Accordingly, on the 9th of June, Fleetwood himself
was solemnly presented with a signed transcript of
the Act appointing him Commander-in-Chief in England
and Scotland; and from that day, on through the rest
of June, the whole of July, and even into August and
September, much of the business of the House consisted
in passing commissions to the officers recommended,
sometimes with a rejection or substitution, and in
seeing the officers come up in batches to the Speaker
to receive their commissions one by one, each with
a lecture on his duty. As each foot-regiment,
consisting of ten companies, had its colonel, its
lieutenant-colonel, its major, and its quartermaster,
with seven captains besides, and twenty subalterns,
and as each horse-regiment, consisting of six troops,
had its colonel, its major, four captains besides,
six lieutenants, six cornets, and six quartermasters,
one may guess the tediousness of this process of approving
nominations and delivering commissions. About
1200 persons had to be approved and commissioned,
or, if we throw in chaplains, surgeons, &c., about
1400 in all. Nevertheless, with certain arrangements
for delivering commissions to officers at a distance,
the process was carried so far that one can make out
from the Journals of the House not only the general
plan of the Remodelling, but even the names of a large
proportion of the actually appointed officers.
The essence of the scheme was, of course, that all
very pronounced Cromwellians,—e.g.
Falconbridge, Howard, Ingoldsby, Whalley, Barkstead,
Goffe, and Pride,—should be thrown out
of their commands, and men of the right stamp substituted.
It is to be noticed also, however, that there were
to be now properly but two
Generals, and that
the highest officers under these, whatever had been
their previous designations, were all, with a certain
courtesy exception in favour of Lambert and Monk,
to rank on one level as merely
Colonels.
As far as to these Colonels, the result was as follows:
I. ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.
Commander-in-Chief: LIEUTENANT-GENERAL,
CHARLES FLEETWOOD.
I. FOR, SERVICE IN ENGLAND AND WALES: 1. Colonels
of Horse
Regiments: John Lambert (with Richard Creed
for his Major), John
Desborough, James Berry (with Unton Crooke for his
Major), Robert
Lilburne, Francis Hacker, John Okey, William Packer
(with John
Gladman for his Major), Nathaniel Rich, Thomas Saunders,
and Herbert
Morley. 2. Colonels of Foot-Regiments:
Lieutenant-General
Fleetwood, Lambert, Robert Overton, Matthew Alured,
John Hewson (with
John Duckinfield for his Lieutenant-Colonel), John
Biscoe, William
Sydenham, Edward Salmon, Richard Mosse, Richard Ashfield,
Sir Arthur
Hasilrig, Thomas Kelsay, John Clerk, Robert Gibbon,
Robert
Barrow.—One finds, besides, certain Colonels
appointed to garrison
commands: e.g. Colonel Thomas Fitch
to be Governor of the Tower,
Colonel Nathaniel Whetham to be Governor of Portsmouth,