He presented Strode with his brace of pistols, and then tried to get to France. Monmouth was caught in Dorset the following day, and was beheaded on Tower Hill a week later. The King's vengeance was swift and terrible. First he sent Colonel Kirke and a band of cavalry into Somerset. Kirke and his men dragged in anyone suspected of having abetted Monmouth.
Nobody knows how many died.
He then sent the notorious Judge Jeffreys to the West Country. In what became known as the Bloody Assizes, Jeffreys ordered the hanging of hundreds of suspected rebels. Thirteen Sheptonians were sentenced, although one, John Ashwood, was reprieved. The remaining twelve were publicly hanged and quartered in the Market Square, and the parts of their bodies placed on poles throughout the town. Edward Strode was pardoned, but only after he had made a substantial donation to the King.