Daniel Axtell

Colonel Daniel Axtell (1622 – 19 October 1660) was Captain of the Parliamentary Guard at the trial of King Charles I at Westminster Hall in 1649. Shortly after the Restoration he was hanged, drawn and quartered as a regicide.

He was a Baptist from Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire who apprenticed as a grocer. He joined the New Model Army, serving in John Pickering's regiment of Foote and rose to the Rank of Colonel. Apart from his participation in the regicide, he is best remembered for his participation in Pride's Purge of the Long Parliament. His defence at his trial as a Regicide, that he was only obeying orders at the trial of the King, was refuted by several witnesses who testified that Axtell had behaved discourteously towards the King encouraging his men to jeer at or shout-out the King when he tried to speak in his own defence. He was executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered. His commanding officer Colonel Francis Hacker who had also been condemned as a Regicide was also executed. Axtell went to his execution unrepentant declaring "If I had a thousand lives, I could lay them all down for the Cause".