Hezekiah Haynes

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Hezekiah Haynes was an English Major-General during the English Civil War.

Haynes was the second son of John Haynes, a devout Puritan from East Anglia who emigrated to New England in 1633 to escape the Laudian persecution and subsequently served as governor of both Massachusetts and Connecticut. Hezekiah returned to England to serve in the Parliament of England's armies while his elder brother, Robert, fought for the Royalists. A captain of foot at the start of the civil wars, Haynes became a major of horse in the New Model Army. He fought at the battle of Preston and on Oliver Cromwell's campaign in Scotland.

During the early 1650s, Haynes commanded the regiment of Charles Fleetwood stationed in East Anglia, where he was associated with the congregation of the Puritan divine Ralph Josselin. During the Rule of the Major-Generals, Fleetwood delegated the regions under his authority to deputies. Haynes was appointed Major-General for Essex, Cambridgeshire, the Isle of Ely, Norfolk and Suffolk. He suffered bouts of illness during his time as a Major-General and emerged as deeply hostile to Fifth Monarchists and Quakers in his region.

Haynes supported Fleetwood's opposition to Richard Cromwell after Oliver's death, then backed Fleetwood and Lambert when they forcibly closed Parliament in October 1659. When the Rump re-assembled in December, Haynes was dismissed and ordered to stay at his home in Essex. In November 1660, he was arrested on suspicion of plotting against the restored King Charles II and held in the Tower of London for eighteen months. After his release in April 1662, he lived quietly at Coggeshall, Essex until his death in 1693.