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<DATE>01-17-08</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<VID>156276</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>A TRVE RELATION Of the Proceedings of His EXCELLENCE The Earle of ESSEX, With His Army, &s;ince His departure from the&s;e parts, in pur&s;uite of the CAVALIERS.</P>
<P>With the taking of Redding by Colonell <HI>Hampden,</HI> and Colonell <HI>Hurry</HI> with their Regiments.</P>
<P>With the departure of the Kings Forces by <HI>Worce&s;ter</HI> towards SHREWSBVRY.</P>
<P><HI>By</HI> H. G.</P>
<P>LONDON, Printed for <HI>Iohn Matthewes.</HI></P>
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<PB N="3" REF="2">
<P>_HIs Excellence the Earle of E&s;&s;ex by order from the High Court of Parliament about the middle of the la&s;t weeke advancing forward in pur&s;uite of the Cavaliers, fir&s;t to Wind&s;or, and thence to Marlow and Henly upon Thames; from whence Colo|nell <HI>Hurrey</HI> was &s;ent with the Forces maintained by the City of London, to try if it were po&s;&s;ible to get beyond Reading to &s;tay the Cavaliers in their pa&s;&s;age thence to Oxford. Upon notice of which intention and ad|verti&s;ement of the Earle of E&s;&s;ex his Excellence procee|dings, the Cavaliers quickly abandoned Reading, retyring in all ha&s;te toward Oxford, about which the main body of their army lay billited, leaving neverthele&s;&s;e in the Towne of Rea|ding for the &s;ecurity of it to their part, a con&s;iderable Garri|&s;on; &s;ome conjecture 1500 men, under the command of Colonell <HI>Kirke</HI> and others; His Excellence in the interim having certaine notice of the pa&s;&s;ages of the Cavaliers, im|ployed Colonel <HI>Hampden,</HI> and the afore&s;aid Colonel <HI>Hurry</HI> in their pur&s;uite, who cut off divers of their &s;traglers, and &s;ome of their Rere, giving them very frequent and fierce Alarums&punc; his Excellence remaining &s;till about Marlow and King&s;ton upon Thames, intending to &s;end &s;ome other Forces into Su&s;|&s;ex, where Ma&s;ter <HI>Ford</HI> the High Sheriffe with the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the Earle of Thanet, has rai&s;ed two thou&s;and men, draw|ing them towards the good Towne of Lewes, which has &s;till &s;tood faithfull to the Parliament. The afore&s;aid Colonels <HI>Hampden</HI> and <HI>Hurry,</HI> with the trained Bands of Buckingham|&s;hire and the Londoners Forces, having left the pur&s;uite of the army, retir'd to Reading, intending if it were po&s;&s;ible, to
<PB N="4" REF="3">
reduce that Towne to the obedience of the Parliament by treaty, if not, to accompli&s;h it by force: and &s;o being drawne together in one Body, they &s;ate downe not far from the Towne, &s;ending with a Trumpet a Gentleman of quality to demand the &s;aid Towne of the Garri&s;on, promi&s;ing to di&s;|mi&s;&s;e all &s;uch as were not noted Malignants, and pro&s;cribed by the Parliament, in &s;afety. The Governour Colonell <HI>Kirke</HI> and his a&s;&s;ociates in great contempt and deri&s;ion an&s;wered, that they knew not by what or who&s;e authority they came to demand that Towne of them, which was His Maje&s;ties, and by His Maje&s;ty to them delivered to be kept for His u&s;e, which they were re&s;olv'd to doe again&s;t all the world, and &s;o di&s;mi&s;s'd the Trumpet and Gentleman, with many opprobri|ous and uncivill &s;peeches again&s;t the Parliament and the pre|&s;ent Forces, bidding them tell tho&s;e that &s;ent them they would pay their Round-heads if they came within their rea|ches, and &s;o in&s;tantly ordered them&s;elves for their de|fence, forcing the hone&s;t Towne&s;-men who had rather have had their roome then their companies, to put on harne&s;&s;e and a&s;&s;i&s;t them in manning their workes, which they had before made with as much skill and &s;trength as their Engi|neers could po&s;&s;ibly direct. Colonell <HI>Hampden</HI> and Colo|nell <HI>Hurry</HI> re&s;olute, not to depart without carrying the towne, begun to make their approaches and &s;o planted their Cannon that they &s;hot into the towne with ea&s;e, which yet they were loth to doe, le&s;t they &s;hould injure the hone&s;t in|habitants. The Cavaleers within an&s;wered ours with their Ordnance; but our trenches were &s;o advantagiou&s;ly &s;citua|ted, that they did us but little harme, our men in the meane while playing over into their Workes with their Muskets, made them finde it very hot &s;ervice&punc; Yet their Comman|ders, e&s;pecially Colonell <HI>Kirke,</HI> animating on his own men, and enforcing the town&s;men in a manner unto the &s;ervice, they &s;lew &s;ome few of our men; which rather encouraged then di&s;heartned the re&s;t: at la&s;t, after &s;ome attempts, as fal|lies out of their works upon ours, in which they were with very con&s;iderable lo&s;&s;e repul&s;ed, the darkne&s;&s;e of the night
<PB N="5" REF="3">
parted the medley. Colonell <HI>Hampden</HI> and his valiant a&s;&s;o|ciate Colonell <HI>Hurry</HI> &s;etting carefull Watches in their Workes, determined as &s;oone as it was light to re&s;alute the Gentlemen with a fre&s;h charge; who (like Cavaleers) &s;pent mo&s;t part of the night in carow&s;ing, and &s;wearing death and a thou&s;and confu&s;ions to our forces; and a little before day departed well laden with Wine from their Works to their Lodgings, leaving but a very &s;lender Guard in their Works, and tho&s;e mo&s;t of them Town&s;men. Our men in the mor|ning admiring the &s;olitude and &s;ilence that was in their Works, informed Colonell <HI>Hampden</HI> of it; who gave imme|diate order, that &s;ome Companies of his be&s;t and mo&s;t re&s;o|lute Souldiers &s;hould try if they could force their Works by on&s;laught. And &s;o faire and &s;oftly without lea&s;t noi&s;e or tu|mult foure hundred able men attempted the a&s;&s;ault, pa&s;&s;ing their ditches without di&s;covery, they got upon their Ram|pire, and &s;o fell pell-mell into the Work: The town&s;men that were in guard threw downe their armes, and willingly yeelded them&s;elves to their Friends; the Cavaleers that were in that Work retired to the next&punc; whither our men pur|&s;ued them with much re&s;olution; but there the encounter was different, the Souldiers in that &s;trength being not &s;o ea|&s;ily driven from their &s;tations, put back our Souldiers, &s;laugh|tering good &s;tore of them in the ditches&punc; &s;o that undoubtedly they had been put to the retreat&punc; had not Colonell <HI>Hampden</HI> advanced more men to their &s;uccours; who getting up to their companions, and with fre&s;h men &s;upplying the places of tho&s;e that were fallen, they brought the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e into pretty equall termes, when all the Cavaleers about this time awaked from their drunken humour with the noi&s;e and dan|ger, came ru&s;hing in like a violent flood to the re&s;cue of their companions, with their Commander Colonell <HI>Kirke:</HI> But neither their number, nor de&s;peratene&s;&s;e amated the courage of noble Colonell <HI>Hampden,</HI> and his re&s;olute Buc|kingham&s;hire <HI>Militia,</HI> who charged and di&s;charged upon them with &s;uch fury and nimblene&s;&s;e, that the Cavaleers be|gan to drop on all &s;ides. Yet knowing it was in vaine to
<PB N="6" REF="4">
quaile at &s;uch a pu&s;h, being reduced as it were to the l<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="bleedthrough" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t precipice, be&s;tird them&s;elves very valiantly, beating downe our men at pu&s;h of pike into the graffe, and with their Mu&s;|kets and hand-Granadoes, doing &s;ome &s;mall execution up|on our men, which was requited with treble the dammage we received; Colonell <HI>Kirkes</HI> Lievtenant being &s;laine, and other Cavaleers of note and quality, yet could not that tough Souldier Colonell <HI>Kirke</HI> be driven either to feare or flight, when Colonell <HI>Hurry,</HI> who was gotten by this &s;ide to the o|ther &s;ide or quarter of their &s;conce, with great fury, but grea|ter di&s;cretion, a&s;&s;ailed them there, omitting nothing that might tend to the de&s;truction of tho&s;e de&s;perate Malignants, who &s;till made good their Worke for the &s;pace of foure whole houres by Redding clocke, till there was at lea&s;t foure hundred of them de<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="bleedthrough" EXTENT="1 letter">d in the place, as if they had intended to make a new bulwark of their bodies, to defend that place dead, which they could not keepe living: Our men having advanced their En&s;ignes on the top of the Work&punc; Colonell <HI>Kirke</HI> giving place to nece&s;&s;ity&punc; withdrew by a fally port on that &s;ide where our men could not come, with the re&s;t of his Cavaleers, into the Town, and there getting to their hor&s;es, (nay &s;ome of them leaving the~ behind for ha&s;te, fled on foot) the Colonell and his Hor&s;e-men made ha&s;te away from our men, who did not pur&s;ue them, contenting them&s;elves, and thanking God for that victory and the recovery of that good towne; yet all the Cavaliers e&s;caped not, &s;ome of them be|ing &s;orely, &s;ome &s;lightly wounded were made pri&s;oners: as al&s;o divers others that were not nimble enough to accom|pany their fellowes in their flight, their number in all two hundred and fifty: there fell in both the workes at lea&s;t five hundred &s;ouldiers; there were taken eight good peeces of Canon all the Cavaliers bag and baggage, with &s;ome money, which they had unju&s;tly gotten by plunder and rapine in tho&s;e and other countries. The town&s;men of <HI>Reading</HI> for joy of their deliverance from their unwelcome gue&s;ts, whom they entertain'd more for feare then affection, making bone|fires, and ringing their bells at our arrivall into their towne.
<PB N="7" REF="4">
Colonell <HI>Kirke</HI> is certainly fled towards the King to <HI>Oxford&punc;</HI> who on the knowledge of this di&s;a&s;ter to <HI>Reading,</HI> or rather happine&s;&s;e, and his certainty of his Excellence the Earle of <HI>E&s;&s;ex</HI> approches thither, intends as it is more then probable, to remove with &s;peed from <HI>Oxford</HI> towards <HI>Worce&s;ter&punc;</HI> and &s;o to <HI>Shrewesbury,</HI> as is imagin'd, becau&s;e a great part of the maine body of his army is &s;ent before towards tho&s;e parts, where his Maje&s;ty intends to &s;pend the re&s;t of this Winter, there to unite him&s;elfe with <HI>Iames</HI> Earle of <HI>Darby,</HI> with his <HI>Che&s;hire</HI> and <HI>Lanca&s;hire</HI> forces; and <HI>William</HI> Earle of <HI>New|ca&s;tle</HI> with his <HI>Northerne</HI> Regiments: as al&s;o to receive, if they be not prevented, &s;upply of ammunition and money, which he daily expects, as the late intercepted Letter made mention from <HI>Denma<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ke, France,</HI> and other places, where, by the in&s;tigation and indeavours of his crafty malignant agents he hath hopes to be furni&s;h'd with &s;uch provi&s;ions.</P>
<P>His excellence the Earle of <HI>E&s;&s;ex</HI> is yet at <HI>Henley</HI> upon <HI>Thames,</HI> expecting convenient opportunity of marching af|ter his Maje&s;ty, when hee &s;hall remove towards the afore|mention'd places: and this day wee had intelligence from our forces which were &s;ent into <HI>Su&s;&s;ex</HI> to relieve that Coun|ty from the malignants, of their &s;ucce&s;&s;e. The Sheriffe <HI>Ford</HI> marching along the countrey, enforcing all the well|affected hone&s;t people in his way, from <HI>Chiche&s;ter</HI> to <HI>Lewis,</HI> to &s;ide with him again&s;t the Parliament&punc; threatning them to fire their hou&s;es, and cut their throats, if they did not yeeld to his unju&s;t commands, him and his Regiment, with the Earle of <HI>Thanets</HI> companies, our forces pur&s;u'd, finding every where as they march'd lamentable expre&s;&s;ions of their inhumane cruelties. At la&s;t, upon <HI>Hawoods</HI> Heath, &s;ome &s;even miles from <HI>Lewis,</HI> and two miles from <HI>Cuckefield</HI> in <HI>Su&s;&s;ex,</HI> they overtooke Sheriffe <HI>Ford</HI> with his malignants, and valiantly re&s;olv'd to give him battel; our forces falling on him and his malignants very hotly, both armies being with|out Ordnance, the fight was perform'd with their musquets at fir&s;t, and after &s;ome volleys, our hor&s;e broke into their
<PB N="8" REF="5">
Van, and our foot-men ju&s;t at that in&s;tant charging couragi|ou&s;ly into their quarters, they began a little to give ground, but being more in number then wee, it was impo&s;&s;ible on the &s;udden to put them into rout, though they were much di&s;compos'd with that furious a&s;&s;ault; neverthele&s;&s;e, Sheriffe <HI>Ford,</HI> with the Earle of <HI>Thanets</HI> Hor&s;e, made good the field for at lea&s;t an houre, though there fell in that place at lea&s;t two hundred of their foot. In fine, the re&s;erve of our forces comming in to the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of our body, they were at ap|parent rout; the poore countrey people that were inforc'd by the Sheriffe to that &s;ervice, flinging away their armes, and running as fa&s;t as their legs would carry them to <HI>Hurst, Dichiling,</HI> and the neighbouring Villages: Ma&s;ter <HI>Ford,</HI> with the Earl of <HI>Thanets</HI> hor&s;e, flying with all &s;peed up to the not far di&s;tant downes, and &s;o to <HI>Wi&s;&s;um</HI> to the Earles Hou&s;e, whence they are returned towards <HI>Chiche&s;ter.</HI> Our forces marching on towards <HI>Lewis</HI> to &s;ecure that good and loyall towne from the future attemps of malignants.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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