Hello everyone, my name is Wesley Levesse from the History of the Second World War podcast. Join me on a journey to the most destructive conflict in human history, a journey that will take us not just through the famous campaigns and cataclysmic battles, but also to the lesser well-known corners of the war that touched millions all over the world, as we try and answer not just the questions of what and where, but how and why. You can find History of the Second World War on all major podcast platforms or at History of the Second World War.com. Hi, I'm Mike Troy, host of the American Revolution Podcast on the Airwave Media Network. This podcast is the origin story of the United States, how we went from colonies ruled by a king to the Democratic Republic that we have today. The American Revolution podcast tells the story of the revolution from beginning to end. Please subscribe for free. We're available on all major podcast platforms. I hope you will join me today on the American Revolution Podcast.
大家好,我叫韦斯利·莱维斯,来自《第二次世界大战历史播客》。让我们一起踏上一段人类历史上最毁灭性冲突的旅程,这段旅程不仅将带我们穿越著名的战役和灾难性的战斗,还会带我们走进那些不太知名、却触及全球数百万人的战争角落,试图回答的不仅仅是“发生了什么”和“在哪里”,还有“如何”和“为什么”。你可以在所有主要的播客平台或者《第二次世界大战历史播客》网站上找到我们。嗨,我是迈克·特洛伊,美国革命播客的主持人,归属于Airwave Media Network。这个播客是美国的起源故事,讲述了我们是如何从被国王统治的殖民地发展成今天的民主共和国的。美国革命播客讲述了整个革命的故事。请免费订阅我们,在所有主要的播客平台都可以找到。希望你能加入我的《美国革命播客》的今天。
Welcome to Pax Britannica. Season 3, episode 11. The Great Escape. Welcome back to Pax Britannica. I'm your host Samuel Hume. Thank you to the new members of the House of Lords, Bruce Goodmanson, Earl of Shetland, Earl Stephen of Blois and Thomas Watt, the Earl Lockey of Oclocchylock. Like all of our Patrons, they can now listen to this episode and every other episode ad-free. The new worlds can also listen to the bonus content, including our new series on the history of the Mughal Empire. Go to patreon.com slash Pax Britannica to find out more.
Last week, we saw the final pitched battles of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the Battle of Inverkithin, where John Lambert essentially won the war in Scotland for the Commonwealth of England, and the Battle of Worcester, where the Hail Mary of Charles II, to march from Stirling in Scotland all the way south to London in England, was utterly defeated. Today, we're going to hear a story which Charles would never get tired of telling, whether or not his audience was tired of listening to it. You don't tell a king, your Majesty, can we talk about something else? And to be fair to Charles, it is a good story, and if I escaped certain death by the skin of my teeth, I'd probably hold court with it as well. Of all the many courtiers who heard the story, the Earl of Clarendon and Samuel Peeps of Diary fame, both recorded it in detail.
Let me take you back to the end of last episode. Charles's brave offensive beyond the Wars of Worcester, so close to success, had collapsed into a route that he could not stop. Most of his army ran for their lives, back to safety behind Worcester's walls, and those who kept information soon followed suit. Charles went with them, back to his headquarters within the city, which is now a museum called the Commandery. From here, Charles attempted to orchestrate a defense of the city, but after just a few hours, English troops had captured Fort Royal on the eastern walls, and had broken through the bridge and gate of St. Clemens from the west. The city had fallen, and what followed was brutal street fighting. Charles now fled his headquarters, riding through the cobbled streets, trying to thread the needle between Royalists' Scots holding the line and the victorious English who were flooding into those streets. His destination was the house he'd been staying in to pack his things. One building, which claims to be this house, is appropriately called King Charles House. I lived on the same street for a few years, and I can tell you that no one's really sure if this is the exact house, but it's been preserved over the centuries, and is now a very nice pub that makes really good pies. But, whichever house it was, Charles's escape almost ended before it began. The victorious parliamentarians flooded through the streets, and they knew where the king had been staying. Charles ran out the back door as soldiers came through the front. It was the first of many close shapes.
Once into the streets, Charles moved north towards St Martin's gate, and he fled the city of Worcester, accompanied by about 60 officers. Most of these men, Scottish cavalry under the command of David Leslie, wanted to rush back the way they came, fleeing north, back to Scotland. Charles disagreed. He preferred to make for London, where he hoped to blend in with the capital's population before boarding a ship to safety. Once the royal party reached White Lady's Priory, a house of one of the royalist officers, the king donned his first disguise.
He became a farm labourer, quote, in leather-doblet, a pair of green breeches and a jumpcoat of the same green, an old grey greasy hat without a lining, and a noggin shirt of the corsest linen. To complete the look, Charles's famous hair was cut short on top, but leaving it long on the sides. But of course it wouldn't make much sense for a common farm labourer to have an escort of 60 cavalry officers, so from here on Charles would only be accompanied by a few people. This helped him better avoid attention, but left him incredibly vulnerable. The rest of his escort had only recently left White Ladies when a company of parliamentarian soldiers arrived searching for him. Charles hid in a nearby wood in the pouring rain, as his hosts convinced them that the king had been there, but he'd already left. He later said that while the rain was a miserable experience, it probably stopped the defenders from searching the surrounding area.
Before Charles departed, his hosts attempted to teach the king how to speak like a local, and how to not walk like a king. Charles eventually left White Ladies, attempting to cross the river Severn and get into Wales, but after finding the river closely guarded, he returned to a neighbouring estate, Boscabel House, but also returning with a common wealth soldier who began combing the area for the royal fugitive. So Charles and a Colonel William Careless hid up an oak tree for an entire day. Charles, who was quite tired at this point, fell asleep, and Colonel Careless wasn't Careless with his royal charge. He held the sleeping king as long as he could, and when his strength began to fail, he resorted to pinching the king to keep him awake. This is, by the way, why there are so many pubs in England called the Royal Oak.
Charles spent many nights and, some days, hiding in the priest halls of the local Catholic gentry of Worcestershire, as his hosts were repeatedly interrogated by parliamentarian soldiers who knew of their royalist leanings and suspected that they knew where the king had gone. Sometimes he was separated from his pursuers by just a thin plank of wood, as they questioned former royalists and searched their property. The plan to journey to London was now off the carts. Soldiers were searching local sympathisers and blocking the roads east, so the plan changed, and Charles now aimed to reach Bristol. He shed his disguise as a farm labourer and became the servant to Jane Lane, who was a sister of a royalist officer. Jane had received permission to travel to visit a friend, and so the plan was to take advantage of this.
Again, Charles had to be coached about the role he'd play, the correct etiquette for a servant, which he'd only ever seen from the other side, how he should refer to Lady Jane, and what would be expected of him in public. Then the small group departed, Charles and Jane on the same horse. When they reached Brom's Grove, they realised that the mound had lost a shoe, so Charles, in his role as the servant, obediently took the horse to the blacksmith to have a new one attached. He later told Samuel Peep's quote, As I was holding my horses foot, I asked the Smith what news. He told me that there was no news that he knew of, since the good news of the beating of the rogues of the Scots. I asked him whether there was none of the English taken that had joined with the Scots. He answered, he did not hear if that rogue Charles Stewart had been taken, but some of the others, he said, were taken. I told him that if that rogue were taken, he deserved to be hanged more than all the rest, for bringing in the Scots. Upon which he said, I spoke like an honest man, and so we parted. Charles's first performance as a man of the people had worked. He'd been just one ordinary Englishman talking to another, ordinary Englishman, complaining about politics and the Scots. Nothing could have been more ordinary or less out of place, and so Charles and Lady Jane continued on.
When they reached the town of Wharton Wellen, they came across a company of dismounted parliamentary cavalry who were resting on the grass beside the road. There was nothing else for it. The fugitives confidently made their way past them, chairing pleasantries and appearing for all the world as ordinary travellers.
The party then spent the night at the home of Lady Jane's cousins, and in order to keep up the disguise their new hosts were not told that they were in the presence of their king. So, they sent Lady Jane's servant to go and help in the kitchens, because of course he did. He was just a servant. But Charles was useless in the kitchen. He had no idea how to cook or to clean, so the cook told him to just go and turn the jack to spin the meat over the fire. Surely this incredibly incompetent servant could manage that. Charles almost broke the thing. He turned it the wrong way and caused a screeching metal sound. The cook then stormed over and had to go at him and asked him, what countryman are you that you know not how to wind up a jack? Charles managed to cover for his lack of experience by explaining that his family was too poor to have had meat, so he had never used a jack. It convinced the cook, and it also shows how the king was now, perhaps more than ever, aware of the reality of life for his poorest subjects. He'd spent more time among them over his last few weeks than ever before.
After leaving the next day, the party stayed the night at an inn, and the following day reached the home of George Norton. The plan remained to keep Charles' true identity a secret, and so he was introduced as Lady Jane's servant William Jackson. But a moment of crisis struck when Charles recognized the Norton's Butler, John Pope, to be a former servant of his own when he was a boy. Pope had even served in the royalist cavalry of his father. But, despite everything, Charles' disguise held up. Pope didn't recognize him. So Lady Jane asked that her man Jackson be taken somewhere quiet to sleep off a fever. This kept the king firmly out of sight of prying eyes.
The next morning, Jackson enjoyed a breakfast of bread and butter with the other servants when they were joined by a veteran of the Battle of Worcester, from his own army. Again, Charles was not recognized despite the man having fought for him just weeks earlier. Charles decided to play with fire at this point, and asked the soldier what the king was like. He was then given an exact description of what he had been wearing at the battle, and was then told that the king was at least three fingers taller than Jackson. Charles then decided that he'd better make himself scarce before the soldier noticed his other similarities, and so he left the room with Pope. As he did so, the Lady of the House walked by, and, remembering his etiquette training, Charles docked his hat to his social superior. Pope now saw him without it for the first time, and immediately recognized him. So the king had to bring the butler into his confidence. Charles admitted his identity to Pope, and Pope gladly joined the escape attempt. He was sent to nearby Bristol to find a ship that was bound for Spain or France, but returned to report that there weren't any due to leave for another month. So instead, the group rode to the south coast. Hearing word that a ship was sailing to Brittany from the port of Charmel, Charles then entered the town alongside the young niece of the Royalist Lady Windom. Their cover story, if they were stopped, was that they were alloping. But once in Charmel, the captain didn't turn up. He had apparently been locked in his bedroom by his wife, who didn't want him getting mixed up in anything dangerous. So the next day, Charles and his alloping bride-to-be travelled seven miles east to Brideport.
Their flight from Charmel could not have come sooner. A blacksmith, who had been summoned to fit new shoes to the party's horses, had noticed that one of them bore shoes smith at Worcester. Now that was suspicious, and so he reported it. The parliamentary garrison arrived to arrest the suspected Royalist survivors of the battle, but they'd already fled east. A cavalry troop under one Captain Macey set off in pursuit.
When Johann Raul received the letter on Christmas Day 1776, he put it away to read later. Maybe he thought it was a season's greeting and wanted to save it for the fireside. But what it actually was was a warning, delivered to the Hessian Colonel, letting him know that General George Washington was crossing the Delaware and would soon attack his forces. The next day, when Raul lost the Battle of Trenton and died from two colonial boxing day musket balls, the letter was found, unopened in his vest pocket.
As someone with 15,000 unread emails in his inbox, I feel like there's a lesson there. Oh well, this is the constant, a history of getting things wrong.
I'm Mark Chrysler. Every episode we look at the bad ideas, mistakes, and accidents that misshaped our world. Find us at constantpodcast.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi, I'm Michael Troy, host of the American Revolution Podcast on the Airwave Media Network. This podcast is the origin story of the United States. How we went from colonies ruled by a king to the Democratic Republic that we enjoy today. The American Revolution podcast tells the story of the revolution from beginning to end, starting with the events leading up to the war, including a look at the French and Indian War and pre-war disputes. We then go through the war itself and eventually reach the founding of a new nation based on principles of democratic government. Along the way, there are lots of great stories of both selfishness and sacrifice, some unbelievable human achievements, and some all too familiar examples of greed, self-dealing, and betrayal. Please subscribe for free to the American Revolution Podcast available on all major podcast platforms. I hope you will join me today on the American Revolution Podcast.
大家好,我是迈克尔·特洛伊,美国革命播客在Airwave Media Network上的主持人。这个播客讲述了美国的起源故事。我们是如何从被国王统治的殖民地变成今天享有的民主共和国的。美国革命播客从开端到终结,讲述了革命的故事。从战争前的事件开始,包括法印战争和战前争议的审视。然后我们经历了战争本身,最终到达了一个基于民主政府原则的新国家的建立。在此过程中,有很多关于自私和牺牲的精彩故事,一些令人难以置信的人类成就,以及一些太过熟悉的贪婪、自私和背叛的例子。请免费订阅在所有主要播客平台上提供的美国革命播客。希望您今天能加入我,一起听美国革命播客。
But it looked like Charles had climbed out of the frying pan and into the fire, because when they reached Brightport, they found the town swarming with parliamentary soldiers. An entire army was mustering there in preparation for an attack on the island of Jersey, one of the last remaining strongholds of the Royalist cause. Charles had, of course, been in Jersey the previous year, but now any thought that the island could be a refuge was gone.
The sheer number of soldiers spooked some members of the party, but again, in his telling of the story, Charles decided that turning around would be suspicious, and so they boldly marched through a courtyard full of redcoats to reach in in. Charles, again following his chosen role, took the horses to the stable, and he wasn't sneaking. He made a point of getting in the way, knocking into enemy soldiers and playing the part of the bumbling servant.
Again, the king came close to discovery, when he met yet another figure from his past in the stable, but he managed to convince the man that he only looked familiar because he'd served in old neighbour of his. The party moved on the next day, spending the night at Broad Windsor. Like Brightport, Broad Windsor was full of enemy soldiers. Charles and friends booked the last room in the George Inn at the very top of the building, with parliamentary officers taking up most of the rest of the rooms.
That night became much safer for them, when another guest suddenly went into labour, and the soldiers decided that they weren't going to deal with that racket and went to sleep somewhere else.
It was whilst staying there that the fugitives learnt that the captain they had arranged a deal with, the one who'd been locked in his house by his wife, had now backed out of the plan. He knew that whatever he was being paid to do was clearly incredibly dangerous, though he didn't know he would be smuggling the king. He now refused to take part, unwilling to risk his life or liberty.
With that escape plan now scuppered, the party left the George Inn and retreated to Trend House, the home of Colonel Francis Windham, where they had previously stayed. But the net was closing in on the fugitives. Shortly after the king left the George Inn, and we're talking literally minutes after they rode off, Captain Macy and his cavalry arrived. They had followed the party from Charmoth, where the blacksmith had reported his suspicions, and they asked around the inn about the fugitives.
When they were informed that yes a group matching the description had been there, and only just left for London, the cavalry mounted up and charged after them. Luckily for the fugitives, they charged the wrong way. Charles's party had wisely doubled back after appearing to head for London, and Captain Macy only turned around after he reached Doncaster 15 miles away, and had seen no sign of them.
Still, this had been an incredibly narrow escape, and the king's chances weren't improved as former allies turned on him. The reward for his capture was now £1,000, an incredible sum for almost anyone. Throw in the consequences for having helped the king, execution for treason, and it's only surprising that it took so long for an ally to betray him. That traitor was Captain Eliston, who had been part of the Charmoth plan, with its failure seems to have decided that Charles had no chance, and it was better to be on the winning side.
He took off on his own pursuit of the fugitives, and tried to convince other allies of Charles to help bring him in. Captain Macy soon returned, and possibly on a tip-off from Eliston, ransacked the home of Sir Hugh Windham, Colonel Windham's uncle. By this time, the Republican soldiers had learned the identity of their quarry. This wasn't just a group of low-ranked royalist officers who had escaped the Battle of Worcester. Their target was the heir to the House of Stewart. Macy informed Sir Hugh that he was there to arrest Charles Stewart, who he had reason to believe was being sheltered by the Windhams. Macy's intel was accurate, but only to a point, because Charles was hidden by a different Windham in a different house.
But that didn't stop an overexcited soldier from accusing one of Sir Hugh's daughters of being the king in disguise. As Sir Hugh's house was ransacked searching for priest holes or hideaways, the king was hidden away at Colonel Windham's Trent House. Charles spent the next 12 days at Trent House, as allies were found, and a new plan of escape was worked out. Their first plan was to sail from a small hamlet near Southampton, and get to France from there. But the looming invasion of Jersey got in the way. The ship, the fugitives at hired, was soon requisitioned for the war effort, and yet another opportunity to escape England was taken away by chance. But all was not lost.
On the 7th of October, another arrangement was made to smuggle Charles out of the Kingdom. One Captain Nicholas Taticell, an enterprising seaman, agreed to smuggle two men to France aboard his coalboat, the surprise, for a sum of 80 pounds. He didn't know it yet, but those two men were Charles II and Henry Wilmet, a noble who had been with Charles for almost his entire journey. Almost a week after this arrangement was made, during which Charles found the time to visit nearby Stonehenge, Charles and Wilmet along with two other companions set off to meet with the captain. Their journey to Bright Helmston, now modern Brighton, was an eventful one. They spent a night with Colonel Gunther's brother-in-law, who was a heavy drinker. Charles led his latest disguise and now became a Puritan, and leaned into this role by gently chiding his host whenever he swore.
His host was generous though, and kept playing his guest with alcohol. While a very nice gesture, it was dangerous for the Fugitive King, and so whenever his host was distracted, Charles poured some of his drink away or into the cups of his companions. Gunther got his king out of the situation by convincing his brother-in-law that, if the uptight Puritan was allowed to go to bed, they could all have way more fun. Wilmet was quite happy to let the king go to bed, and he matched his host drink for drink, staying up late into the night. The next day, Charles and a very hungover Wilmet passed through a village on the way to Bright Homstone, and were faced with a sight of horror. 50 cavalrymen were charging down the street towards them. Charles's heart sank. Who knows what Wilmet's stomach did, as it appeared that they had finally run out of luck just miles from safety. But to the royal party's relief, the soldiers veered past them and down another street. Simply keeping their cool in the face of imminent discovery had kept the fugitives at large.
The final obstacle in Charles's escape came once they reached Brighton. Here they waited at and in, also called the George for Captain Tatasal. When the captain arrived, he was livid to find that one of his passengers was to be the Fugitive King. That increased the stakes dramatically. It was one thing to smuggle a couple of royalist out of the country. It was quite another to commit the treasonous act of aiding Charles II. Tatasal made such a scene that the innkeeper came over to see what the fuss was. He too recognized that he had a once and future king as a customer. He'd served in the royal household in the past, and he was much happier to see the king than Tatasal had been. But, like I said, Tatasal was enterprising, and he saw the opportunity. Now he demanded that he be paid even more. Two hundred pounds would be his fee to be paid at a future date, provided Colonel Gunther swore to it. Gunther certainly swore at him for the captain's opportunism, but Tatasal wouldn't budge and the price was agreed.
Late that night, at 2am, the party left for Shoram. They reached the boat surprise soon after, and when the tide was high enough to cast off, Charles and Wilmot sailed out into the channel at 7am in the morning. Again, parliamentarians had been close on their heels. Soldiers arrived at Shoram two hours after the remaining members of the royal party left the town. They had narrowly missed their quarry. Word was sent to the fleet, but with their head start, there was no chance of catching them. Charles and the ever loyal Wilmot would land in Normandy the next day.
After six weeks on the run, Charles II had finally escaped England. Now of course, we can't say for sure how accurate the details of Charles's escape are. The bulk of our information comes from people who recorded what they heard from the king, who, after decades of telling the story, changed details and embellished or undersold others, whether deliberately or because that's how memory works.
We know that after the restoration, Charles did reward those who had helped him escape. They had effectively saved his life after all. It also gave the future king a greater sympathy for his Catholic subjects, who had made up the majority of those willing to risk everything, their positions, their property, even their lives, to help him when by any stretch of the imagination, he would probably never be in a position to reward them.
Worcester had been the death knell for the Royalist cause. Now whether Charles really did play up his roles, knocking Cromwell soldiers over as a bumbling servant or telling off people for drinking as an uptight Puritan, we'll never know. But it does chime with Charles' personality, and so I'd like to think so.
Next week we'll bring the wars of the three kingdoms firmly to a close, as England's armies mop up the last remnants of opposition.
下周,我们将彻底结束三个王国的战争,因为英格兰的军队将清除最后的反抗残余。
Thank you to my House of Lords, including but not limited to the king's favourite, Mike Sanders, the Duke of Bracewell, David Braswell, the Markers of Ludlow, Nick Robinson and the Earl of Dorset, William Pendleton. Go to patreon.com slash packs Britannica to join their ranks and listen to the podcast without ads. Remember that you can join the mailing list to get news about the show by going to the link in the description.
For other great podcasts on the airwave network, check out airwavemedia.com. And thank you to Sounds Like An Earful for the Interval Music in today's episode, to my entire House of Lords, and to you for listening.
在airwavemedia.com上查看其他出色的播客,并对今天的剧集中的间隙音乐致以感谢,感谢Sounds Like An Earful,感谢我的整个上议院,也感谢你的收听。
Hi, I'm Mike Troy, host of the American Revolution Podcast, on the airwave media network. This podcast is the origin story of the United States, how we went from colonies ruled by a king to the Democratic Republic that we have today. The American Revolution podcast tells the story of the revolution from beginning to end. Please subscribe for free. We're available on all major podcast platforms. I hope you will join me today on the American Revolution Podcast.