used and indecisive
action took place, such as was to be expected when two bands of
ploughmen, officered by country gentlemen and barristers, were opposed
to each other. For a time Monmouth's men drove the militia before them.
Then the militia made a stand, and Monmouth's men retreated in some
confusion. Grey and his cavalry never stopped till they were safe at
Lyme again: but Wade rallied the infantry and brought them off in good
order. [366]

There was a violent outcry against Grey; and some of the adventurers
pressed Monmouth to take a severe course. Monmouth, however, would not
listen to this advice. His lenity has been attributed by some writers
to his good nature, which undoubtedly often amounted to weakness. Others
have supposed that he was unwilling to deal harshly with the only peer
who served in his army. It is probable, however, that the Duke, who,
though not a general of the highest order, understood war very much
better than the preachers and lawyers who were always obtruding their
advice on him, made allowances which people altogether inexpert in
military affairs never thought of making. In justice to a man who has
had few defenders, it must be observed that the task, which, throughout
this campaign, was assigned to Grey, was one which, if he had been the
boldest and most skilful of soldiers, he would scarcely have performed
in such a manner as to gain credit. He was at the head of the cavalry.
It is notorious that a horse soldier requires a longer training than a
foot soldier, and that the war horse requires a longer training than his
rider. Something may be done with a raw infantry which has enthusiasm
and animal courage: but nothing can be more helpless than a raw cavalry,
consisting of yeomen and tradesmen mounted on cart horses and post
horses; and such was the cavalry which Grey commanded. The wonder is,
not that his men did not stand fire with resolution, not that they did
not use their weapons with vigour, but that they were able to keep their
seats.

Still recruits came in by hundreds. Arming and drilling went on all day.
Meantime the news of the insurrection had spread fast and wide. On
the evening on which the Duke landed, Gregory Alford, Mayor of Lyme, a
zealous Tory, and a bitter persecutor of Nonconformists, sent off
his servants to give the alarm to the gentry of Somersetshire and
Dorsetshire, and himself took horse for the West. Late at night he
stopped at Honiton, and thence despatched a