Mercenaries and gentlemen

Abstract

Abstract Because of lingering prejudices against soldiers of fortune at the beginning of the British and Irish civil wars, Scottish and English aristocrats believed that they possessed the best claim to military command because of their superior social rank and the military exploits of their ancestors, despite evidence of the military experience and competence of the British and Irish veterans of the mainland European wars. The concept that military hierarchies were necessary for order and discipline still had not etched itself upon the English military mentality at home. It was thought that the king’s honour required that armies be commanded by men of noble birth, and this emphasis upon social hierarchy made some sense as long as noblemen could recruit their tenants or kinsmen to fill their regiments; the actual command of such units in the field could be entrusted to experienced professionals. This arrangement worked well in Scotland, parts of Ireland, and in Wales and northern England, but was a notable failure throughout the remainder of England where rents rather than loyalty had become the nexus between lord and smallholder. The Parliamentary New Model Army gained an advantage when the grandees, such as the third earl of Essex and the earl of Manchester, who belonged to the peace party which advocated limited war aims, were purged in favour of generals and officers who gained promotion by merit and seniority, and aimed at total victory.