My father had raised a regiment of horse at his
own charge, and completed them, and the king gave out arms to them
from the supplies which I mentioned came from abroad. Another party
of horse, all brave stout fellows, and well mounted, came in from
Lancashire, and the Earl of Derby at the head of them. The Welshmen
came in by droves; and so great was the concourse of people, that the
king began to think of marching, and gave the command, as well as the
trust of regulating the army, to the brave Earl of Lindsey, as general
of the foot. The Parliament general being the Earl of Essex, two
braver men, or two better officers, were not in the kingdom; they had
both been old soldiers, and had served together as volunteers in the
Low Country wars, under Prince Maurice. They had been comrades and
companions abroad, and now came to face one another as enemies in the
field.
Such was the expedition used by the king and his friends, in the
levies of this first army, that notwithstanding the wonderful
expedition the Parliament made, the king was in the field before them;
and now the gentry in other parts of the nation bestirred themselves,
and seized upon, and garrisoned several considerable places, for the
king.
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