Kent. He stated that his course had been approved by ‘dyvers of the best of the shire.’ Neighbours and friends were urged to secure the advancement of ‘liberty and commonwealth.’ which were imperilled by ‘the queen's determinate pleasure to marry with a stranger.’
Wyatt showed himself worthy of his responsibilities and laid his plans with boldness. Noailles, the French ambassador, wrote that he was ‘estimé par deçà homme vaillant et de bonne conduicte;’ and M. d'Oysel, the French ambassador in Scotland, who was at the time in London, informed the French king, his master, that Wyatt was ‘ung gentil chevallier et fort estimé parmy ceste nation’ (Ambassades de Noailles, iii. 15, 46). Fifteen hundred men were soon in arms under his command, while five thousand promised adherence later. He fixed his headquarters at the castle of Rochester. Some cannon and ammunition were secretly sent him up the Medway by agents in London; batteries were erected to command the passage of the bridge at Rochester and the opposite bank of the river. When the news of Wyatt's action reached the queen and government in London, a proclamation was issued offering pardon to such of his followers as should within twenty-four hours depart peaceably to their homes. Royal officers with their retainers were despatched to disperse small parties of Wyatt's associates while on their way to Rochester; Sir Robert Southwell broke up one band under an insurgent named Knevet; Lord Abergavenny defeated another reinforcement led by a friend of Wyatt named Isley; the citizens of Canterbury rejected Wyatt's entreaties to join him, and derided his threats. Wyatt maintained the spirit of his followers by announcing that he daily expected succour from France, and circulated false reports of successful risings in other parts of the country. Some of his followers sent to the council offers to return to their duty, and at the end of January Wyatt's fortunes looked desperate. But the tide turned for a season in his favour when the government ordered the Duke of Norfolk to march from London upon Wyatt's main body, with a detachment of white-coated guards under the command of Sir Henry Jerningham. The manœuvre gave Wyatt an unexpected advantage. The duke was followed immediately by five hundred Londoners, hastily collected by one Captain Bret, and was afterwards joined by the sheriff of Kent, who had called out the trained bands of the county. The force thus embodied by the government was inferior in number to Wyatt's, and it included many who were in sympathy with the rebels. As soon as they came within touch of Wyatt's forces at Rochester, the majority of them joined him, and the duke with his principal officers fled towards Gravesend.
Wyatt set out for London at the head of four thousand men. He found the road open. Through Dartford and Gravesend he marched to Blackheath, where he encamped on 29 Jan. 1553–4. The government acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, and sent Wyatt a message inviting him to formulate his demands, but this was only a means of gaining time. On 1 Feb. 1554 Mary proceeded to the Guildhall and addressed the citizens of London on the need of meeting the danger summarily. Wyatt was proclaimed a traitor. Next morning more than twenty thousand men enrolled their names for the protection of the city. Special precautions were taken for the security of the court and the Tower; many bridges over the Thames within a distance of fifteen miles were broken down; all peers in the neighbourhood of London received orders to raise their tenantry; and on 3 Feb. a reward of land of the annual value of one hundred pounds a year was offered the captor of Wyatt's person.
The same day Wyatt entered Southwark, but his followers were alarmed by the reports of the government's activity. Many deserted, and Wyatt found himself compelled by the batteries on the Tower to evacuate Southwark. Turning to the south he directed his steps towards Kingston, where he arrived on 6 Feb. (Shrove Tuesday). The river was crossed without difficulty, and a plan was formed to surprise Ludgate. On the way Wyatt hoped to capture St. James's Palace, where Queen Mary had taken refuge. But his schemes were quickly betrayed to the government. A council of war decided to allow him to advance upon the city and then to press on him from every quarter. He proceeded on 7 Feb. through Kensington to Hyde Park, and had a sharp skirmish at Hyde Park Corner with a troop of infantry. Escaping with a diminished following, he made his way past St. James's Palace. Proceeding by Charing Cross along the Strand and Fleet Street he reached Ludgate at two o'clock in the morning of 8 Feb. The gate was shut against him, and he was without the means or the spirit to carry it by assault. His numbers dwindled in the passage through London, and he retreated with very few followers to Temple Bar. There he was met by the Norroy herald, and, recognising that his cause was lost, he made a voluntary submission. After being taken to Whitehall, he was committed to the Tower, where the
