On 31 July 1647 Lenthall published a personal declaration stating that votes in the Commons had been forced, rendering them void. He declared that he would take himself to the army, and would return only when free to resume his office. Along with fifty-seven other members, eight peers and the speaker of the Lords, he left London. The fugitive members were well received by the soldiers, and they were invited by their commander Lord Fairfax to review 15,000 men on Hounslow Heath on 3 August. Fairfax's regiments encircled London the next day, and under his protection Lenthall and the other fugitives were escorted in triumph back to parliament. Lenthall was re-installed in the chair, and all votes passed during his absence were subsequently annulled.