Some Notes on the Raising and Origins of Colonel John Okey’s Regiment of Dragoons, March to June, 1645 by Stephen Ede-Borrett This is a sample article, chosen to be representative of the content available in the Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research (JSAHR). First published in 1921, JSAHR is one of the premier journals of military history. It is published quarterly in March, June, September and December and sent out to all members of the Society. Members also have electronic access to the compete run of issues all the way back to 1921 – a century of scholarship. If you would like to read more articles like this one, why not consider joining us? Membership information can be found on the Society website: https://www.sahr.org.uk/membership.php Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 87 (2009), 206-213 SOME NOTES ON THE RAISING AND ORIGINS OF COLONEL JOHN OKEY'S REGIMENT OF DRAGOONS, MARCH TO JUNE, 1645 Stephen Ede-Borrett In their seminal The Regimental History of Cromwell's Army 1 Charles Firth and Godfrey Davies gave no indication as to the origins of the New Model Army's only Regi- ment of Dragoons, commanded by Colonel John Okey. Considering that work's detailed discussion of the origins of most of the regiments of the New Model, this omission is remarkable, although it may derive from the way that the book was compiled from Firth's notes.2 The purpose of this essay therefore, is to provide for Okey's Regiment the sort of information that Firth and Davies gave for most of the rest of theJSAHR New Model Army.Sample Page The Creation of The New Model Regiment of Dragoons The first mention of the strength of the projected 'New Model Army' on 30 December 1644 gave it an establishment of 16,000 foot, 8,000 horse and 1,500 dragoons.3 However, this was soon revised, and the establishment voted through the House of Commons on 1 1 January 1645 reduced the figures to a more realistic 14,000 foot, 6,000 horse and 1,000 dragoons. In relation to the latter it was specific- ally stated 'That there shall be raised, for this Army, a Thousand Dragoons, to be in Ten Companies.'4 The preliminary list of Colonels for the New Army was passed by the House of Commons on 21 January 1645, although this did not include a Colonel for the Dragoons, nor indeed any mention of a Dragoon Regiment as such. This non- regimenting of dragoon companies was not unusual, and it is probable that during the English Civil Wars more dragoons served in independent companies, or as part of Regiments of Horse, than actually served in established and formalised Regi- ments of Dragoons. For example, the only dragoons known to have been part of the Earl of Essex's Army in 1644, 5 the company of Captain James Abercromy, was an 1 Oxford 1940, 2 volumes. Okey's Dragoons are covered on pp. 291-306. 2 After Sir Charles Firth died in February 1937 the work, already in hand, was finished and brought to publication by Godfrey Davies from Firth's notes. 3 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic > 1644-1645 , p. 205. Cited in The Rise of the New Model Army , Mark Kishlansky, Cambridge 1979, p. 36. 4 Journals of the House of Commons, Volume 4 1644-1646 , London 1802, pp. 16-17. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=23293. The raising of the Army itself is well covered in Chapter 2 of The Rise of the New Model Army. Mark Kishlansky, Cambridge 1979, Chapters 1 and 2 of The New Model Army in England , Ireland and Scotland : Ian Gentles, Oxford 1992 and Cromwell's Soldiers: The Moulding of the New Model Army 1644-1645 : Barry Denton, London (?) 2004. 5 The Army of the Earl of Essex was theoretically Parliament's main 'National Army' from 1 642 until 1645. 206 This content downloaded from 78.148.54.132 on Tue, 29 Jun 2021 12:35:57 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms JOHN GREY'S REGIMENT OF DRAGOONS 207 Independent Company.6 It is also known that the Parliamentary Horse at Naseby that were not part of the New Model Army, 'The Associated Horse', included inte- gral dragoon companies.7 It is likely, therefore, that in the original establishment of the New Model Army it was intended that the ten companies of dragoons would either be attached one to each of the Regiments of Horse,8 or would serve separately as single, un-regimented companies. The creation of a Regiment of Dragoons in the New Model Army can be attributed to Sir Thomas Fairfax. On 1 March 1645, Fairfax wrote to the House of Commons concerning the Army, and amongst his proposals was that the Dragoon companies be formed into a Regiment. The Commons debated the letter that same day and referred the matter back to Fairfax for farther consideration,9 but he must have stood by his resolution, for two days later the Commons 'Resolved, &c. That the Dragooners shall be formed into a Regiment. The Colonel and Officers of the Dragoons JSAHRwere all reported; Sample and approved.'10 Page The Origins of the Officers of the New Model Army Dragoons John Lilburne's Regiment of Dragoons of the Earl of Manchester's Army of the Eastern Association appears to have provided the nucleus of the new regiment and supplied it with its Major and three of its Captains, as well as their companies. It also provided the soldiers of the Colonel's company, but not the new regiment's Colonel.11 By comparison only one Captain can, with certainty, be traced who served in James Holborne's Regiment of Dragoons of Sir William Waller's Army,12 namely Captain William Turpin. Waller's army did, however, provide several other officers, including the Colonel, though none of them had previously served as dra- goons. These were Okey, Farre and Skirmager and, possibly, Woggan.13 As we have seen, the 1 644 establishment of the Horse of Essex's Army had included only one Company of Dragoons, Captain James Abercomy's.14 This company had been almost 6 Although it sometimes stated as being attached to the Earl of Essex' Regiment of Horse this is probably a confusion with Captain Jeremiah Abercromy's Company of Dragoons which was part of the Regiment but which appears to have been converted to full Horse around May 1644. 1 Naseby: The Decisive Campaign , Glenn Foard, Guildford 1995, p. 208. The Regiment was the Midland Association unit of Colonel John Fiennes. 8 Initially the Army was only to have ten Regiment of Horse, each of 600 men. The eleventh Regi- ment, Rossiter's, was not part of the first establishment. 9 Journals of the House of Commons , Volume 4 1644-1646 , London 1802, pp. 65-66. 10 Journals of The House of Commons, Volume 4 1644-1646 , London 1802, pp. 66-7. http://www.british-history.ac. uk/report.asp?compid=23336. 11 In an English Civil War regiment each Field Officer was also a company commander and com- panies were titled from the officer who commanded them. 12 This Regiment had been Sir William Waller's Own Regiment of Dragoons until c. July 1644 when its colonelcy had been passed to major General James Holborne. 13 The Regimental History of CromwelVs Army , volume 7, C. H. Firth & G. Davies, London 1940, p. 291. The source for this statement however is Ludlow whose published memoirs are now known to be notoriously unreliable. Laurence Spring's The Regiments of Sir William Waller's Southern Association^ London 2007, lists no officer of this name as ever serving under Waller. 14 Diary of the Marches of the Royal Army during the Great Civil War , Richard Symons (C. E. Long Ed.), London 1859, p. 73. This content downloaded from 78.148.54.132 on Tue, 29 Jun 2021 12:35:57 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 208 ARMY HISTORICAL RESEARCH wiped out in the operations covering the final phase of the escape of Balfour's Horse from the Royalist encirclement at Lostwithiel.15 Thus Essex's Army had neither officers nor soldiers to contribute to the New Model dragoons.16 It is clear that the majority of the officers of Okey's new Regiment came from the old Armies and this can be demonstrated from the two contemporary lists of the Regiment's 'original' officers. The first list is that passed by the House of Lords on 18 March 1645, 17 in agreement with the proposals of the House of Commons. The second is that given by Joshua Sprigge at the back of his book Anglia Rediviva™. These two lists differ considerably as shown by a comparison of Tables 1 and 2. Between this original list and the later, Sprigge, list a 50% change in officer personnel is evident. Most of the changes appear to have been made in order to introduce officers experienced in the Dragoon branch. TABLE 1. The JSAHROńgins of the Officers Sample of Okey's Regiment Page (Journals of the House of Lords List) Rank Name Pre New Model Army of previous Rank and Regiment service 19 Col John Okey Maj, Haselrige's Horse20 W Maj William Gwilliams Capt, Waller's Horse21 W Capt John Farmer22 Unknown23 Capt Butler Unknown24 Capt Christopher Mercer Capt, Lilburne's Dragoons25 EA Capt Daniel Abbots Capt, Lilburne's Dragoons26 EA Capt Larken Unknown Capt Ralph Farre Lt, Haselrige's Horse27 W Capt Bulkham Unknown Capt Tobias Bridge Capt, Lilburne's Dragoons28 EA 15 Lostwithiel 1644: The Campaign and the Battle , Stephen Ede-Borrett, Farnham 2004, pp.