would attack him, with many advantages, and entry to Worcester were barely 13,000 in number. The original number was miserably below what the nation ought to have furnished, but it must be borne in mind how it was rent by ecclesiastical disputes. The forces of the western counties, manifest their loyalty WHITE DOESKIN disclaimed the autho rity of the Scottish Parliament, and would not act in concert with Leslie's army, which admitted Hamilton's "engagers" or "malignants" into its ranks. They called themselves Protesters, and the other party were styled Resolutioners; two distinctions which rent the Lowland portion of the realm with theological hatred, out of which Cromwell did not fail to make military profit. On the 20th "the latter was at Doncaster; two days later he marched through Nottingham, and proceeding by Coventry and Stratford-on-Avon, he entered Evesham on the 27th," and from that place his patrols or advanced parties opened a communication with those corps under Lambert and Harrison, whom the Scots had repulsed at Warrington Bridge; and he soon found himself within two miles of Worcester, and at the head of 30,000 men, thus outnumbering Lieutenant General Leslie by fully 17,000 horse and foot. He now matured his plans to bring on a general action, and as the Scots no longer possessed any means for avoiding one, their generals stood ready to accept the gage of CAVALIER GLOVE WORN BY CAPT. LENCH AT WORCESTER, 1651. Clarendon, in the above paragraph, overrates the strength of the Scottish troops, which on their battle when offered. On approaching Worcester from the east, Cromwell saw himself cut off from giving an Worcester.] CROMWELL'S "LUCKY DAY." immediate attack by the river Severn, along the right bank of which the city lay. He found, moreover, that by Leslie's foresight the bridges above and below it had been cut or destroyed, and that every boat and punt had been sunk or taken away, and that the Scottish officers jealously watched the whole course of the stream. 277 From Stratford, from Warwick, and other places on the Avon, cobles and other boats were conveyed overland upon cars, till a sufficient number were procured for the end in view; while a column of horse, under Lilburn, rode up the Severn, seized Bandley Bridge, and established posts of observation along the main line of retreat which the Scots would probably pursue to the North. By night an extensive line of fires informed him that the heights around the town were At length came the 3rd of September, deemed occupied in force, and the information afforded to by the superstitious Cromwell his lucky day, and him by the peasantry warned him to expect a desperate resistance; but aware how far he outnumbered the Scots, Cromwell did not care much for that or fear the issue. He was daring enough to conceive the idea of crossing not only the Severn, but the Teme, and by approaching the city from the high grounds which overlook it on the north and west, to cut off all chance of retreat for the Royalists if defeated; and the plan succeeded beyond even his most sanguine expectations. Between the 28th of August and the 3rd of September, the time was devoted on one side to the construction of a pontoon bridge; on the other, by the Scots, in strengthening the fortifications of the city, and completing those works which they had begun. the anniversary of his victory at Dunbar; and on this day, as on that, he was greatly excited. "Cromwell," says a note to Warwick's Memoirs, "retained during his whole life symptoms of transport or ecstasies, which were imputed, according to the temper of his observers, to an overstrained imagination, to the inspiration of the Deity, or to an infernal possession. Before his memorable victories of Dunbar and Worcester, his eyes were observed to sparkle, his frame became violently agitated, and he burst out into strange and violent fits of laughter. In a word, he was not himself altogether free from that fanatical frenzy which he knew so well how to excite and to direct in others." A portion of the Scottish army was stationed at the suburb of St. John, on the western bank of the Severn, at some distance south-west from Worcester, which stands itself on the left or eastern bank of the river, and was then defended by an intrenchment of the Scots, named by them Fort Royal. The suburb of St. John was connected with the city by the Severn bridge; and a simultaneous attack on both sides was resolved on. The night of the 2nd saw Lambert's division crossed to the western bank of the Severn, and then there was but the Teme, a tributary of the latter, between him and General Massey. lished, while that of the king lay exposed either to risk a disastrous battle, or endure the tedious process of reduction by blockade. "We have given the numbers of Cromwell's army," writes one of his biographers, "inclusive of militia and trained bands, at 30,000 men; that of the king scarcely came up to 13,000; and the reader will naturally ask why, with such a vast superiority, the Parliamentary general should have scrupled to adopt the more safe as well as the more humane process of ending the war by blockade?" Though lust of blood usually goes hand in hand with gloomy and hypocritical fanaticism, he adds, "it is not hard to account for the future Protector's decision. In the first place, the militia, unaccustomed to protracted operations, might desert to their homes; in the next placeand this to him was by far the more influential reason of the two-Cromwell was not ignorant that the existing Government exercised its prerogatives in direct opposition to the wills of a great majority in the nation. Not only the Episcopalians, but the Presbyterians, with the Catholics, and all except the Independents, were heartily disgusted with the new order which things had assumed, and scarcely concealed their intention of bringing back the son of their murdered sovereign, and reinstating him in the authority which his fathers had wielded." While Cromwell diverted the attention of the Royal army, by a display of troops and standards opposite the town, General Lambert suddenly led a division of infantry towards Upton, the bridge of which had only been partly broken down, while its defence was intrusted to Massey, with the fifth horse brigade, and a body of foot. Lambert attacked this deserter of the Parliament with rancorous fury. A single plank only was placed across the stream. By this his pikemen pushed steadily on, forming up shoulder to shoulder as they passed, while his cannon and musketeers swept all the space before them, and his cavalry sought a passage by swimming on each flank of the crossing infantry. Massey felt that he held the key of his royal master's position, and he held it resolutely, like a gallant soldier, till he received a severe wound, and was borne from the field. A kind of panic, on his fall, seized his troops, and, after having repeatedly hurled the Republicans by pike and musket into the river, their steadiness forsook them; they retired in confusion, leaving the bridge in possession of the enemy. Lambert promptly and efficiently repaired the half-broken arch; and before many hours elapsed 10,000 men were established along the course of the Teme. Charles, alarmed by this important movement, ordered the immediate destruction of all the bridges on the latter. At an early hour on the morning of the 3rd of September-or, more probably, Leslie-ordered to the front he was obeyed; but the order had come too late to be of value. Cromwell was aware that all was at stake. Womanish pity was not among his failings; and, in the resolution to maintain his power, he had no remorse for relentless slaughter. At an early hour, then, on the morning of the 3rd, Fleetwood's division began to advance from its position. Driving in by a fire of musketry the Scottish outposts, and gradually ascending the eminences in front, it could be seen by Charles, who had stationed himself for a time in one of the towers of the cathedral, where he was able to comprehend the nature of this movement; and then he strong reinforcements of horse and foot, to protect the retiring pickets. The hedgerows were lined by Cromwell, whose calculations were accurately the Scottish musketeers, who stoutly disputed every made, and their results usually certain, now directed fence and barrier, while their squadrons made Fleetwood, to whose guidance the advanced corps many most brilliant and effective charges through of 10,000 men was entrusted, to repair these bridges the gaps and other openings, and none gave way, at all hazard; and, though the Scottish musketers, till fresh masses of the English pouring across the by firing on the workers, did all in their power to Severn, and led by Cromwell in person, came on retard the operations, Cromwell's orders were "at push of pike;" and then, overborne by the obeyed, and the Teme was crossed at every point. weight and number of the enemy, they were comFinally, the pontoon bridge was thrown across the pelled to fall back before that weapon which they Severn, about half-a-mile below Worcester. Direct deemed their national one, till ultimately the lines of communication between the extended whole ridge in front of Worcester was lost, or left wings of the Republican army were thus estab-in possession of the dead and wounded alone. entirely of militia; but the more veteran battalions, many of which had been in arms since the war began, closed up, and closer and deadlier grew the strife, as the pikemen crossed their crashing pikes, and the musketeers fired point-blank in each other's faces. yet the battle raged with unabated fury. On one hand, the Republicans fought but to conquer and destroy; on the other the Scots fought with the courage of that despair which is without hope. Every street was contested, till they were strewed with dead, and at last the market-place was threatened, and the escape of the king became imperilled. Absolute overthrow was at hand, and the courtiers of Charles urged that he must instantly provide for his own safety. A Scottish officer rallied and formed a body of cavalry, and led them through the streets, and with wild cheers they made one headlong and des The Scots swept away a pet corps of Cromwell's, which he vainly termed his "Life Guards," and for some time obtained possession of the English artillery, which they omitted to spike; but corps after corps came pouring against them, and the guns were retaken and wheeled round, once more to belch destruction on the Scottish line. "My lord general," says an eye-witness, "did ex-perate charge. For a brief space it was successceedingly hazard himself, by riding up and down in the midst or the fire; riding himself in person to the enemy's foot, to offer them quarter, whereto they returned no answer but (volleys of) shot." For three hours the battle raged at this point with ever-varying success. Cromwell asserted that it was "as stiff a contest as he had ever seen;" but at last the Scots were compelled to give way to the numbers that overwhelmed them, and driving them within the walls, threatened them even there. The redoubt called Fort Royal, which commanded the main approach to the city, after being battered by cannon for half-an-hour, was carried by storm, and 1,500 Scots who had thrown themselves into it died on the spot. Other works were carried in rapid succession, and their guns turned on the fugitives, or on all that still continued to line the walls and hedges. Fleetwood following up his success, soon converted the retreat of these into a rout, and menaced the city by Friar Street. Ludlow asserts that the Cheshire Militia, led by General Harrison and Colonel Caxton, entered the place at the heels of the fugitives. These were heard crying aloud for the cavalry supports to charge and clear the streets; but, by some strange mistake, that arm, so important at such a juncture, was not brought into play till the time for using it was past. At last an effort was made to charge; the young Duke of Hamilton fell mortally wounded (he died four days after, and was buried in the cathedral). Encumbered by the crowds of broken. and disheartened infantry, and exposed to a plunging fire of cannon from the captured works, the cavalry could make no effectual charge, nor was their reluctance to do so even overcome by the impassioned exclamation of their young king: "Shoot me through the head, and let me not see the sad consequences of this day!" By this time the sun had set, and the autumn evening was darkening into night upon the spires of Worcester and the windings of the Severn; but ful; many a foam-flecked horse, and many a loyal Scottish dragoon perished under the fire of the Republicans; but under cover of the charge Charles effected his escape by the gate of St. Martin (Père d'Orleans calls it the Sudbury Gate), attended by a throng of fugitive horsemen. The survivors of the cavalry,' under Leslie, with Viscount Dudhope (afterwards Earl of Dundee), Sir Alexander Fraser, of Durris (the king's physician), and others, cut a passage out and escaped; but the city, with all its stores, matériel, and fully 8,000 prisoners, fell into the hands of Cromwell, who was wont to term this bloody 3rd of September his "crowning mercy." The dying Duke of Hamilton (who, when expiring, "expressed only triumph that he died in the cause of King Charles "), Gavin, Earl of Carnwath, the Earls of Lauderdale, Rothes, Derby, and Cleveland, five other peers, and 150 persons of rank, were among the captives. Though severely wounded, Derby was afterwards executed at Bolton. Major-General Montgomery, who had been with Massey at the defence of Powick Bridge, was taken prisoner, and sent back to Edinburgh Castle. Massey, whose wound was serious, escaped, but afterwards surrendered himself to the Countess of Stamford, mother of the Parliamentarian Lord Grey, of Groby, "who caused his wounds to be carefully dressed, and sent notice of his surrender to the army" (Ludlow). Somewhere about 3,000 of all ranks escaped from Worcester, but every fugitive whom the peasantry could slay was instantly butchered. On the side of the conquerors it is not easy to tell how many perished, for Cromwell seems to have been to the full as well versed in the art of concealing his own losses as Bonaparte; yet, making due allowance for his systematic mis-statements, shall probaby not exceed the truth if we put it down at less than 500 men. Nevertheless, had it doubled this amount, the loss must have been we |