The "notable victory," as he phrased it, gained by the embryo Lord Protector at Gainsborough, though it proved insufficient in raising the siege, yet afforded an early example of that decision, energy, and valour for which Cromwell subsequently became so famous. Whitelocke, in his "Memorials," says that this gallant encounter with Newcastle's forces was "the beginning of Cromwell's great fortunes, and he now began to appear in the world." If it made the name of the Lord of the Fens, as he had been previously designated, a familiar word throughout England, it did not add much lustre to that of Lord Willoughby. He was obliged to surrender Gainsborough; and Lincoln, whither he had retreated, had also to be given up to the victorious Royalists. In a desponding letter to Cromwell, written from Boston, August 5th, 1643, he says:--"Since the business of Gainsborough the hearts of our men have been so deaded that we have lost most of them, by running away, so that we were forced to leave Lincoln upon a sudden; and if I had not done it then I should have been left alone." His position even at Boston seems to have been very precarious, for he adds, "If you will endeavour to stop my Lord of Newcastle, you must presently draw them (the Parliamentarian forces) to him and fight him, for without we be masters of the field we shall be pulled out by the ears one after the other." In the same letter he pathetically remarks, "You see by this how sadly your affairs stand. It's no longer disputing, but out instantly all you can; raise all your bands, send them to Huntingdon; get up what volunteers you can; hasten your horses; send these letters to Norfolk, Sussex, and Essex, without delay. I beseech you spare not, but be expeditious and industrious. Almost all our foot have left Stamford; there is nothing to interrupt the enemy but our horse. You must act lively; do it without distraction. Neglect no means." Willoughby was evidently not the kind of general that a soldier of Cromwell's daring and resource could patiently act under, and that worthy was not long in expressing his opinion to the Parliament, for we find him a few months later in the House of Commons complaining of "my Lord Willoughby's backwardness as a general." He who could not "hold out" at Gainsborough and Lincoln, and who wrote from Boston expecting himself and his men to be "pulled out by the ears one after the other," was certainly not the right man in the right place according to the Ironside standard; and it was not long, therefore, before he was, on Cromwell's suggestion, removed from his command and the Earl of Manchester appointed in his stead.