New Model Army

The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms in that members were liable for service anywhere in the country, rather than being limited to a single area or garrison. To establish a professional officer corps, the army's leaders were prohibited from having seats in either the House of Lords or House of Commons. This was to encourage their separation from the political or religious factions among the Parliamentarians.
The New Model Army was raised partly from among veteran soldiers who already had deeply held Puritan religious beliefs, and partly from conscripts who brought with them many commonly held beliefs about religion or society. Many of its common soldiers therefore held dissenting or radical views unique among English armies. Although the Army's senior officers did not share many of their soldiers' political opinions, their independence from Parliament led to the Army's willingness to contribute to both Parliament's authority and to overthrow the Crown, and to establish a Commonwealth of England from 1649 to 1660, which included a period of direct military rule.

Foundation

The forces raised in 1642 by both Royalists and Parliamentarians were based on part-time militia known as Trained bands. Founded in 1572, these were organised by county, controlled by Lord-lieutenants appointed by the king, and constituted the only permanent military force in the country. The muster roll of February 1638 shows wide variations in size, equipment and training; the largest and best trained were based in London with 8,000, later increased to 20,000. When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, many of the largest militia were based in Parliamentarian areas like London, while Royalist counties like Shropshire or Glamorgan had fewer than 500 men.
The weakness of this system was the reluctance of locally raised troops to serve outside their "home" areas, a problem for both sides during the war. On 19 November 1644, the Parliamentarian Eastern Association announced that they could no longer meet the cost of maintaining their forces, which then comprised about half the field force available to Parliament. In response, the Committee of Both Kingdoms conducted a wide-ranging review of further military needs and recommended the establishment of a centralised, professional force. On 30 January 1645, committeemen of the Eastern Association discussed their concerns at the Bury Conference at Bury St Edmunds. On 17 February 1645, the New Model Army Ordinance became law, with Sir Thomas Fairfax being appointed Captain General, or commander in chief, and Philip Skippon being appointed Major General of the Foot.
The review coincided with increasing dissatisfaction as to the conduct of certain senior commanders; in July 1644, a Parliamentarian force under Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell secured control of Northern England by victory at Marston Moor. However, this was offset first by defeat at Lostwithiel in September, then lack of decisiveness at the Second Battle of Newbury in October. The two commanders involved, Essex and Manchester, were accused by many in Parliament of lacking commitment, a group that included moderates like Sir William Waller as well as radicals like Cromwell.
In December 1644, Sir Henry Vane introduced the Self-denying Ordinance, requiring those holding military commissions to resign from Parliament. As members of the House of Lords, Manchester and Essex were automatically removed, since they could not resign their titles, although they could be re-appointed, 'if Parliament approved'. Although delayed by the Lords, the Ordinance came into force on 3 April 1645. Since Cromwell was MP for Cambridge, command of the cavalry was initially given to Colonel Bartholomew Vermuyden, a former officer in the Eastern Association who was of Dutch origin and wanted to return home. Fairfax asked that Cromwell be appointed Lieutenant General of the Horse in place of Vermuyden, making him one of two original exceptions to the Self-denying Ordinance, the other being Sir William Brereton, commander in Cheshire. They were allowed to serve under a series of three-month temporary commissions that were continually extended.
Other Parliamentarian forces were consolidated into two regional armies, the Northern Association under Sydnam Poyntz and the Western Association under Edward Massey.

Establishment and character

Parliament authorised an Army of 22,000 soldiers, most of whom came from three existing Parliamentarian armies; that commanded by the Earl of Essex, Waller's Southern Association and the Eastern Association under the Earl of Manchester. It comprised 6,600 cavalry, divided into eleven units of 600 men, 14,400 foot, comprising twelve regiments of 1,200 men, and 1,000 dragoons. Originally, each regiment of cavalry had a company of dragoons attached, but at the urging of Fairfax on 1 March they were formed into a separate unit commanded by Colonel John Okey. Although the cavalry regiments were already up to strength, the infantry was severely understrength and in May 1645 was still 4,000 men below the approved level.
By creating fewer but larger regiments, the re-organisation greatly reduced the requirement for officers and senior NCOs. Fairfax had more than double the number of officers needed to fill his 200 vacancies and those deemed surplus to requirements were either discharged or persuaded to re-enlist at a lower rank. Essex and Manchester raised objections to around 30% of those on the list, for reasons that are still debated, but ultimately only five changes were approved. In addition, several Scots officers refused to take up their appointments, including John Middleton, originally colonel of the Second Regiment of Horse.
The standard daily pay was 8 pence for infantry and 2 shillings for cavalry, who also had to supply their own horses, while the administration of the Army was more centralised, with improved provision of adequate food, clothing and other supplies. At the same time, recruits were also supposed to be motivated by religious fervour, as demonstrated in the "Soldier's catechism", written by Robert Ram. On 9 June 1645, Sir Samuel Luke, one of the officers discharged, wrote the Army was "the bravest for bodies of men, horse and arms so far as the common soldiers as ever I saw in my life". However, he later complained that many soldiers were drunk and their officers were often indistinguishable from enlisted men.
The extent to which the Army can be seen as a hotbed of religious and political radicalism is disputed, particularly since many of those now viewed as radicals, like Thomas Horton or Thomas Pride, were not considered such at the time. It is generally agreed that Fairfax, himself a moderate Presbyterian, sought to achieve a balance, while Essex and Manchester tried to remove those they viewed as unsuitable. What is debated is whether they did so for military reasons, favouring the retention of established officer cadres, or to eliminate personal enemies and those considered too radical. Ultimately they failed and Fairfax successfully achieved his objective.

Name

The Oxford English Dictionary dated the earliest use of the phrase "New Model Army" to the works of the Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle in 1845, and the exact term does not appear in 17th- or 18th-century documents. Records from February 1646 refer to the "New Modelled Army"—the idiom of the time being to refer to an army that was "new-modelled" rather than appending the word "army" to "new model".

Original order of battle

The order of battle was as follows:

Type	Colonel	Origin	Notes
Horse	Sir Thomas Fairfax's Regiment	Army of the Eastern Association	Formerly part of Oliver Cromwell's double regiment of 'Ironsides'. Sir Thomas Fairfax's Lifeguard formed extra senior troop.
Horse	Edward Whalley's Regiment	Army of the Eastern Association	Formerly part of Oliver Cromwell's double regiment of 'Ironsides'. Richard Baxter served as chaplain July 1645 – July 1646.
Horse	Charles Fleetwood's Regiment	Army of the Eastern Association	Said to have many Independents in its ranks
Horse	Nathaniel Rich's Regiment	Army of the Eastern Association	Formerly the Earl of Manchester's Regiment. Originally intended for Algernon Sydney, who declined the appointment due to health concerns. Rich had earlier been rejected by the Commons for a colonelcy.
Horse	Bartholomew Vermuyden's Regiment	Army of the Eastern Association	Taken over by Oliver Cromwell after Naseby. Vermuyden, one of the last non-English regimental commanders, resigned in July 1645.
Horse	Richard Graves' Regiment	Army of the Earl of Essex	Formerly the Earl of Essex's Regiment. After June 1647, it was commanded by Adrian Scrope. It was disbanded after 1649 Leveller Mutiny at Burford.
Horse	Sir Robert Pye's Regiment	Army of the Earl of Essex	Originally intended for Nathaniel Rich, whose nomination was the only colonelcy rejected by the Commons, though he later received a commission when Algernon Sydney declined his nomination. Pye replaced by Matthew Tomlinson in 1647.
Horse	Thomas Sheffield's Regiment	Army of the Earl of Essex	Sheffield replaced by Thomas Harrison in 1647
Horse	John Butler's Regiment	Army of the Southern Association	Originally intended for John Middleton, who declined so he could serve in Scotland against the Earl of Montrose. Butler replaced by Thomas Horton in 1647
Horse	Henry Ireton's Regiment	Army of the Southern Association
Horse	Edward Rossiter's Regiment	Newly raised	Originally intended to serve in Lincolnshire. Rossiter was replaced by Philip Twisleton in 1647
Dragoons	John Okey's Regiment	Mixed	Later converted to a regiment of Horse
Foot	Sir Thomas Fairfax's Regiment	Army of the Earl of Essex	Originally the Earl of Essex's Regiment but contained some companies from the Eastern Association
Foot	Robert Hammond's Regiment	Army of the Eastern Association	Originally intended for Lawrence Crawford, who refused to serve in the New Model Army
Foot	Edward Montagu's Regiment	Army of the Eastern Association	Montague withdrew from the Army when he was elected MP for Huntingdonshire in October 1645. Replaced by John Lambert.
Foot	John Pickering's Regiment	Army of the Eastern Association	Pickering died of an illness at Antre and was replaced by John Hewson in December 1646.
Foot	Thomas Rainsborough's Regiment	Army of the Eastern Association	Originally intended for Colonel Ayloff, who refused to serve in New Model Army.
Foot	Sir Philip Skippon's Regiment	Army of the Earl of Essex
Foot	Richard Fortescue's Regiment	Army of the Earl of Essex	Fortescue replaced by John Barkstead in 1647. This regiment suffered the deaths of three successive lieutenant colonels in battle. It was unusual for such high-ranking officers to die.
Foot	Edward Harley's Regiment	Army of the Earl of Essex	Originally intended for Colonel Harry Barclay, a Scottish colonel. Harley did not serve in 1645, as he was still recovering from wounds. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Pride commanded in his absence, and succeeded to command in 1647.
Foot	Richard Ingoldsby's Regiment	Army of the Earl of Essex
Foot	Walter Lloyd's Regiment	Army of the Earl of Essex	Originally intended for Colonel Edward Aldrich, who refused to command this particular regiment because it was composed of soldiers from many different precursor regiments. Lloyd died in battle in June 1645 and was replaced by William Herbert, who was in turn replaced by Robert Overton in 1647.
Foot	Hardress Waller's Regiment	Army of the Southern Association	Originally intended for Scottish colonel James Holborne
Foot	Ralph Weldon's Regiment	Army of the Southern Association	Originally the "Kentish Regiment". Weldon was replaced by Robert Lilburne in spring 1646 when Weldon was appointed governor of Plymouth. Weldon's Lieutenant Colonel, Nicholas Kempson, was passed over for promotion and undermined Lilburne's command.