Keep Your Powder Dry

Henry Spencer fought at Edgehill and was rewarded for his services (the £3000 he gave to the King was purely a coincidence) by being made 1st Earl of Sunderland (and in case you are wondering, yes he was a forebear of a certain Lady Diana). Lord Spencer's was part of the King's Oxford Army. Formed in 1643 they fought at Bristol, Cirencester (where they suffered very heavy losses, some sources suggest they were completely captured), and First Newbury where Lord Spencer was killed by a cannonball. The Regiment continued as Spencer's Regiment of Horse fighting at Lostwithiel, Second Newbury, Donnington, Langport, Torrington before surrendering at Truro in 1646. The Regiment was raised anew by Colonel Thomas Colepepper (who had previously been the Lieutenant Colonel of Spencer's, so presumably he became the Colonel on Spencer's death) in 1648 where they were involved in the events at Colchester. I have chosen them to carry Colepepper's cornet - bears...

In a moment of madness I wondered if it would be possible to recreate Streeter's famous plan of Naseby using my 15mm figures. Streeter's Plan of Naseby Bit of a problem, haven't got a copy of Streeter's Plan; I do however have an original copy of Sturt's Plan. (If you don't know what I'm talking about see here for an explanation.) My original Sturt Some 'egging on' meant it was happening... Some caveats: topography wasn't going to be in the recreation, nor were the correct regiments in the correct places (shoddy, I know) for example Waller's dragoons stood in for Okey's at Sulby Hedges (there is a little bit of real Sulby Hedges grit on their basing though - does that count?). Figuresare ture 15mm, buildings form Hovels, Total Battle Miniatures, Naseby windmill is my own conversion of an Ironclad Miniatures Russian windmill. hedges are from S&A Scenics, and roads from Fat Frank. Naseby village t...

Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex had been executed for leading a rebellion against Elizabeth I; the family was stripped of the title, but this would later be restored to the family by James I. Bust of Essex, high on the wall of The Devereux, Temple Bar, London The 3rd Earl of Essex was friends with Henry Stuart, the Prince of Wales; which is a little surprising when we know that he was to go on and lead an army against the Crown. Essex had an undistinguished military career between 1620 and 1624 where he served in Protestant armies in Europe. Notably, he commanded a regiment in the unsuccessful campaign to relieve the siege of Breda. In 1638, he fought for Charles I during the First Bishops' War in 1639 as Lieutenant-General of the army in the North of England. As he wasn't given a command during the Second Bishops' War he threw his toys out of his pram and moved ever closer to the cause of Parliament. Played by Charles Gray in t...

Cromwell's Regiment was originally a single troop of the Earl Of Essex's Regiment of Horse which was raised in Huntingdon. Cromwell went to Edgehill, but unlike the eponymous film, arrived too late to actually take part in the battle. The troop didn't really see any action during the rest of 1642 before returning to Cambridgeshire where it became a five troop Regiment in it's own right. In 1643 the Regiment mainly spent it's time putting down local Royalist uprisings in Cambridgeshire, and took part in a handful of slightly larger affairs: Grantham, Gainsborough and Winceby. The Regiment continued to grow in size having ten troops by September 1643, and fourteen by January 1644 (by which time Cromwell had been promoted to Lieutenant General of Horse). The Regiment then went on to fight at  Lincoln, the Siege of York, Marston Moor (all fourteen troops), Banbury Castle, Second Newbury. Half the regiment joined Waller's Southern Association participating in ...

Now with added map with locations and travel directions! Following on from    London Part Five   here are some more interesting Civil War related objects/places worth a visit if you are passing. Plus one or two urban myths get shattered. A hidden gem - St Mary le Strand's diptych of Charles and Henrietta Maria The first item of interest, well it probably isn't there, despite so many arguing that it is. The lines of London's fortifications place a large fort in Hyde Park . Earthworks can clearly be seen adjacent to Park Lane near Curzon Gate and it is oft argued that these earthworks are the remains of the fort and the defensive walls erected by Parliament. The 'earthworks' today The site of the fort, bottom left; the line of the walls stretching up from the fort  (Rocque's 1746 map) Sadly, whilst this is clearly the historical location of part of Parliament's defences, these earthworks are most likely to be 'spoil' from ...

After so many Regiments of Horse I'm taking time off from cavalry and rewarding myself with a Regiment of Foot. As Richard Bagot's Regiment of Horse has just graced the blog, it is only right and proper that his Regiment of Foot do too. The Regiment became the Lichfield garrison in 1644, which is something at least part of the Regiment maintained until 1646. They developed a reputation for being proficient skirmishers and plunderers - obviously venturing out of Lichfield to resupply the garrison. As well as these garrison duties they fought at Cotes Bridge, Leicester, Naseby, Huntingdon, possibly Rowton Heath, and the failed attempt to relieve Chester. Richard was wounded at Naseby and retreated to Lichfield where he died of his wounds. He was buried at Lichfield  Cathedral, where his memorial is still visible in the south aisle of the choir (the memorial is in Latin, but bears his coat of arms - look for a goat's head). Their coat colour is unknown bu...

1648, Parliament has Charles imprisoned at Carisbrooke Castle, but secretly the King plots to reclaim his throne by force. He signs a treaty with many of the Scots Covenanters (who now become Engagers) to invade England and join forces with Royalist sympathisers. It must be noted that the Scottish Kirk did not sanction the Engagement with the King, so the Engager Army was short of many of the most talented and experienced soldiers from the Army of the Covenant. Cattermole's 'Battle of Preston and Walton', Harris Museum May 1648, the Engagers rise up and invade England. Royalist risings take place in Kent, Essex and more importantly for the Engagers - Cumberland. A mainly Scottish joint Engager-Royalist army marches south, whilst the New Model Army marches to confront them. Cromwell's forces mustered the New Model Army and the Northern Association in Yorkshire and marched down the Ribble Valley to meet the Engagers and Royalists at Preston. The two sides me...

Here we have the first of a brace of Bagot's: in this case, a straight out of the packet no headswaps cavalry unit, with the sort of flag even I could paint free hand. Richard Bagot was the Royalist governor of Lichfield and led his Regiment of Foot at Naseby, where he was mortally wounded. But let us concern ourselves with his Regiment of Horse. Raised by Bagot in 1643, not long after he was made Governor, his Regiment of Horse was mainly a garrison regiment based in Lichfield; however, they did, on occasion, venture out to fight with Prince Rupert. They fought at Cotes Bridge, Newark, Burton on Trent, Leicester, and Naseby. If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider  supporting  the blog.  Thanks .

An oft asked question on forums is "which is the best introductory book about the English Civil Wars?" The editorial team at KeepYourPowderDry working on the next thrilling post. (Actually a detail from the 1650 news sheet "The Ranters Ranting") The simple answer is: "there isn't one". This is usually followed by a slightly more helpful answer  - "Haythornthwaite".  Sadly, "Haythornthwaite" is almost as unhelpful an answer as "there isn't one". Nice pictures, but fairly dated and contains a number of errors (including some in the pictures) which he has repeated from earlier books and other authors. These errors have, in turn, been replicated by a number of figure sculptors, writers and websites. There's a reason it is so cheap on on-line auctions. I must confess that when I re-started gaming the Civil Wars I purchased a copy of Haythornthwaite; it really is inspirational, but as my knowledge base has inc...