A MILITARY ORDER WRITTEN TWO DAYS AFTER THE BATTLE OF WORCESTER.

Manuscript letter, 1pp, mailing folds, torn at head with loss of text, occasional fold tears, integral blank, red wax seal, signed “O Cromwell”, overall size 310 x 200mm, 5th September, 1651.

This document orders the protection of a local citizen and his family. Addressed “To all Officers & Soul[ie]rs und[e]r my Comand” ordering that no violence be offered to William Baker and his family, and to “forbeare to take anie more of their goodes by way of plunder[…]”.

Cromwell led the Parliamentarian forces against the Royalists in the English Civil War. Fighting continued for years and finally ended at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651, with a Parliamentarian victory. The battle destroyed any lasting hopes the Royalists may have had of regaining power by the use of military force; as well as setting the stage for Cromwell’s republican rule, commonly known as the Protectorate. Charles escaped into exile in France and the long and bitter Civil War was finally over.