r Madeley, than they were attacked by
the Parliamentarians, and dispersed or taken prisoners. Dud was among
those so taken, and he was first carried to Hartlebury Castle and
thence to Worcester, where he was imprisoned. Recounting the
sufferings of himself and his followers on this occasion, in the
petition presented to Charles II. in 1660,[10] he says, "200 men were
dispersed, killed, and some taken, namely, Major Harcourt, Major
Elliotts, Capt. Long, and Cornet Hodgetts, of whom Major Harcourt was
miserably burned with matches. The petitioner and the rest were
stripped almost naked, and in triumph and scorn carried up to the city
of Worcester (which place Dud had fortified for the king), and kept
close prisoners, with double guards set upon the prison and the city."

Notwithstanding this close watch and durance, Dudley and Major Elliotts
contrived to break out of gaol, making their way over the tops of the
houses, afterwards passing the guards at the city gates, and escaping
into the open country. Being hotly pursued, they travelled during the
night, and took to the trees during the daytime. They succeeded in
reaching London, but only to drop again into the lion's mouth; for
first Major Elliotts was captured, then Dudley, and both were taken
before Sir John Warner, the Lord Mayor, who forthwith sent them before
the "cursed committee of insurrection," as Dudley calls them. The
prisoners were summarily sentenced to be shot to death, and were
meanwhile closely imprisoned in the Gatehouse at Westminster, with
other Royalists.

The day before their intended execution, the prisoners formed a plan of
escape. It was Sunday morning, the 20th August, 1648, when they seized
their opportunity, "at ten of the cloeke in sermon time;" and,
overpowering the gaolers, Dudley, with Sir Henry Bates, Major Elliotts,
Captain South, Captain Paris, and six others, succeeded in getting
away, and making again for the open country. Dudley had received a
wound in the leg, and could only get along with great difficulty. He
records that he proceeded on crutches, through Worcester, Tewkesbury,
and Gloucester, to Bristol, having been "fed three weeks in private in
an enemy's hay mow." Even the most lynx-eyed Parliamentarian must have
failed to recognise the quondam royalist general of artillery in the
helpless creature dragging himself along upon crutches; and he reached
Bristol in safety.

His military career now over, he found himsel