shameful acts by Puritans at Colchester

It is intriguing to ask what was not identified as provoking God. When godly leaders searched for the causes of God’s anger, none to my knowledge publicly repented of the treatment of women in war. No one argued that they should repent of killing more than 100 women at Naseby. No one thundered God’s disapproval of stripping women naked at Colchester and sending them back into a city where they might starve to death. These acts may not have broken military convention, loosely defined. From a modern vantage point, they involved a multilayered violation of these women; violations that could have been critiqued with Scripture. It is hard to imagine any circumstance under which such treatment would be considered either just or godly. However they not only praised God for victories that involved such treatment of women, they published their deeds so future generations could render praise. The past was a foreign country, they weighed sin differently there.

Rowley PhD from University of Leicester, Dr Matthew. Godly Violence in the Puritan Atlantic World,1636–1676: A Study of Military Providentialism (pp. 377-378). Boydell & Brewer Ltd. Kindle Edition.

Siege of Colchester - Wikipedia

By August (1648), provisions in Colchester had all but run out. Cats, dogs and horses became the staple food. Fairfax refused to allow the townspeople to leave or even to let supplies in to them, despite repeated petitions from outside the town, pleas from Colchester Town council, and even from Lord Norwich. Fairfax's decision was despite the loyalty of the town to Parliament during the First Civil War. Eventually matters became so desperate that the citizens of Colchester were forced to eat soap and candles. When the townswomen and children attempted to beg for food at the town gates, they were turned away with nothing by the besieging soldiers. In a last appeal to the humanity of the besiegers, the Royalist commanders sent 500 starving women to the Parliamentarian lines, hoping that they might acquire food by inspiring sympathy. Colonel Rainsborough undermined this plan by ordering the women stripped naked, to the great amusement of his army.