Table of Contents

Colonel Henry Ireton’s Regiment of Horse

Flag Illustration1)
Active1645 to 1660
CountryEngland
AllegianceParliamentarian
ConflictsFirst Civil War
Second Civil War
Confederate War
TypeHorse
ColonelHenry Ireton
Charles Fleetwood
Thomas Cooper
Henry Markham
Area RaisedKent
Flag ColourRed
Flag DesignSee below
Field ArmiesNMA 1645-6
Fairfax 1648
Ireton 1649-51

Later Colonel Charles Fleetwood’s, Thomas Cooper’s, then Henry Markham’s Regiment of Horse

New Model Army regiment of horse serving in the First and Second Civil Wars then in Ireland throughput the Commonwealth and Protectorate

Service History

1645

1646

1647

1648

1649

1650

1651

1652

1653

1654

1655

1656

1657

1658

1659

1660

Notes

A history of the regiment is given in The Regimental History of Cromwell's Army by Sir Charles Firth and Godfrey Davies, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1940.

The regiment was formed from Sir Michael Livesey’s Regiment of Horse but Livesey, although initially named as Colonel, was replaced by Ireton, who had previously served in Cromwell’s regiment. In command of the left wing at Naseby, Ireton attacked the Royalist foot, was unhorsed and run through the thigh with a pike, and into the face with an halbert, was taken prisoner by the enemy while the rest of his wing was scattered by Prince Rupert. Ireton escaped and recovered in time for the siege of Bristol and Fairfax’s Western Campaign.

At the start of the Second Civil War the regiment was quartered in the South and West, rendezvousing with Fairfax at Hounslow and serving at Maidstone and Colchester. Four troops of the regiment joined the Leveller mutiny of 1649, which ended with the capture of the mutineers by Fairfax and Cromwell at Burford. The two troops that remained under control appear to have been the basis of Ireton’s regiment as sent to Ireland. Likely they were supplemented with repentant mutineers and new recruits.

Ireton and his regiment served in Cromwell’s Irish campaign. Ireton was left in command while Cromwell returned to Britain to face the Scots. In December 1651 Ireton died and the regiment was given to his successor, Charles Fleetwood. It remained in Ireland until the Restoration, passing briefly to Colonel Thomas Cooper, then Colonel Henry Markham. The end of the regiment is still obscure.

Flags and Equipment

Colonl Henry Ireton

Ireton's cornet in the Eastern Association was red with a red and white fringe and a complicated white scroll PRO (used for both lines) DIVINIS QUI AMITTIT SERVAT and HUMANIS VIM VI2). (Illustration 1). Whether Ireton used this design in the New Model Army is unclear.

Major George Sedascue

Sedascue, thought to be German but in fact Polish, Johannes Sedowski, had a red cornet with the sun at top left, a storm cloud top right and the motto POST NUBILA PHREVE on a three part scroll. 3)

Notable Officers

Commissary General Henry Ireton

Henry Ireton (1611-1651)

Colonel Charles Fleetwood

Charles Fleetwood (c 1618-1692) was at the Inns of Court at the outbreak of the First Civil War and joined The Earl of Essex’s Lifeguard troop. By 1643 he was a captain of horse, was wounded at First Newbury and in 1644 was made colonel of horse in the Earl of Manchester’s army of the Eastern Association. In 1649 he was governor of the Isle of Wight, then in 1650 was appointed Lieutenant General of the Horse for Cromwell's Scottish campaign. Fleetwood married Bridget, Cromwell's daughter, in 1652 and was commander-in-chief in Ireland, appointed Lord-Deputy in 1654 but recalled in 1655. He was Major General of Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and East Anglia. After Oliver Cromwell's death in 1658, he supported Richard Cromwell for a while but soon challenged his authority, thus dissolving the Protectorate. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief in June 1659, but was replaced by a commission of seven members more acceptabe to Parliament. Fleetwood supported Lambert and was again appointed Commander-in-Chief, effectively leading the ruling junta but opposed on all sides he acquiesced to the recall of Parliament on the 6th of December 1659. After the Restoration he was barred from public office and retired peacefully to Stoke Newington.

Colonel Thomas Cooper

Thomas Cooper (d. 1659)

Colonel Henry Markham

Made commissioner for management of affairs in Ireland.

Major Anthony Morgan

Anthony Morgan (1621-1668) at first fought for the Royalists but came over to the Parliamentary side with Sir Trevor Williams in 1645. He impressed Fairfax, was given a captaincy in Ireton’s regiment and rose to be Major. He was a close ally of Henry Cromwell, sat as an Irish member in Parliament, but lost his commission in 1659, eventually ending up on the Royalist side once again and being knighted by Charles II. Pepys dined with him in 1668 and thought him a very wise man.

Officer Lists

More detailed lists of officers for April and May 1645, December 1646, May and August 1647 and May 1649 are shown in Reconstructing the New Model Army. Volume 1, Regimental Lists April 1645 to May 1649 by Malcolm Wanklyn, Helion & Co. 2015. ISBN 978-1-910777-10-7.

May 1645 and December 1646

From Anglia Rediviva4)

Strength

See Also

1) Original artwork by Tony Barton, shown by kind permission of Tony Barton and Charles Kightly. Previously published in Military Modelling magazine
2) The Regiments of the Eastern Association Vol. 1, Laurence Spring, Stuart Press 1998 ISBN 1 85804 119 8
3) Soldiers of the English Civi War, George Sedascue, by Barry Denton in English Civil War Notes and Queries Issue 1, pp 5-6, Eds. David Ryan & Hawk Norton, Jan 1984
4) Sprigge, Joshua, Anglia Rediviva, London 1647