At Taunton in Somerset, a Royalist force of 10,000 men under Goring, had laid siege to the city. On hearing that a Parliamentary force was marching to relieve the city, he withdrew to the east. Fairfax with a force of 15,000 men moved west to intercept him. The two armies met at Langport on July 10, 1645.

Goring posted his regiments in the conventional manner at the top of a hill about one mile distance from the village of Langport. The slope in front of him consisted of small fields enclosed with hedges; ideal natural defence against either cavalry or infantry. At the bottom of the hill a small stream crossed the valley and from this, a lane led up to the top. Goring posted musketeers in the hedges of the fields and along the two sides of the lane.

Map of the Battle of Langport

As in previous battles, the fight began with an exchange of artillery fire. Fairfax put the Royalist guns out of action then fired on their cavalry, forcing them to move back from the edge of the hill. He then ordered his infantry to advance up the hill driving out the musketeers from the hedges. When the hedges had been cleared, Cromwell ordered six troops of his Ironsides to charge up the lane to attack Goring's horse. The first three troops under Major Bethel went first but found themselves in serious trouble with the superior numbers of Goring's horse at the top.

At this point Major Disbrowe, with his three troops, came to his support and together they fell on Goring's horse, "braking it at sword point", and causing it to flee in the direction of Langport. The Royalist infantry, left without the protection of their cavalry, panicked and ran after them. Bethel and Disbrowe were joined by the rest of Cromwell's cavalry and they pursued the beaten Royalists through the burning hamlet of Langport capturing much booty and 1400 prisoners.

The isolated and scattered Royalist garrisons now fell, one by one, into the hands of the victorious Parliamentary forces. The city of Bath surrendered on July 29th, and Bristol was taken on September 19th after being under attack for about three weeks. In this action Disbrowe commanded the cavalry in the final assault which preceded the surrender [1]. By October 1645, all of the west except Devon, was held by Parliament.

In the remaining parts of the southwest held by the Royalists, the country people, being weary of the war, formed associations of "Clubmen" to defend themselves against plundering on both sides. Fairfax treated them roughly using his cavalry to disperse them. At Shaftsbury 2000 of these poorly armed countrymen barred his path. He summoned their leaders and demanded that they return to their homes. They refused and some shots were fired whereupon he ordered Major Disbrowe to charge them. In his words [2], "Major Disbrowe wheeled about, got in the rear of them, beat them from the work, and did some severall execution upon them; I believe killed net twelve of them; but cut very many, and put them to flight". But it was slow work and it was not until March 1646 that all forms of resistance in the southwest were finally subdued.

In the meantime, Major Disbrowe and Colonel Whalley were sent on December 8th to assist in, "straightening Oxford" [3]. In April 1646 a committee of officers drew up the articles of surrender of Woodstock, a Royalist stronghold. Disbrowe was a member of the committee and brought a report of its work to Parliament on April 26th, and was called in to receive the thanks of the house and a gift of £100 [4].

On June 24th, Oxford was taken and, to all intent, the war was ended. Just prior to the surrender, Charles escaped in disguise and gave himself up to the Scots whom he hoped to persuade to switch sides. But his negotiations with them were unsuccessful and on January 30, 1647, he was handed over by them to the English at Holmby House in Northamptonshire.

Parliament, now that it had defeated the King's forces and held the King himself a prisoner, was convinced that the war was over and turned its attention to the task of demobilizing the troops. In February 1647 a scheme was announced for the discharge of the soldiers and reenlistment of about 15,000 men for a permanent army. But the soldiers, who had been unpaid for many weeks, refused to disband and except for a few, to reenlist. Parliament became frightened and began to plan reprisals on the men. This foolish action precipitated an open mutiny in which most of the officers joined. Cromwell made no effort to hide his sympathy for the troops and left London to join them.

During these events Major Disbrowe, whose sympathies were also with the army, was active in its interest. Most of the troops supported the mutiny but a few remained loyal to Parliament in spite of their justifiable grievances. Disbrowe attacked these loyalists and subdued them in order that the mutiny could proceed without hindrance.

Cromwell, having decided to cast his lot with the army, acted quickly by sending Cornet Joyce and a troop from his old regiment to seize the King at Holmby House on June 2. He then arranged an assembly of the army at Kentford Heath at which the complaints of the soldiers were heard. A council of officers and men was then chosen to negotiate with Parliament and the army moved on London. Parliament, seeing that it was at the mercy of the army, yielded to its demands.

At this point Cromwell's hope was to come to some acceptable terms with the King. But the King was not an easy man to deal with. He refused to surrender any of the powers of the monarchy and attempted to exploit, to his own advantage, the differences between Parliament and the army. It is not surprising that, by the end of 1647, Cromwell and the Army Council had almost given up hope of reaching an agreement with Charles. Matters were not improved when, on the night of November 15th, the King escaped from Hampton Court Palace, where he had been taken, and fled to the Isle of Wight.

The King now entered into direct negotiations with Parliament but, as ever, his inflexible attitude made failure a foregone conclusion. When it was discovered that he was plotting to escape to the continent, negotiations were broken off altogether and he was placed under close guard. Cromwell and the army, realizing that they could never conciliate the King short of complete capitulation, agreed to present a united front in opposition to his claims. Parliament, now that the threat of an army insurrection was removed, showed its appreciation in March 1648 by settling on Cromwell a huge estate in recognition of his great service to the state.

Notes for Chapter Six:

[1] - L. & S. - Carlyle, Vol. 1, p. 202

[2] - L. & S. - Carlyle, Vol. 1, p. 197

[3] - D. N. B.; also Whitelocke, Vol. II, p. 202

[4] - Whitelocke, Vol. I, pp. 182-202

Chapter Seven: The Founding of the Protectorate