After a long delay here are some more units for my English Civil War project. This time it is Sir Thomas Fairfax' own part of the Parliamentarian army that fought at Nantwich in January 1644.
These units were drawn from the Northern Association, which covered a wide area across Lancashire, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. These counties were hotly contested with the local royalists and formed a very insecure power base.
Northern Association Horse
When ordered to relieve Nantwich Fairfax needed to move quickly and in the dead of winter. He therefore seems initially to have only taken the cavalry then under his command in northern Lincolnshire. While their exact numbers and composition are open to question, it seems likely that there were around 1800 horse and 500 dragoons by the time of the battle. It is however, not even certain if the Cheshire horse were present and included in those numbers. Although, it seems unlikely they would have been elsewhere given the importance of the battle. Probably Fairfax didn't have many more than a thousand men when he left Lincolnshire.
The Northern Association regiments thought to be at the battle are listed below. Unlike Brereton's single large regiment in Cheshire, these regiments must have been small and were probably combined into a number of tactical fighting units. I have therefore painted just three additional squadrons.
First is Sir William Fairfax’s Regiment of Horse, which had been formed from several Yorkshire troops sometime in 1643. Originally commanded by Sir Henry Foulis, by early 1644 Sir William Fairfax, cousin to Sir Thomas, had become the regiment's colonel and he remained so until his death at the battle of Montgomery late that year. Sir William Fairfax commanded the Horse on the Parliamentarian right flank at the battle of Nantwich.
The colours of Sir William's regiment are unknown, so I have used the black & white cornet of Sir John Gell's regiment of Horse as inspiration. Gell was from the Derbyshire gentry and secured the county for Parliament in 1642. His regiment took part in the battles of Hopton Heath and Rowton Moor alongside the Cheshire forces.
The next unit is Colonel John Lambert’s Regiment of Horse. Lambert was a talented soldier and another Yorkshireman. He would later become a prominent Major General in the New Model Army. An interesting side note is that Lambert would lead the New Model forces that crushed the royalist 1659 uprising of Cheshireman Sir George Booth, his erstwhile comrade-in-arms at Nantwich. Lambert was a staunch republican and a possible successor to Cromwell as Lord Protector. He tried to oppose the restoration but failed when his army melted away through lack of pay and enthusiasm. This was partly because his old commander, Sir Thomas Fairfax, refused to fight with him against George Monck, who then commanded the New Model forces in Scotland but who had fought on the Royalist side at Nantwich, and been captured. These complicated personal relationships show how interconnected the officer corps was and the detail is part of what makes this period so fascinating. Lambert's Horse carried a Blue and red cornet. Lambert commanded the left wing of Horse at Nantwich.
The third new unit is Sir Thomas Fairfax’s Regiment of Horse. Another Yorkshire regiment, Fairfax' own Horse were certainly present and probably one of the stronger units he brought from Lincolnshire. At Nantwich the regiment carried a nominally blue cornet with a foliated pattern in cloth. It looks very green in this picture and in the illustration found at the link above, but I've added some additional blue touches to it since. I may just repaint it plain blue at some point, as that's how it was when the regiment joined the New Model Army.
Some more Yorkshire Horse regiments are believed to have been at the battle. These were either Sir Thomas Maulverer's or possibly Colonel James Mauleverer’s, and Colonel Hugh Bethell’s. Sir Thomas' cornet is unknown but James Mauleverer's regiment carried a complex white cornet with hands holding swords piercing a crown and some books. I've opted out of trying to paint this one so far.
One of the Maulverers and Sir William Constable seem to have commanded the Parliamentarian horse in the centre or reserve. Constable was colonel of a regiment of Horse and Dragoons at this time. His Horse man have been at the battle or in garrison at Hull. Sir William Fairfax and later Colonel Morgan succeeded him to command of the Dragoon regiment. Morgan was only a captain at Nantwich but seems to have led the combined dragoons in a forlorn hope and was promoted to major after the battle. If Constable commanded his Horse and Brereton his foot this possibly left no senior officer to command the disparate troops of dragoons. This maybe explains why they were merged under Morgan on the day. I'll paint a second unit of dragoons for Morgan eventually.
Northern Association Foot
When Fairfax arrived in Manchester he is said to have found the forces there somewhat ragged and disaffected, with the officers more reluctant than the men. Nevertheless after a few days the army was under way to the relief of Nantwich. It is debatable if Fairfax charisma won them over, or if the accounts exaggerate the disaffection. It might be reasonable to make the Lancashire forces slightly less steady than the Cheshire men but there doesn't seem to be much evidence of a difference from the battle.
The first regiment I have painted is Colonel John Bright’s Regiment of Foot. At Pontefract, a year later, they wore green coats lined yellow, so I have gone with that here. Their colours are unknown but I have made them red as I didn't yet have a red flag and it goes well with the green. Bright's were a Yorkshire regiment originally but later adopted into the New Model Army, where they changed to red coats. Bright was not one of the senior Parliament commanders at Nantwich and I meant to add him on his white horse to the regiment base but forgot. I might correct that later. This unit can stand in for one of the regiments we have no known coats or colours for but were commanded by a senior officer, such as Colonel Ralph Assheton’s (possibly Ashton) Regiment of Lancashire foot. They probably fought in the van alongside Brereton's foot.
Colonel Richard Holland’s Regiment of Foot were present and Holland probably commanded a body of foot alongside that of John Booth, both were Lancashire regiments, and J Booth's regiment seems to be distinct to the regiment of George Booth in the Cheshire forces. Holland's men were accounted particularly mutinous, so could maybe have a chance on not obeying orders at the start of the battle. However, Fairfax sensibly placed them in the middle of his line, where there was little opportunity for avoiding the fight. The coats and colours for Holland and J Booth's regiments are unknown, so I have used the grey coats and white colours of Sir John Gell’s Regiment of Foot who fought at Hopton Heath, for one.
The last unit for now has red coats and a green colour. They can serve as the other of Holland or Booth's Lancashire foot bodies at Nantwich and then later be a New Model unit or other unknown Parliamentarian regiment. Fairfax' own New Model foot regiment had red coats and may have carried a green colour. It's probably also worth noting that I have done all my Parliament foot with grey breeches and some with coloured turnbacks to make them distinct from the more monochrome nature of intended Royalist practice. When, and to what extent, these ideals ever matched reality is of course open to debate.
This is all the Foot I have painted so far.
One more Lancashire unit known to have been at Nantwich is Colonel Alexander Rigby’s Regiment of Foot. They seem to have worn grey coats but had an unknown colour. They were brigaded with Duckenfield and G Booth's Cheshiremen on the day, so can be assumed to form part of those battalia.
This is all the Horse I have painted so far.
If I need more Foot that can serve as a New Model Army unit and an earlier parliament unit, one option is Sir Thomas Myddleton's regiment of foot with their red coats and white colours. Myddleton was from the marches gentry and a very active supporter of parliament. His regiments, including Horse and Dragoons, served widely in Cheshire and the marches, notably at the battle of Montgomery and the siege of Chester.
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