Part I

Disaster at Nantwich

The details of the Nantwich campaign have been covered elsewhere, [33] so it will only be outlined here. Leaving Chester on December 12th, Byron's force of 4,000 foot and 1,000 horse won a striking initial success the next day with Captain Sandford's surprisal of Beeston Castle. They went on to reduce a number of local Parliamentarian garrisons, and steadily closed in on their headquarters at Nantwich. On December 26th, a relief attempt by Brereton and the Lancashire Parliamentarians was defeated at Middlewich. Robert Byron, however, claimed that with the exception of his own and Richard Gibson's Regiments, the bulk of the troops from Ireland did not distingush themselves in the fighting.

However, a major Royalist assault on Nantwich, launched on January 17th, was repulsed with the loss of possibly about 300 dead, including Captain Thomas Sandford.

Disaster was to follow on January 25th, with the complete defeat of Byron's army by the relief force led by Sir Thomas Fairfax. Lord Byron and his brother Robert placed part of the blame for this on treachery by some of the troops from Ireland, notably in Earnley and Warren's Regiments. The evidence suggests that about 50 or 60 of the latter may have changed sides in the course of the battle, and opened fire on thir own men, but there is no evidence of larger-scale defections. The Royalist defeat probably resulted as much from ill-luck and ammunition shortages as any other reason.

Nantwich cost the forces from Ireland about 200 dead and 1,500 prisoners. Of the latter, about 500 took srvice with the Parliamentarians, along with about 200 who had deserted previously. Though they included at least one company of firelocks (possibly Sandford's) who switched allegiance in its entirety, [34] the total is not particularly high considering that we are dealing with professional soldiers whose allegiance might have been expected to have been available to the highest bidder. Brereton was to consider handing the remainder over to the Scots to serve against the Irish in Ulster. [35]

Another point worth emphasis is that, with the exception of one or two senior officers, such as George Mobnck and, apparently, Richard Gibson, no attempt was made by the Parliamentarians to permanently detain the officers they had captured. Some indeed were to be exchanged as often as three or more times in the course of their service with the Royalists. [36] As a result, though the original rank and file of the regiments from Ireland were to be considerably diluted by new recruits as time went by, a cadre of original officers, and, possibly, N.C.O's was retained until Naseby.

However, Nantwich was a serious blow which effectively ended the possibility of an independent "Irish-Royalist" army operating in England, and the practicability of their presenting a counterbalance to the Scots. Only Robert Byron's Regiment had escaped substantially intact, the rest would require re-organisation before they could take the field again. Nevertheless, the contribution of the Leinster troops to the Royalist cause had already been significant; without their intervention, both North Wales and Chester would probably have been lost; they would now remain in the KIng's hands for most of the duration of the war.

Lord Byron, partly from a desire to justify his own performance, was bitter in his condemnation of the performance of the troops from Ireland. He wrote to Ormonde on January 30th: "Truely, my Lord, the enemy is grown so strong upon their late success that without a larger supply we shall be able to do little good, and I wish they were rather Irish than English, for the English we have already are very mutinous, and being for the most part this countrymen are so poisoned by the ill-affected people here, that they grow very cold in service, and since the rebels here call in the Scots, I know no reason why the King should make any scruple in calling in the Irish or the Turks if they should serve him.", and on February 6th: "the Irish will be much more welcome supplys, in regard that the English there in Leinster being most Welsh and Cheshiremen, are very subject to bee corrupted in their own countryes. [37]

"The whole subject of the use of "native" Irish will be examined in more detail later; suffice it for the moment to say that Byron's plea was to result in some recruits for his own Regiment of Foot, but for the present little else.

On February 7th the last major contingent of English troops from Leinster landed at Neston and Beaumaris. By this time, Prince Rupert had assumed the command originally intended for 0rmonde, with a wider commission covering Wales as well. The newcomers consisted of 1,700 foot of the Regiments of Robert Broughton and Henry Tillier. Both were experienced soldiers, and Tillier, who may have been a Huguenot, was in addition a military theoretician who prior to the war had been involved in instructing the London Trained Bands.

Also part of the contingent were 300 horse formerly of the Regiment of Sir Thomas Lucas, and now commanded by a veteran professional soldier, Sir William Vaughan. Byron, had enough problems in providing for and disciplining the troops remaining after Nantwich, and was anxious to pass the new contingent on to Prince Rupert at his headquarters at Shrewsbury, informing him that they expected the same allowances as the previous troops from Ireland had received, that is "a month's entertainment for every common soldier half-a-crown, a suit of clothes, shoes, and stockings. Since their coming the officers have had only their month's pay, but the men have had free qwuarters and 12d a week, which is more than they ever had in Ireland.". [38] Without this, Byron warned, the Troops were likely to mutiny, to which "they are inclined as soldiers in the world."

Sir John Mennes shared Byron's views, writing to Rupert on February 10th: "I have just recieved a letter froim my Lord Byron, which tells me that 1700 foot are landed out of Ireland, under the command of Tillier and Broughton. These his lordship intends to send hither, because they cannot make provision there. I shall endeavor to make what shift I can to assist them, which must be in providing victuals - for money is a thing we hear not of - if your Highness be pleased to write to the high sheriff, to command him to bespeak hose and shoes for them, I know that may be readily done, or any other thing that is not ready money. We have here about five hundred suits of clothes, which I have stayed for your Highness. They should have been sent to Chester; but their own clothes were good enough to run to the enemy..." [39]

Presumably some of the soldiers did indeed desert, but there do not seem to have been many, and Rupert gave them little opportunity for idleness. On March 21st he carried out his celebrated Relief of Newark; among his troops were 1,000 musketeers of Tillier's and Broughton's Regiments ( evidence that they were armed on 2:1 musket/pike ratio) and 120 musketeers of Fulke Huncke's Regiment, now stationed at Shrewsbury. [40] Tillier had by now been appointed Rupert's Major-General. Though they did not enjoy any particular success in the action, the troops from Ireland made up about a third of Rupert's foot at Newark.

"Growling amongst the soldiers"