22 The Life of William, Duke of Newcastle 



After my Lord had stayed two or three days there, and 

 ordered those parts, he marched with his army to Sheffield, 

 another market town of large extent, in which there was an 

 ancient castle ; which when the enemy's forces that kept 

 the town came to hear of, being terrified with the fame of 

 my Lord's hitherto victorious army, they fled away from 

 thence into Derbyshire, and left both town and castle (with- 

 out any blow) to my Lord's mercy. And though the people 

 in the town were most of them rebelliously affected, yet my 

 Lord so prudently ordered the business, that within a short 

 time he reduced most of them to their allegiance by love, 

 and the rest by fear, and recruited his army daily ; he put a 

 garrison of soldiers into the castle, and fortified it in all respects, 

 and constituted a gentleman of quality 1 governor of both the 

 castle, town, and country ; and finding near that place some 

 iron works, he gave present order for the casting of iron cannon 

 for his garrisons, and for the making of other instruments 

 and engines of war 2 . 



Within a short time after, my Lord receiving intelligence that 

 the enemy in the garrisons near Wakefield had united them- 

 selves, and being drawn into a body in the night time, and 

 surprised and entered the town of Wakefield, and taken all, 

 or most of the officers and soldiers left there prisoners (amongst 

 whom was also the General of the Horse, the Lord Goring, 

 whom my Lord afterwards redeemed by exchange), and 

 possessed themselves of the whole magazine, which was a 

 very great loss and hindrance to my Lord's designs, it being 



arms on their party.' — Rushworth, III, ii, 268. This statement as to the breach of 

 the capitulation, is confirmed by the Rev. John Shaw, at that time the Vicar of Rother- 

 ham. See the dedication to his sermon, entitled The Three Kingdoms Case, 1646. Shaw 

 states that the town was taken on Thursday, May 4. — Yorkshire Diaries, vol. i, pp. 

 I 36, 385 (Surtees Society). 



1 Sir William Savile, knight and baronet. 



2 The commanders at Sheffield, says Lord Fairfax in the letter before quoted, hear- 

 ing of the loss of Rotherham, and seeing some of the enemy's forces advanced in view 

 of the town, they all presently deserted the place, as not tenable with so few against 

 so ' potent an army; and fled away with their arms, some to Chesterfield and some 

 to Manchester '. The Earl of Newcastle appointed Sir William Savile governor o f 

 Sheffield on May 9, 1643. — Hunter's HaVamshire, ed. Gatty, p. 136. See also Notes 

 and Queries, March 24, 1888. Mcrcurins Aalicns for May 9 thus notes the capture 

 of these two places : ' News that Rotherham and Sheffield, two towns of principal note 

 in the West Riding of Yorkshire, were yielded up to his Majesty : by getting which 

 his Majesty had obtained two convenient passes, the one by Sheffield into Derbyshire, 

 the other by Rotherham into those parts of Nottinghamshire which are most helpful 

 unto Gell and his associates : and that besides the use his Majesty might have of the 

 Sheffield cutlers (for which that town is very famous) in the employment of his armoury , 

 there were found 1400 arms in Rotherham fit for present use, together with £5000 

 in ready money.' 



