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English Parliamentarian

Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, KB, PC ('/d//ɛ//v//ə/,/r//uː/; 11 January 1591 – 14 September 1646) was an English Parliamentarian and soldier during the first half of the 17th century. With the start of the Civil War in 1642, he became the first Captain General and Chief Commander of the Parliamentarian army, also known as the Roundheads. However, he was unable and unwilling to score a decisive blow against the Royalist army of King Charles I. He was eventually overshadowed by the ascendancy of Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax, and resigned his commission in 1646.

Following several minor skirmishes, the first major engagement between the two armies took place at the Battle of Edgehill on 23 October 1642. Both sides had raised impressive armies. Essex's lifeguard included Henry Ireton, Charles Fleetwood, Thomas Harrison, Nathaniel Rich, Edmund Ludlow, Matthew Tomlinson and Francis Russell. All of them played a leading role in the civil war and its aftermath but a degree of amateurism and bad discipline was evident on both sides during the battle. Following a brief exchange of artillery fire, the battle began with a Royalist cavalry charge led by Prince Rupert of the Rhine. A second Royalist cavalry charge followed, led by Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester. Both the right and left flanks of the Parliamentarian horse were scattered. The Royalist cavalry, with their eye on the baggage train, unwisely chose to pursue the fleeing Parliamentarian horsemen but Essex had kept two cavalry regiments in reserve. As the rival infantry divisions engaged in combat, with Essex fighting alongside his troops with a pike, the two remaining Parliamentarian cavalry regiments made a devastating attack on the exposed Royalist foot soldiers. Both sides incurred heavy losses and the battle ended in stalemate after Rupert's cavalry returned to stop a rout. Both armies spent the night in the field before Essex withdrew the Parliamentarians to Warwick the next day. This battle and its aftermath portrayed the strengths and weaknesses of Essex's military mindset. His planning and leadership had allowed the Parliamentarian forces to stand their ground. However, his defensive caution and his unwillingness to engage the enemy led to his army being outmanoeuvred. Although Essex had begun his military preparations in London, prior to the battle Charles had been able to position his army in between the Parliamentarian forces and London. This left the road to London open to Charles at the end of the battle. The King had also been able to engage Essex's army before the Parliamentarians were at full strength. On the day of the battle, Essex was still waiting for the arrival of John Hampden's two cavalry regiments and most of the Parliamentary artillery. Luckily for Essex, Charles did not take much advantage of this superior position. The King chose to make an assault on London with his army at full strength, as he too was awaiting the arrival of more soldiers from around the country. This allowed Essex and his army to make a break for London via Watling Street. Essex arrived back in London to a hero's welcome on 7 November, before Charles was able to get there.

On 12 November Rupert's Royalist army engaged in their first major assault in preparation for a march on London. A small Parliamentarian garrison suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Brentford. The Royalists proceeded to sack the town. This galvanised sentiment in the City of London against a Royalist occupation. On 13 November, Essex was able to muster 24,000 men for the Battle of Turnham Green, including the remnants of the Edgehill army and the City trained bands, as well as apprentices and militiamen from Hertfordshire, Essex and Surrey. Essex and Major General Phillip Skippon were key to this display of force by placing their soldiers in effective defensive positions and by keeping up morale. Charles, with much smaller forces, did not engage in battle. His army retreated with only a handful of shots fired. By the end of 1642, Essex's forces were the weaker side against the Royalists but the Parliamentarians had the sympathy of the Scots and there were thousands of other troops ready to join their cause around the country. The scene was set for a long conflict.

After a long winter break, Essex's army captured and occupied Reading on 26 April 1643 following a 10 day siege. Progress towards the King's base at Oxford after this was slow. Some began to question the willingness of Essex to lead the Parliamentarians to victory in the developing civil war. The fluctuating performance of his army in 1643 was in contrast to the ascendancy of the Eastern Association. This was an alliance of pro Parliament militiamen from Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Lincolnshire commanded by Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester. One of their cavalry commanders was Oliver Cromwell. The Eastern Association established itself as a formidable fighting force in 1643, thanks in a large part to Cromwell's regiment, which became known as the 'Ironsides'. Nonetheless, 1643 was a good year overall for Essex's army. In what was perhaps his finest hour, on 20 September, Essex's forces came off as the stronger side in the First Battle of Newbury. Despite not winning a decisive victory, the Parliamentarians forced the Royalists to withdraw to Oxford. This gave the Parliamentary army a clear road between Reading and London.

1644 proved to be the turning point in the First English Civil War. In February an alliance with the Scots was consolidated with the creation of the Committee of Both Kingdoms, to which Essex was appointed. This replaced the Committee of Safety. It gave the Parliamentarians an edge over the Royalists for the first time. However, the year also saw the increasing polarisation of the Parliamentary alliance between the peace party and those who wished to defeat the King in battle. The death of Pym in December 1643 led to the demise of the middle group and also deprived Essex of a key ally in the House of Commons. A confrontation between the two sides became inevitable. On 2 July 1644, Parliamentary commanders Lord Fairfax, Lord Leven and the Earl of Manchester defeated Royalist forces at the Battle of Marston Moor. The conduct of Cromwell, participating with the Eastern Association, was decisive in the victory. Simultaneously, Essex pursued his campaign to conquer the West Country. This was a strange move and it was made against the advice of the Committee of Both Kingdoms. There was some sympathy for the Parliamentary cause in Devon and Dorset but in Royalist Cornwall, there was practically no support for the Parliamentarians at all. Although the campaign started well, Essex's army was forced to surrender in September at Lostwithiel after they were outmanoeuvred by the Royalists. The Earl himself escaped in a fishing boat to avoid humiliation. He left the task of surrendering to Skippon.

The Lostwithiel campaign proved to be the end of Essex's military career. His army participated in the Second Battle of Newbury on 27 October. However, the Earl was sick in Reading at the time. His conduct in the West Country had frustrated Cromwell, now the most prominent member of the House of Commons following his military victories and the deaths of Hampden and Pym. Cromwell had become embroiled in a feud with the Earl of Manchester, who was still his superior officer in the Eastern Association. Essex and Manchester remained sympathetic to the peace party, while Cromwell had emerged as the leading voice in the campaign to fight a more aggressive war against Charles. Following a month of Parliamentary arguments between Manchester and Cromwell, with the former speaking in the House of Lords and the latter making his attacks in the House of Commons, the scene was set for a showdown. On 19 December 1644, the first Self Denying Ordinance was approved by the House of Commons. This proposed that all members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords be barred from exercising military commands. This was rejected by the Lords on 13 January 1645. However, on 21 January the Commons passed the New Model Ordinance. This was a proposal to create a united Parliamentary army. It was approved by the Lords on 15 February. Over a month of negotiations ensued between the Commons and the Lords concerning who was going to command this army. On 2 April, Essex and Manchester gave way and resigned their commissions. The next day a revised Self Denying Ordinance was approved by the House of Lords. This discharged members of both Houses from military commands but did not reject the possibility of their future reappointment. Although Essex still had many supporters in Parliament, he had enough opponents to block his re emergence as a military leader at this stage. These reforms led to the creation of the New Model Army led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, son of the victorious Lord Fairfax at the Battle of Marston Moor. Cromwell was swiftly appointed to the post of Lieutenant General, Fairfax's second in command.

For the rest of his days, Essex was associated with the emerging Presbyterian faction in Parliament. One of his last political battles was his involvement with a plan to build up Edward Massey's Western Association into an army capable of counterbalancing the New Model Army. Massey had been one of the few Parliamentary commanders to retain an independent commission when the New Model Army was formed. However, this plan failed when Parliament disbanded Massey's army in October 1646. In 1645, Essex was given Somerhill House near Tonbridge, Kent, which had been sequestrated by Parliament from his half brother Ulick Burke, 5th Earl of Clanricarde, following the Battle of Naseby. On 1 December that year Parliament voted for him to be created a Duke but no elevation in his peerage followed. The Earl of Essex died in September 1646 without an heir. After hunting in Windsor Forest he had a stroke on the 10th and died in London, at Essex House, four days later, aged fifty five. The effigy was restored but Charles II ordered that it be taken down during the Restoration, although – unlike most Puritans interred in the Abbey during the Civil War and Commonwealth – his body was allowed to remain buried.

Essex is portrayed by actor Charles Gray in the 1970 film Cromwell, inaccurately depicted sitting in the House of Commons in Cromwell's presence, whereas in fact, Essex was already a member of the Lords before the Civil War.