326 " Ludgershall Castle and its History " 



" Webb and Cadogan have on this occasion, as they always will do, behaved 

 themselves extremely well. The success of this vigorous action is in a great 

 measure owing to them, If they had not succeeded, and our convoy had been 

 lost, the consequences must have been the raising of the siege next day." 



Coxe then says : — " The first information of the brilliant exploit 

 at Wynendale, which appears to have been transmitted by some indirect 

 channel, ascribes the principal merit of the achievement to General 

 Cadogan, as the senior officer. This statement being printed in the 

 Gazette, General Webb was deeply offended, and quitting the army 

 in disgust, published an explanatory narrative in support of his own 

 fame. Every endeavour was made by Government to counteract 

 the consequences of the misstatement. The gallant general was 

 honoured with the recommendation of his commander and the re- 

 wards of his sovereign, and appears to have been satisfied with the 

 reparation he received. The Duke of Marlborough was loudly 

 accused by his political enemies of having felt envy towards an 

 inferior officer, and of having acted partially towards his favourite 

 (Cadogan). " (Coxe's " Life," iii., 3.) 



Webb was afterwards one of the officers in command at the battle 

 of Malplaquet, but in his description of the battle Archdeacon Coxe 

 does not make the least allusion to the victory being in any way 

 owing to Webb in particular. 



There is a fine life-size portrait of this hero in the hall of Biddesden. 



The estate was purchased by the grandfather of the present owner, 

 Mr. Henry Everett, c. 1780. 



The registers of Ludgershall go back as far as 1609, and are in 

 Latin till the year 1620. They contain the usual eccentricities of 

 entry. A certain individual named John Coombs figures prominently 

 among the parish clerks. He gives great importance to the 

 christenings and marriages which happened in the great families of 

 the district, as also to those in his own family, these events being 

 chronicled with many flourishes and in larger characters than usual 

 — the embellishment which they receive being, perhaps, regulated 

 by the amount of his fee or the quality of the entertainment pro- 

 vided on such festive occasions. It is curious that when practising 

 caligraphy, which he often does, he is for ever choosing the 



