A HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE 



After resting long enough to recover from the fatigue of her stormy passage, the queen set out 

 under Newcastle's escort, and reached York on 5 March. Her arrival meant more than a mere 

 accession of arms and money to the Royalists. For some time a number of the Yorkshire gentry 

 who had taken up arms against the king had been growing dissatisfied with the progress of the war. 

 As early as 16 January Sir Hugh Cholmley, in a letter to Speaker Lenthall, liaJ expressed his grief 

 at the continuance of the struggle, and had urged the House to come to terms with the king.'* 

 Just a week before this Captain Hotham had written to the Earl of Newcastle, with whom he was 

 on better terms than with his own leaders, expressing the hope that neither side would be absolute 

 conquerors, ' for it will be then as it was betwixt Caesar and Pompey, whosoever had the better the 

 Roman Liberty was sure to have the worse.'" The queen, with her talent for intrigue, soon 

 began to use her personal influence to detach the waverers. After an interview with her at York 

 on 20 March, Sir Hugh Cholmley agreed to betray Scarborough, and on the 25th he informed the 

 garrison that they were to hold the castle for the king. The previous day he had sent Captain 

 Bushell to Hull to remove some of his property which was lying there ; but Hotham, suspecting 

 treachery, seized Bushell's ship. Bushell, proving well-aflFected, was allowed to proceed to Scar- 

 borough, where with the assistance of his brother and the greater part of the garrison, who 

 disapproved Sir Hugh's action, he recovered the castle from James Cholmley ; but upon the 

 return of Sir Hugh a day or two later the Bushells, with almost all the troops, abandoned the 

 castle.^' At the same time attempts were made to persuade the two Hothams to change sides, and 

 there seems even to have been an idea that Lord Fairfex might be influenced." Captain Hotham, 

 a vain and quarrelsome man who was on bad terms with the Fairfaxes, was more than willing to 

 go over if any decent excuse could be found,'' and his father. Sir John, was so unfriendly towards 

 Lord Fairfax that at the end of March he withheld all assistance from the forces at Selby." Find- 

 ing himself thus isolated, Fairfax determined to strike across to the friendly neighbourhood of 

 Leeds. This was a dangerous operation, as Newcastle's army, vastly superior in numbers, lay 

 ready on Clifford Moor. On 29 March Lord Fairfax, with the main body of his army, set out 

 for Leeds, detaching a small force under Sir Thomas Fairfax to cover his flank. Sir Thomas 

 promptly struck at Tadcaster, and without much difficulty drove out the Royalist troops quartered 

 there. Newcastle, misled by this unexpected attack, sent Lord Goring with twenty troops of horse 

 to relieve Tadcaster. Sir Thomas, seeing the risk to which his infantry, mostly raw levies, would 

 be exposed in crossing Bramham Moor, sent the foot on ahead while he engaged the enemy in the 

 narrow lanes leading up from the Wharfe to the moor. Although having only three troops of 

 horse to Goring's twenty, he kept them at bay long enough to allow the foot to cross the moor, 

 but owing to some mistake they had halted, and when his horse, retiring slowly, reached the moor 

 the foot were still where they had been left. The enemy, however, did not attack, and the 

 Parliamentary forces got safely across Bramham Moor, but coming up on to Seacroft Moor in some 

 disorder, the heat of the day and the opportunities of refreshment offered by the village of Potterton 

 having proved too much for them, they were caught on the flank and rear by the Royalists and 

 after a brief struggle completely routed with heavy loss.*" Sir Thomas and some of the other 

 officers managed to cut their way through the enemy and rejoined Lord Fairfax at Leeds. 

 Although the losses incurred by Sir Thomas were very heavy his action undoubtedly saved the 

 main Parliamentary army from destruction. 



The Parliamentarians now held Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, and Lord Savile's fortified house at 

 Howley, but the Earl of Newcastle, following up his recent victory with another successful skirmish 

 on Tankerley Moor,*' advanced against Leeds, and although unable to effect anything there 

 occupied Wakefield, and with little difficulty took Rotherham and Sheffield with its important 

 ironworks.*^ Fairfax's troops were growing restive for default of pay, and in addition the country 

 people were complaining that he had not obtained the release of the prisoners taken at Seacroft 

 Moor, but this he could not do, as he had no Royalist prisoners to exchange. At last he deter- 

 mined to take the offensive and attempt Wakefield, which was understood to be held by some 800 

 Royalists. On the night of Saturday, 20 May, a body of about 1,200 foot and horse under Sir 

 Thomas Fairfax met at Howley, and early next morning they reached Wakefield, where they 

 foimd that the Royalists were ready for them, and were far more numerous than they had 

 supposed, there being 3,000 foot and seven troops of horse under General Goring and Serjeant- 

 Major Mackworth. The Parliamentary foot, under General Gifford and the gallant Sir William 

 Fairfax, dashed forward and drove the enemy's musketeers from behind their hedges and outworks 

 into the town, and after an hour and a half's fighting seized the barricades at Wrengate and 

 Norgate, whereupon Sir Thomas charged in with his horse. The defence collapsed completely ; 



" Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. i, 90. " Ibid. 87. 



" Rushworth, op. cit. ii (3), 265. " Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. i, 105. 



" Ibid. 105, 109, 701. " Markham, Life of Lord Fair/ax, 195. 



" Torks. Arch. Joum. viii, 211. *' Life of Newcastle (ed. Firth), 38. " Ibid. 41. 



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