Warlord's Gold: Book 5 of The Civil War Chronicles (62 page)

As described in the book, Sir William Waller, having made peace with his rival, the Earl of Essex, had raised a new army of more than five thousand men. Initially it looked as though he would advance against Winchester, but he seems to have changed tack at the eleventh hour. Was it his plan to attack Basing all along, with the march towards Winchester simply a feint? Or did he change his mind after receiving exaggerated reports of a large Royalist force (Gerard’s Brigade) marching south to rendezvous with Hopton? I have taken the latter view, giving responsibility for the report to the fictitious Wagner Kovac.

Arriving at Basing, Waller set up his artillery on Cowdrey’s Down to the north of the house, and after his summons for the marquess to surrender was declined, he gave the order to fire, and the first siege began.

The events of November 1643 unfolded much as I have retold, though I confess I have condensed some of the action for the sake of the plot. A cannon really did discharge during the early negotiations, hardening Royalist resolve and compelling Waller to apologize for ‘the rudeness of his disorderly guns during parley’, and when the Roundhead messenger was finally sent back with Paulet’s answer, he fell into a marsh and lost a boot!

On 7 November the first major assault took place, when a large detachment of musketeers under the command of Waller’s captain-lieutenant, Captain Clinson, took the Grange after some fierce fighting. Though the battle raged all the way along the road dividing the farm buildings from the house, the Parliamentarian attack could not force a breakthrough. This was almost certainly not helped by the plentiful supply of food and ale they discovered in the Great Barn. The temptation to rest within the stone walls must have been irresistible. As night fell, the Royalists counter-attacked, compelled, I feel sure, by the thought of the enemy eating their way through vital supplies. In the fight that followed, the Grange was torched, with only the Great Barn left standing. A bitter hand-to-hand fight ensued, and, as described in the book, Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson really did engage Clinson in a personal duel. Accounts suggest that Clinson was having the better of the fight but was eventually killed by others who came to Johnson’s aid. I have attributed the intervention to Stryker.

Waller attempted a second attack on 12 November, having spent the intervening (and very wet) days in Basingstoke. After a heavy bombardment, the Parliamentarians stormed the defences from three directions at once. While the London regiments mounted attacks from Basing Park to the south and west of the House, Waller led his main force from Basing village in the east. He planned to make a breach near one of the gates with a petard, but, as witnessed by Stryker, the petardier chose to blow the gate itself, which was heavily reinforced, rather than the thin walls on either side. No breach was made, and as the Parliamentarians looked on in horror, they came under heavy fire from the rampart and were eventually forced to retreat.

Elsewhere, the other attacks achieved little more. One group of Londoners reached the earthworks of the Old House, pla­cing their standard in the ditch, but they were harassed by the women of the garrison, who hurled stones and bricks from the battlements, while a well-situated cannon enfiladed them with case shot. As the advance stalled, a sudden sortie led by Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson (probably with much to prove after his duel with Clinson) threw the inexperienced Trained Bands into chaos, with some of the rear ranks firing on their comrades before the foremost ranks had time to retire. With darkness falling and heavy rain setting in, Waller abandoned the assault on Basing House and once again ordered a withdrawal to Basingstoke.

During the next few days, Waller received intelligence that Lord Hopton was concentrating his Royalist forces to the west (Hopton did indeed receive a message from Paulet carried by a woman in a basket of apples). With his London regiments threatening to mutiny and scores deserting during the miserable nights, Waller had no choice but to withdraw to his base at Farnham Castle.

Basing House was saved, at least for the time being, and the Royalist commander, Colonel Rawdon, was knighted for his part in the defence.

Sir Alfred Cade’s gold did not exist. Nor did the characters involved in its story. Roger Tainton, Ezra Killigrew, Sterne Fassett, Clay Cordell and Locke Squires are all figments of my imagination, as, sadly, is Titus Gibbons, though there were plenty of privateers at the time on which he is based.

But, as I’ve already mentioned, William Balthazar really was Captain of Star Castle, while Marmaduke Rawdon and his subordinate colonels, Peake and Johnson, did oversee the defence of the house during the first siege.

As for Stryker and his men, it is sure to be a turbulent winter. The company has been shattered, and the balance of power is looking ever more precarious. After Gloucester and Newbury, the armies of Parliament are beginning to gain confidence, and as the snow falls, the Scottish Covenanters are mustering north of the border. There are more struggles to come, and battles aplenty.

Captain Stryker will return.