Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 05.djvu/71

 Burnet states that when a member of parliament he 'retained still, even to affectation, the clownishness of his manner.' He also quotes a speech of Birch, in which he admits that he had 'been a carrier once.' Similar insinuations of the lowness of his origin occur in the traditions as to how he joined the army. According to the Barrett MSS. in the library of the Chetham Society, quoted in note by Thomas Heywood to Newcome's 'Diary' (p.203), 'being of great stature,' he enlisted as a private trooper in the parliamentary army, which being known of Colonel Birch of Birch to be his namesake and countryman, was by him favoured and preferred in the army 'from post to post.' According to another account, while driving his packhorses along the road, he so resolutely resisted the attempt of some parliamentary soldiers under Cromwell to rob him, that he attracted the notice of that commander, who offered him a commission in his troop (, Hist. of Leominster, p. 109). The pedigree above quoted sufficiently refutes the tradition of his ignoble birth, and his letters prove incontestably that he had received more than a 'clownish education.' That both of the above statements in regard to his early connection with the army are totally groundless, is also evident from his 'Military Memoir,' in which he makes his first appearance as captain of volunteers at the siege of Bristol. Either previously or subsequently he may have acted as 'a carrier,' and 'driven packhorses,' but when he joined the army he had a large business as a merchant in Bristol, and, according to the 'Visitation of Lancashire' above quoted, had married Alice, daughter of Thomas Deane, and widow of Thomas Selfe of Bristol, grocer. It is, however, not an improbable conjecture that Birch came into the possession of his business by marrying the widow of his master, whose goods he may previously have been in the habit of delivering to the customers. In any case, he inherited a combination of talents certain to bring him into prominence in troublous times such as those in which he lived : great personal strength, remarkable coolness in the most perplexing surroundings, an inborn capacity for military command, a rugged eloquence which rendered him one of the most formidable orators of his time, and a keen business instinct which let slip no opportunity of advancing his personal interests, After the surrender of Bristol to the royalists Birch went to London and levied there a regiment, with which he served as colonel under Sir William Waller in his campaigns in the west. In the assault of Arundel he was so severely wounded as to be left for dead; but the cold stopped the hæmorrhage, and thus accidentally saved his life. After obtaining medical assistance in London, he returned to his command, and was present at the battle of Alresford, the blockade of Oxford, and the prolonged skirmish at Cropredy Bridge. Waller's troops having deserted him in the subsequent aimless march towards London, Birch obtained the command of a Kentish regiment of newly levied troops, with which he assisted at the defence of Plymouth. The institution of the New Model was a serious blow to his hopes, for his presbyterian principles were even dearer to him than his own advancement. On its institution he was ordered to join the army of Fairfax and Cromwell near Bridgewater, and was entrusted with the care of Bath. It was in a great degree owing to his representations that in September 1646 it was decided to storm Bristol, and he assisted in its assault with a considerable command of horse and foot, receiving special commendation in the report of Cromwell to the parliament (, Cromwell, letter xxxi.) Notwithstanding this, he remained only a colonel of volunteers with the joint care of Bath and Bristol, a position with so few advantages to compensate for its difficulties that he contemplated resigning his commission, when, going to London in November 1645 to inform the committee of safety of his intention, he received a new commission along with Colonel Morgan, governor of Gloucester, to 'distress the city of Hereford.' Only a few months previously the city had successfully withstood the assaults of the Scotch army under Leven ; but Birch, after obtaining secret information of the strength, disposition, and habits of the garrison, succeeded in devising a clever stratagem which enabled him to enter the gates before a proper alarm could be raised. Such a remarkable stroke of fortune was received with general rejoicing in London, and formed the turning-point in Birch's career. He received the special thanks of parliament, who voted 6,000l. for the payment of his men, was appointed governor of Hereford, and shortly afterwards was chosen member for Leominster. With the capture of Goodrich castle in 1646, his career as a soldier of the parliament practically closes. Throughout it, it is not difficult to trace the predominance of his schemes as a man of business. It was possibly to secure compensation for the loss of his property in Bristol that he first became a captain of volunteers. When forced to suspend his business as a merchant, he lent his money to the parliament at the high interest of 8 per cent., and his governorship of Hereford supplied him with admirable opportunities for speculating in 