A little before this second siege, another of the Earl of Derby's
strongholds was taken and destroyed--Greenhaugh Castle, in Garstang
parish. Though small, this was said to be "very stronge, and builded
so that it was thot impregnable with any ordenance whatsoever," and,
moreover, it had only one door, and the "walls of an exceeding
thickness."[150] This castle was entirely demolished. As far as
Lancashire was concerned, the war for the present was over, but its
effects upon the people had, as may easily be imagined, been very
severe, and this fact was fully recognised by the Parliament, for on
the occasion of a general fast (September 11, 1644), it was ordered
that one-half of the money collected in London and Westminster was
to be sent for the relief of Lancashire, "where, in some parts, the
people had nothing left to cloathe them, or bread for their children
to eat, in consequence of the unheard-of spoil, rapine and cruelties,
lately committed by the enemie." In this year, the Parliament took to
itself the patronage of all the church livings in the duchy, and as the
Royalists had forcibly taken the duchy seal from the Vice-Chancellor
(Christopher Banister), a new seal was made.
The cause of the King was now considered as hopeless; nevertheless, one
further attempt was made to revive the spirit of loyalty to the Crown.
General Sir Marmaduke Langdale, having collected a considerable number
of men in the north of Lancashire and in Westmorland, joined them to
the forces raised in Scotland, and placed them under the command of the
Duke of Hamilton; this united army, consisting of 15,000 foot and 6,000
horse,[151] crossed the Border on July 4, 1648, and shortly afterwards
marched through Kendal, _en route_ for Lancaster and Preston, with a
view of ultimately reaching Manchester. In the meantime Cromwell had
started for the North, gathering forces as he went, and on August 16
he reached Stoneyhurst. The Duke of Hamilton's army was now stationed
near Walton-le-Dale, on one side the Ribble, and Sir Marmaduke
Langdale's forces on Ribbleton Moor on the other, so that the latter
held a position between the two main forces. Cromwell at once advanced
against Sir Marmaduke; the manner of doing so will be best told in his
own words[152]: "There being a lane very deep and ill up to the enemies
army and leading to the town, we commanded two regiments of horse, the
first whereof was Colonel Harrison's, and the next my own, to charge up
that lane; on the other side of them advanced the Battel, which were
Lieutenant-Colonel Reads, Colonel Deans, and Colonel Prides on the
right, Colonel Brights and my Lord Generals on the left, and Colonel
Ashton with the Lancashire regiments in reserve.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account