Parliament had realised the importance of retaining Manchester, and already during the siege a commission had been issued for raising 1000 dragoons under Sir John Seaton for service in Lancashire. Unfortunately it was easier to issue commissions than to carry them out; in spite of newspaper reports to the contrary the dragoons had not reached Manchester by the end of November. Indeed it is doubtful whether they were ever sent at all, though Seaton was in command in Lancashire early in the new year.[69] Supplies of powder were, however, sent to Manchester; a large amount reached the town on October 22, besides that which had been sent from Hull; though several convoys were intercepted by the royalists, one on its way from Worcester, one by Sir Edward Mosley at Stafford, and one later on October 24. Mr. Assheton had also a warrant from the Speaker for conveying four small brass pieces to Manchester and one for the defence of his own house at Middleton.[70] The whole county was organised for military purposes by the Parliament, companies being raised and Colonels appointed for each Hundred; Assheton and Holland in Salford Hundred, Shuttleworth and Nicholas Starkie in Blackburn, Rigby for Amounderness and Leyland, Moore and Peter Egerton in West Derby, and Mr. Dodding for Lonsdale Hundred. The local captains were those who had already served at the siege of Manchester, Birch, Bradshaw, Radcliffe and Venables. Salford Hundred was the most active for the Parliament, and Manchester led the way. The troops there were steadily drilled, the magazine replenished, and fortifications considerably strengthened. Not content with this the garrison began to make small expeditions on its own account to plunder the houses of royalists in the neighbourhood.[71] Alport Lodge where Lord Strange and Tyldesley had stayed during the siege was destroyed;[72] a party was sent to disarm the town of Bury, where the first royalist musters had been made; and Captain Birch led a force into Blackburn Hundred to capture Townley Hall. As soon, however, as the war had actually broken out men began to realise what consequences its long continuance may have. It was, writes Clarendon, "the opinion of most that a battle would determine all"; and when Edgehill had been fought and small skirmishes occurring in all parts of the country had left matters much as they were, local attempts at pacification began to be made in many places. These merely attempted to make a temporary arrangement for cessation, and were quite distinct from the negotiations between King and Parliament which continued all through the autumn of 1642. Questions of principle were not raised, and as the local opponents had usually been on good terms before the war began, it was not difficult for them to come to some agreement. In Devon and Cornwall a treaty was entered into by the two parties; in Yorkshire and in Cheshire, and no doubt in other counties also, pacifications were arranged. Parliament, however,