Thomas Wentworth's Regiment of The Sealed Knot


	"En Dieu Est Tout" In God is all Thomas Wentworth was born in 1591, the son of Henry Baron Wentworth of Nettlestead. On the death of his father in 1593, Thomas succeeded to the title as 4th Lord Wentworth. In 1626, thanks to the patronage of the Duke of Buckingham, Wentworth was created 1st Earl of Cleveland, a title that was to die with him, and the year later accompanied Buckingham on the ill fated expedition to La Rochelle. In the same year his son, also called Thomas, was born. In 1641 another Thomas Wentworth, this time the Earl of Strafford, faced execution in London. Attending him on the scaffold was his kinsman Thomas, Earl of Cleveland. As a side issue Strafford's estate eventually passed to a Yorkshire branch of the family headed by, unsurprisingly, someone called Thomas Wentworth. It would seem that that Wentworth's whilst being both brave and loyal, were not very original when it came to naming their children. In 1642 England was split by the Civil War. Thomas Wentworth naturally took the field for the King, serving with distinction. At the Battle of Cropredy Bridge he led the cavalry charge against John Middleton's Parliamentary horse and completely routed them. He was then joined by Lord Wilmot and another charged captured the Parliamentary artillery. After the defeat at Langport, he temporarily took command of the western army before being replaced by Hopton and in the same year was taken prisoner at the 2nd Battle of Newberry. The end of the First and Second Civil Wars, and the execution of Charles I in 1649, did not dampen Wentworth's enthusiasm for the Royalist cause. When the future Charles II landed and the Third Civil War began in 1651 he once again took up arms. The disaster of the Battle of Worcester saw an end to the Royalist hopes and Charles fled. That he managed to escape is a direct responsibility of Wentworth who prevented the Parliamentary pursuit and was again captured in the process. As a result of this he was incarcerated in the Tower until 1656. On his release he joined Charles in exile, where he was given command of the Royal Regiment of Guard, which in later years was to become the Grenadier Guards. Charles returned in 1660 and was crowned King, and was once again accompanied by Wentworth. On 25th March 1667, Thomas Wentworth died. Considered one of the most colourful characters of the 17th century, he was a man who was both brave and loyal, but also a man with an appetite for life. His estate at Nettlestead had to be sold to cover his drinking and gambling debts, and between the Restoration and his death he was a frequent patron of the fleshpots of London. Two quotes probably sum him up quite well. Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon in his history of the War described him as "a man of signal courage and an excellent officer", whilst others described him as "The wildest of the wild boys".