Cavalry Recruitment for the Earl of Essex's Army in 1642

Oliver Cromwell claimed in a speech in 1657 that the troopers in Essex's army at the start of the First Civil War were 'most of them old decayed serving-men, and tapsters, and such kind of fellows' who were 'beaten at every hand' by royalist troopers who were 'gentlemen's sons, younger sons and persons of quality'. This article links financial accounts of cavalry officers and of the commissaries who enlisted horses and riders, and livery company records to show that a few riders were apprentices of the owners who provided horses, that some of these apprentices were gentlemen's sons, and that some returned from military service to complete their apprenticeships and pursue normal careers as tradesmen.