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morning, and their appearance on the brow gave the first 
intelligence to Essex of the proximity of the King’s army. 
The latter was nominally commanded by the Earl of 
Lindsey ; his counsel was that of a prudent commander, 
but Prince Rupert refused to receive orders except from 
the King. Thé army descended the hill; Prince Rupert 
commanding the cavalry of the right wing. There are 
several accounts of this battle, written within a day or 
two after it took place; one of these is the official account 
sent to the Parliament, and by it ordered to be printed 
and published, which it was on the 28th of Oct., five days 
after the battle. This account thus published I have 
before me. I am not going to enter into all the details 
of this battle, of which both sides claimed the victory. 
At the onset the cavalry of the King’s right wing, com- 
manded by Prince Rupert, routed the left wing of the 
Parliamentarian army and pursued them to Kineton, 
where the baggage was left, which they began to plunder, 
thereby losing much valuable time, for the King’s centre 
was defeated by the Parliamentary centre, the Karl of 
Lindsey mortally wounded, the King’s Standard bearer 
killed, and the Royal Standard taken (though this was 
afterwards recovered by Captain Smith), and much con- 
fusion seems to have prevailed in both armies. The battle 
did not commence till three’ o’clock in the afternoon, and 
in a few hours darkness put an end to the contest, without 
any decided success by either army. Both armies kept 
the field during the night, and the next morning faced 
each other, but without renewing the fight. The number 
of slain was variously computed from 1,000 to 5,000; it 
was probably below the former number. The immediate 
result, however, was in favour of the Royal cause, for 
Essex, contrary to the advice of Hampden, Hollis, and 
Brook, withdrew his forces to Warwick, whilst the King 
marched to Banbury, then an important garrison of the 
Parliamentarians, which surrendered to him without a 
blow. In this battle, William Earl of Denbigh was on 
the side of the King, whilst his son (the Lord Fielding, 
afterwards Basil Earl of Denbigh) commanded forces in 
the right wing of the Earl of Essex’s army. In the 
official account, to which I have alluded, sent up by the 
Parliamentarians to the House of Commons, their army is 
stated to have consisted of 11 regiments of Foot, 42 troops 
of Horse, and about 700 Dragoons—in all, about 10,000 
men. In this account they say, ‘‘ The Harl of Linsey, his 
