earls of Derby. So died, if not the wonderful possessor of all the virtues which partisan biographers afterwards pretended, a brave, upright and Christian gentleman, weak rather than offending, who deserved a better fate.[247]

And with his death the Civil War in Lancas.h.i.+re really ends.

FOOTNOTES:

[211] _Vide_ note on p. 41. "A Declaration of the Earl of Derby, etc."

E. 566 (5). "A Message sent from the Earl of Derby, Governor of the Isle of Man, to his dread Sovereign Charles II., 1649." E. 566 (21).

[212] "C.S.P.," 1649-1650, p. 278. It would seem that this was the real reason for the final breaking off of the negotiations.

[213] "A Declaration of the Earl of Derby, etc." E. 566 (5). The letter has been frequently reprinted. Cf. Marlet, "Charlotte de la Tremoille,"

p. 186: "Signe Derby; mais faut-il dire: ecrit par lord Derby? On est en droit de croire que sa femme eut une parte preponderante a la redaction de ses phrases hachees, vibrantes, pareilles aux coups de canon, qui, sur les vaisseaux, saluent au lever du jour, le pavillon national, montant fierement dans les airs: car elles sont en parfaite conformite avec ses males repliques aux a.s.siegeants de Lathom-house: elles n'ont, au contraire, aucun trait de resemblance avec le style flasque et ampoule des lettres ou des discours du comte."

[214] "Carte MSS.," Vol. 9, fol. 55, 195; Vol. 11, pp. 326, 495; Vol.

12, fol. 127; Vol. 14, fol. 12, 249, 291; Vol. 23, fol. 105. There is also a letter referring to this matter in the "Ormonde MSS.," Hist. MSS.

Com., new series, Vol. 1, p. 99.

[215] "C.S.P.," 1649-50, p. 381; 1650, p. 290, etc.

[216] "C.S.P.," 1650, pp. 169, 282, 470.

[217] "Ashmolean MSS.," 1110, ff. 164, 165; 1112, ff. 43, 45. The particulars are from the Garter Records of Sir Edward Walker; but, curiously enough, the date in one of the volumes is given incorrectly as January, 1651. The fact that the patent was directed from Castle Elizabeth in Jersey, however, is proof of the correctness of the earlier date.

[218] It must, however, be remembered that few of the original Parliamentarian leaders in Lancas.h.i.+re were now left. a.s.sheton had died in February of this year, and Moore and Rigby in 1650.

[219] Gardiner, "Commonwealth and Protectorate," Vol. 2, p. 12.

[220] Cary's "Memorials," Vol. 2, pp. 299, 306.

[221] Cary's "Memorials," Vol. 2, p. 305. "Discourse," p. 70. The latter has high praise for the moderate conduct of the royal troops.

[222] "C.S.P.," 1651, pp. 97, 156, 302. "Rawlinson MSS.," a. 184, ff.

390, 392.

[223] "C.S.P.," 1651, p. 322.

[224] "C.W.T.," p. 290. "Discourse," p. 71.

[225] "A Brief Statement of His Majesty's Affairs, etc." ("Tanner MSS.,"

Vol. 54, fol. 155, 156.)

[226] "Clarendon" (Macray), Vol. 5, p. 180 (book 13, par. 62).

[227] "C.W.T.," p. 297. The "Discourse," p. 71, says: "Besides men of quality, some 300 Manck soldiers." In the previous month Derby had declared himself ready to join the King with 500 men well armed. Cary's "Memorials," Vol. 2, p. 288. "Seacome," p. 111, says that the Earl of Derby landed with "300 gallant gentlemen." For the warrant to Derby _vide_ "Tanner MSS.," Vol. 54, fol. 170. It was directed "To our Right Trusty and Right Well-beloved Cosen the Earl of Derby, our Captain Generall in our County Palatine of Lancaster," and states that owing to his rapid march the King had been unable to send particular summonses to Lancas.h.i.+re; he was now pursuing the enemy, who had been dislodged from Warrington Bridge. Gardiner, "Commonwealth and Protectorate," Vol. 2, p.