d his strong
position on Lansdowne Hill in the teeth of his guns. The stubborn fight
robbed the victors of their leaders; Hopton was wounded, Greenvil slain,
and with them fell the two heroes of the little army, Sir Nicholas
Slanning and Sir John Trevanion, "both young, neither of them above
eight-and-twenty, of entire friendship to one another, and to Sir Bevil
Greenvil." Waller too, beaten as he was, hung on their weakened force as
it moved for aid upon Oxford, and succeeded in cooping up the foot in
Devizes. But in July the horse broke through his lines; and joining a
force which Charles had sent to their relief, turned back, and dashed
Waller's army to pieces in a fresh victory on Roundway Down.

[Sidenote: Hampden and the War.]

The Cornish rising seemed to decide the fortune of the war; and the
succours which his queen was bringing him from the army of the North
determined Charles to make a fresh advance upon London. He was preparing
for this advance, when Rupert sallied from Oxford to beat up the
quarters of the army under Essex, which still remained encamped about
Thame. Foremost among this Parliamentary force were the "Greencoats" of
John Hampden. From the first outbreak of warfare Hampden had shown the
same energy in the field that he had shown in the Parliament. He had
contributed two thousand pounds to the loan raised by the Houses for the
equipment of an army. He had raised a regiment from among his own
tenantry, with the parson of Great Hampden for their chaplain. The men
wore his livery of green, as those of Holles or Brooke or Mandeville
wore their leaders' liveries of red, and purple, and blue; the only sign
of their common soldiership being the orange scarf, the colour of Lord
Essex, which all wore over their uniform. From the first the
"Greencoats" had been foremost in the fray. While Essex lay idly
watching the gathering of an army round the king, Hampden was already
engaged with the royal outposts. It was the coming up of his men that
turned the day at Edgehill; and that again saved Lord Brooke from
destruction in the repulse of the royal forces at Brentford. It was
Hampden's activity that saved Reading from a second capture. During the
gloomy winter, when the fortunes of the Houses seemed at their worst,
his energy redoubled. His presence was as necessary in the Parliament as
in the field; and he was continually on the road between London and
Westminster. It was during these busy months that he br