Eastern Association - Development

Development

In August 1643, Lord Grey was replaced as commander by the Earl of Manchester. Oliver Cromwell was appointed Lieutenant General of the Horse. The two men clashed, especially over Cromwell's selection of officers. Manchester wrote, "Colonel Cromwell raising of his regiment makes choice of his officers not such as were soldiers or men of estate, but such as were common men, poor and of mean parentage, only he would give them the title of godly, precious men..." Late in 1643, Lawrence Crawford was appointed Sergeant-Major General of the Foot. He too frequently clashed with Cromwell.

For much of 1643, the Association was engaged in battles against the Northern royalists to secure Lincolnshire for Parliament. The Royalists were defeated at Gainsborough and Winceby.

In May 1644, the Association's forces besieged Lincoln, the last Royalist post in Lincolnshire. When it was captured, the Association's army was free to join the Parliamentarian army under Lord Fairfax and the Scottish Covenanters under the Earl of Leven in the Siege of York. On 1 July, the besiegers were outmanoeuvered by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who relieved the city. The next day however, Rupert chose to engage them even though he was outnumbered. In the resulting Battle of Marston Moor, all of Fairfax's army and half the Scots fled. However, Manchester's infantry and especially the Eastern Association cavalry under Cromwell stood firm and routed the Royalists from the field.

Later in the year, the Eastern Association forces moved into the south of England where the Parliamentarian armies under the Earl of Essex and Sir William Waller had suffered setbacks. After the drawn Second battle of Newbury, Manchester was severely criticised by Cromwell for what was seen to be half-hearted leadership.

The Eastern Association army had been carrying much of the burden of the war and on 19 November 1644, the Association announced that it could no longer bear the cost of maintaining its army. This prompted Parliament to decree the formation of the New Model Army. Four cavalry and four infantry regiments of the Eastern Association army were absorbed into the New Model, and became the pattern on which most of the other units were formed. At the same time, the criticism of the Earls of Manchester and Essex resulted in the Self-denying Ordinance, which placed command of the New Model Army in the hands of professional soldiers.