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 1921 THE BATTLE OF EDGEHILL 31 assumes that Essex's army was 22 per cent, under strength. Even allowing for the fact that Essex was fighting in a Puritan centre this reduction for desertion does not seem excessive. With regard to the royalist infantry, Colonel Ross states that there were nine regiments, containing 9,000 to 10,000 men, or, in other words, that they were fully up to or even above strength, since the nominal number of a regiment was ljOOO. 1 It would be very remarkable if there were no desertion at all from Charles's army. On the other hand, of the only two royalist narrators who fought on foot, one speaks of 12,000 infantry, the other of nearly 10,000. 2 The explanation is that there were more than nine regiments. The reason why Colonel Ross spoke of nine regiments would seem to be that the Official Parliamentary Account 3 mentions that their opponents came up in ' nine great bodies ' : the Life of Belasyse also refers to the foot, * divided into nine bodies '. It is a natural, but not inevitable, conclusion, that each ' body ' only contained one regiment. Instead of accepting this conclusion it is preferable to discover the regiments which actually took part in the fighting. The most useful guide to their identity is the True Relation written by a deserter or prisoner and published by order of parliament. 4 This authority gives the names of the colonels of five regiments which suffered severely at Edgehill : the earl of Lindsey, 5 Sir Ralph Dutton, Thomas Blagge, Richard Bolle, Sir Lewis Dives. There were also present the king's guard, commanded by Lord Willoughby, and the regiments of John Belasyse, 6 Sir Edward Fitton, 7 Richard Feilding, 8 Charles Gerard, 9 under Robert Earl of Essex, 1642). Cf. Peacock, Army Lists, 1874, p. 46. ' Each troop consisting of 60 horse; besides 2 trumpeters, 3 corporals, a sadler, and a farrier' {ibid. p. 47). 1 * Every regiment containing about a thousand soldiers ' (Peacock, p. 10). This is confirmed by the fact that Belasyse's regiment is said to be 1,000 strong (Ormonde M88. ii. 379). Cf. Clarendon, History, vi, § 62 n. 2 Ormonde M 88. and the letter of ' M.S.' • Printed in Rushworth, m. ii. * 3rd December 1642. 5 It is surprising that S. R. Gardiner, Great Civil War, i. 48-9, should place Lindsey at the head of the royal foot guards. The only authority for this is Bulstrode (Memoirs, p. 80), who is directly contradicted by Clarendon : ' The general himself alighted at the head of his own regiment of foot, his son the lord Willoughby being next to him with the king's regiment of guards ' (History, vi. 82 ; cf. 85). The Official Royalist Account and other authorities corroborate Clarendon. It is noticeable that the True Relation does not include the king's guard or red regiment amongst those that suffered most severely. 6 His regiment, raised in Yorkshire, was about 600 strong when he joined Charles at Nottingham (Clarendon, History, vi. 62 n., from Life) and recruited up to 1,000 (Ormonde MS. ii. 379). 7 Under whom 'M.S.' served. 8 Wounded, captured, and rescued at Edgehill (Carte, Letters, i. 12 ; Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd series, iii. 304 ; Britannicae Virtutis Imago). 9 Dangerously wounded (Clarendon, vi. 94).