Page:VCH Staffordshire 1.djvu/306

 A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE commander going his own way ; the consequence was that the castle held out till 1646, when it surrendered to Brereton. On another occasion, as Hastings was marching from Ashby to Tutbury he was attacked by the 'valiant Moorlanders,' who routed his troops, killed 100, and took many prisoners. 802 As, however, they were unable to capture Tutbury, the Round- heads placed a garrison at Barton Blount, about four miles from the castle, to interrupt supplies and intercept its communications with the north, and in. the plain between many a skirmish took place. The general progress of the war in Staffordshire up to the end of 1643 may be summed up as follows : On i May in that year the whole of the southern and central portions of the county were mainly for the king, and the northern for the Parliament ; by December, with the exception of a few isolated posts, only Lichfield and Tamworth and a small region round remained to Charles. 803 In February, 1644, Captain Stone, one of the most prominent local Roundheads, with a small party marched against ' Pattishall' house, 'a popish garrison of the enemies,' strongly fortified, and seeing that the drawbridge was down, rushed in, and after some fighting took it, capturing Mr. Astley, the owner, two Jesuits, and about sixty or seventy officers and men. 80 * In May the Earl of Denbigh set out from Stafford with the intention of attacking Rushall Hall, then held by Colonel Lane, which had been captured by Rupert in the previous year, ' Mistress Leigh defending it gallantly with only her men and her maids ' ; and took with him two drakes, two sakers, and ' the Stafford great piece,' and among other troops the Stafford horse and the Stafford regiment of foot. The twenty-sixth of May was spent idly at Walsall and the ayth in preparing for the assault. Next day a small party of Royalists coming to Lichfield were beaten off, and on the twenty-ninth the bombardment of the house began, and was continued until 9 p.m. The church, too, which had been garrisoned by the Royalists, was battered, and preparations were made for an assault. The hearts of the Cavaliers, however, failed them, and the place was surrendered, the garrison being allowed to march out without their arms and be conveyed to Lichfield. sos In the same month the Committee of Both Kingdoms stated that Lord Newcastle's horse had done great damage in Staffordshire and Leicester- shire, and recruited themselves to a great strength there, raising at least 1,000 horse and ^io,ooo. so * Like the rest of England the county suffered severely from the exactions of both parties ; Uttoxeter in 1 644 alone paid 158 towards the maintenance of the royal troops 307 at Tutbury, and in April of the same year Rupert plundered the town of Tutbury and stole forty of Hastings's own horses ! But though there was much plunder the war was 301 Shaw, Hist, of Staffs, i, 60 ; Mosley, Hist, of Tutbury, 223. so> See maps to S. R. Gardiner's Hist, of Civil War, passim. In the map of 23 Nov. 1644, the above two places hold out, with a dwindling district round them. In the map of 23 July, 1645, Tamworth has gone. These maps must be taken broadly, as many small places held out for the king after the country around was practically in the power of Parliament. 304 Shaw, Hist. ofStafs. i, 70. Ki Cat. S.P. Dom. 1644, p. 1778, giving Denbigh's own account. According to the True Informer of I June, 1 644, the force at Rushall was ' one of the most thieving garrisons of the Cavaliers in all that county," and had perpetually robbed the carriers who came from London and other parts to Lancashire ; Willmore, Hist, of Walsall, 317. " Cal. S.P. Dom. 1644, p. 168. M7 Mosley, Hist, of Tutbury, 224. 262