1640

'At the first open rupture between the King and Parliament, the disposition of the Devonians was not so favourable to royalty as that of the Cornish.

On the Royalist side Sir Bevil Grenville or Granville, of Kilkhampton who was one of his generals & his brother Richard, Sir Nicholas Slanning, governor of Pendennis Castle;  Col. John Trevanion of Carhayes, John Arundell Esq of Trerice, Francis Bassett Esq of Tehidy, Sir John Trelawny of Trelawne;
Major Kendal of Pelyn, Oliver Saule Esq, and others. The Pypers of Liskeard were also zealous royalists. Lord Mohun and some others were at first undecided. 

The few forces which Charles I sent into the west, under the command of Sir Ralph Hopton, were joined in Cornwall by Sir Bevil Grenville, and stationed at Truro.

The cause of Parliament was actively espoused by Sir Richard Buller of Morval, one of the members for the county, William Coryton Esq of St Mellion, who represented Launceston, Sir Alexander Carew of Anthony, and Lord Robartes of Lanhydrock. 

These gentlemen secured possession of the eastern part of the county; placing garrisons in Launceston and Saltash, so that the committee of Parliament believed themselves masters of Cornwall.

With their hold on Devon apparently secured, they drew off their forces to Launceston, in order to prevent the escape of Sir Ralph Hopton and his adherents, whose power they thought contemptible, presenting them to the sessions as unknown breakers of the peace. But Sir Ralph, boldly going to Launceston, and having the feelings of the county in his favour, quickly recruited with a body of 3000 foot soldiers, a posse comitatus (a force of the county or the common man).

Sir Richard Buller retreated before him and the royalists took Saltash, with Lord Mohun of Boconnoc, declaring for the king. He was admitted to a joint command with Sir Ralph Hopton,Sir John Berkeley, and Col Ashburnham. Thus nearly all Cornwall was in possession of the Royalists early in the winter of 1642-3.'

In September 1463 o  Colonel Digby was sent to blockade the Town of Plymouth making his headquarters at Plymstock, with batteries at Oreston and Mount Batten. Shortly afterwards, Prince Maurice with his army advanced on the Town and made his headquarters at Widey House. The Town was summoned to surrender.

In reply, the inhabitants took a solemn vow to stand together and to surrender nothing 'without the authority and consent of both houses of Parliament'. On December 3rd 1643 was waged the famous "Sabbath-day Fight" when Prince Maurice's Cavaliers, storming along the Lipson ridge, were routed by the townsmen and driven off.

In April 1644 the Royalist forces were again at Plymouth but were defeated in a battle at St Budeaux. Several other attempts to take the Town also failed and in September 1644 Charles the King came to Plymouth and took up his headquarters at Widey House, where he held court the house thus becoming Widey Court. He was no more successful in defeating the townspeople of Plymouth.

After the King and Prince Maurice had departed the army was left under the command of Sir Richard Grenville. After much skirmishing and taking and re-taking of the forts, news came that the Earl of Essex was bringing an army to relieve the Town and the blockade was finally abandoned on Christmas Day 1644. It was reputedly the longest and fiercest siege of its time.

Although the heartlands of Dartmoor largely escaped direct fighting, they certainly contributed men who fought and in many cases were killed elsewhere. Mark Stoyle has recently portrayed early Stuart Dartmoor, along with much of mid Devon, as a somewhat isolated region of the county, far removed from the new ideas and new influences found in the ports and the main urban centres.

There was a relatively static population – Stoyle found that of the 107 family names recorded in the moorland parish of Widecombe between 1600 and 1634, 51% were still there in the period 1700-34, a much higher figure than found in other parts of Devon and elsewhere in England – which was conservative in religion, resisting reformist ideas, and which retained the old customs of church ales and popular festivals. In the light of this it is not surprising to discover that this was an area of popular royalism, in clear contrast to the north, south and parts of the east of the county, which showed evidence of popular Parliamentarian.

The Civil Wars of England 1642 -1651. August 1640:

Aug. 3. 18–25. Muster rolls, signed by Henry Fenwick and others, of the soldiers belonging to Colonel Lunsford's regiment reviewed at Newcastle this day,

made by order of the Lord General, the Earl of Northumberland, and Sir John Fenwick, Bart., Commissary General.

In Captain Francis Martyn's company, 74 strong, were 10 officers, 47 muskets, and 17 pikes;

in Capt. Hugh Pomeroy's company, 95 strong, were 10 officers, 56 muskets, and 29 pikes;

in Lieut.-Colonel Henry Lunsford's company, 68 strong, were 10 officers, 38 muskets, and 21 pikes;

in Capt. Roger Powell's company, 74 strong, were 10 officers, 43 muskets, and 21 pikes;

in Sergeant Major Thomas Cooke's company, 70 strong, were 10 officers, 37 muskets, and 23 pikes;

in Colonel Sir Thomas Glemham's company, 212 strong, were 12 officers, 126 muskets, and 74 pikes;

in Captain Robert Kirby's company, 87 strong, were 10 officers, 48 muskets, and 29 pikes;

in Capt. Thomas Cupper's company, 71 strong, were 10 officers, 40 muskets, and 21 pikes. [8 phamphlets

Strafford. After the Arrival of the King's Army in the County of York a Muster was taken thereof which was as followeth:

A List of the Strength of the King's Majesties Army, both Officers and Soldiers, as they were muster'd. Included: (Officer and the of men in his command:)

Col. Lansford 163 men , Lieut. Col. Lonsford 71 men, Serg. Ma. Gibbs 72 men, Capt. Powel 62 men, Capt. Lonsford 87 men,
Capt. Pomeroy 84 men, Capt. Martin 75 men,

Capt. Dillon 61 men, Capt. Capper 68 men, Capt. Hippisley 72 men

Also: The Names of all the Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels, Sergeant Majors, Captains, Lieutenants, Ensigns, Preachers, Chirurgeons, Quarter-masters, Provost Marshals, under his Excellency the Earl of Northumberland, Captain General for this Expedition 1640. Taken according to the Muster Roll after the Armies Retreat from Newcastle into York.

III.

Sir Jacob Ashley, Colonel ,  Sir Nicholas Selvin, Lieutenant Colonel,  Bernard Ashley, Sergeant Major.

Captains. ·  Sir William Udall, ·  Robert Townsend, ·  James Baynton, ·  William Bellowes,   Robert Rushell, ·  Edward Astley St. Johns.

Lieutenants. ·  William Lower, ·  Michael Bedolph, ·  Edward Fowles, ·  George Slatford, ·  Devereux Gibbons, ·  John Haslewood, ·  Isaac Cobb, ·  Theodore Paleologus,

  Thomas Colbie,   Henry Somerster, 

Ensigns. ·  Edward Courtenay, ·  Bray Knight, ·  Francis Gay, ·  Walter Neale, ·  Peregrine Tasburgh, ·  Hugh Pomeroy, ·  Edward Nelson, ·  Charles Thompson

XIV.

Lunsford, Colonel. ·  Hen. Lunsford, Lieutenant Col. ·  Powell, Sergeant Major.

This was right at the beginning before the wars began –Lunsford was described as a wild and tempestuous youth in 1632 

Captains. ·  Dilon, ·  Harbert Lunsford, ·  Francis Martin, ·  Thomas Cupper, ·  Hugh Pomeroy, ·  Edward Powell, ·  Edward Hippesley.

Cornwall and Devon, September-December 1642

The Marquis of Hertford sailed from Minehead on 25 September 1642, leaving Sir Ralph Hopton to command the small force of Royalist cavalry left behind. Hopton rode westwards through north Devon into Cornwall, intending to raise the county for the King. He joined forces with the Royalist Sir Bevil Grenville, though most of Cornwall remained uncommitted to either side Sir Richard Buller, Sir Alexander Carew and other Parliamentarian leaders in Cornwall gathered at Launceston and attempted to arraign Hopton at Truro Assizes for bringing armed forces into the county. Hopton retaliated by issuing bills of indictment against Buller, Carew and the rest of the Cornish committee for unlawful assembly at Launceston and for causing riots and misdemeanors against the King's subjects. Hopton voluntarily stood trial at Truro where, by meticulous legal argument, he convinced the jury that his cause was lawful. The court issued an order on the Sheriff to call out the Cornish militia (posse comitatus) in the King's name, and for all unlawful assemblies to be dispersed.

Hopton and the Sheriff's posse occupied Launceston on 15 October. Sir Richard Buller and the Parliamentarian committee fled into Devon.

Cornish Royalists secured the fortresses at Pendennis and St Mawes which guarded the approaches to Falmouth, from where Sir Nicholas Slanning organised a fleet of privateers to raid merchant shipping in the Channel in defiance of the Parliamentarian fleet. Realising that the militia was likely to refuse to fight outside Cornwall, Hopton dismissed the men and began recruiting a volunteer army of five regiments of foot and 500 horse with the intention of marching against the Parliamentarian stronghold of Plymouth. 

By November 1642, Hopton's cavalry were raiding across the River Tamar into Devon.

In early December 1642, Hopton secured the Cornish side of Plymouth Sound by occupying Mount Edgecumbe and Millbrook, but his attempts to blockade Plymouth itself were thwarted by the spirited defence conducted by Colonel William Ruthven, the Parliamentarian military governor. Ruthven commanded a regiment of Scottish mercenaries, which had been raiding rebel-held territory in Ireland. When the mercenaries put into Plymouth early in October, they were hired to defend the city pending the arrival of Lord Robartes with three newly-raised regiments. Ruthven mounted two amphibious raids across Plymouth Sound against the Royalist outpost at Millbrook.

Realising that a siege was untenable, Hopton and Edmund Fortescue, the Royalist High Sheriff, attempted to call out the people of Devon at Modbury on 6 December but they were disappointed to find that the Devon militia showed little enthusiasm for the King's cause. Colonel Ruthven led 500 cavalry from Plymouth in a surprise attack to disperse the gathering. Sheriff Fortescue was taken prisoner; Hopton and his officers narrowly escaped the raid.

At the end of December, Hopton made one more attempt to secure a base in Devon when he approached Exeter and called for its surrender. The Royalists seized Topsham and Powderham to the south of the city in order to prevent supplies or reinforcements being shipped in via the River Exe. However, Colonel Ruthven had reinforced the city with troop from Plymouth and the summons was rejected. Lacking supplies, and with his troops threatening to mutiny, Hopton was unable to sustain a siege or blockade and withdrew towards Cornwall. Colonel Ruthven led a force in pursuit, with the intention of capturing the Royalist artillery. Once back in Cornwall, however, Hopton's troops rallied to him, and the Parliamentarians were halted by a successful rearguard action at Bridestowe.

Devon as a whole was hotly contested and changed hands twice. Initially held for parliament, it fell to the king in 1643 and remained in royalist hands until 1645-6, when it was recaptured by Fairfax, Cromwell and the New Model Army.

There was significant action along the roads and in and around the townships which fringed the moor. In the opening months of the war, the two sides clashed around Dunsford and, in February 1643, at Chagford, resulting in a street fight in which the royalist poet Sidney Godolphin was badly wounded and reputedly bled to death in the porch of the Three Crowns at Chagford. In April 1643 local parliamentarians ambushed a party of Cornish Royalists on Sourton Down and a running fight developed.

Battle of Sourton Down was a battle of the first English civil war that took place on 25 April 1643. Sourton Down lies on the edge of Dartmoor west of Okehampton in Devon. The battle involved Cornish Royalist troops under Sir Ralph Hopton who were ambushed by Major-General James Chudleigh with his cavalry. Captain Drake also led a charge against Royalist dragoons. Other Royalist commanders included Lord Mohun,

After the fall of Bristol, the King moved his naval forces from ports in south Cornwall, to Bristol. The Force consisted of 18 armed vessels under the command of Sir John Pennington.  However like much of the Royalist army they were poorly trained and poorly equipped, unlike the Parliamentary forces, and many of the crews soon defected to the Parliamentarians

Cornwall: 1661: Subsidy to Charles II: to offset debt of army and navy...

For the County of Cornwall

Robert Roberts Esquire, Sir Chichester Wrey Knight & Baronet Sir John Trelawney Knight & Baronet Sir John Carew, Sir Richard Vivian Baronet [1],

Sir William Godolphin & Baronet, Sir Richard Edgecombe Knight of the Bath,

Sir Francis Godolphin Knight of the Bath, Sir Nicholas Slanning Knight of the Bath, Sir John Arundell, Sir Peter Courtenay, Sir Peter Killigrew,

Sir Samuel Coswarth, Sir Richard Prideaux ,Sir James Smith, Sir William Tredinham Knight,

Charles Grylls, Peirs Edgecombe[2], Jonathan Trelawney , Samuel Trelawney,  John Coryton, Hender Roberts,  Richard Arundell,;  John Arundell Ezekiel Arrundel & Nicholas Arundel, William Scawn, Edward Boscawn, Will (Sir) Bernard Grenville  Hugh Boscawen, Jonathan Rashley , Charles Trevanion, Charles Roscarrock, Francis Buller, Walter Langdon, William Pendarvis, John Elliot, John Buller,iam Cotton, John Harris,John Trelawney, John Penrose, John Speccot, Renatus Billet, Humphrey Noy, Esquires;  John Tanner, James Praede, Thomas Robinson, Edward Nosworthy, Arthur Spry, Thomas Hearl, John Rashley, Richard Rouse, William Godolphin, Richard Erisie, junior, John Polewheel , Digory Polewheel, Walter Kendal, Walter Moyl ,Nicholas Burlace, Edmond Prideaux, Oliver Sawle ,Thomas Trefry, John Moulsworth ,John Nicholls of Trewane, John Carnsew ,Francis Jones, Richard Pendarvis, Anthony Chinoweth, William Painter, Hannibal Buggins, George Hele, Samuel Ennis, John Bonython of Carclew, Hugh Trevanion, Nathaniel Trevanion, Colan Blewet, Hugh Pomeroy, Christopher Cooke, Hugh Courtenay, Thomas Wills, Thomas Castle, Michael Hill, Nathaniel Mohun,

Esquires Thomas Hoblin of St Stephens Gent., John Accland, George Potter, Merchants Isaac Maudite senior. Stephens Gent., William Trevisa, John Bligh , Richard Porter, Henry Spur, Henry Spur junior, Leon Tremain Esq Francis Robinson Gent., Hugh Piper, James Bond, Digory Tremain, Chamond Grenville, John Peirce, John Billing, Christopher Billet, Joseph Sawle Esquire, Hugh Trevanion, Marke Silly, William Spry, Richard Hawke, William Courtenay of St Erme, John Mathews, Humphrey Arscot, Thomas Hoblin of Goran, Samuel Gully, Thomas Hicks, John Verman, John Williams, Richard Williams, John Burgesse, Edmund Phillips, Andrew Cory, Francis Burgis, William Williams, Charles Grylls, Bernard Kendall, William Mohun, William Webber, David Moyl, Nicholas Sawle, Robert Soyle, John Edwards, Francis Hearle, James Crocker, Stephen Polewheel, Nathaniel Lugger, Gent; Reynald Hawkey, Thomas Pyker, Richard Erisie, , James Erisie, John Vivian, Thomas Wadden, Peter Jenkin, Edward Hearle, Edward Elliott, Charles Boscawen, John Ceely, Esquire, Edward Hender, Gent ,William Hender,  John Thomas, Richard Carter Esq; John Conock, Mathew Vivian.

Somerset Group:

Taken prisoner along with Sir Edmund Fortescue and his brother, Sir Edward Seymour, and his son, Mr Bassett, was Captain Pomeroy, Mr. Shopcut, Capt Wood, Capt Bidlocke, Barnes of Exon, Lieut Penrose, Mr. Short, Etc.

The prisoners were taken to Dartmouth. then sent them to Plymouth. Put on a Frigate called the Cressett, by one Capt Plunckett. Sent from there to London. Dec 9 1642

Note from Alma La france : This may be Hugh, son of Thomas Pomeroy, bp 15 July 1590, St Andrew, Plymouth Devon: Thomas was bp St Budeaux, Plymouth area:

Brother of the William Pomeroy, Royalist and ship owner?? This family is connected, I think to Leonard Pomeroy, Mayor of Plymouth...etc...

There is an entire Pomeroy family group here that we still haven't sorted out, but who were very well placed

Plymouth Siege The townsmen had taken advantage of the temporary absence of the King's Governor, Sir Jacob Astley, to seize the Town and fortify it.The Royalist army until the command of Sir Ralph Hopton appeared before Plymouth in December 1642 but was driven from its quarters