Prologue

This adventure is as historically accurate as I could make it, however I have not included my endless references because the main character, Daniel Vanderus, is fictional. As a rule of thumb, if the character is a parliamentarian, or has a title, or has a military rank of captain or above, then they and their families are non-fictional. Otherwise the character is fictional.

In the 1640's England was still using the old Julian calendar rather than the new Gregorian one. I have used the same dates for battles as are used by popular Civil War timelines. They use old fashioned Julian dates, rather than the modern (add 10 days) Gregorian dates, but treat January 1 as the start of a new year rather than March 25 as was used in the 1640's. In the 1640's Christmas day still fell on December 25, but the shortest day of the year was December 11, not December 21.

Note that at the end of this book there is an Appendix which is organized like an FAQ. There you will find answers to dozens of questions such as:
- What are the differences in dates between Julian and Gregorian calendars?
- Why was the Sack of Brentford such a turning point?
- Who were the Clubmen?
- Why were there so many officer defections to the king?
However, the next few paragraphs will set the scene enough for you to begin reading the novel.

* * * * *

Late in 1642, Parliament's reformers were being split three ways between the "peace” party, the "war” party, and the "middle” party. The Stuart Regime had by then shown themselves to be brutal in battle, and vicious with anyone who would not bend to their will, especially womenfolk. Many of parliament's reformers were by then so fearful of how vicious the royalists were being, that they wanted something more than they wanted reform; they wanted a ceasefire and peace. The common folk who had been swept up into the battles and suffered the viciousness also wanted something more than they wanted reform, but it was not peace. They wanted those who had been vicious to be punished ... in kind.

This novel begins just after the battle for London in November 1642. That battle had many skirmishes, but only once did both of the full armies line up against each other. That was at Turnham Green near to Chiswick. Although in terms of overall numbers it was the second largest battle of the Civil War, in terms of casualties it was smaller than the previous day's skirmish, the infamous Sack of Brentford.

The viciousness of the Devil Prince Rupert at Brentford was fully reported in London's newssheets, so the day after the slaughter it wasn't just Parliament's army that was marching out to face the King's army at Turnham Green, but a mob of ten thousand Londoners. While the two regular armies faced each other under a truce while the rules of engagement were being discussed, the angry mob became impatient and chased the Devil Prince and his flying army from the field.

The battle of Turnham Green, or rather, the Sack of Brentford became a pivotal event. The mob made Charles realize that London was lost to him due to what Rupert had done at Brentford. Worse, Rupert had been seen by all on the battlefield to be a coward. Meanwhile the news of Rupert's savagery at Brentford raced across the kingdom and everywhere towns began their own preparations to ward off the armies of either side. Thus a third side in the war reared up ... the Clubsmen. These were armed locals who were organizing themselves to protect them and theirs against all comers.

With his wealth and munitions used up, and his infantry deserting him, Charles retreated to Oxford for the winter. His flying armies under Rupert and various Earls and Sheriffs, rode from town to town looting and raping on the excuse of gathering supplies, men, and munitions. Meanwhile Charles' queen, Henrietta, had stolen the crown jewels and was in the pawnshops of the Dutch republics trying to raise funds enough to send a mercenary army to help her husband. Henrietta was well connected to do this for she was a daughter of the Medici banking family, the sister of King of France, the sister-in-law of the Queen of Bohemia, and the mother of the crown princess of Holland.