]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1644. June 3.]
passed with seven thousand men between the hostile divisions, and arrived
in safety at Worcester.[a] The jealousy of the commanders did not allow
them to act in concert. Essex directed his march into Dorsetshire;[b]
Waller took on himself the task of pursuing the fugitive monarch. Charles
again deceived him. He pretended to advance along the right bank of the
Severn from Worcester to Shrewsbury;[c] and when Waller, to prevent him,
hastened from Broomsgrove to take possession of that town, the king turned
at Bewdley, retraced his steps to Oxford,[d] and, recruiting his army, beat
up the enemy's quarters in Buckinghamshire. In two days Waller had returned
to the Charwell, which separated the two armies; but an unsuccessful action
at Copredy Bridge[e] checked his impetuosity, and Charles, improving the
advantage to repass the river, marched to Evesham in pursuit of Essex.
Waller did not follow; his forces, by fatigue, desertion, and his late
loss, had been reduced from eight thousand to four thousand men, and the
committee of the two kingdoms recalled their favourite general from his
tedious and unavailing pursuit.[1]
During these marches and counter-marches, in which the king had no other
object than to escape from his pursuers, in the hope that some fortunate
occurrence might turn the scale in his favour, he received the despatch
already mentioned from the marquess of Newcastle.
Pages:
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102