d already done great service; but this was the first
pitched battle at which they had been present. Their onslaught proved
irresistible. The Royalist cavalry upon the left were completely broken,
and the Roundhead horse then charged down upon the rear of the king's
infantry. Had Rupert rallied his men and performed the same service upon
the Parliament infantry, the battle might have been a drawn one; but,
intoxicated with victory, he was chasing the Scottish horse far away,
while Cromwell's Ironsides were deciding the fate of the battle. When he
returned to the field all was over. Fifteen hundred prisoners, all the
artillery, and more than a hundred banners had fallen into the hands of
the cavalry; and with the remnants of his army Prince Rupert retired
with all haste toward Chester, while Newcastle left York and embarked at
Scarborough for the Continent.

Colonel Furness' troop had been with the wing under Prince Rupert, and
deep indeed was their mortification when, upon returning to the field of
battle, they found that all was lost.

"Unless a very different discipline is introduced upon our side,"
Colonel Furness said to his son that night in York, "it is clear that
the king's cause is ruined. The Ironsides fight in a solid mass, and,
after having given a charge, they are ready at order to wheel about and
to deliver their attack wheresoever their general commands them. With
us, no sooner do we defeat the enemy than we break into confusion, each
man scatters in pursuit as if we were hunting a fox, and when at last we
draw rein, miles away from the battle, we ever find that upon our return
our footmen have been defeated. I fear much that Prince Rupert, with all
his bravery, is a hindrance rather than an aid to the Royal cause. His
counsels have always been on the side of resistance. He has supported
the king in his too obstinate insistance upon what he deems his rights,
while in the field his command is fatal to us. I fear, my boy, that the
struggle will end badly, and I foresee bad times for England, and for
all of us who have supported the cause of the king."

As the dispirited army marched back they received news which somewhat
raised their hearts. The king had marched after Essex into Cornwall, and
there had driven him into sore straits. He had endeavored to induce
Essex to make a general treaty of peace; but the earl replied that he
had no authority to treat, and that, even did he do so, the Parliament
would not