Page 10 - TIMES AND PLACES IN CONTEMPORARY PAPERS

These Troops were at Chalgrove, but Essex is implying that these same men are those who routed from

the skirmish to meet Stapleton at Stoke Talmage. An impossibility, as the timeline does not allow the
players to be correctly placed. Stapleton’s Regiment is still in Thame at the time of skirmish and
parliament’s men are heading in the wrong direction from the wrong place to be able rout from the Battle

of Chalgrove.

(Royalist skirmishers.) ‘ had time to recover up to the Prince, 8.30 am. P. 5 ( LBU )
and Van of the Army.’

‘Col. Hampden being abroad with Sir Samuel Luke and onely one man, 8.30 am. ( EEL )
and seeing Major Gunters Forces, they did go along with them, Colonel
Dulbier the Quarter-Master Generall did likewise come to them: with these
they drew neare the Enemy, and finding them marching away, kept still
upon the Reare for almost five miles. In this time there joyned with them
Captain Sanders Troop, and Captain Bullers, with fifty commanded men,…’

The ‘Highway to Weston’ is shown on a Clare Estate map (1721) (Ref 4) coming from South Weston to

Clare Crossroads. This track continues down between the folds of Golder Hill through Easington along
the Chalgrove side of the Great Hedge (as shown on William Webb’s map 1612 Ref 3) and past ‘Rupert’s
Hedge’ that he jumped. From Aston Rowant to Chalgrove parliament would have, ‘kept still upon their
Reare for almost five miles.’

That fateful Sunday morning Hampden, Luke and Dulbier with another man left Thame around 6.00am
after having had a late night discussing the debacle of Islip. It was on Luke’s scouting intelligence that
the expedition was sent to test Oxford’s defences the previous day. If Hampden had left Thame at 6.30am
then runners would have had time to call him back as he would only be a mile away when the news of
Chinnor came to Thame.
Hampden’s Regiment had become increasingly mutinous after Essex gave away their victory at Reading
and then left them there for five weeks to guard the disease infested town. Hampden had learnt that his
most senior officer Lt/Col Joseph Wagstaffe had deserted to the Royalists taking a fully armed company
of musket with him. Col. Urry the man who led the assault on Reading with Hampden had also deserted
taking vital information of Parliament’s quarters.
Hampden’s Regiment, in very poor health had camped on the night of the 17th June at Watlington Park,
well away from the main army. John Hampden was likely to have been on his way to Watlington to
appoint Col. Dulbier as his 2iC when he stumbled across the skirmishers and the Royalist army.
Hampden having left Thame at 6.00am and taking the most direct route to Watlington would have crossed
the path of the skirmishers at a hamlet called Stokefield at around 8.15am. Their slow walk over the 5.5
mile course taking around 2.25 hours to where they met Gunter etc.

At about 8.30am the Royalists rear guard had just cleared Clare Crossroads as Parliament’s scratch
force of Troopers out of Thame met with Gunter et al and Hampden at Clare Crossroads. Gunter and his
men had the command and lead of this encounter. Gunter was informed that the Royalists would have to
expose their right flank as they turned westward towards Chiselhampton Bridge so he quickly devised a
plan, but it was based on a false premise.
Being strangers to the area they were unaware of the density of the Great Hedge that parted the Parishes
of Warpsgrove and Chalgrove; a feature to which Rupert was all too aware and used decisively to his
advantage. Whatever strategy the Parliamentarians adopted it was doomed to fail because of the
Royalist’s chosen route of retreat.

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