royal cause was maintained by the Marquis of Hertford, who was
supported by Lord Powlett, Sir Ralph Hopton, Sir John Stawell, and
other leading gentlemen of the county. But the sympathies of the yeomen
and manufacturers were with the Parliament, and Hertford had to
withdraw from Wells, where he had taken up his position, to Sherborne.
In 1643, however, the king's Cornish army entered Somerset, and was
joined by the Marquis and Prince Maurice at Chard; and the Royalists
then rapidly became masters of Taunton, Bridgwater, and Dunster. To
oppose them, Sir William Waller was despatched to the West, and a
cavalry skirmish between the two forces took place on the Mendips near
Chewton. Waller's main army was posted at Bath; and the Royalists,
advancing by way of Wells and Frome, had another skirmish near
Claverton. They kept E. of Bath and reached Marshfield in
Gloucestershire, 5 m. N. of the city. Then on July 5 Waller gave battle
on Lansdowne Hill, and was forced to retire back to Bath, abandoning a
quantity of arms and stores; but the triumph of the victors was clouded
by the loss of Sir Bevil Grenville, who was killed in the fight. (The
monument to him on the site of the encounter was erected in 1720.) The
next year the king's cause in Somerset was less prosperous, for Taunton
was lost, and repelled all the efforts of Colonel Wyndham, Governor of
Bridgwater, to recover it. In 1645 the siege of Taunton was undertaken
by Goring. The town was defended by Blake, who vowed (it is said) that
he would eat his boots before he would surrender it, but he was saved
from that extremity by Fairfax. On the approach of the latter Goring
drew off from Taunton, and fixed his quarters at Langport, where he was
attacked and defeated. This success on the part of Fairfax not only
saved Taunton, but enabled him to besiege Bridgwater, which was
defended by Wyndham with little resolution, and fell on July 23, within
a fortnight of Goring's defeat at Langport. Fairfax also took Nunney
Castle; and as in 1646 Dunster, the last place in Somerset supporting