John Milton,Lord Fairfax, and the Siege of Colchester 1648
Happy New Year to all blog readers. Following the interview with Mark Vine, author of the Crabchurch Conspiracy, I will be attending the Crabchurch Conspiracy Weekend from March 2nd-4th 2018 over in Weymouth .
John Milton ( 1608- 1674)
'Lord Fairfax and the Siege of Colchester' sonnet XV
Portrait of John Milton, (c.1639) National Portrait Gallery
John Milton ( 1608- 1674)
'Lord Fairfax and the Siege of Colchester' sonnet XV
Diane Purkiss stated that the appearance of John Milton's 'Paradise Lost ' was "Among the war's most enduring consequences " ( Appendix 'Questions & Answers' to 'The English Civil War- A People's History - 2006) . The same book also referenced a far lesser known Milton poem- 'Fairfax at the Siege of Colchester', a piece that has fascinated me on two counts:. Firstly the idea of a poet dedicating a sonnet to a general seems unthinkable now- especially when the poet stresses that all round Europe the name of Lord Fairfax is either praised, or held in envy. Secondly, Milton does not condemn war , but raises concerns how it should be conducted -making a distinction between 'Valour' contrasted with 'Avarice and Rapine'.
On the Lord Gen. Fairfax at the seige (sic) of Colchester.
Fairfax, whose name in armes through Europe rings
Filling each mouth with envy, or with praise,
And all her jealous monarchs with amaze,
And rumors loud, that daunt remotest kings,
Thy firm unshak'n vertue ever brings
Victory home, though new rebellions raise
Thir Hydra heads, & the fals North displaies
Her brok'n league, to impe their serpent wings,
O yet a nobler task awaites thy hand;
For what can Warr, but endless warr still breed,
Till Truth, & Right from Violence be freed,
And Public Faith cleard from the shamefull brand
Of Public Fraud. In vain doth Valour bleed
While Avarice, & Rapine share the land.
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The poem was published posthumously. Poems dedicated to General Fairfax were not completely unusual , Andrew Marvell wrote at least two poems praising him. John Milton held Fairfax in high esteem, but implored him, via this sonnet, to honour a distinction between ' Truth & Right' from 'Violence' and raises the old age question - 'For what can Warr, but endless warr still breed'.
It is not clear when the poem was written- but Samuel Gardiner in his 'History of the Great English Civil Wars Volume IV (1901) thought that it was written during the siege itself. However, the poem was not published until 1694, some twenty years after Milton's death. Perhaps this sonnet was considered just too subversive at a time when Civil War had broken out again.
The eleven week siege of Colchester in 1648 was one of the most harrowing episodes of the English Civil War : The Royalist cause seemingly crushed by this point, burst into life again, with anti- parliamentarian rebellions in Scotland, Devon and Cornwall, Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshire- the 'Hydra heads and fals North' that Milton refers to. And then on 21st May 1648 a Royalist insurrection broke out in Kent, centred round Maidstone, led by Lord Norwich, which failed to take London on 3rd June 1648 , and then was pursued by a Parliamentarian army under the command of Lord Fairfax.
Lord Norwich's force moved towards Essex where they met up with Royalists led by Sir Charles Lucas, and converged on Colchester, a city that had previously supported Parliament. The Parliamentarians appeared outside the city with a force of 5,000 on 12th June 1648. When it became apparent that the city was not going to immediately capitulate, Fairfax ordered earthworks to be built around Colchester. The citizens had to face bombardment, the water supply being shut off, food running out. By 12th August 1648, horses, dogs, and cats, were being eaten.
Diane Purkiss stated in her work above that the Parliamentarians accused the Royalists of using specially tempered poisoned bullets, and that some twenty prisoners caught with such bullets were executed. Moreover, the family vault of Sir Charles Lucas was vandalised by the Parliamentarians, the corpses dis-interred and the hair from corpses used to decorate soldiers' hats. The 'poisoned' bullets were more likely to be roughly cast bullets from whatever lead the besieged garrison could find.
Fairfax offered terms of surrender to no avail : Royalists who had seized Colchester hoped that their forces would succeed elsewhere in other regions, and that Fairfax and his troops would be drawn away to give them some respite. Realistically, Lord Fairfax was hardly going to tolerate a large garrison of Royalists, ready to menace East Anglia, and near enough to London.
Some women and children were allowed to leave the city. Fairfax refused to let them through his lines, so they were trapped, but eventually were re-admitted to the city. Generally non-combatants are a liability at a time of siege, as they need food and water, but can not fight, and Fairfax also realised that the desperate citizens of the city would continue to press for surrender.
The Royalist rebellions throughout Britain were starting to falter. and the besiegers were sure to let news of the relevant defeats reach Colchester. Cromwell's victory over the invading Scots army at Preston on 17th-19th of August 1648 was probably the decisive factor. On 27th August 1648 the city surrendered. Ordinary Royalist soldiers were first locked into churches, left only with the shirts on their back, then marched off to Western ports to face transportation or pressed into service fighting for the Venetian Republic. ( Source :Samuel Gardiner above- though Daniel Defoe's account of the siege to be found in his 1722 'Tour through the Eastern Counties of England ' makes no mention of the transportation or banishment of Royalist prisoners ).
The Royalist commanders, Sir Charles Lucas, Sir George Lisle, Colonel Farre, and Sir Bernard Gasgoine faced court martial, which was unusual for the ethics of the time. Farre escaped, and Gasgoine was reprieved when it was discovered that he was a foreign national. Lucas and Lisle were both executed by firing squad.
The brutality of the siege, and the dismal plight of the Colchester citizens in 1648 can be contrasted with the words of Milton's sonnet, dedicated to a general who did not ever see the poem reminding him of the ethics to be used in pursuing a just war.
Daniel Defoe 'An Account of the Siege and Blockade of Colchester AD 1648 ' ( taken from 'Tour Through the Eastern Counties of England' 1722)
EnglishCivilWar.org article Tracing the Siege of Colchester
Luminarium entry for Lord Fairfax
Excellent resource for the study of Milton Darkness Visible from Christ's College Cambridge.
British Commonwealth Wars Project page The Second Civil War Kent and Essex
NOTE- Portrait of John Milton is in public domain, thanks for Wikipedia Commons for image.
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