He first was a private captain of horse, but now commanded a regiment
whom he armed _cap-a-pie a la cuirassier_; and, joining with the Earl
of Manchester, the first action we heard of him that made him anything
famous was about Grantham, where, with only his own regiment, he
defeated twenty-four troops of horse and dragoons of the king's
forces; then, at Gainsborough, with two regiments, his own of horse
and one of dragoons, where he defeated near 3000 of the Earl of
Newcastle's men, killed Lieutenant-General Cavendish, brother to the
Earl of Devonshire, who commanded them, and relieved Gainsborough; and
though the whole army came in to the rescue, he made good his retreat
to Lincoln with little loss; and the next week he defeated Sir John
Henderson at Winceby, near Horncastle, with sixteen regiments of horse
and dragoons, himself having not half that number; killed the Lord
Widdrington, Sir Ingram Hopton, and several gentlemen of quality. Thus
this firebrand of war began to blaze, and he soon grew a terror to
the north; for victory attended him like a page of honour, and he was
scarce ever known to be beaten during the whole war.
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