Notes and quotes concerning Myke Cole, Steel Lobsters: Crown, Commonwealth, and the Last Knights in England

“The total time from the moment they donned their armor , to the battle that would see them pass into legend, was about a month. It was a bright, final flash of glory – like the sparkling sun on their polished metal armor – before winking out forever.”

This is story of Sir Arthur Hesilrige’s “Lobsters” — a regiment of fully armored cuirassiers that fought on the side of Parliament in the English Civil War in 1643. They were religious Puritans. Compared to their Royalist adversaries they were political radicals. However they were also military conservatives, using tactics that were obsolete, The Royalist cavalry under Prince Rupert had learned the lessons of the 30 Years War from the Swedish army of King Gustavus Adolphus and its more modern tactics. This proved to be the downfall of the Lobsters at Roundway Down.

“Sir Arthur’s political conceptions were absolutely cutting edge , but his fighting instincts were rooted firmly in the past.”

“Just keep in mind that the new gentry Puritans were hardly the masses of the people. They were often fabulously wealthy, practically aristocrats themselves (indeed, many of them were knights and some became ennobled over the course of their lives). It’s far more accurate to see this economic class struggle as a fight for wealth and power between incredibly rich people at the top of society and … other incredibly rich people at the top of society.”

Steel Lobsters is very readable, and gives an excellent account of this particular phase of the English Civil War, with references to current events. In particular, referring to decision by King Charles not to attack London after the battle of Edgehill:

“He showed the prescience that many modern powers have lacked, in examples such as America’s taking of Iraq or Russia’s invasion of Chechnya – that without the support of the citizenry , victory on the battlefield only translates into insurgency in the conquered territory.”

Myke Cole is veteran of the Iraq war.

While primarily focused on the cavalry of the war, he does not neglect the infantry of the time, pikemen and musketeers. Having done some 17^th century infantry reenactment with Clann Tartan those passages particularly resonated with me.