THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR 1642.....

TOM FLETCHER'S TRAVELS

FIRST DRY RATTLE

The first dry rattle of new drawn steel
Changes the world today.
Kipling, Edgehill Fight

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE ENGLISH CIVIL WARS

The first book - First Dry Rattle  - of the life of  Tom Fletcher begins in September 1642. Unaware of the civil war that is beginning in the Midlands, he travels from his home in Worcester to Malvern.   Tom Fletcher then traverses the length of the Malverns to Ledbury, and returning to Worcester strays into the first skirmish between the Parliamentarians and the army of Charles I, the Royalists, at Powick Bridge.

WORCESTER AND THE BATTLE OF EDGEHILL

The Parliamentary army of the Earl of Essex – the Parliamentarian Lord General -  invades Worcester on the 24th of September.  Tom Fletcher is forced to flee from Worcester and rides north, to Kinver and Wolverhampton, having determined to serve the King as a surgeon in his army. After a traumatic night's stay at Aston Hall, he rides on seeking the Royalists, through Birmingham and Henley, but loses the trail to Stratford-upon-Avon, where he takes a wrong turning. The pitched battle of Edgehill, (or Kineton Fight as it is sometimes known), the first major action of the English Civil Wars, is about to take place. Tom Fletcher finally chooses to place his doctoring skills at the command of Basil, Lord Fielding, a Parliamentarian commander.  He treats the appallingly bloody wounds caused by cannon, musket balls, swords, carbines and pikes as well as foul smelling infections – a formidable task for this young 17th century doctor.

The battle of Edgehill was fought in the fields between the villages of Kineton and Radway, a few miles from Banbury,  in Warwickshire.  Often  viewed as indecisive – a “bloody draw” -  in effect King Charles I gained the advantage of the command of the road to London.

Finally Tom Fletcher is entertained by Lucius Carey, Viscount Falkland, at his home in Great Tew where he remains until the beginning of 1643.

A DARING RESOLUTION

SHAKESPEARE'S HOME TOWN AND LICHFIELD

The second book begins in 1643 with Tom Fletcher's return to Worcester from Great Tew, across the Cotswolds. He enjoys the comforts of his home for a very short while however when he, together with his assistant Phoebe and his apprentice Elijah, travel to Lichfield.  Tom Fletcher and his companions ride first to Stratford-upon-Avon  then, after a short stay in Henley, strike north for the cathedral city of Lichfield.

EARLY JOURNALISM, A SIEGE AND TRAGEDY

Through contacts on his travels in A Daring Resolution Tom Fletcher becomes aware of the growing power of the press. A new profession - journalism - is emerging and its recruits swiftly learn to profit from the constant desire of the populace for news. Tom is also delighted to make the acquaintance of a larger than life, but out-of-work, actor.

A Parliamentarian army, led by Lord Brooke, (Robert Greville, who was involved in the foundation of Saybrooke in Connecticut), suddenly descends upon Lichfield. Tom Fletcher finds himself imprisoned in Lichfield Cathedral Close with the Royalist Earl of Chesterfield, Phoebe's great-uncle. After the siege is raised by Sir John Gell and his men of Derbyshire, he forces Tom Fletcher and Elijah to travel to Stafford, where Elijah is slain by a stray shot at the Battle of Hopton Heath on the 19th March.  The Battle was indecisive, the parliamentarians lost several artillery pieces and the Royalists' commander, the Earl of Northamapton, was killed in action.

BRUTAL VENGEANCE, PRINCE RUPERT, MINERS
THE FIRST BRITISH LANDMINE ON ENGLISH SOIL

Tom rides back to Stratford to return Elijah's body to his mother for burial. He hears that Prince Rupert, nephew of King Charles I, (his mother was the King's sister Elizabeth), intends to wreak vengeance on the town of Birmingham as retribution for theft from the King's baggage train before the Battle of Edgehill. Tom Fletcher decides that with all haste he must warn his friends in Henley and Birmingham.

On 3rd April Prince Rupert attacks Birmingham with savagery and brutality. Tom Fletcher rides back to Lichfield.  Tom is called upon to treat Prince Rupert's burns.  He then rescues two wounded miners, poor men from Cannock, who are trapped in underground mine workings. The first landmine on English soil is detonated by Prince Rupert, and a battle ensues within the Close between the Royalists and Colonel Russell's Parliamentarians.

ACT OF REBELLION

TRAGEDY, A RIVER JOURNEY AND
THE SIEGE OF GLOUCESTER IN 1643

Tom Fletcher's third story is set mainly in the City of Gloucester, a city which courageously withstood the might of Charles 1st's besieging army in August 1643. Prior to his enforced sojourn within the walls of Gloucester, Tom Fletcher and Abram journey from Worcester to his farms in Herefordshire. On his return he is beset by tragedy and is the subject of unjust blame so he, and Abram travel by trow down the River Severn, the first stage of their intended journey to London to impart sad news to the Earl of Chesterfield who is imprisoned within the Tower.

THE BATTLE OF LANSDOWNE HILL AND
THE DEATH OF A FRIEND

En route for London Tom Fletcher becomes embroiled in the Battle of Lansdowne Hill near Bath. He is called upon to assist Robert Burghill, now a Colonel in one of Sir William Waller's Parliamentary Regiments. Waller instructs him to return to Gloucester with the grievously wounded Colonel.

(Sir William Waller was elected to the Long Parliament in 1642 as MP for  Andover in Hampshire.
During the Commonwealth and Protectorate years, Waller became a royalist sympathiser and, in 1660, assisted with the negotiations for the return of Charles II. He was elected the MP for Westminster  in the Convention Parliament).   

BATTLEFIELD HORROR

Robert Burghill dies during the ensuing siege, and Tom Fletcher returns his body to his home in Buckinghamshire, accompanied by Ralph Holtham, the Colonel's personal servant. After Robert's funeral, Tom is persuaded to go with Ralph to Newbury. As they travel they become aware of the movement of armies and arrive in Newbury very shortly before the King's army. He agrees to doctor for the Royalist Sir John Byron.
(Distinguishing himself at the Battle of  Newbury Sir John Byron was made Baron Byron of Rochdale by Charles I in October 1643. The  “Roundheads” later came to know him as the “Bloody  Braggadoccio”.)

Saddened by the loss of friends and the horror of civil war, Tom Fletcher returns to Worcester.

Please feel free to contact Tom Fletcher - you never know he might reply!

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