In the beginning of April they set forth, with twelve hundred horse and about six hundred foot. Marching through Stratford-on-Avon, they came to Birmingham, a place famous for its active disloyalty; it had seized upon Royal plate, intercepted Royal messengers, and now boldly refused to {104} admit Rupert within its walls. The Prince resolved on an assault, and, on Easter Monday, he took and entered the town. The conduct of the Cavaliers here was as much debated as it had been at Cirencester. "The Cavaliers rode through the streets like so many furies or bedlams; Lord Denbigh in the front, singing as he rode," says the Puritan account. "They shot at every door and window where they could espy any looking out. They hacked, hewed, or pistolled all they met with; blaspheming, cursing, and damning themselves most hideously... Nor did their rage cease here; but when, on the next day, they were to march forth out of the town, they used every possible diligence to set fire in all the streets, and, lest any should save any of the goods they had left, they stood with drawn swords about all the houses, endeavouring to kill anyone that appeared to quench the flames."[7] The Royalist version was very different. After relating the excessive provocation suffered by the soldiers, it admits that, in order to force his entrance, the Prince did fire some houses, but that as soon as the entrance was effected, he ordered the fire to be extinguished. And on the next day, when he was about to leave the town, "fearing the exasperation of his men, he gave express orders that none should attempt to fire the town; and, after his departure, hearing that some soldiers had fired it in divers places, he sent immediately to let the inhabitants know that it was not done by his command, and he desired it might be quenched."[8] This last account, being found in a private letter, is probably more worthy of credit than the Puritan pamphlet written to excite the populace. On April 8th, Rupert summoned Lichfield to surrender, but that town, well garrisoned and well commanded, answered him with defiance. Rupert perceived that the siege would {105} be a matter of some time, and he acted with great prudence. Withdrawing his cavalry from its perilous position before the town, he managed to obtain fifty miners from the neighbouring collieries. Then he asked his men and officers to volunteer, as foot-soldiers, to the aid of the miners; with which request they "cheerfully and gallantly" complied. On this occasion George Digby especially distinguished himself, working in the trenches "up to his waist in mud" until he was disabled by a shot in the thigh. But this was the last time that he served under Rupert, for very soon afterwards he quarrelled with the Prince, threw up his commission in a rage, and fought thenceforth as a volunteer.[9]