, a very active man in the parliaments service during the civil
, a very active man in the
parliaments service during the civil wars, and at length
general of their armies, was the eldest son of Ferdinando,
lord Fairfax, by Mary his wife, daughter of Edmund Sheffield earl of Mulgrave. He was born at Denton within the
parish of Otley, in Yorkshire, in January, 1611. After a
proper school education, he studied sometime in St. John’s
college, in Cambridge, to. which, in his latter days, he
became a benefactor. He appears to have been a lover of
learning, though he did not excel in any branch, except
it was in the history and antiquities of Britain, as will appear in the sequel. Being of a martial disposition even in
his younger years, but finding no employment at home,
he went and served in Holland as a volunteer under the
command of Horatio lord Vere, in order to learn the art of
war. After some stay there (but how long we cannot learn)
he came back to England; and, retiring to his father’s
house, married Anne, fourth daughter of lord Vere. Here
he contracted a strong aversion for the court; either by
the instigation of his wife, who was a zealous presbyterian,
or eLe by the persuasions and example of his father, who,
as Clarendon says, grew “actively and factiously disaffected to the king.
” When the king first endeavoured to
raise a guard at York for his own person, he was entrusted
by his party to prefer a petition to the king, beseeching
him to hearken to his parliament, and not to take that
course of raising forces, and when his majesty seemed to
shun receiving it, Fairfax followed him with it, on Heyworth-moor, in the presence of near 100,000 people, and
presented it upon the pommel of his saddle. Shortly after,
upon the actual breaking out of the civil wars, in 1642, his
father having received a commission from the parliament
to be general of the forces in the North, he had a commission under him to be general of the horse. His first exploit was at Bradford in Yorkshire, which he obliged a
body of royalists to quit, and to retire to Leeds. A few
days after, he and captain Hotham, with some horse and
dragoons marching thither, the royalists* fled in haste to
York. And the former having advanced to Tadcaster, resolved to keep the pass at Wetherby, for securing the
West Riding of Yorkshire, whence their chief supplies
came. Sir Thomas Glemham attempted to dislodge them
thence; but, after a short and sharp encounter, retired.
On this, Will, am Cavendish earl of Newcastle, and Henry
Clifford earl of Cumberland, united their forces at York,
amounting to 9000 men, and resolved to fall upon Tadcaster: which being judged untenable, the lord Fairfax,
and his son sir Thomas, drew out to an advantageous piece
of ground near the town: but, alter a six hours fight, were
beaten, and withdrew in the night to Selby. Three days
after, sir Thomas marched in the night by several towns
Inch the royalists lay, and came to Bradford, where
he entrenched himself. But having too many soldiers to
lie idle, and too few to be upon constant duty, he resolved
to attack his enemies in their garrisons. Accordingly,
coming before Leeds, he carried that town (Jan. 23, 1642-3)
after a hot dispute, and found a good store of ammunition, of which he stood in great want. He next defeated
a party of 700 horse and foot at Gisborough, under the
command of colonel Slingsby; and then Wakefield and
Doncaster yielded themselves to the parliament. But, For
these overt acts, William earl of Newcastle, the king’s
general, proclaimed sir Thomas and his father traitors, and
the parliament did the like for the earl. In the mean time,
the lord Fairfax, being denied succour from Hull and the
East Riding, was forced to forsake Selby, and retire to
Leeds: of which the earl of Newcastle having intelligence,
lay with his army on Clifford-moor, to intercept him in
his way to Leeds. On this sir Thomas was ordered, by
his father, to bring what men he could to join with him at
Sherburne, on purpose to secure his retreat. To amuse
the earl, sir Thomas made a diversion at Tadcaster, which
'the garrison immediately quitted, but lord Goring marching to its relief, with twenty troops of horse and dragoons,
defeated sir Thomas upon Bramham-moor: who also received a second defeat upon Seacroft-moor, where some
of his men were slain, and many taken prisoners, and himself made his retreat with much difficulty to Leeds, about
an hour after his father was safely come thither. Leeds
and Bradford being all the garrisons the parliament had in
the North, sir Thomas thought it necessary to possess some
other place: therefore with about 1100 horse and foot, he
drove, on the 21st of May, the royalists out of Wakefield,
which they had seized again; and took 1400 prisoners, 80
officers, and great store of ammunition. But, shortly
after, the earl of Newcastle coming to besiege Bradford,
and sir Thomas and his father having the boldness, with
about 3000 men, to go and attack his whole army, which
consisted of 10,000, on Adderton-moor; they were entirely routed by the earl r on the 30th of June, with a considerable loss. Upon that, Halifax and Beverly being
abandoned by the parliamentarians, and the lord Fairfax
having neither a place of strength to defend himself in, nor
a garrison in Yorkshire to retire to, withdrew the same
night to Leeds, to secure that town. By his order, sir
Thomas stayed in Bradford with 800 foot, and 60 horse,
but being surrounded, he was obliged to force his way
through: in which desperate attempt, hjs lady, and many
Bothers, were taken prisoners. At his coming to Leeds, he
found things in great distraction; the council of war having resolved to quit the town, and retreat to Hull, which
was sixty miles off; with many of the "king’s garrison in the
way, but he got safely to Selby, where there was a ferry,
and hard by one of the parliament’s garrisons at Cawood.
Immediately after his coming to Selby, being attacked by
a party of horse which pursued him, he received a shot in
the wrist of his left arm, which made the bridle fall out of
liis hand, and occasioned such an effusion of blood, that
he was ready to fall from his horse. But, taking the reins
in the other hand in which he had his sword, he withdrew
himself out of the crowd; and after a very troublesome and
dangerous passage, he came to Hull. Upon these repeated disasters, the Scots were hastily solicited to send
20,000 men to the assistance of the parliamentarians, who
were thus likely to be overpowered. Lord Fairfax, after
his coming to Hull, made it his first business to raise new
forces, and, in a short time, had about 1500 foot, and 700
horse. The town being little, sir Thomas was sent to Beverly, with the horse and 600 foot: for, the marquis of
Newcastle looking upon them as inconsiderable, and leaving only a few garrisons, was marched with his whole army
into Lincolnshire; having orders to go into Essex, and
t>lock up London on that side. But he was hastily recalled
northward, upon lord Fairfax’s sending out a large party
to make an attempt upon Stanford-bridge near York. The
marquis, at his return into Yorkshire, first dislodged, from
Beverly, sir Thomas, who retreated into Hull, to which
the marquis laid siege, but could not carry the place.
During the siege, the horse being useless, and many dying
every day, sir Thomas was sent with them over into Lincolnshire, to join the earl of Manchester’s forces, then
commanded by major-general Cromwell. At Horncastle,
or Winsby, they routed a party of 5000 men, commanded
by sir John Henderson: and, at the same time, the besieged in Hull making a sally upon the besiegers, obliged
them to retire. These two defeats together, the one falling heavy upon the horse, the other upon the foot, kept
the royalists all that winter from attempting any thing;
and the parliamentarians, after the taking of Lincoln, settled themselves in winter quarters. But sir Thomas had
not long the benefit of them; for, in the coldest season of
the year, he was commanded by the parliament to go and
raise the siege of Nantwich in Cheshire, which lord Byron,
with an army from Ireland, had reduced to great extremity. He set forward from Lincolnshire, December 29,
and, being joined by sir William Brereton, entirely routed,
911 the 21st of January, lord Byron, who was drawn out to
meet them. After that, they took in several garrisons in
Cheshire, particularly Crew-house, &c. Sir Thomas, having stayed in those parts till the middle of March, was ordered back by his father into Yorkshire, that by the conjunction of their forces he might be abler to take the field.
They met about Ferry-bridge; and colonel Bellasis, governor of York, having advanced to Selby to hinder their
junction, they found means, notwithstanding, to join, and
entirely defeated him, on the llth of April, 1644. This
good success rendered sir Thomas master of the field in
Yorkshire, and nothing then hindered him from marching
into Northumberland, as he had been ordered by the parliament, to join the Scots, which were kept from advancing
southward by the superior forces of the marquis of Newcastle, quartered at Durham. But that stroke having
thrown York into the utmost distraction, the inhabitants
speedily sent to the marquis to haste back thither; by which
means a way was left open for the Scots, who, with cold,
and frequent alarms, were reduced to great extremity.
They joined the lord Fairfax at Wetherby, on the 20th of
April, and, marching on to York, laid siege to that city *,
wherein the marquis of Newcastle had shut himself up,
being closely pursued, on the way thither, by sir Thomas,
and major-general Desley. And, when prince Rupert was
advancing out of Lancashire to the relief of that place,
they marched with 6000 horse and dragoons, and 5000
foot, to stop his progress: but he, eluding their vigilance,
and bringing round his army, which consisted of above
20,000 men, got into York. Whereupon the parliamentarians raised the siege, and retired to Hessey-moor. The
English were for fighting, and the Scots for retreating;
which last opinion prevailing, they both marched away to
Tadcaster, there being great differences and jealousies between the two nations. But the rash and haughty prince,
instead of harassing and wearing them out by prudent delays, resolved, without consulting the marquis of New* fa our account cf Dodsworth (vol. XII. p. 181), will be found some circumstances favourable to sir Thomas Fairfax’s character in the conduct of this.
castle, or any of his officers, to engage them, on Marstonmoor, eight miles from York, on the 2d of July: where
that bloody battle was fought which entirely ruined the
king’s affairs in the north. In this battle, sir Thomas Fairfax commanded the right wing of the horse. The prince,
after his defeat, retiring towards Lancashire, and the marquis, in discontent, sailing away to Hamburgh, the three
parliament-generals came and sat down again before York,
which surrendered the 15th of July: and the North was
now wholly reduced by the parliament’s forces, except
some garrisons. In September following, sir Thomas was
sent to take Helmesley-castle, where he received a dangerous shot in one of his shoulders, and was brought back
to York, all being doubtful of his recovery for some time.
Some time after, he was more nearly killed by a cannonshot before Pomfret-castle.