On the first
discharge, the men rushed back on a regiment of foot; that, partaking in
the panic, on a squadron of
[Footnote 1: See in particular Blake's letters in Thurloe, iii. 232, 392,
541, 611, 620, 718; iv. 19. He complains bitterly of the bad state of the
ships, and of the privations suffered by the men, from the neglect of the
commissioners of the navy. The protector's instructions to him are in
Thurloe, i. 724.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. Jan. 29.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1654. April.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1654. April 25.]
horse; and, while the infantry and cavalry were thus wedged together in
inextricable confusion, the Spanish marksmen kept up a most destructive
fire from behind the trees lining the road. After a long effort, the wood
was cleared by a body of seamen who served among the infantry, and darkness
put an end to the action, in which not fewer than a thousand men had
fallen. In the morning the English retired to their last encampment, about
ten miles from the town.
Here Venables called a council of officers, who, having previously sought
the Lord, determined[a] to "purge" the army. Some of the runaways were
hanged; the officer who commanded the advance was broken, and sent on board
the hospital ship to wait on the sick; the loose women who had followed the
army were apprehended and punished; and a solemn fast was proclaimed and
observed.
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