The information in these notes comes from Sir Charles Firth's famous book "Cromwell's Army"; published by Methuen and Co. In 1645 there were several Parliamentary armies - the Scots under Leslie numbering not less than 21,000; there was a force of 10,000 men supplied by Nottinghamshire and the six Northern Counties under Major-General Poyntz whilst Major General Massey who commanded the forces of Wiltshire and the four Western Counties had probably as many more, there were also about 5,000 men in the Eastern Counties, the local levies of the Midlands and smaller bodies of men in North and South Wales. There was also, of course, the hew Model Army - established by ordinance on the 18th January by the amalgamation of the three armies of Essex, Waller and Manchester. On January 21st Sir Thomas Fairfax was appointed General by 101 votes to 69. As outlined the New Model was to consist of ten regiments of horse of 600 men each, twelve regiments of foot of 1,200 apiece and a regiment of 1,000 Dragoons. - The day the ordinance was passed it was decided to add an eleventh regiment, making he total up to 22,000 men. In time, the army absorbed all the others and in July 1652 the Commonwealth had approximately 70,000 soldiers in arms - three times the original; in February 1660, on the eve of the Restoration, its numbers were fixed at 28,342. But, in early 1645 the three armies of Manchester, Waller and Essex could not supply half of the 14,400 infantry required (they could, in fact, supply only 7,100 foot soldiers); it was resolved to raise about 8,500 men to fill the gap by impressment. However, when the New Model took the field in May 1645, it was still 3,000 or 4,000 below its proper numbers. Formation: The eleven regiments of horse in the New Model consisted of 600 men each, exclusive of officers and were divided into six troops of 100 men each. The field officers were a Colonel and a Major; there were four commissioned officers in each troop: a captain, a lieutenant, a cornet and a quartermaster and three non-commissioned officers, all corporals - there were no sergeants in a regiment of horse. Two of the troops in each regiment were without captains, the colonel and major commanding one each in person. The twelve regiments of foot consisted of 1,200 men divided into ten companies of unequal size. The colonel's company numbered 200 men, the Lt. Colonel's 160, the major's 140. The remaining seven companies were each 100 strong. The commissioned officers of the foot company were three: a captain, a lieutenant and an ensign. The non-commissioned officers of each company were two sergeants, three corporals and a gentleman-at-arms (a sort of lance-corporal, a soldier on probation for promotion). The proportion of pikemen to musketeers was approximately one pike to every two muskets. The Regiment of Dragoons which fought as mounted infantry consisted of ten 100 men companies. It had the commissioned officers of a horse regiment and the noncommissioned officers of a foot regiment. Each company or troop had its own musicians. In the cavalry there were three cornets to each troop and two drummers to each cavalry or dragoon company. Also, each troop or company had a flag -- generally an emblematical device with an appropriate motto. The flags of a regiment would all be broadly the same, differing only in detail. The Hierarchy: Next in rank to the general were the Lt. General and the Major-General, one charged with command of the horse, the other with command of the foot. There was also a Lt. General of artillery, who commanded the artillery and Engineers; also there was a General Staff of Officers with particular departments. One of the most important of these was the Scoutmaster-General. The Artillery: This varied from campaign to campaign, so an accurate record of the number of guns in the army is difficult to estimate. The heaviest gun habitually used on the field was the 16-pdr Culverin, with a point-blank range of 400 paces and an extreme range of 2,100. It required eight horses to draw it and could be fired about ten times an hour. More common was the demi-culverin, a 9-pdr with a point-blank range of about 320 paces and an extreme range of 1,800. It required about six horses to pull it and could be discharged about fifteen times per hour. The bulk of the guns used in the Civil War were light field pieces called sakers, minions and drakes - 5pdrs, 3 1/2-pdrs and 3- pdrs; these required three to five horses to pull them and could be fired about 15 times per hour. There were also leather-guns and regimental pieces (about 1 1/2-pdrs), which were normally used to fire grapeshot only. Guns were sometimes drawn by oxen (especially the Scottish and Irish armies). Siege weapons (24pdr demi-cannons, 50-pdr cannons and mortars) were invariably transported by sea to the field of operations and then taken to join the army overland - they did not march with the army. Also, the train was invariably attended by a guard of "fusiliers" armed with flintlocks (match lit at both ends - as the musketeers carried - would be too dangerous in proximity to open gunpowder barrels). This guard, which wore the buff coats of the cavalry, was normally about 400 men. In 1647, at the end of the Second War, Fairfax's artillery train consisted of 16 demiculverinr, 10 sakers, 15 drakes and 15 smaller pieces, in all 56 guns besides mortars and battering cannon intended for use in sieges. Equipment: In the foot, a pikeman normally wore an iron helmet, 'back and breast', a gorget to protect his throat and tassets to cover his thighs (gorget and tassets were oft abandoned) and was armed with a sword and a 16 foot pike. A musketeer wore no defensive armour and was armed with a match-lock musket, sword, musket-rest and a bandolier of ammunition. In battle array infantry were normally formed up six deep, with musketeers on the flanks. If cavalry approached, the infantry would hide behind "the hedgehog" of pikes. In the charge, "the push of pike", the infantry all fought, whether pikes or muskets, the latter using their swords or musket-butts. The infantry of the New Model wore red coats and grey breeches - thus starting the tradition of dressing the Dritish army in red. The regular cavalry wore a buff-coat, "back and breast" and a "pot" helmet with bars to protect the face and were armed with a long sword and a pair of pistols (wheel or flintlock). Carbines were issued only to officers (although by 1660 they had been issued to every other man). Inthe 17th century only the 3panish and Scottish horse carried lances. The dragoons, who were "mounted infantry" carried sword and musket (a flintlock) and fought on foot - every 10th man remaining behind to hold the horses' reins. It is probable that t hey w ore the hat and red coat of the infantry - not the "pot" and buff-coat of the horse. In the charge, upon which Rupert and Cromwell relied, cavalry was normally formed up three-deep, after Gustavus Adlophus' manner. The above is but the slightest "summing-up" of the tremendous volume of information contained in "Cromwell's Army" - it is over 400 pages long, a must for all English Civil War period wargamers. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 122 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1972 by Donald Featherstone. 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