ABSTRACT
When it was seen that the attack on Cartwright’s mill was an utter failure, the Luddites were not slow to avail themselves of the advice of their leader to disperse as quickly as possible. Many of them threw down their hammers or guns as impediments to their flight and fled precipitately, wading through the beck to save time. Avoiding the highways for fear of meeting the military or the special constables, they spread over the fields in the direction of Mir-field, Hightown, and Roberttown, keeping as widely apart as possible. Many of them were wounded besides those who were left so reluctantly on the ground near the mill, as was proved by evidence given after, and marks of blood were found next morning on the roads leading to Huddersfield for a distance of four miles. George Mellor, Thomas Brook, Joseph Drake, Benjamin Walker, and James Haigh took the direction of Hightown. Brook, who was bruised, and whose clothes were wet from falling into the goit, and James Haigh, who was in great pain from a wound in his shoulder by a musket ball, often lagged behind, but fear of capture urged them onwards, and they sped through the darkness as well as they were able. After calling at Mrs.
