deavouring to gain the hedges and entrenchments, the other resolutely opposing them. Many fell at the foot of this hillock; but not one put a foot on it, except as a prisoner. Again reinforced with a fresh body of horse, this gallant band returned to the charge, and almost reached the garden-wall,* while others penetrated even to the lawn in front of the house. Sir John Brown, for a time compelled to give way, prudently fell back on the reserve in the garden. Meanwhile Sir Richard Page, with his leather guns, and 400 musqueteers in the dry moat, delivered a biting fire. Ludlow's cavalry recoiled, wheeled about, and retreated, followed by Sir John Brown; and many a brave trooper fell, never more to draw sword again in cause of Parliament. The foot, however, soon rallying, advanced towards Thelwall's reserve, who brought his men boldly forward. Without waiting to return their fire, the Parliament men rushed in upon the Cavaliers and gallantly fought to the death. Even by their enemy's admission they struggled heroically; but the odds were against them, for they were able to do little against an enemy sheltered by walls and earth-works. Thus, though twice reinforced, and bravely led forward, twice they were repulsed; and, abandoning all hope of penetrating this well defended place, they gradually retired out of fire, to Clay Hill, leaving one of Crawfurd's colours and two "drakes" in the hands of the successful defenders of the royal stronghold.

Simultaneous with the attack on the garden, Manchester's left column made a vigorous assault, by the village of Shaw, on the north side of the Lamborne, towards the front of Shaw-house; but Sir George Lisle stripped to his shirt, and therefore (says 'Mercurius Aulicus") mistaken for a witch § by the Parliamen

* There was formerly a sunken road in front of this wall, with a raised bank on each side. When the roadway was diverted some years ago, and the present wooden fence erected, several human skeletons were met with; and a 6lb cannonball was found firmly imbedded in the brickwork On the Lawn in front of Shaw House are four iron guns, about 5ft. 9in. long, with 3 inches bore. Such as these were called "Minions; and they were probably left by the Parliamentarians, as memorials, when the house was given up to its owner, Sir Thos. Dolman.

+ See Capt. Gwyn's "Mil. Mem." ch. xiii. The portable leather gun was made of the toughest leather, and bound with metallic hoops. A strong horse could carry two of them through miry roads. They could be discharged only 7 or 8 times. Col. Wemys is commonly supposed to have been the inventor; but the original inventor was Gustavus Adolphus, who employed them at the battle of Leipsic, Sept. 7, 1631. See "Mil. Mem. of Col. John Birch," Camd. Soc., 87, 88. Ludlow's "Memoirs," p. 131.

"At the last Newb'ry Battle, in the sight

Of Majesty, he led the Foot to fight,
Strip'd to his Shirt, that others might descry
His Actions, and Example take thereby;
From whence the frighted Rebels gave it out,
That a white Witch was seen to fly about
The Royal Army, scowring to and fro,
Where'er the Contest did the hottest grow."

'Hist. Grand Rebell.' By Henry Ward.

Vol. ii, p. 432.
T

tary soldiers, burst at once, with his fiery cavalry, into the very heart of Manchester's infantry, and scattered them "like spray before some storm-driven ship." No pause was made,--no mercy shown by the excited troopers,-the whole mass was swept up Clay Hill,* pursued by the enraged cavaliers, who hewed down the fugitives by scores. It is said that they only escaped total destruction through the devoted heroism of Ludlow's men, who sacrificed themselves by moving forward to cover the retreat. So great was the execution that Clarendon states 500 men were left dead on one little spot of ground. +

The moon was now up. Manchester had received a reinforcement of horse, expected earlier in the day; and he resolved to make another and final effort. However skilful and daring the attempt, it was foiled by the pluck of the Royalists, who stood their ground, and again compelled their assailants to retire.

Though, at first sight, a matter of surprise that Shaw House should have suffered so little, considering that a series of violent attacks were made on it by the Parliamentarians, this seems easy of explanation. Firstly, only the eastern end of the House is turned towards Clay Hill, on the slope of which the enemy's guns must have been posted. Next, between the latter point and the building rises a hillock, on which the Water-tower now stands, and this very materially sheltered the house from view and injury. Thirdly, there were no heavy siege-guns brought against it, as at Donnington Castle. Further, it was concealed by trees, in most cases stout enough to stop shot from light field-guns, and was surrounded by high fences and a thick rampart. Thus we need not wonder that it escaped unscathed.‡

These important fights, at Speen and Shaw, constituted the last great action between the two parties here. Whatever its ultimate results may have been, at first each army seems to have fancied itself worsted. The Parliamentarians had been repulsed, and had suffered severely at Shaw; but their right wing at Speen had been completely successful. The King, on the other hand, who had been a witness of his ill fortune on the Speen side, and unaware that at Shaw the tide of war had turned in his favour, considered his position no longer tenable, and determined to act at once on the resolution he had taken in the morning, in anticipation of an unfavourable issue, namely, to retreat on Wallingford. Orders were accordingly dispatched to Prince Maurice, Lord Goring, Lord Hopton, Sir Jacob Astley, and the

* Walker's "Hist. Disc." p. 113.

+ Clarendon's "Hist." II. p. 548.

A shot-hole in a shutter in one of the eastern rooms of the House is registered by a brass plate as having been made by a bullet when the King was standing close by. When this could have occurred is difficult to determine.

other commanders, to draw off their men to Snelsmore Heath.* Battalion after battalion began silently to quit its ground, and march in the direction of the rendezvous; while the guns and heavy stores were conveyed by a circuitous route to Donnington Castle. Charles, at the earnest entreaty of his friends, who perceived the utter frustration of all his hopes, now thought of providing for his own safety; and, having sent for his guard, amid a troop of fugitive horsemen made good his escape to Donnington Castle, deciding to proceed to Bath, where he might by his presence hasten the Welsh and Northern forces which his nephew Prince Rupert was then getting together for his assistance. After half-an-hour spent in the Castle with Sir John Boys, in whose care he left his wounded, baggage, artillery, and ammunition, the King, with the young Prince of Wales, the Duke of Richmond, the Earls of Lindsey, Berkshire, and Newport, Lord Capel, and others, and accompanied by a guard of about 300 horse, hurried from the scene of his overthrow, and by about four o'clock in the afternoon of the next day reached Bath (having ridden over fifty miles, as Symonds says, "sans rest"),† where he met Prince Rupert, and informed him of the sad disaster.

The retreat of the army was ably conducted by Prince Maurice; and, notwithstanding the great superiority of the enemy in cavalry, he got to Wallingford by way of Compton without hindrance the next day, and then quietly went on to Oxford. The Parliamentarians, who remained on the ground all night, awoke in the morning to find the King was gone! Waller and Manchester appear to have been entirely ignorant of each other's success or failure until the next day. Simeon Ash "The says,next morning, as soon as we had in the field, near the bodies. both of friends and foes which lay in the field, made our addresses to God both by praise and prayer according to the present affecting providences, we march'd over the river [Lamborne] to Newbury; and all this time we neither met with, nor heard of our friends at Speen."+

Thus finished the Second Battle of Newbury; but the losses on both sides, in killed, wounded, and prisoners were heavy. Sir Edward Walker § gives the following list of the "hurt and wounded" on the Royalist side:-King's Life-guard, 29 common soldiers; Prince of Wales's Regiment, 69 common soldiers, 2 Captains, 2 Lieutenants, 1 Ensign, 1 "Sarjant;" Sir Jacob

Snelsmore Heath formerly extended over the whole of the now-enclosed fields between Donnington Castle and the present Common. At the time of the Civil War there were one or two cottages standing between the Common and the Castle, which Sir John Boys burnt to prevent their being occupied by the enemy. + Symonds's Diary, p. 146.

"A True Relation," &c. & Harl. MSS., No. 6804; 92.

Astley's Regiment, 16 common soldiers; Col. Bellasis' Regiment, 25; Col. Bowles' Regt., 23; Col. Dalton's Regt., 22; Col. Owen's Regt., 14; Col. Harford's Regt. 18; Col. Dyve's Regt., 14; Col. Blagg's [Blague's], 6 common soldiers: in Sir Gilbert Gerrard's "Tertia," "9 officers slain," 22 "shott;" 100 "soldiers slain,” 116 "shott," "41 sicke and unable to march :" in Lord Harbert's 5 "Readgements," 2 Captains, 1 Ensign, 45 common soldiers, "11 sicke men; my Ld. Harbert hath taken care to send these into Bristol:" in Lord Grandison's Regt., "5 common soldiers, 2 sicke men, 11 men killed:" in Col. Charles Garard's Regt., the Lieut.-Col., 2 Captains, 2 Lieutenants, 9 Ensigns, 7 "Sarjants," 78 common soldiers. The following summary of the casualities attending the action of October 27th, on the King's side, is given in Sir E. Walker's MS. here referred to-of Col. Sands' [Sandys'] Regt., 26; of Lord River's Regt., ......; of the LordGeneral's Regt., 74; Soldiers hurt and not able to march, 351; of Col. Chas. Garard's Regt., 78; altogether 529, and 59 Officers hurt, total 588.

It is difficult from the above account, to summarize the number of those actually killed and of those only wounded; but the King's loss was evidently much greater than some of the royalist writers represent; for each party sought to reduce its own loss and augment that of its opponent. Sir Edward Walker, in his "Discourses," says there were not above 100 common soldiers slain; and Clarendon follows him; Sir Roger Manley, a zealous champion in the royal cause, goes so far as to say "3000 men were slain on the King's side;" while Whitelock, the Parliamentary writer, reduces the number to 200 slain and 300 prisoners. The following royalists are mentioned as having been killed in this engagement:-Sir William St. Leger, M.P., son and heir of Sir William St. Leger, a Privy Councillor, and LordPresident of Munster in 1629; Lt.-Cols. Leke, Houghton, Topping, and Jones (killed on the little hill where the Water-tower now is at Shaw); Majors Trevellian and Knyvett; Captains Whittingham, Catelyn, Walpole, Philpot, and Mildmay (eldest son of Sir Humphrey Mildmay); also Mr. Barksdale, a volunteer. This loyal gentleman was a member of an old Newbury family, one of whom (Mr. Thomas Barksdale) gave an acre of land to the Parish of Speen, the rent thereof to pay for a sermon at Speen Church every Easter-Tuesday. Of the wounded were the Earl of Brentford, shot in the head; Sir John Grenville, Sir John Campsfield, Sir Edward Waldegrave, Lt.-Col. Page (shot in both thighs and in the arm); Major Alford, shot in the thigh; Capt. Wells, wounded severely, fell into the hands of the enemy, and died in prison; Mr. Stephen Knight, "chief clerk of the Avery" to King Charles. In his petition for restoration to the office, shortly after the return of Charles II, Mr. Knight pleads that he was severely wounded at Newbury in the last battle, and sub

sequently plundered of all he possessed, and that his family were turned out into the streets.

That the prisoners captured by the Parliamentary Army were numerous, appears in the contemporary papers.* It seems that many of the persons here enumerated belonged to the neighbourhood, and their descendants still reside in the locality. Some five or six hundred "stragglers were subsequently taken prisoners by the Parliamentarians when they entered Newbury. Of these the "Weekly Account," in the succeeding week (from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4, 1644), reports-"The Letters from Sir William Waller confirm the taking of a great store of arms and many prisoners since the late victory near Newbury; but most of the men, being poore country-fellows (that were forst [forced], and offered to take the covenant not to fight any more against the Parliament), they were left to their election, whether they would fight for the Parliament, or depart to their own dwellings, upon which many of them made choice of the Parliament's service."

Of Lord Cleveland's Brigade, were-Lord Cleveland, Captain Philpot,+ Lieut. Harper, Lieut. Roane, Cornet Whealand, Quarermr. Ironmonger, Quartermr. Campion, Quartermr. Nicholas, Mr. John Percy, and 38 Troopers of the same Brigade.

Of Sir John Astley's Brigade-11 officers and troopers.

Of Lord Hopton's Brigade-Capt. Elmes, Quartermr. Simon Court, and Henry Dimmock, Hugh Pope, and Edward Phillips, "Gentlemen of Armes," besides divers troopers.

The following were also taken prisoners-Colonel Philpot, Capt. Mildmay, Capt. Nevet [Kynvett], Mr. Richard Nishton, Mr. John Curtis, Mr. Edward Archer, and "divers other Gentlemen of Armes and Reformadoes,|| of these many of them are officers, the rest gentlemen;"-Mr. John Champion, Mr. George Edmons, Mr. Henry Leonard, Mr. John Edges, Mr. John Goare, Mr. John Williams, Mr. William Bartholomew, Mr. James Lovelock, Mr. Henry Atkins, Mr. Thos. Poply [Pofley?], Mr. Thos. Holden, Mr. James Fant [Plant?] Mr. William Dormer, Mr. Thos. Plant, Mr. John Aldred, Mr. John Petty, Mr. Michael Francklin, Mr. James Champion, Mr. John Farnaby, Mr. Robert Hill, Mr. Henry Coard [Court?], Mr. Peter Holway [Holloway ?], Mr. Thos. Compton, Mr. George Huntley, Mr. Richd. Thebon. Mr. Cornelius Owen, Mr. Thos. Greenfield, Mr. Richd. Painter, Mr. John Hobbs, Mr. Edmond Coard, Mr. John Davis, Mr. Wm. Halen [Allen?], Mr. Edwd. James, Mr. Joseph Hitchcocke, Mr. Robt. Kinder [Kimber?], Mr. Daniel Stout, Mr. William Wood, Mr. John Hill, Mr. Wm. Banister, Mr. Richd. Cornewell, Mr.

* "Perfect Occurrences of Parliament," from 25 Oct. to 1st Nov. 1644. † Died of his wounds.

Both died of wounds.

"Reformadoes" were officers who, having lost their men, were continued on whole or half-pay.