Campaign against the Scots, 1644 201 



impossible with my small number of foot to divide them so as to guard 

 and make good every place, but to hazard the loss of them at any one 

 place, and yet not do the work ; so I resolved of two evils to choose the 

 less, and left them to their own wills : so they passed the river, and after 

 some days' quartering upon the high moors which was beyond the river 

 Derwent, so that I could by no means march to them, for the situation of 

 these quarters gave them great advantage against our approaches, they 

 marched thence, over the new bridge near Chester (le Street) to Sunderland, 

 which pass our horses in respect of the inclosures could not hinder them 

 nor charge them. Upon Wednesday the 6th of this instant March, at 

 one o'clock afternoon, our first troops passed Newbridge and within a 

 while after the enemy appeared with some horse ; when they advanced 

 towards us with more than they first discovered, after some bullets had been 

 exchanged and they appeared again with a greater body, we backed our 

 party with my Lord Henry's regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Scrimsher 

 commanding them — being part of Colonel Dudley's brigade, with which 

 he drew up after them — with whom also we sent some musketeers ; which 

 caused the enemy that day to look upon us at a further distance, we judged 

 they were about 500 horse when they appeared most, yet they continued 

 most of that day in our sight, which satisfied us extremely in hopes the rest 

 were not far off, yet far from troubling us except it were sometimes to 

 make use of our perspectives. 



The next morning, from the hill from whence the day before they viewed 

 us, we discovered them, from whence setting ourselves in order we marched 

 towards them, but they still upon our advance fell something obliquely 

 from us on our right hand, bending towards Sunderland, placing their 



army upon a hill called , which was on the left hand of the town from 



the sea, there ranked themselves for their best advantage to display their 

 own strength, and for their own security, upon which finding them thus 

 backward to join, which truly we little expected, considering what great 

 brags they had made, we resolved to march towards the town, either to 

 possess ourselves of it or a piece of ground near unto it, which would have 

 hindered them from coming back again to the town without fighting with 

 us, upon which piece of ground they had left a good part of their horse 

 and a strong party of their musketeers ; which they perceiving made them to 

 draw down again to the same place with all the haste they could make, 

 where again they possessed themselves before they could put over any 

 troops. The convenient passage we could find to it being through some 

 fields of furze and whin bushes, where we were to make our way with 

 pioneers through three thick hedges with banks, two of which they had lined 

 with musketeers, there also being a valley betwixt us and them, besides 

 they had possessed themselves of a house, wherein as we guess they had 

 put 200 musketeers and a drake, which Hankered those hedges which 

 were betwixt us, and from thence there ran a brook, with a great bank, 

 down to the river Wear ; behind these places was this plain above-men- 

 tioned, where they stood in their best postures to receive us, having the 

 sea behind them and on the left hand the town, the hill and inaccessible 

 places, by which we must have fetched so great a compass about, that 

 they would have been upon the same hill again to have received us that 

 way. By this time the evening caused us to withdraw towards the higher 

 ground, where being saluted with cold blasts and snow, our horses suffer- 



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