Hereford falls by trickery

Three Parliamentarian military leaders took an interest in conquering Hereford: Colonel John Birch, governor of Bath; Colonel Thomas Morgan, governor of Gloucester; and Sir John Brydges of Wilton Castle near Ross-on-Wye, whose house had been burned to the ground by the Royalists. They were aided by a number of disaffected people from within the Royalist camp in the City of Hereford. Between them an ingenious plan, based to some extent on the almost arctic weather conditions, was concocted.

At dawn on December 18th 1645, six soldiers who were disguised as labourers from outside the city reported for the daily duty of breaking ice on the city ditch and river. They were to overpower the guards and open the gates to the troops hiding in the ruins of St.Guthlac's priory, some 300 yards from the city walls. Other troops hiding on Aylestone Hill would then make the city secure.

The plan worked, but probably would have failed if there had not been traitors within the city. The Royalist governor, Sir Barnabas Scudamore, managed to escape, but was held responsible for the loss of Hereford and had to put up a strong defence to avoid a court martial by the Royalist High Command. His version of events sheds light on the conditions within the city just before the attack and on the treasonous involvement of two of his officers. According to his testimony, a certain Captain Ballard, who had been in charge of the guards that night, drew the guard off Byster's gate and disabled the mortar piece which was set up there. The treachery was also aided by a certain Lieutenant Cooper, who opened the great gate and let fall the drawbridge. Cooper, who was in charge of the men ice-breaking, should have known that no labourers had been called for because this work was usually done by his own soldiers.

A Parliamentary committee had granted Sir John Brydges £3000.00 to spend as he saw fit, which means that he had a substantial sum of money to bribe the Royalist officers involved in the plot.

What were the conditions in the Royalist garrison that led to several officers co-operating with the Parliamentarian forces? Were the men merely greedy? Did they realise at this point that the King would lose the war? Parliament was already in the process of sequestering the property of known Royalist supporters. Several of the officers implicated in the treacherous take-over of Hereford were granted not only their personal freedom, but were also granted freedom from sequestration. This must have been a major consideration, as many Royalist families were left totally destitute.

Were there other openly discontented men in the Royalist garrison or among the townspeople? Scudamore, in his defence document, states that at 8 o'clock the following morning he was to attend the court martial of mutineers:

"... being at 8 a'clock in the morning to sit at a court of warre upon the mutineers of the day before."

Despite these rebellious elements, Hereford did not give up without a fight. Most people were still in bed when the attack happened and there was much confusion. House-to-house fighting led to the deaths of several citizens. The Parliamentarian leaders tried to stop their soldiers from looting, however, the soldiers felt it was their right to plunder as they had taken the city by storm. Having spent most of the night lying in the freezing snow waiting for the attack, they probably felt that they deserved as much reward as they could get. Some Parliamentarians tried to justify the behaviour of the soldiers:

"The commanders both of horse and foot did excellent service, and came on so gallantly, although they had layne all night in the snow, that They quickly seized all the guard, insomuch that at last many of the enemy passed through the market-place up to their chambers, and thence discharged their muskets and pistols upon our men (many of the malignant townsfolk did the like out of their windows,) which so enraged our men that they slew eight in the streets, but when the enemy saw our men come in great numbers they cried out for quarter. By this means the soldiers fell to plunder and rifle, took what they could catch, from which the governor of Gloucester could by no means restrain them, for they accounted all their own in regard they entered the city by onslaught and had so much opposition. So every man got what he could, and by twelve of the night they had taken most of the prisoners, only some hid themselves and were not discovered."

The Roundheads were overjoyed when Hereford fell into their hands, especially as the unsuccessful siege by the Scottish army, only a few months before, had rankled. A pamphlet describing this victory, entitled A New Tricke To Take Townes, was published. Apart from the Royalists' last stand at Goodrich Castle, the Civil War in Herefordshire had come to an end.

[Original author: Toria Forsyth-Moser, 2003]