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Sir John Arundell's Regiment of Foot
Active unknown to 1646
Allegiance Royalist
Conflicts First Civil War
Type Foot
Colonels John Arundell
Area Raised Cornwall
Coat Colour unknown
Flag Colour unknown
Flag Design unknown
March-August: Besieged in Pendennis Castle
The regiment's officers were entirely Cornish, and although little is known of this unit's history it has been proposed that they were originally one of the Cornish Trained Bands of Foot1). They may have been involved in Lord Goring's siege of Taunton in 1645, but three of Sir John's sons also served as Royalist colonels so this is uncertain, and indeed the regiment might have been commanded by one or more of Sir John's sons at various times. They served as the garrison of Pendennis Castle, and were besieged there by the New Model Army from 18th March to 17th August 1646, surrendering to Colonel Richard Fortescue, supported by a naval squadron under Batten. The surviving garrison of 886 men and 95 guns included the remnants of many of Lord Goring's foot regiments.
Notable Officers
A list of the regiment's officers is shown in Officers and Regiments of the Royalist Army by Stuart Reid (Partizan Press).
Sir John Arundell
Sir John Arundell (1576 to 1656?) was an ardent Royalist nicknamed "Jack for the King". He had served as an MP for Cornwall, though not in the Long Parliament. Governor of Pendennis Castle from around 1643, his was one of the last English Royalist strongholds to capitulate at the end of the First Civil War.
On being summoned to surrender by Sir Thomas Fairfax he replied "I resolve that I will here bury myself before I deliver up this castle to such as fight against His Majesty, and that nothing you can threaten is formidable to me in respect of the loss of loyalty and conscience." Enduring a five-month siege, he was forced to surrender on 17th August 1646 due to starvation of the garrison, having been dissuaded from his plan of exploding the castle's gunpowder store rather than yield.
He is not to be confused with his son Colonel John Arundell who led a regiment of horse and was killed before Plymouth in 1644. As well as the unfortunate John Arundell, two more of Sir John's sons fought as Royalist Colonels in the First Civil War War, Colonel Richard Arundell and Colonel William Arundell.
Colonel William Arundell's Regiment of Foot
Colonel Richard Arundell's Regiment of Foot
Colonel John Arundell's Regiment of Horse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendennis_Castle#The_siege_of_Pendennis_Castle
1) Officers and Regiments of the Royalist Army, Stuart Reid, 1988 (2nd Impression). Partizan Press. ISBN 0 946525 12 9
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royalist/foot-regiments/john-arundell.1365191557.txt.gz · Last modified: 28/11/2015 18:35 (external edit)