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 40 THE BATTLE OF EDGEHILL January charged at 40 yards distance and then ran away all before they received or gave one blow in that wing where three regiments of foot besides the greatest part of the horse, so that the king's horse pursued them in execution till they came to the carriages which they fired that were with ammunition or plundered that were with .goods, took the earl's coach, his privy purse with £2000 and, they say, very much of the public too. And doubtless had not the soldiers been too greedy and busy on the spoil, the earl's whole army had been routed. But in the meantime the battalia of the earl leads up to the king's, and by the courage of the apprentices (I mean butchers and dyers [?]) with a very few others under the command of Hollis and Haslerigge a great impression was made in the king to the very standard, the bearer whereof, sir Edmund Varney, knight marshal, was slain and that taken, but in less than 6 minutes space recovered. In this action the earl of Lindsey received a shot in the thigh, which brake the bone. He was straight carried to a little village hard by and by some clowns discovered to the earl's commanders, and by them carried from thence to Warwick, where he died. His son is dangerously hurt and taken, my lord Aubigny slain. On the other side my lord St. John and the lord Feilding, but as yet we cannot know the certainty of prisoners or dead. Night made them sound a retreat, of both sides say the parliamen- tarians. I shall not contradict it. This I am sure that the king was master of the field where he dined the next day upon a drum head and stayed within 4 miles till the dead were buried. The same night of the battle he made great fires in his quarters. The earl made none. The king hath 9 of their cannon, all their carriages and 56 colours. Prince Rupert the next morning before day with some of his troop set upon some of the earl's troops in some villages and slew them. The king that day, Monday, appeared again in battalia, but the earl retreated to Warwick. The same day there came to the king an entire regiment of divers officers and pieces of companies from the adverse party. Here are in this town sir James Ramsey, the commissary general of the earl's horse, the lord Hastings and divers other captains now in prison who came away believing they were the only surviving men. On Wednesday the lord Wharton and Mr. Strowd, who are thought on the one side, but confidently reported on the other side to have run away, came into St. Margaret church and gave in the sermon a paper to the preaching master l Case to give God thanks for the victory, being 3000 slain on the king's side and 300 on theirs. He did it an hour together, throwing such abominable dirt on private men and making such strong expressions to Almighty God that I tremble to think on them. After sermon the house sat and Mr. Strowd had very many questions put to him, but he answered with so much distraction and so contradictorily that at last he desired my lord Wharton and he might confer together and that the next day he would give a better account. I must tell you some passages, though confusedly enough. Prince Rupert came to the king, and besought him to go out of the field protesting he would not else strike a stroke. The king did, but straight returned, and (I speak it on good ground) did charge gallantly, as forward in danger and in all things 1 ' Mr ' in manuscript. Possibly the expansion should be minister.