Prince Rupert of the Rhine for a speedy success in the north. In November 1644 Rupert was appointed General of the entire Royalist army, which increased already marked tensions between him and a number of the King's councillors. By May 1645, and now desperately short of supplies, Rupert captured Leicester, but suffered a severe reversal at the Battle of Naseby a month later. Although Rupert had counselled the King against accepting battle at Naseby, the opinions of Digby had won the day in council: nonetheless, Rupert's defeat damaged him, rather than Digby, politically. After Naseby, Rupert regarded the Royalist cause as lost, and urged Charles
Francis Windebank (Royalist soldier) forces in April 1645, Walters speculates that this was done to protect the lives of his wife and friends even though the Parliamentarian forces had little chance of taking the house by force. Returning to Oxford he was consequently tried by a Royalist court-martial which took just three hours to sentence him to death by firing squad. According to Walters the execution took place against the length of town wall abutting Merton College, where Windebank bared his chest to the muskets and exclaimed "God Save the King." He was survived by his wife and a daughter, Frances. Windebank's ghost was