Prologue
During the early months of the Civil War Birmingham, Coventry,
Warwick and Derby were quickly secured for Parliament.
Stratford-upon-Avon fell to the rebels in February 1643 and on 5th
March the Royalist Earl of Chesterfield surrendered Lichfield to Sir
John Gell. Parliament had summoned the infamous Gell to reinforce
and command the besieging Parliamentary force following the death of
Lord Brooke, who was shot through the eye by a musket ball when
commanding his forces in the Cathedral Close at Lichfield. Brooke’s
troops were reformed and Gell inherited elements of Brooke's horse (reformadoes).
The death of Brooke was a fortuitous piece of fate for the
self-seeking fortune hunter Sir John Gell, who has been vilified by
Royalists and Parliamentarians alike for his self-ingratiating
ambitions. His mission to secure wealth and status on the crippled
back of civil strife was scorned by friend and foe.
Gell was the product of a Derbyshire lead-mining family; a man
who overtly despised the feudal authority of the old order, whilst
covertly envying the power which he sought as a master of the new
order. It is well documented that his aspirations knew no bounds and
that he was both ruthless and vindictive. Whatever his misgivings,
he was a good servant of Parliament throughout the first Civil War,
and by contemporary standards a good soldier and an adequate
commander. There is also evidence to suggest he was as brave as he
was spiteful.
Events Preceding the Battle
The King had sent orders to the Earl of Northampton (Spencer
Compton, the 2nd Earl) to lead a relief force out of Banbury Castle
to support the Royalist Garrison at Lichfield. However it was too
late, but not too late for Stafford. Royalist intelligence had
provided reliable reports that Stafford was next on the
Parliamentary agenda. Sir William Brereton, Commander of the
Parliamentary forces in Cheshire, had sent correspondence from
Nantwich to Gell at Lichfield, requesting him to combine forces for
an assault on Stafford. By taking Stafford, Parliament could forge a
territorial chain across the Midlands. Gell was only too pleased to
oblige and agreed to muster with Brereton at Hopton Heath, only
three miles north of Stafford. The rendezvous point was accessible
to Brereton's route from Nantwich.
Meanwhile the Earl of Northampton, who was too late to relieve
Lichfield, was well aware of the rebel plans. He reached Stafford on
or around 16th March 1643, and set about beating up rebel quarters
in the vicinity. Accounts suggest that in a couple of days he had
taken over 100 prisoners and captured valuable supplies. Northampton
left Banbury Castle with a force of approximately 1200 men, 1100 of
which were horse (cavalry and dragoons), plus a small unit of 100
foot.
He commanded his own cavalry and dragoons and was supported by
the Prince of Wales’ horse and troops of horse led by the
swashbuckling and daring Sir Henry Hastings (later Lord
Loughborough). Other senior officers included his own son, Sir James
Lord Compton (later 3rd Earl of Northampton), who was knighted for
gallantry at Edgehill, and the brave but reckless Sir Thomas Byron.
Spencer Compton was a veteran of the Continental Wars and a
life-long friend of the King. He had the King's trust and
expectations that he would secure Stafford. The Royalists could not
afford to lose further territorial loss in the Midlands and it was
his prime goal to destroy the rebel force and its plans. Northampton
had an offensive field force of horse so it was important that he
'headed the rebels off at the pass', so to speak, rather than take
up defensive positions around the county town. He did not know
exactly where the combined forces of Gell and Brereton would meet,
but he knew a battle was imminent.
Prelude to the Battle
Hopton Heath is some three miles north of Stafford on the south
bank of the River Trent, on terrain of open rough pasture between
the villages of Salt to the north and Hopton to the south. To the
east of the Heath was a walled deer park and on the western side lay
arable farmland with ditches and hedgerows separating the Heath from
the cultivated hay fields. At the narrowest point of the Heath ran a
ridge between the enclosures to the east and west, forming a
bottleneck of strategic advantage. Gell had marched north out of
Lichfield on the route of what is now the A51. He crossed the Trent
at the village of Weston and began to take up position on the high
ground of the Heath on the morning of 19th March 1643. Gell was to
await the arrival of Brereton. Word had by now been sent to
Northampton who was at a church service in St Mary's, Stafford.
Whilst Northampton was mustering his force from scattered quarters
and billets in and around Stafford, Brereton arrived on the Heath at
approximately 2.00pm, but unfortunately haste had caused him to
leave his infantry miles behind. Brereton took command of the horse
and Gell the foot. They had strategic and tactical advantage by the
time Northampton arrived at 3.00pm.
The rebels had formed up on the ridge and to the east and west of
the Heath had set up flanking breastworks in the hedgerows of the
hay fields and behind the walls of the deer park. Eight field pieces
(drakes) plus companies of dragoons had been deployed to set up what
would have been a lethal crossfire. Gell had with him 400-500 horse
made up of Brooke’s Reformadoes, Gresley's Troop and Rugely's Troop.
His foot consisted of 500 Derbyshire Grey Coats, who were seasoned
soldiers, and 500 inexperienced and ill-equipped Staffordshire foot
(Moorlanders). Brereton brought with him 500 horse (cavalry and
dragoons).
The flanks had been deployed and the main body formed up across
the ridge, which was further protected by a rabbit warren that
spanned the ridge. Gell placed his remaining cannon in the centre of
the formation and Brereton formed a wing of horse. Gell placed the
untrained Moorlanders in reserve and all in all it looked like
Parliament had a very strong position.
The rebels had a total of 2000-2200 in the field as battle
commenced with Brereton's foot still to arrive. Technically Gell and
Brereton had all the advantages of terrain and deployment. Had
Northampton charged the ridge by way of a frontal assault, his horse
would have been cut to pieces by cannonades and musket fire from
three sides, butchered in a devastating crossfire. The killing field
had been set and Parliament waited for Northampton to step into the
trap. Northampton began to form up on the lower slope of the Heath
at about 3.00pm. He had with him a few field pieces from the
Stafford Garrison; one notable gun was a 29lb demi-cannon 'Roaring
Meg' (later captured by Parliament when Stafford eventually fell).
The Battle
But Northampton did not fall into the trap. Instead he deployed
his dragoons to clear the flanks of the breastworks whilst his
cannon played upon the ridge. This was still an early stage in the
war when the Royalist horse held the upper hand. Certainly
Northampton had with him a formidable array of gallant cavaliers.
His seasoned dragoons managed to take both flanks of the field with
few casualties whilst the rebels suffered severe losses. Furthermore
his manoeuvre resulted in not only clearing the flanks completely,
it resulted in the capture of at least eight cannon. As
Northampton's dragoons set about their victorious work, the Royalist
cannon began to cause havoc on the ridge. Contemporary accounts
record that the first blast from 'Roaring Meg' killed six rebels and
injured four. The second retort cut such a swathe through the rebel
ranks that the gap was never filled. Northampton released his
cavalry, who were too much of a match for Brereton's horse and
Brereton fled the field, taking the remnants of his horse with him.
This was an uncommon action for Brereton, but one for which Gell
never forgave him.
The rebel flanks had been destroyed; Brereton's cavalry scattered
and the main body of rebels on the ridge were disordered by cannon
fire. The Moorlanders held in reserve fled the field and it was
almost a complete rout until Gell took a gallant and brave action.
At the very point of annihilation he dismounted and joined his
infantry. Sir George Gresley's account talks of Gell stopping a rout
by word and deed. His pike had gone to advance to leave the field
and he knocked their points down again. Gell brought order to the
chaos by reforming his Grey Coats into coherent defensive formations
against attacks from the Royalist horse. The Derbyshire Foot were
now joined by 250 of Brereton's Cheshire Foot who made a timely
arrival on the field. We do not know what formation Gell commanded
on the ridge, only that it was essentially a shot and pike
deployment to receive cavalry. Though Brooke's Reformadoes had
remained, what followed was an infantry-versus-horse confrontation.
The Royalist horse charged en masse on at least four occasions. Each
time Gell's troops held their ground and fired devastating volleys
into the charging Royalists, who reached the line each time only to
wheel away as they fell upon the rebel pikes.
In either the first or second charges Northampton was killed. His
son, Lord James Compton (now the 3rd Earl) was wounded, as was Sir
Thomas Byron. The Royalists had lost a number of officers including
Captain Middleton. Sir Henry Hastings led the fourth charge and then
decided that further attempts at breaking the rebel formation would
be foolhardy (if it was Hastings left in command then it must have
been high risk, because he had a reputation for going where angels
feared to tread). As the day drew to a close the Royalists retreated
to the low ground on the Heath. Gell and his forces remained on the
ridge, but withdrew towards Uttoxeter during the night. Although the
battle concluded in a stalemate, Parliament could at least take
pride in the avoidance of a rout; for the Royalists it was a
'technical knock-out'. They had saved Stafford and on doing so
inflicted some 500 casualties on the rebels, took all the baggage
and captured eight cannon. In turn, they lost 50 men; the rebels
claimed that of these most were officers and gentry. The Royalists
for their part made the cutting observation that Parliament lost few
officers due to their leading from the rear.
The Death of Northampton
Accounts differ on the exact nature of Spencer Compton's death.
It has to be said that any true record must be an account from the
Parliamentarians, as no Royalists were around when he was killed.
How he got to be surrounded by the rebels is a mystery, especially
the fact that he was isolated. Was he knocked off his horse, or was
his horse shot from underneath him? What we do know is that he died
fighting on foot, surrounded by rebel infantry. One possibility is
that on wheeling away from the charge he was dismounted and that his
troop of horse retreated to reform, leaving him surrounded in front
of the Parliamentary line which quickly closed in on him.
However he could have easily broken through the front ranks and
then been caught in a melee of rebel foot. Another possibility for
the romantics is that he ‘did a Richard III’ and targeted Gell. This
is possible, since one account records Gell receiving a neck wound
'inflicted by Northampton'. Most sources agree in that his helmet
was knocked off by a musket butt.
Whilst on foot, Northampton killed a rebel officer and a number
of ordinary soldiers prior to being completely surrounded. He was
given the option of quarter, but refused with the famous dying words
“I take no quarter from such base rogues and rebels as you are”.
Having refused quarter he was struck on the head from the rear by a
halberd. He was also struck in the face and some accounts suggest
the use of musket butts as further mortal blows. Whether Northampton
actually said the dying words we can only fancy, but from what we
know of the man it is certainly in keeping with his character.
A 19thC engraving of the death of Earl Spencer Compton
Aftermath - 'Gell Buries Chivalry'
As Gell stole away during the night, he also stole Northampton's
body, taking it from the field as a bargaining tool. The young James
Compton, now 3rd Earl of Northampton, sent a trumpeter to Gell at
Uttoxeter requesting his father's body. Gell refused and sent the
trumpeter away with the reply that he would exchange the dead body
for the eight captured cannon. Compton refused, as the cannon
belonged to the King and not him personally. He had given a
chivalrous response and believed Gell would act honourably and
return his father's dead body without the indignity of bargaining,
but this was not to be so.
Gell then perpetrated one of the most despicable and unchivalrous
acts of the whole Civil War: he had the dead Earl stripped naked and
the body slung over the back of a horse. He transported the body to
Derby and paraded his grotesque trophy around the town,
blood-stained and stinking. Gell kept the decomposing body unburied,
demanding the Royalists pay for the embalming and burial. Eventually
the Earl was laid to rest in the Cavendish Tomb at Derby Parish
Church. On hearing of such bestial behaviour to a life-long friend
and gallant Earl, the King placed a warrant on Gell's head.
In April 1643 Prince Rupert took Lichfield and in May Brereton
captured Stafford. The irony in relation to Stafford is that
Brereton sneaked his army into the town under the cover of darkness
and without a fight took a prize for which a brave Royalist fought,
died and suffered indignity. Such was the madness of the English
Civil War.
Northampton's Memory Betrayed
Sir John Gell had performed a functional service for Parliament
throughout the First Civil War; however, he had made enemies of
prominent Parliamentarians, including Fairfax. His Machiavellian and
autocratic style was to the fore in a series of events in which he
attempted to secure a power base through political manipulation.
Towards the end of the war he was accused and found guilty of
corruption and abuse of power, i.e. disobeying orders, unlawful
imprisonment, and misappropriation of funds (essentially public
monies to pay the army). Furthermore he was accused of a scandalous
lifestyle and various profanities worthy of a 'Cavalier' but not of
a 'Godly Parliamentarian'. He was fined and received no compensation
for his losses during the campaign. He was stripped of all rank and
was left a very bitter rebel indeed. He attempted to reverse
decisions and fought to reinstate his status and wealth, but his
campaign was in vain as he had made too many enemies in the new
order.
Having failed to use the civil strife for his own ends, Gell now
demonstrated that integrity and loyalty were lacking in his
personality. He was implicated in the Second Civil War by writing to
the King, imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, promising both support
and money to raise a second war against Parliament. It appears the
King conveniently forgot that this was the man he had served a death
warrant on for the unchivalrous treatment of the Earl of
Northampton. The memory of Spencer Compton was ill served by the
disloyalty of his King. Gell was caught in the act and evidence was
produced that resulted in him being tried and sentenced for treason
against the Commonwealth. He served approximately three years in the
Tower before being released on a petition of ill health. On the
restoration of Charles II he was fully pardoned and his estates
restored on the grounds that he had ultimately supported the late
King and been penalised for it. Furthermore, he had covertly
supported the restoration. Gell had been exonerated for his infamous
actions during the 1st Civil War. The fickle Stuarts did not make
him pay for his war crimes; maybe God was less forgiving. Spencer
Compton gave all for the King's cause, but the expediency of
kingship betrayed his loyalty. Such is the shame of a civil war.
Alf Thompson
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