Interpretation of the failure of Caroline government has passed from emphasis on the structural weakness of institutions to laying blame on Charles himself. The Bishops' Wars provide evidence of the King's handling of the instruments of government, in particular how he expected executive authority to manage the war (the Council of War), how royal leadership would be translated through the ranks (the army's chain of command), and how the materials of war were collected, distributed and maintained (the Ordnance Office). Conversely, the Covenanters organized their mobilization upon Scottish forms of counsel, command, and armament procurement. In the Bishops' Wars, as in the Civil War, Charles mismanaged his resources whereas collectively his enemies found means to achieve victory.

THE COUNCIL OF WAR

The Caroline Council of War should be considered in the plural, for a series of Crown-appointed subcommittees administered the war effort under the King and Privy Council. The Council of War was a committee of the Privy Council. As such it was further subdivided into committees of the Council of War which dealt with specific duties in the war effort. Military matters fell within the parameters of the Council of War, but internal Scottish affairs could not, for the English Council of War had no such jurisdiction. Better equipped was the Scottish Committee, which occupied itself with negotiations with the Scots, often through Scottish intermediaries. Subcommittees therefore addressed specific problems facing the Council of War as a whole. Thus circumstances created the subcommittees, which reacted more than they initiated.