tedly
was, his defiance of control caused the Earl to resign his command, and
the disposition of the forces to devolve upon Earl Ruthven, and so he
decided against the King the fortunes of the then commencing war.

The Parliamentarians had in the meantime not been idle. Turning aside from
church, whither they had been going, the divines encouraged the soldiers
as they stood drawn up ready for the fight. Poor retrenchment as they were
said to have had, the ground lent itself to preparation for defence: the
thick growth of furze tied and wattled together on the gently sloping
upland: (the old phrase a "good bush whacking" may point to its service in
fight). Also there was the long ditch with its wet clay banks covering the
front. It is certain that a large number of the force were fighting on
their own ground and for their own homes. Evidence shows how heavy the
fight was thereabouts.

The centre consisted of three regiments of infantry, including one of the
general's, under Lord Brooke and Colonel Ballard, another regiment, under
Colonel Holles, being in the rear. These faced the Battledon Farm, about
one mile North-West of Radway, and on some rising ground to the right the
artillery was posted.

The right wing moved towards the Sun Rising. It was composed of four
brigades of horse, under Sir John Meldrum, Col. Stapleton, and Sir William
Balfore (the divisional general), with Col. Fielding's brigade and some
guns in the rear. Capt. Fiennes' regiment was with this wing, which was
covered on the right by some musketeers. Captain Oliver Cromwell fought
there also. Infantry, including the Oxfordshire Militia under Sir William
Constable and Lord Roberts, took up the intervening space between the
centre and the right wing. The cavalry of the left wing, covering the
Kineton road, was made up of twenty-four troops, under Sir James Ramsay:
the infantry in five regiments, officered by Cols. Essex and Chomley and
Lords Wharton and Mandeville, with Sir Wm. Fairfax in reserve, occupied
the ground between the cavalry and the main body. A few guns were placed
in the rear of the horse.

Imposing indeed must the sight have been in bright sunlight of that early
Sunday afternoon as the Royalist troops, began to descend the hill side!
The slopes do not appear to have been so thickly wooded as they are now,
and the unenclosed country, without the many obstacles of fence and
hedgerow,[B388] offered all that a cavalry officer could desire f