The Fall of the West (Volume 5), by Stuart Peachey and Alan Turton
The Fall of the West (Volume 5), by Stuart Peachey and Alan Turton, subtitled 'The Military Units Dorset Wiltshire and Somerset'
Booklet published by Stuart Press, 62 pages. A5 size booklet (N6710)
This booklet is volume 3 of an eight part series, titled 'The Fall of the West', that covers the Parliamentarian forces in the counties of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall during the early part of the English Civil War - covering the period from August 1642 to October 1643 when Parliament was reduced to its nadir in the west. Volumes 1 and 2 in the series give a potted history of the military campaign in these counties over the 14 months covered, volumes 3, 4, 5 and 6 covers the details of each unit county by county and volumes 7 and 8 deals with the types of troops, their armament and clothing.
The basic unit of administration in England and Wales in the mid 17th century was the county. The units serving in the West country were normally raised and funded in and by one county. There are exceptions, a number of troops of horse and 3 regiments of foot serving in the west were originally part of the main Parliamentarian field army based on london, and Waller's mounted brigade and Nathaniel Fiennes' mounted force were also from the south east.
County unit officers of ten, came from outside the region, a number being Scots, and for some full time units there is occasional evidence that some of the men were from outside the area, for example some of the garrison regiments of the city of Bristol seem to have been recruited at least partially from Wiltshire. The counties fall into two types, those with limited Parliamentarian military forces and those with major, more complex, structures. The first includes Cornwall, Dorset and Wiltshire where during this period local field forces seem to normally have mustered no more than 1,000 men of all arms. The other 4 areas, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire and the autonomous city of Bristol, had far more complex military structures with numbers of regiments of foot and numerous mounted units. Contents of this volume include:
Dorset:
Trained Bands
Volunteer Foot
Weymouth, Wareham, Bridport
Sailors and unidentified Officers
Wiltshire:
Sir Edward Hungerford's
Sir Edward Bainton's
Somerset:
Somerset Forces in Devon
Volunteer Foot Regiments
Horse and Dragoons
The condition of the booklet is generally very good. The cover has some minor scuffs and blemishes, but the staple spine is intact, and all pages are intact, unblemished and tightly bound. There is a small price sticker on the rear side cover.