Colonel Thomas Sheffield’s Regiment of Horse

Flag Illustration 1	1)
Active	1645 to 1660
Country	England
Allegiance	Parliamentarian
Conflicts	First Civil War
	Third Civil War
	Glencairn’s Rising
	Restoration
Type	Horse
Colonel	Thomas Sheffield
	Thomas Harrison
	Stephen Winthrop
	Edward Montagu
	Matthew Alured
Area Raised
Flag Colour	Red
	Blue
Flag Design	See below
Field Armies	NMA 1645-6
	Lambert 1648
	Harrison 1651
	Monck 1654-56

Later Colonel Thomas Harrison’s, Stephen Winthrop’s, Edward Montagu’s and Matthew Alured’s Regiment of Horse

New Model Army regiment of horse serving in the First, Second and Third Civil Wars then in Scotland during Glencairn's uprising

• April: Formed from Colonel James Sheffield’s Regiment of Horse of Essex’s Army
• May to June: Siege of Oxford
• 14th June: Battle of Naseby
• June: Siege of Leicester
• June: Siege of Berkeley Castle (det)
• July: Battle of Ilminster
• July to August: Siege of Sherborne Castle
• August to September: Siege of Bristol
• September: Siege of Devizes
• September to October: Siege of Winchester
• October: Siege of Basing House
• October to April: Siege of Exeter

• March: Skirmish at St Columb (det)
• April: Storm of Ilfracombe
• April: Taking of Barnstaple
• May to June: Siege of Oxford

• August: Refuse to enlist for Ireland
• June: Sheffield replaced by Thomas Harrison
• August: March into London under Fairfax

• May: Sent to Cheshire to oppose Langdale
• June: Join Lambert in Cumberland
• June: Skirmish at Appleby
• July: Battle of Preston
• July: Battle of Winwick Pass
• October: Sent to Scotland under Lambert
• October: Return to England, quartered in the Midlands
• December: In London (1 troop)
• December: Escort King Charles from Hurst Castle to Windsor (1 troop)

• May: Part of the regiment mutinies and joins the Levellers
• August: In South Wales, Harrison appointed commander in South Wales

• In South Wales

• June: At Penrith
• July: At Edinburgh
• August: March south after the Scots
• August: Skirmish at Warrington Bridge
• September: Battle of Worcester

• July: Quartered in the Forest of Dean (2 troops)

• Sent to Scotland
• Harrison falls out with Cromwell
• Major Winthrop promoted to Colonel

• Serving in Scotland

• Serving in Scotland
• April: Quartered at Selkirk, Kelso, Dumfries, Glasgow and Jedburgh
• October: Return to England

• Serving in England

• September: Edward Montagu appointed Colonel

• August: Montagu replaced by Matthew Alured
• October: Quartered in Somerset

• April: Two troops (Alured's and Maj. Nelthorpe's led by their Lieutenants) join Lambert but surrender at Daventry
• November: Disbanded in Shropshire

A history of the regiment is given in The Regimental History of Cromwell's Army by Sir Charles Firth and Godfrey Davies, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1940.

The regiment was formed from James Sheffield’s Regiment of Horse. At first command was to be given to James, but the Colonelcy went to his brother Thomas. Sheffield’s regiment fought at Naseby and a succession of sieges in the West, then at the siege of Oxford.

In 1647 the regiment refused to go to Ireland and Sheffield was replaced by Harrison, who had served in Fleetwood’s regiment. At the start of the Second Civil War the regiment joined Lambert’s force in the North, fighting at Preston. The next year two troops joined the Leveller mutiny and the regiment were later sent to garrison South Wales. In 1651 they formed part of Harrison’s force in Lancashire and took part in the Battle of Worcester.

The regiment were sent to Scotland in 1654, helping to put down Glencairn’s rising in 1654. Harrison was dismissed after opposing Cromwell and the regiment given to Stephen Winthrop, then Edward Montagu. During the Restoration crisis Montagu was replaced by Alured and two troops joined with Lambert and were captured at Daventry. In November 1660 they were disbanded in Shropshire.

Carried red cornets under Sheffield

According to Blount: Col. Thomas Sheffield (second Son to the Earl of Mulgrave) bore this motto only without figure, NEC TIMIDUS, NEC TUMIDUS²⁾.

Major William Rainsborough's cornet (Illustration 1) under Col. Harrison, was blue depicting the beheading of Charles I with the motto salus populi: suprema lex (let the good of the people be the supreme law).

A younger son of Edmund, Lord Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, he served as Captain in his brother James’ regiment of horse in Essex’s army and was appointed Colonel when the regiment was New Modelled. Sheffield supported Parliament rather than the army in 1647 and so lost his command.

Thomas Harrison

William Rainsborough brother of the Leveller Thomas Rainsborough, he served as a captain under Sheffield then Major under Harrison. As a Fifth Monarchist he was dismissed for his extreme views in 1649.

Stephen Winthrop

Edward Montagu

Colonel of a Regiment of Horse in the Fairfaxes’ army of the First Civil War.

Samuel Pepys the famous diarist, was due the pay of a trooper when the regiment disbanded. Although he claimed to have been secretary to the Colonel (Montagu rather than Alured), likely this was a sinecure.

More detailed lists of officers for April and May 1645, December 1646, May and August 1647 and May 1649 are shown in Reconstructing the New Model Army. Volume 1, Regimental Lists April 1645 to May 1649 by Malcolm Wanklyn, Helion & Co. 2015. ISBN 978-1-910777-10-7.

From Anglia Rediviva³⁾

• Colonel: Thomas Sheffield
• Major: Quartermaster-General Richard Fincher
• Captain: Robert Robotham
• Captain: William Rainborow
• Captain: Gabriel Martin
• Captain: Adjutant-General Arthur Evelyn

• Colonel: Thomas Harrison
• Major William Rainborough
• Captain: John Peck
• Captain: Whitehead
• Captain: Henry Cromwell
• Captain: Stephen Winthrop

• 1645: Established at six troops