Colonel Robert Hammond’s Regiment of Foot

Later Colonel Isaac Ewer’s then Colonel Richard Lawrence’s Regiment of Foot

New Model Army regiment of foot, serving in the First and Second Civil Wars, on Cromwell’s Irish campaign then in Ireland up until the Restoration

• April: Formed from Sgt Maj Gen Lawrence Crawford’s Regiment of Foot and possibly Sir Miles Hobart’s Regiment of Foot of Manchester’s army
• 14th June: Battle of Naseby
• June: Siege of Leicester
• July: Battle of Langport
• July: Siege of Bridgewater
• July to August: Siege of Sherborne Castle
• August: Siege of Nunney Castle
• August to September: Siege of Bristol
• September: Siege of Devizes
• September: Siege of Lacock House
• September to October: Siege of Winchester
• October: 3rd Siege of Basing House
• October to April 1646: Siege of Exeter

• January: Siege of Dartmouth
• January: Storm of Powderham Castle
• February: Battle of Torrington
• March to August: Siege of Pendennis Castle
• March to April: Siege of St Michael’s Mount
• May to June: Siege of Oxford?
• April to September: Based at Gloucester

• April: Half the regiment refuse to go to Ireland, the other half are organised into a new regiment under Colonel Owen O’Connolly
• July: O’Conolly’s regiment ordered to disband and return to Hammond’s
• August: March into Westminster with Fairfax
• August: Hammond appointed governor of the Isle of Wight, the regiment passes to Ewer
• November: Detachment of Ewer’s regiment sent to Hammond to guard King Charles on the Isle of Wight

• May: With Cromwell in South Wales
• May: Siege of Chepstow Castle (7 coy)
• June to August: Siege of Colchester (6 coy)

• April: Selected by lot for service in Ireland
• August: Shipped to Ireland
• 2nd - 11th September: Siege of Drogheda
• November: Quartered at Bandon Bridge

• 20th - 27th March: Siege of Kilkenny
• 27th April to 18th May: Siege of Clonmel
• July: Taking of Carlow Castle
• July: Garrison of Carlow Castle (det)
• July to August: Siege of Waterford
• September: Repulsed from Limerick
• October: Quartered at Kilkenny
• Winter: Ewer dies

• Richard Lawrence appointed Colonel

• Serving in Ireland

• Serving in Ireland

• Serving in Ireland

• Serving in Ireland

• Serving in Ireland

• Serving in Ireland

• Serving in Ireland

• December: At Dublin Castle but fail to prevent Colonel Bridges’ takeover

• Disbanded?

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.

There is an online history by Hammond’s re-enactment group of the Sealed Knot Hammond’s.

The regiment was formed from Crawford’s Regiment of Foot and probably Hobart’s regiment of foot, both from Manchester’s army. Originally the Colonelcy was offered to Crawford, but he declined and returned to Scotland. Victorious at Naseby, they went on to fight in the Western campaign and were detached under Cromwell for a number of sieges.

Hammond was appointed governor of the Isle of Wight so the regiment passed to its Lt Col, Isaac Ewer. At the start of the Second Civil War the regiment were with Cromwell, marching on South Wales. Cromwell left Ewer to besiege Chepstow Castle while he marched west to Pembroke. After storming Chepstow Castle they headed east to the siege of Colchester, under the command of Fairfax.

In 1649 the regiment accompanied Cromwell on his Irish Campaign, fighting at the notorious siege of Drogheda in 1649, then in a number of sieges throughout 1650. Ewer died over the winter of 1650-1 and was eventually replaced by Colonel Richard Lawrence. Lawrence’s regiment served in Ireland up until the Restoration, when they were probably disbanded.

Red coats. On the 23rd of April 1645 Crawford’s regiment were provided with funds to buy 10 new colours. This is the regiment that became Hammond’s when Crawford declined to serve in the New Model Army. Neither the colour of the flags nor their design is known. In June 1649 Ewer's regiment were allocated £20 for new colours.

Robert Hammond

Isaac Ewer

Richard Lawrence

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.

From Anglia Rediviva¹⁾

• Colonel: Robert Hammond
• Lieutenant Colonel: Isaac Ewer
• Major: Robert Saunders
• Captain: William Disney
• Captain: Charles O'Hara
• Captain: Israel Smith
• Captain: John Boyce
• Captain: John Puckle
• Captain: William Stratton
• Captain: Edmund Rolfe

• 1645: Established at 1000 men in ten companies (probably not up to strength)

Colonel Hammond’s Regiment of Foot are re-enacted by the Sealed Knot http://www.hammondsregiment.org/index.html