John Lambert (general)
Rule of the Major Generals, Northern Region | |
---|---|
In office October 1655 – January 1657 | |
Nominated to Barebone's Parliament | |
In office July 1653 – December 1653 | |
Lord President, Council of State | |
In office April 1653 – May 1653 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 7 September 1619 (baptised) Calton Hall, near Major General |
Battles/wars | Wars of the Three Kingdoms Tadcaster; Selby; Nantwich; Marston Moor; Siege of Pontefract; Siege of Dartmouth; Siege of Oxford; Preston; Dunbar; Inverkeithing; Worcester; Booth's Uprising |
John Lambert
Although Lambert was involved in the discussions between the New Model Army and Parliament during 1647, his first formal involvement in civilian politics was in 1653, when he became a member of the English Council of State. In December 1653, he helped prepare the "Instrument of Government", which became the constitutional framework for the Protectorate. He later fell out with Oliver Cromwell, largely because he opposed converting Cromwell’s role as Lord Protector into a kingship.
Lambert lost his offices in 1657 after refusing to swear an oath of loyalty to Cromwell, but in early 1659, following Cromwell's death in September 1658, he re-entered politics as
Lambert escaped a month later, on 9 April,
Personal details
John Lambert was born at Calton Hall, near Kirkby Malham in Yorkshire, son of Josias Lambert (1554-1632) and his third wife, Anne Pigott (ca 1605-1643). He had two half-sisters from his father's previous marriages, Cassandra and Jane.
A well-established member of the minor Yorkshire gentry, by the late 1620s Josias was in serious financial difficulties and died almost bankrupt. As a minor, John Lambert became the ward of Sir William Lister, a long-standing family friend, who appears to have paid for his education at Trinity College, Cambridge.[2]
In 1639 he married Frances Lister (1622–1676), Sir William's younger daughter; they had three children who survived into adulthood, Thomas (1639-1694), John (1639-1701) and Mary (1642-1675).
Career
First English Civil War
Pre-Civil War Yorkshire was characterised by close links among the local gentry, which often overrode political or religious differences. Although Lambert and the Listers followed
When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, Lambert joined the Parliamentarian army of the Northern Association, commanded by the elder Fairfax. He fought at Tadcaster in December 1642, where his brother-in-law William Lister was killed and quickly established a reputation as a confident and aggressive soldier.[4] He played a prominent role in the defence of Hull and participated in Parliamentarian victories at Nantwich and Selby in early 1644. At Marston Moor, fought just outside York on 2 July, he and Thomas Fairfax led the Parliamentarian right, which was routed by Lord Goring. Accompanied only by a few troops, the two men fought their way across the battlefield to join Oliver Cromwell on the left and help secure victory.[5]
In January 1645, Thomas Fairfax was appointed commander of the New Model Army and Lambert promoted Commissary General of the Northern Association, effectively acting as his deputy.[6] During the siege of Pontefract Castle, one of the few Royalist positions left in the north, he was wounded and defeated on 1 March by a relief force led by Marmaduke Langdale.[7] Shortly after this, Fairfax was finally replaced as commander in the north by the Presbyterian mercenary Sydnam Poyntz.[8] Lambert transferred to the New Model, although shortage of troops meant he remained in the north until just after Naseby in June 1645, when he served in Fairfax's western campaign. He supervised the capture of Dartmouth in January 1646 and was present at the sieges of Truro in March, Exeter in April and finally Oxford in June, which ended the First Civil War. In a sign of his growing stature within the New Model, Lambert acted as a commissioner for each surrender, in conjunction with Henry Ireton.[9]
Second English Civil War
Victory exposed long-standing divisions between mostly Presbyterian moderates led by Denzil Holles who dominated Parliament, and radicals within the New Model Army, focused around Cromwell. Originating in differences over the political settlement with Charles I, it was exacerbated by financial issues and by March 1647, the New Model Army was owed more than £3 million in unpaid wages. Parliament ordered it to Ireland, stating only those who agreed would be paid; when their representatives demanded full payment for all in advance, it was disbanded, but the army refused to comply.[10]
Concerned by the influence of radicals such as the Levellers within the New Model Army, the Army Council was established to ensure a united front against Holles and his supporters. Working with Ireton, Lambert helped draw up the army's terms for a peace settlement with the king, although the extent of his involvement has been challenged by some historians.[11] After these were rejected by Charles, the Holles faction demanded he be invited to London for further talks. Fearing Charles was going to be restored without significant concessions, the Army Council took control of the city on 7 August and in October expelled their leading opponents from Parliament, the so-called Eleven Members.[12]
When the Northern Association army mutinied in early July 1647, Lambert was reinstated as commander and quickly succeeded in restoring discipline.[13] This was essential because a similar political struggle was taking place in Scotland between the Kirk Party and the Engagers, who gained control of government in April 1648. Backed by an alliance of English/Welsh Royalists and former Parliamentarian moderates, they agreed to restore Charles to the English throne and initiated the Second English Civil War in April 1648.[14]
Most of the New Model Army was with Fairfax, who was suppressing revolts in
Although the war was largely over, the Kirk Party asked for support and Lambert entered
The Commonwealth
When Cromwell was appointed to the command of the war in Scotland (July 1650), Lambert went with him as major-general and second in command. He was wounded at
In October 1651 Lambert was made a commissioner under the
At the same time Lambert was consulted by the parliamentary leaders as to the possibility of dismissing Cromwell from his command, and on 15 March 1653 Cromwell refused to see him, speaking of him contemptuously as "bottomless Lambert". On 20 April 1653, however, Lambert accompanied Cromwell when he dismissed the Council of State, on the same day as the forcible expulsion of the parliament.[16]
Lambert now favoured the formation of a small executive council, to be followed by an elective parliament whose powers should be limited by a written instrument of government. As the ruling spirit in the Council of State, and the idol of the army, he was seen as a possible rival of Cromwell for the chief executive power, while the royalists for a short time had hopes of his support. He was invited, with Cromwell, Harrison and
In the foreign policy of the Protectorate Lambert called for alliance with Spain and war with France in 1653, and he firmly withstood Cromwell's design for an expedition to the West Indies.[16]
In the debates in parliament on the Instrument of Government in 1654 Lambert proposed that the office of Lord Protector should be made hereditary, but was defeated by a majority which included members of Cromwell's family. In the parliament of this year, and again in 1656, Lord Lambert, as he was now styled, sat as member for the West Riding. He was one of the major-generals appointed in August 1655 to command the militia in the ten districts into which it was proposed to divide England, and who were to be responsible for the maintenance of order and the administration of the law in their several districts.[16]
Lambert took a prominent part in the
A hundred officers headed by
When
When the parliament, in an attempt to control the power of the army, withheld from Fleetwood the right of nominating officers, Lambert was named one of a council of seven charged with this duty. The parliament's evident distrust of the soldiers caused much discontent in the army; while the absence of authority encouraged the royalists to make overt attempts to restore Charles II, the most serious of which, under
Lambert was now sent with a large force to meet
Restoration
On the
Later life
In 1662 Lambert was imprisoned in Guernsey.[18] In 1667 he was transferred to Drake's Island in Plymouth Sound, at the entrance to the Hamoaze, and he died there during the severe winter of 1683–84. The site of his grave is now lost but he was laid to rest at St Andrews Church in Plymouth on 28 March 1684.[21]
Legacy
He was the author of the
It has been said that Lambert's nature had more in common with the
Notes
- ^ Also spelled Lambart
References
- ^ a b c "Lambert, John (1619—1694)", by F. Warre Cornish, Encyclopedia Britannica, Ninth Edition, Volume 14 (Henry G. Allen Company, 1890) p. 237
- ^ Farr 2003, pp. 12, 15.
- ^ Farr 2003, p. 163.
- ^ Farr 2003, p. 36.
- ^ a b Farr 2004.
- ^ Hill & Watkinson 2012, p. 17.
- ^ Barratt 1975, pp. 162–163.
- ^ Farr 2011.
- ^ Farr 2003, p. 39.
- ^ Rees 2016, pp. 173–174.
- ^ Adamson 1987, pp. 568–569.
- ^ Grayling 2017, p. 23.
- ^ Farr 2003, pp. 40–41.
- ^ Royle 2006, pp. 424–425.
- ^ Farr 2003, p. 43.
- ^ a b c d e f g Chisholm 1911, p. 108.
- ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 108–109.
- ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911, p. 109.
- ^ Greaves 1986, pp. 27–29.
- ^ "Sunday 22 April 1660". The Diary of Samuel Pepys. 22 April 2003.
- ^ Gaunt, pp 44,45
Sources
- Adamson, JSA (1987). "The English Nobility and the Projected Settlement of 1647". The Historical Journal. 30 (3): 567–602. S2CID 154769885.
- Barratt, John (1975). "A Royalist Account of the Relief of Pontefract, 1st March 1645". Society for Army Historical Research. 53 (215): 159–169. JSTOR 44225367.
- Farr, D. N. (2011). "Poyntz [Poynts], Sydenham [Sednham])". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22695. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Farr, D. N. (2004). "Lambert, John (bap. 1619, d. 1684)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15939. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Farr, David (2003). John Lambert, Parliamentary Soldier and Cromwellian Major-General, 1619–1684. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1843830047.
- Firth, Charles Harding (1893). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 11–18. . In
- Grayling, A.C. (2017). Democracy and its crisis. Oneworld Publications. ISBN 978-1-78607-289-4.
- Greaves, Richard L. (1986). Deliver us from evil: the radical underground in Britain, 1660–1663. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-503985-8.
- Hill, PR; Watkinson, JM (2012). Cromwell Hath the Honour, But...: Major-General Lambert's Campaigns in the North 1648. Frontline Books. ISBN 978-1848326545.
- Rees, John (2016). The Leveller Revolution. Verso. ISBN 978-1-78478-390-7.
- Royle, Trevor (2006) [2004]. Civil War: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1638–1660. Abacus. ISBN 978-0-349-11564-1.
Attribution
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lambert, John". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 108–109. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- public domain: Atkinson, Charles Francis (1911). "Great Rebellion". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 403–421. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Bibliography
- Fell, David William. "John Lambert". northlincsweb.net. Archived from the original on 7 July 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- Lambert, Andy (31 March 2010). "Major General John Lambert". Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- Plant, David (5 June 2007). "John Lambert, c.1619–1684". British Civil Wars and Commonwealth website. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- Simkin, John (September 1997 – June 2013). "John Lambert". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- Gaunt, Peter (1998). Cromwelliana. The Journal of The Cromwell Association (PDF). The Cromwell Association. pp. 44–45. ISBN 0-905729-09-9.