Conway, Lord Conway, to the River Tyne in control of
some 26,000 troops. At the battle of Newburn on 28
August 1640, Astley and Conway were hopelessly out-
numbered by the Scottish Covenanter forces, and both
men were forced to flee as the Scots took Newcastle. Be-
cause of this defeat and the threat of further reverses,
Charles signed the Treaty of Ripon on 14 October 1640.
Astley, despite his failures on the battlefield, remained a
favorite of the king.
Charles’s battles continued during his struggle with
Parliament for control of the English government. When
the first English Civil War began in 1642, he named
Astley major general of the foot, one of his leading com-
manders of the Royalist cause. The first major battle
of this conflict was on 23 October 1642 at Edgehill,
in Warwickshire. Prior to the start of the engagement,
Astley prayed for victory—a prayer that has become fa-
mous: “O Lord, Thou knowest how busy I must be this
day. If I forget Thee, do not Thou forget me.” There was
no victor at Edgehill, but Charles failed to follow up
his chance to defeat the rebellious forces. At the siege of
Gloucester (10 August–5 September 1643), Astley com-
manded a division, and at the first battle of Newbury
(20 September 1643), he led royal infantry troops. He
served under Sir Ralph Hopton at Arundel (9 December
1643) and Cheriton (29 March 1644). At the second
battle of Newbury (27 October 1644), he ably defended
Shaw House, but the royalist forces were routed, and
Charles was forced to flee. At Naseby (14 June 1645),
Astley commanded the infantry under Prince Rupert,
but once again the royalist forces were defeated, making
victory in the Civil War an impossibility. He moved his
force of some 1,500 men west, and on 21 March 1646,
he entered into battle against Colonel Thomas Mor-
gan and Sir William brereton at Stow-on-the-Wold,
where he was captured by the Parliamentary forces. To
his captors Astley stated, “You have now done your work
and may go and play, unless you will fall out amongst
yourselves.” He was sent into imprisonment at Warwick,
until the Royalist forces surrendered in June 1646, after
which he was allowed to go home.
Astley died at his home in February 1652. Histo-
rian Peter Young writes of him: “He was a little taciturn,
silver-haired veteran of the Dutch Service, who thor-
oughly understood his profession, and had the added
advantage that he got on well with Prince Rupert. If the
old Royalist foot regiments had become formidable, we
may attribute it to the skill and discipline of honest old
Astley who had commanded them at Edgehill, Glouces-
ter, Newbury, Cropredy Bridge and Losteithiel.”References: Browne, Richard Charles, “Astley, Sir Jacob,
Baron Astley,” in The Dictionary of National Biography,
22 vols., 8 supps., edited by Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir
Sidney Lee, et al. (London: Oxford University Press,
1921–22), I:677–678; Fissel, Mark Charles, The Bishops’
Wars: Charles I’s Campaigns Against Scotland, 1638–1640
(Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1994);
Young, Peter, Naseby 1645: The Campaign and the Battle
(London: Century Publishing, 1985), 31.Attila the Hun (Etzel, Ethele) (ca. 406–453)
king of the Huns
Attila the Hun, also known as Etzel in German histo-
ries and Ethele by the Hungarians, is probably the best-
known invader of the Middle Ages as well as a participant
in one of the greatest battles in world history. Little is
known of his life, except that he was a member of the
Huns, a nomadic central European tribe of the Caspian
steppes that moved westward to attack the forces of theAttila the Hun AttilA the hun