Arthur Aston (army officer)

Sir Arthur Aston (1590 – 11 September 1649) was an English professional soldier, most noted for his support for King Charles I in the English Civil War, and in folklore for the gruesome manner of his death in Ireland. He was from a prominent Roman Catholic family originating in Cheshire.

Aston was the son of another Sir Arthur Aston, of Fulham, Middlesex, and the grandson of Sir Thomas Aston of Aston in Bucklow Hundred, Cheshire. Aston's father was a professional soldier who had served in Russia in the 1610s, and, being a Catholic, had caught the attention and trust of the Polish king Sigismund III. Arthur Aston senior agreed to raise 2,000 British mercenaries for the Polish crown for the Turkish war of 1621. Though most of these mercenaries bound for Poland were turned back by Protestant Denmark in the Denmark Straits, Captain Arthur Aston Junior successfully landed about 300 British and Irish men of his father's levies in Poland in 1621. These troops later formed a guard for the King of Poland. Arthur Aston Senior died in 1624. Aston advanced to the rank of Major by 1627, and saw considerable service during the Polish-Swedish wars. He was captured by Swedish troops near Danzig in 1627.

After the Truce of Altmark of 1629, Aston left Poland for the service of Sweden and was commissioned by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden to raise an English regiment in 1631. His unit was shipped from Britain in 1632, but fought in the secondary theatres of Germany, never attaining the fame of Scots units such as Mackay's Regiment. Its strength had fallen so much, mostly due to sickness, that by 1634 Aston was recruiting Germans to fill the ranks.

By 1640 Aston had returned to Britain, and he commanded a regiment for King Charles during the Second Bishops' War. There was uneasiness in many quarters about his religion, and he was forced to resign his command, although he received a knighthood for his services.

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