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Edward
Montagu. 1st Earl of Sandwich. 1625 - 1672. Montagu was commissioned to raise a
regiment of foot and became its colonel at the age of eighteen. He was
one of the officers who supported Oliver
Cromwell' In 1645, Montagu's regiment was incorporated into the New
Model Army. Montagu himself
commanded a brigade At the battle of Naseby
in June 1645, Montagu's regiment was reportedly one of those that
broke as the Royalist infantry advanced in the centre, Montagu's army career came to an end in October 1645 under
the terms of the Self-Denying
Ordinance when he was elected
MP for Huntingdonshire. He supported the Independent
faction, but was generally inactive in the House of Commons and
withdrew entirely from Parliament in December 1648. Following a period of retirement he fully supported the establishment of Cromwell's
Protectorate and was elected to
the Protector's first Council
of State. He emerged as a
leading member of the Protectorate régime, acting as a spokesman for
the government in Parliamentary debates and taking on important
diplomatic roles. In January 1656, Montagu was appointed joint General-at-Sea
with Robert
Blake
for an expedition against Spain. Montagu had no previous naval
experience; his appointment was partly political The fleet sailed in
March 1656 with orders to intercept the Spanish plate fleet returning
from the Americas. Montagu's main task was to negotiate the
ratification of a treaty with Portugal and to extract £50,000
compensation for Portugal's sheltering of Prince Rupert in 1649.
Coerced by the presence of the fleet, King John IV of Portugal agreed
to the English demands. In September, Vice-Admiral Stayner captured
two ships of the Spanish plate fleet as it made a dash for Cádiz.
Montagu, whose relations with Blake were strained, returned to England
with the captured treasure in October. Despite having played no part
in the capture of the Spanish ships, he accepted the thanks of
Parliament on 4 November 1656. As one of Cromwell's most loyal supporters, Montagu led the
faction that offered him the Crown in 1657. After Cromwell's second
refusal, Montagu was appointed to the controversial Upper House
constituted under the terms of the Humble
Petition and Advice and was
made a member of the Protector's Privy Council. He also continued to
play an active role as a General-at-Sea, commanding the fleets that
supported the joint Anglo-French attacks on Mardyck
and Dunkirk in 1657-8. After
the capture of Dunkirk in June 1658, Montagu was presented to King
Louis XIV and entertained Cardinal Mazarin aboard his flagship the
"Naseby". After Oliver's death in
September 1658, Montagu pledged his personal loyalty and that of the
fleet to Richard
Cromwell, which provoked strong
hostility from republicans and army leaders. In March 1659,
Montagu commanded a fleet sent to the Baltic to defend England's
commercial interests and to counteract a Dutch attempt to intervene in
the war between Sweden and Denmark, but his diplomatic efforts were
interrupted by the fall of the Protectorate and the return to power of
the Rump
Parliament in May 1659.
Republicans of the Rump mistrusted Montagu and suspected him of being
in contact with Royalists, particularly as his return to England
coincided with Booth's
Uprising and a series of
planned Royalist insurrections around the country. Montagu protested
his loyalty before Parliament and although no evidence could be found
against him, his commission was revoked and he retired once again to
Hinchingbrooke. In February 1660, General
Monck
occupied London and restored the MPs who had been expelled from
Parliament in 1648. In the changed political climate, Montagu was
recalled to the Council of State and made joint General-at-Sea with
Monck. Realising that the Restoration of the monarchy was inevitable,
Montagu cooperated with Monck and proceeded to purge the fleet of
republican and radical officers. He entered into correspondence with
Charles II and was elected to the pro-Royalist Convention
Parliament in April 1660 as MP
for Dover. On 14 May, he sailed the fleet to Scheveningen in the
Netherlands to convey Charles II back to England. The royal party
landed at Dover on 25 May. Montagu was richly rewarded for his role in the Restoration.
Amongst other honours, he was made a Knight of the Garter and created
1st Earl of Sandwich. He went on to lead a distinguished career as a
diplomat, naval administrator and fighting admiral under Charles II.
He was killed in action at the battle of Solebay in May 1672 during
the Third
Anglo-Dutch War, going down with his flagship the "Royal James"
which, according to some accounts, he refused to abandon. Sandwich's
posthumous reputation was enhanced by his portrayal in the famous
diary of his client and distant kinsman Samuel
Pepys, in which he appears as a generous and sophisticated patron.
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