I would have been glad to have lived under my wood side, and to have kept a flock of sheep, rather than to have undertaken this government.

Early biographers claim he then attended Lincoln's Inn but there is no record of him in the Inn's archives. He kept his troops close together following skirmiOliver Cromwells where they had gained superiority rather than allowing them to chase opponents off the battlefield. Cromwell had two key objectives as Lord Protector.

He was selected to take command of the English campaign in Ireland during 1649–50. As a ruler he executed an aggressive and effective foreign policy. In a 2002 BBC poll in Britain Cromwell was selected as one of the ten greatest Britons of all time.