Appointed General of Horse for the area of Wales and the Marches, he was involved in a large number of battles and skirmishes in the north and west, including the defeat of the last Royalist field army at Stow, where he was wounded but escaped capture.

[1][2][3] He had at least two brothers: Charles, a parson, and James, noted as a captain in William's regiment in 1645;[4] records suggest the three were nephews of Sir John Vaughan, a Welsh associate of Lord Docwra who came to Ireland in 1599 before becoming governor of Derry.

[5] Having previously served on the Continent, by 1643 Vaughan had joined the forces of Charles I fighting the Confederate rebels in Ireland; he was knighted by the Lords Justices for his service under Grenville at the Battle of Rathconnell in February.

[7] Following a further cavalry skirmish at Much Wenlock on 9 May,[8] Vaughan's regiment joined the Royalist campaign to relieve the besieged city of York, which ended with their defeat at Marston Moor on 2 July.

[1][11] Vaughan, who was given the nickname "the Devil of Shrawardine" according to the Royalist news-sheet Mercurius Aulicus,[1] used his regiment to man the Shropshire garrisons of High Ercall Hall, Lilleshall Abbey, Dawley and Caus Castle during the winter of 1644–5.

[1] In Ireland he was appointed major-general of horse under Ormonde, but was killed while leading a counter-charge against Michael Jones at the Battle of Rathmines on 2 August 1649, dying "bravely at the head of his men".