28 shot of cannon, some with musquet ball, others with cut lead and iron, beside many musquet shot. Our souldiers did resolutely scale the ladders, and some entered at the gunports: the defendants behaved themselves gallantly till it came to stroke of sword, and then they fled away by water in boates. Sixteen of them were killed, a lieutenant and five souldiers who stood out to the last, were taken, and so we gained the fort, with the peeces, and some barrels of powder, and their colours. The providence of God wonderfully preserved our men, for only seven of them were killed, some few hurt with stones and cut iron, but none deadly, no officer at all killed. Vpon the same day, Lieutenant Col. Ballantine fell upon a party of the enemies horse, at Chester, killed ten of them, and took two Captains of foot, and twenty horsemen; of ours none killed or hurt.

Vpon the 23, we took seven ships in the river, whereof two were laden with salt.

"Upon the 24, being the Lord's day, the enemy marched toward our quarters intending to have set upon us in Sermon time, and being a foggie day to have surprised us; their approach being discovered, a great part of the army was presently drawn together. The enemy sent down from Bouden Hill where they were drawne up, some commanded musquetiers to line the hedges betwixt them and us, and wee did the like, for the armies could not joyn, the field between us being so full of hedges and ditches; our dragoones beganne the play, and then the musquetiers in the hedges upon both sides, our bodies of foot advancing at all quarters to the hedges, the enemies Cannon discharging upon them an houre and a halfe with very small hurt. This service continued very hot, till

after twelve of the clock at night: many officers, who have been old souldiers did affirm they had never seen so long and hot service in the night time; there was divers killed on both sides; but the number of their slaine did verry farre exceed ours, as wee understood by the dead bodies wee found the next day upon their ground, beside the seven waggons draught of dead, and hurt men not able to walk, that the Constable of Bouden [Boldon] affirmed he saw carried away. The enemy quit their ground, where they left much of their powder, match, and armes behind them, and retired to the hill where the body of the army lay.

“The next day the enemy began to retire, but laboured to conceale it from us, causing their men to march about the hill, and casting up two breast works to plant cannon. In the afternoone, when we understood the certainty of their retreat, we followed them, and their horsemen who had stayed on the hill while their foot marched away, retired more swiftly than an ordinary march, our horse and dragoons marched up the hill, charged them, and routed all that were not passed the ditches; divers of them were killed, and some men of note whom we know not, save one Rutmaster Harrison, and Sir Marmaduke Langdale's Capt. Lieut. Divers taken, amongst whom was Sir Richard Gladill, Lieut. Col., and Sir Francis Steward; there was also a cornet taken, bearing a crown above and a hand and a sword beneath, with this motto, 'What Law cannot, the Sword must maintain.' The night hindred us from doing any further execution upon them. The day following, the enemy (who the day preceding thought it a point of honour to retire in the day, and not in the night) did not appeare, having stollen away in the night time.

FFF

"The enemy marching to Durham, it was resolved our army should go to Easington, where wee might intercept the enemies provisions from Hartlepool, enlarge our own quarters and straiten theirs; where wee stayed till April 8, (having kept a fast the day before) and on that day marched to Quarendon hill neare Durham, intending to force the enemy either to fight or flee, which fell out accordingly; for having little forrage for his horses, and little store of provisions; after he had sent for some forces from Lumley castle, and Newcastle, to strengthen his foot, upon the 13 of April hee marched away early in the morning in great haste, leaving behinde him severall provisions; our horse was at forrage, but having notice of their flight, marched after them with all the expedition could bee, and came on the Lord's day to Darnton [Darlington].

"The next day the enemy having some advantage in the way, directed his march toward York; the Generall fearing lest he should have surprised the Lord Fairfax his forces, and either given them a defeat or driven them to a corner, and so get occasion to encrease his forces, sent severall advertisements to them, and so hasted our march, that some of our forces overtook some of the enemies reare, killed and took about 80 of them

Upon the 17 of this instant, our army came to Wetherby, having suffered much hunger by the way for want of provisions.

"Upon the 18, the Lord Fairfax and Sir Thomas Fairfax came to view our army and upon the 19 the Generall went to their quarters, and it was resolved that they should meet upon Saturday the 20 at Tadcaster, and march from thence toward York, where the Earl of New

castle now is, with betwixt four and five thousand horse, and about six thousand foot, for by those who were killed and taken at severall skirmishes in Northumberland, and those that runne away, he is made weaker in his foot about three or foure thousand. Hee lies there at great advantage, having a bridge over the river, and can easily transport his force to either side in a short time: so that for the present wee cannot besiege him on all quarters, for if we should divide our forces, the river being betwixt them, he might fall upon the weakest, who could expect no reliefe from the rest of our forces, but wee intend to make a bridge over the river, of flat boates, and then shall either force him to fight, or make his horse live without forrage. So for the present I rest.*

Wetherby, 20 of April, 1644."

The Scottish and parliamentary armies uniting at Tadcaster on the 20th, proceeded to York, which they immediately invested; but their numbers were not sufficient to beleaguer the city on both sides, for the Marquis of Newcastle having a powerful cavalry-between four and five thousand-and possession of the bridge, which enabled him to attack them on either quarter, or if they divided their forces, to assail one part with the whole of his, it was judged expedient to order the Earl of Manchester (late Lord Kimbolton) out of the associated counties, to come to their assistance. Manchester, who had raised in the former year an army to co-operate with Cromwell, having joined that daring and skilful officer, appointed him his lieutenant-general, and was now at the

The taking of the Fort at South Shields &c., detailed in a "Letter from Wetherby." (Richardson's Reprint.)

head of fourteen thousand men, a force not more distinguished by their gallant exploits than by their excellent discipline. On the 3rd of May, he sat down before Lincoln, and, after some resistance, made himself master of the lower part of the city, the besieged retreating to the minster and castle, on the top of a high hill. On the 7th, between two and three o'clock in the morning, on an appointed signal, six pieces of ordnance being fired at once, an assault was made, and, in spite of a gallant resistance, the works were carried by storm; but on a cry for quarter, in the heat of action, quarter was given. The governor, Sir Francis Fane, with a number of officers, seven hundred foot, and about one hundred horse, were made prisoners. All their ammunition and arms, with six pieces of ordnance, fell into the hands of the victors, whose loss was only eight killed, and about forty wounded.

Encouraged by this success, he opened a communication with the confederated army, by constructing a bridge of boats near Gainsborough, which he fortified, and protected with two regiments of foot. Across the bridge he pushed three thousand horse, to watch, in conjunction with other two thousand dispatched from the Scots and Lord Fairfax, the motions of Sir Charles Lucas, who had been sent out of York by the Marquis of Newcastle, with a strong body of cavalry, to forage in the neighbourhood. With the remainder of his army he advanced, and joined the besiegers. Hitherto York had been under a kind of blockade, and many petty skirmishes had taken place, but now the siege began to be more closely pressed, and new batteries erected to play upon the castle, tower, and town. Nor were the besieged idle; they kept up a brisk