Eastern Association

The Eastern Association of counties was a Parliamentarian organisation during the English Civil War. It provided and administered an army which eventually became a mainstay of the Parliamentarian military effort towards the end of 1644.

As part of Parliament's efforts to improve the administration of its forces, the Parliamentarian militias of Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire were established as the "Eastern Association" on 20 December 1642.Huntingdonshire and Lincolnshire later joined the Association. The first general designated as commander of the Association's forces was William Grey, 1st Baron Grey of Werke. One of the units which first became part of the Association's force was a troop of horse (cavalry) raised by Captain Oliver Cromwell.

The counties which composed the Eastern Association were some of the richest agricultural regions of England, so the Association's forces were some of best financed and equipped troops on either side in the early part of the civil war. During the winter of 1642-43, it established Parliamentary control over East Anglia.

In August 1643, Lord Grey was replaced as commander by the Earl of Manchester. Oliver Cromwell was appointed Lieutenant General of the Horse. The two men clashed, especially over Cromwell's selection of officers. Manchester wrote, "Colonel Cromwell raising of his regiment makes choice of his officers not such as were soldiers or men of estate, but such as were common men, poor and of mean parentage, only he would give them the title of godly, precious men..." Late in 1643, Lawrence Crawford was appointed Sergeant-Major General of the Foot. He too frequently clashed with Cromwell.

For much of 1643, the Association was engaged in battles against the Northern royalists to secure Lincolnshire for Parliament. The Royalists were defeated at Gainsborough and Winceby.

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