John Dalbier

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John Dalbier
River Great Ouse at St Neots; Dalbier was killed guarding a bridge near here in July 1648
Bornca 1600
Strasbourg
Died10/11 July 1648 (aged 47–48)
St Neots
RankColonel
Battles/wars

John Dalbier, also known as Jan Dalbiere, c. 1600 to 11 July 1648, was a professional soldier from the

War of the Three Kingdoms. He served with the Parliamentarian army during the First English Civil War, then switched to the Royalist side in the Second English Civil War. He was killed at the Battle of St Neots
.

Despite his long service, most of his career was spent in financial administration or logistics and he proved less competent as a military commander. Appointed paymaster to

Thirty Years War
, he subsequently transferred into English service, where his expertise was highly valued.

Career; prior to 1642

Dalbier is generally thought to have been a native of

Eighty Years War. By 1622 he was paymaster to Count Ernst von Mansfeld and visited England on his behalf in 1622 to arrange financing for his army, then serving Frederick V of the Palatinate, son-in-law of James I. When Mansfeld died in the Balkans in 1624, Dalbier must have been present since he helped arrange his funeral in Venice.[1]

By 1622, Dalbier was paymaster for Ernst von Mansfeld, a famous commander of mercenaries

After failing to secure employment in the Venetian military, Dalbier returned to England where he found employment with

Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré (1627), but other officers allegedly resented his influence and low social status. Described as a man of 'great experience, but not of that strength of understanding and other parts as are necessary', he was sent back to England to organise reinforcements and supplies.[2]

In 1628 to relieve Sir

Sir Thomas Jermyn, who pointed out that on his journey through Germany, it was his quick thinking and persuasive manner that had saved his companions from a detachment of Imperial troops because if he had chosen to, he would have been well-rewarded for betraying them.[1]

In 1629 the

Neu-Brandenburg in 1631. Although Charles I petitioned for his release, he was not set free until December 1632 after the death of Gustavus Adolphus.[1]

Wars of the Three Kingdoms

After Dalbier's release, he settled in England and in 1635 was living in the London parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields, where he was described as a German and a servant to the king. However by 1642 he had fallen on hard times and was detained in the king's bench prison for debt.[1]

Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex secured Dalbier's release on condition that he fought for the Parliamentary cause. As colonel in command of a regiment of dozen or more troops of horse, he had an active war fighting for the Earl in many engagements including the battle of Cheriton where he received a wound. However, his military record was not unblemished, and he did not secure a commission in the New Model Army; instead, he was sent to serve under General Edward Massey. In 1645 he was involved in the skirmish at Basing House in Hampshire and took part in the final capture of the place, followed by the capture of Donnington Castle in Berkshire on 1 April 1646 and Wallingford Castle in July.[1]

With the deterioration of relations between the Presbyterians in Parliament and the Independents in the New Model Army, Dalbier chose to side with the Presbyterians and, by July 1647, was active in trying to organise a defence of London against the advance of the New Model Army.[1]

He was implicated in a coup in late July 1647 but left London before he could be arrested. When the Second English Civil War began in April 1648, he joined a group of Royalists in Huntingdonshire; on 9 July, he joined forces with a contingent from Surrey led by Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland and George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Early in the morning of 10 July, they were attacked at St Neots by 100 men from the New Model Army under Colonel Adrian Scrope.[3] Dalbier was killed in the first attack, one of 12 Royalist casualties; according to Edmund Ludlow's largely elaborated memoirs, they "hewed him in pieces" because they resented his treachery, though according to John Rushworth he died of his wounds on the following day.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Porter 2004.
  2. ^ Hardwicke 1778, pp. 25, 52.
  3. ^ Royle 2004, p. 453.

Sources

  • Hardwicke, Earl of (1778). Miscellaneous State Papers, 1501-1726, Volume II. Strahan & Cadell.
  • Porter, Stephen (2004). "Dalbier, John (d. 1648)".
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7010. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  • Royle, Trevor (2004). Civil War: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1638–1660. Abacus.
    ISBN 978-0-349-11564-1
    .
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