e
siege than before, for they had no mind to a blockade which would
leave the country to maintain the troops all the summer; and of all
men the prince did not please them, for, he having no extraordinary
character for discipline, his company was not much desired even by
our friends. Thus, in an ill hour, 'twas resolved to sit down before
Gloucester. The king had a gallant army of 28,000 men whereof 11,000
horse, the finest body of gentlemen that ever I saw together in my
life; their horses without comparison, and their equipages the finest
and the best in the world, and their persons Englishmen, which, I
think, is enough to say of them.

According to the resolution taken in the council of war, the army
marched westward, and sat down before Gloucester the beginning of
August. There we spent a month to the least purpose that ever army
did. Our men received frequent affronts from the desperate sallies
of an inconsiderable enemy. I cannot forbear reflecting on the
misfortunes of this siege. Our men were strangely dispirited in all
the assaults they gave upon the place; there was something looked like
disaster and mismanagement, and our men went on with an ill will and
no resolution. The king despised the place, and thinking to carry it
sword in hand, made no regular approaches, and the garrison, being
desperate, made therefore the greater slaughter. In this work our
horse, who were so numerous and so fine, had no employment. Two
thousand horse had been enough for this business, and the enemy had no
garrison or party within forty miles of us, so that we had nothing to
do but look on with infinite regret upon the losses of our foot.

The enemy made frequent and desperate sallies, in one of which I had
my share. I was posted upon a parade, or place of arms, with part of
my regiment, and part of Colonel Goring's regiment of horse, in order
to support a body of foot, who were ordered to storm the point of a
breastwork which the enemy had raised to defend one of the avenues to
the town. The foot were beat off with loss, as they always were; and
Massey, the governor, not content to have beaten them from his works,
sallies out with near 400 men, and falling in upon the foot as they
were rallying under the cover of our horse, we put ourselves in the
best posture we could to receive them. As Massey did not expect, I
suppose, to engage with any horse, he had no pikes with him, which
encouraged us to treat him the more rudely; but as