John Belasyse's Regiment of Foote

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Another regiment joins the Royalist forces of the English Civil War...

Belasyse's were 505 strong at Edgehill (according to von Arni, Scott and Turton - "Edgehill 1642: The Battle Reinterpreted") and possibly/probably traced it's origins to the regiment commanded by Henry Belasyse (John's elder brother). This regiment had been paid for from royal funds granted on the 14 July,  and transferred to John Belasyse in August 1642 and could therefore claim to be one of the first regiments raised in Roylist service.

The Yorkshire soldiers were subsequently brought up to strength with recruits raised in Nottinghamshire to a total of around 1,000 men (from "The Battle for London" by Stephen Porter, Simon Marsh)

Courtesy/copyright "All The Kings Armies" by Reid

In terms of their part in the battle they were arrayed in the second line (as per the above) but were part of the general advance of the Royalist infantry that took place after the successful, but tactically foolish,  charges by their horse on either flank.

As we have read in the other unit histories posted so far, the Parliamentary infantry brigade of Charles Essex broke and ran as the Royalist infantry advanced. Young has them as a single line of foot as the second lines had come up to plug the gaps between the three front line brigades.

The account in Young is awe inspiring...  6,500 Parliamentary foot came to push of pike with 10,500 royalist foot, and our boys in the middle of it. In the end thought the fighting was fierce, shooting at point blank range, both sides fought each other to a standstill and withdrew to draw breath, at which point control shifted to the Parliamentary cavalry who effectively rescued the day.

Belasyse’s brigade counter-attacked the Parliamentary left to buy time for the army to establish a new line along the stream that flowed diagonally from Edgehill toward the Parliamentary left flank. Belasyse, who led the charge himself wielding a pike, was wounded in the head as a result, but his action saved the army from complete destruction.

Belasyses (and others) remained on the field until the end of the day providing a rear guard and protection to the Kings artillery.

So why did the Kings foot not carry the day given their strength superiority??  Young puts it down to two things..  one they were arrayed (as we have previously mentioned) in the Swedish model which had fewer ranks than the Dutch style the Parliamentary foot had adopted - so they lacked weight/heft in comparison. Young also quotes Clarendon etc. that indicated the Kings infantry were not as well equipped as the Parliamentary foot - with a lot of them carrying no more than cudgels, and fewer muskets.

At the time in question little or nothing is known about uniform - the next year while in garrison at Oxford, they may have been supplied with either all red, or all blue suits of coats, breeches and montero hats in July 1643 along with the other Royalist foot regiments then in Oxford. Given the colour of the standard, I have chosen to depict them in this earlier phase of the war wearing the same blue they might have been re-equipped with in Oxford later...

John Belasyse, First Baron Belasyse of Worlaby,
1636 by Van Dyck

Belasyse's are said to have carried a blue flag with white grenade or hawk-lure design, which was captured by Essex's army. I've not managed to find any research on when this happened, or where..

Figures are Peter Pig predominantly, but there are two or three vintage (and one newer) Minifigs among them... painted April 2020..

Sources:

• Edgehill 1642 - Peter Young
• Edgehill 1642: The Battle Reinterpreted - Eric Gruber von Arni, Christopher L. Scott, Alan Turton
• "All the Kings Armies" Reid 
• "The Battle for London" by Stephen Porter, Simon Marsh

• http://wiki.bcw-project.org/royalist/foot-regiments/john-lord-belasyse-oxford

• http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/brentfordandturnhamgreen/history/civil-war-armies/the-royal-army.htm