On The 10th We Had News That The Lord Fairfax, Having Beaten The
Royalists At Maidstone, And Retaken Rochester, Had
Passed the
Thames at Gravesend, though with great difficulty, and with some
loss, and was come to Horndon-on-the-
Hill, in order to gain
Colchester before the Royalists; but that hearing Sir Charles Lucas
had prevented him, had ordered his rendezvous at Billerecay, and
intended to possess the pass at Malden on the 11th, where Sir
Thomas Honnywood, with the county-trained bands, was to be the same
day.
The same evening the Lord Goring, with all his forces, making about
five thousand six hundred men, horse and foot, came to Colchester,
and encamping without the suburbs, under command of the cannon of
St. Mary's fort, made disposition to fight the Parliament forces if
they came up.
The 12th, the Lord Goring came into Colchester, viewed the fort in
St. Mary's churchyard, ordered more cannon to be planted upon it,
posted two regiments in the suburbs without the head gate, let the
town know he would take them into his Majesty's protection, and
that he would fight the enemy in that situation. The same evening
the Lord Fairfax, with a strong party of one thousand horse, came
to Lexden, at two small miles' distance, expecting the rest of his
army there the same night.
The Lord Goring brought in prisoners the same day, Sir William
Masham, and several other gentlemen of the county, who were secured
under a strong guard; which the Parliament hearing, ordered twenty
prisoners of the royal party to be singled out, declaring, that
they should be used in the same manner as the Lord Goring used Sir
William Masham, and the gentlemen prisoners with him.
On the 13th, early in the morning, our spies brought intelligence
that the Lord Fairfax, all his forces being come up to him, was
making dispositions for a march, resolving to attack the Royalists
in their camp; upon which, the Lord Goring drew all his forces
together, resolving to fight. The engineers had offered the night
before to entrench his camp, and to draw a line round it in one
night's time, but his lordship declined it, and now there was no
time for it; whereupon the general, Lord Goring, drew up his army
in order of battle on both sides the road, the horse in the open
fields on the wings; the foot were drawn up, one regiment in the
road, one regiment on each side, and two regiments for reserve in
the suburb, just at the entrance of the town, with a regiment of
volunteers advanced as a forlorn hope, and a regiment of horse at
the head-gate, ready to support the reserve, as occasion should
require.
About nine in the morning we heard the enemy's drums beat a march,
and in half an hour more their first troops appeared on the higher
grounds towards Lexden. Immediately the cannon from St. Mary's
fired upon them, and put some troops of horse into confusion, doing
great execution, which, they not being able to shun it, made them
quicken their pace, fall on, when our cannon were obliged to cease
firing, lest we should hurt our own troops as well as the enemy.
Soon after, their foot appeared, and our cannon saluted them in
like manner, and killed them a great many men.
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