A rare Civil War ordinance appointing Richard Browne as Sergeant Major General for the Parliamentarian siege of Oxford, 1644.

[Richard Browne]  An ordinance of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament; constituting and appointing Sergeant Major Generall Richard Brown, to be sergeant major generall of all the forces raised, or to be raised and imployed by authority of Parliament, for the reducing of the city of Oxford, the town and castle of Wallingford, the fort of Greenland-house, and the town and castle of Banbury; as also . generall of the forces of the counties of Oxon, Berks and Buckingham; and of the forces of the said city of Oxford, to serve for the defence of the king, Parliament and kingdom, for this present expedition. And to do any other thing whatsoever, for the infesting and destroying the enemy in those parts.
London : printed for Matthew Walbanck at Grayes-Inne gate, June 10. 1644., London, 1644

8 p. ; 4?. Uncut on all sides and disbound. An important order for the appointment of Richard Browne to capture Royalist strongholds in Wallingford, Oxford. Parliamentary Civil War field-order, printed in London on 10 June 1644 (dated in the text “Die Sabbathi, 8 Junii, 1644”). It is an Ordinance of the Lords and Commons appointing the Parliamentarian officer Richard Browne as Sergeant Major General in charge of operations to “reduce” (i.e., capture) key Royalist strongholds in the Thames-Chilterns region: – the City of Oxford (Charles I’s wartime capital) – the town and castle of Wallingford – Greenland House (a fortified site on the Thames near Henley) the town and castle of Banbury Browne is empowered to command the forces of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, raise additional men, call councils of war, and “execute justice upon offenders.” The ordinance is signed by Henry Elsynge, Clerk of Parliament, and was printed by Matthew Walbancke at Gray’s Inn Gate?a regular Parliamentary printer. This is a military command document printed at a pivotal moment of the war: 1644 saw Parliament move against Oxford after the King’s early successes; this order frames the push to isolate and besiege Royalist positions along the Thames. Richard Browne later became Lord Mayor of London (1660); documents marking his elevation to regional command are scarce and attractive to Civil War collectors. This pamphlet contains strong links to Oxford, Wallingford, Banbury and the Thames Valley.