Somerset | Page 7

by the Marquis and Prince Maurice at Chard;
and the Royalists then rapidly became masters of Taunton, Bridgwater,
and Dunster. To oppose them, Sir William Waller was despatched to
the West, and a cavalry skirmish between the two forces took place on
the Mendips near Chewton. Waller's main army was posted at Bath;
and the Royalists, advancing by way of Wells and Frome, had another

skirmish near Claverton. They kept E. of Bath and reached Marshfield
in Gloucestershire, 5 m. N. of the city. Then on July 5 Waller gave
battle on Lansdowne Hill, and was forced to retire back to Bath,
abandoning a quantity of arms and stores; but the triumph of the victors
was clouded by the loss of Sir Bevil Grenville, who was killed in the
fight. (The monument to him on the site of the encounter was erected in
1720.) The next year the king's cause in Somerset was less prosperous,
for Taunton was lost, and repelled all the efforts of Colonel Wyndham,
Governor of Bridgwater, to recover it. In 1645 the siege of Taunton
was undertaken by Goring. The town was defended by Blake, who
vowed (it is said) that he would eat his boots before he would surrender
it, but he was saved from that extremity by Fairfax. On the approach of
the latter Goring drew off from Taunton, and fixed his quarters at
Langport, where he was attacked and defeated. This success on the part
of Fairfax not only saved Taunton, but enabled him to besiege
Bridgwater, which was defended by Wyndham with little resolution,
and fell on July 23, within a fortnight of Goring's defeat at Langport.
Fairfax also took Nunney Castle; and as in 1646 Dunster, the last place
in Somerset supporting the king, also submitted, the entire county
passed into the hands of the Parliament. Dunster was defended by
another Wyndham, but he offered a much more prolonged resistance
than his brother at Bridgwater, and withstood the besiegers for 160
days. After the execution of the king the small rising in favour of
Charles II., under Colonel Penruddock and Sir Joseph Wagstaff, was
crushed near Chard in 1655.
In the reign of James II. Somerset was the soil upon which was fought
the last battle that has taken place in England. In 1680, the Duke of
Monmouth, in the course of a tour through the county, greatly
ingratiated himself with its people; and at Whitelackington held a great
reception under a gigantic chestnut tree, which was standing as recently
as 1897, when it was unfortunately blown down. When in 1685 Charles
II. died, and Monmouth made his attempt to disturb the succession of
James, it was to Somerset that he looked for support. After landing at
Lyme, he entered the county at Chard, and passing through Ilminster,
was proclaimed king at Taunton and Bridgwater. From the latter town
(where he had stayed at the castle), he started on his luckless campaign,

which was wholly confined within the borders of Somerset. He
proceeded through Glastonbury (where some of his troops bivouacked
in the Abbey), Wells, and Shepton Mallet, intending to attack Bristol,
but at Keynsham he turned aside on finding the city defended by the
Duke of Beaufort. He threatened Bath, but it refused to surrender; and
he thereupon retired to Norton St Philip, intending to enter Wilts. There
he had a skirmish with the advanced guard of the royal forces which
had marched from London to meet him; and shirking a more general
engagement, he withdrew to Frome. The townspeople of Frome, like
those of Taunton and Bridgwater, gave him their sympathy, but nothing
else; and disappointed at the lack of support, and wearied with his
march along miry roads in drenching rain, he abandoned the advance
into Wiltshire. A report that a rising in his favour had taken place at
Axbridge decided him to return to Bridgwater. On the way he again
passed through Wells, where some of his men tore the lead from the
Cathedral roof to make bullets, and inflicted other damage on the
building. Soon after his arrival at Bridgwater, the royalist general,
Feversham, with about 4000 troops, reached Weston Zoyland from
Somerton, disposing some of his forces at the neighbouring villages of
Middlezoy and Chedzoy. As the royal troops were said to be in a state
of disorder, Monmouth, who had about 6000 men, very badly armed,
determined to attack him by night; and late on Sunday, July 5, he
started from Bridgwater under cover of darkness. But in the passage of
some of the "rhines" which cut up the Sedgemoor plain a mismanaged
pistol gave the alarm; and in the engagement that followed his
ill-equipped followers, though they fought bravely, had little chance
against the regulars, and more than 1000 of them fell on the field.