Thomas Horton (soldier)

Thomas Horton (1603 – October 1649) was an English soldier in the parliamentary army during the English Civil War.

Thomas Horton was born in Gumley, Leicestershire, the son of William Horton and Isabell Freeman.^[1] Though of humble background, Horton was taken under the wing of the powerful Sir Arthur Haselrig, and had become a captain-lieutenant by 1643. Becoming a major in the New Model Army, Horton led troops which played a decisive part in several important engagements, most notably the Battle of Naseby in 1645 and Battle of St Fagans in 1648.

As a reward for the valiant service he rendered to the cause, Horton was granted the confiscated lands of a deposed royalist.

Horton was a commissioner of the High Court of Justice in 1649, and thus was among those who signed the warrant for the execution of King Charles I of England. Later that year, he died of natural causes while serving with Cromwell in Ireland.

His heirs were deprived of their estate at the Restoration in the 1660s.

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