Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 37.djvu/17



cleared the eastern side of that county. Massey now became governor of Gloucester.

The defeat of Waller at Roundway Down (13 July 1643), followed by the surrender of Bristol, exposed Gloucester to greater danger. The sole force at Massey's command consisted of two regiments of foot and two hundred horse, and a few trained bands and reformadoes—in all some fifteen hundred men. As the king's intention of besieging Gloucester became apparent, Massey opened negotiations with the royalists, either to gain time or possibly with the real intention of handing the city over to the king (see, Prince Rupert, ii. 278, 280; , Hist. of Rebellion, bk. vii. § 158 ; , Hist. of the Great Civil War, i. 233). On 10 Aug. the king's army appeared before the walls, and the siege continued till 5 Sept., when it was raised on the Earl of Essex's approach. The general supplied the town with ammunition (of which only three barrels remained at the end of the siege), but was unable to leave any troops behind. On 15 Sept. the thanks of both houses of parliament and a sum of 1,000l. were voted to Massey (Commons' Journals, iii. 241 ; cf., Hist. of Great Civil War, vol. i. chap. x.; Bibliotheca Gloucestrensis). Massey, now anxious to act on the offensive, vainly sought to get either supplies from parliament or another commission in the army. During October 1643 the royalists were gradually surrounding Gloucester, and frequent skirmishes took place, especially with Sir John Wintour's garrison in the Forest of Dean, at Berkeley, and Bruckthorpe Hill, where Massey was beaten. A vain attempt was made by the royalists in mid-winter to win Gloucester through the expected treachery of Captain Backhouse, who acted throughout with cognisance of Massey (, Relation, ut supra, p. 78). In March 1644 the command of the royalist forces in Herefordshire and the neighbourhood was given to Colonel Nicholas Mynne. In April 1644 Massey was reinforced and able to act on the offensive, attacking the royalists in Herefordshire and taking Westbury, Newnham (garrisoned by Sir John Wintour's troops), and Beverston Castle, and shortly afterwards Malmesbury and Tewkesbury. Lydney and Berkeley alone remained to the king in Gloucestershire, but Massey's deficiency in men and money hampered his movements.

In the early summer of 1644 Massey was again able to take the field against Mynne, who was planning a combined attack by the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire royalists on the city. The design failed, however, owing to the defeat and death of Mynne at Eldersfield (August 1644) (ib. p. 111). In September Massey destroyed Beachley Camp and took Monmouth (24 Sept.) But his success became the cause of failure. Massey could not garrison the places he had won, and Beachley was retaken after a desperate struggle, in which Massey's head-piece was knocked off by the butt-end of a musket; Monmouth and Chepstow were also taken by the royalists (ib. p. 127).

Rupert now made another attack on the counties round Gloucester, and Massey failed to take Lydney, which was, however, soon deserted by the royalists and fired. He was beaten by Rupert at Ledbury on 22 April 1645, but on 26 May took Evesham. He was made general of the Western Association on 24 May (Lords' Journals, vii. 393), i. e. of the forces raised by the five counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, and Wilts.

During the campaigns of 1645 and 1646 Massey co-operated with Fairfax in the reduction of the west. He joined Fairfax in July 1645 near Taunton, routed General Porter at Ilminster on 9 July, and took part in the storming of Bridgwater (, Original Letters, i. 131 ;, Anglia Rediviva, pp. 70, 77). He was afterwards sent to Taunton, apparently to prevent Goring from marching northwards. Throughout the rest of the year and the winter of 1645-6 he remained in Somerset and Devonshire, blocking the king's garrisons, especially Barnstaple, and taking Warham and other places. In July 1646 he took his seat in parliament as member for Gloucester, and on 20 Oct. his brigade was disbanded at Devizes by order of both houses (, Memoirs, ed. 1722, ii. 181). In the struggle between the parliament and the army, the presbyterian leaders endeavoured to make use of Massey's skill and popularity, and during the summer of 1647 he became one of the leaders of the city against the army, along with Waller and Poyntz; was named Commander-in-chief of the city forces; and on 30 July joined the presbyterian committee of safety. On 2 April 1647 parliament appointed Massey lieutenant-general of horse, under Skippon, in the army intended to be sent to Ireland. But the officers of the new model were disinclined to serve under him, some alleging that he was 'a profane man, and unfit for a command,' the real objection being that he was 'not of the faction which they call the army' (, Vindication, p. 84). The army on 16 June on its arrival in London impeached him and ten others on the ground of their designing to raise a new civil war (for charges Rh