Key Battles of the English Civil Wars Key Battles of the English Civil Wars Below you will find lots of information about three key battles in the English Civil War • Battle of Edgehill, Warwickshire, 23 October 1642 • Battle of Marston Moor, Yorkshire, 2 July 1644 • Battle of Naseby, Northamptonshire, 14 June 1645 Also try these great books, all under £10, to find out more about the battles of the English Civil Wars Battle of Edgehill – 23 October 1642 The Battle of Edgehill was the first major battle of the English Civil Wars. The Earl of Essex was in command of the Parliamentarian forces and had been ordered to leave Worcester and prevent King Charles from reaching London. King Charles and his Royalist army were marching to London from Shrewsbury. On the night of 22 October the Royalists discovered that the Parliamentarians were only a few miles from where they were camped. They decided to meet them in battle and the next day assembled their forces at Edgehill. The two armies did not face each other until the middle of the afternoon. Both armies had drawn up in standard battle formation.

Basically, this consisted of cavalry units and dragoons on the right and left flanks, infantry units in the middle. The Parliamentarians, however, also had two cavalry regiments at the rear. The battle began with the exchange of largely ineffective artillery fire. Eventually Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who was in command of the Royalist army, led his cavalry unit in a charge, shortly followed by the left-wing of Royalist cavalry. The opposing Parliamentarian cavalry fled along with some of the infantry. The Royalist cavalry units pursed the fleeing Parliamentarians towards Kineton. Royalist infantry advanced without cavalry support and the infantry battle began. The two remaining Parliamentarian cavalry regiments charged the Royalist infantry, inflicting losses and causing panic. Some of the Royalist cavalry returned to the field and began forming up. The battle eventually came to a standstill as night fell. Both armies spent a cold night in the field, still in position. Although they formed up again the next day, neither side wanted battle. The Earl of Essex withdrew northwards, back to Warwick. King Charles was able to march south. Although both sides claimed victory the Battle of Edgehill is generally considered to be a draw.

However, with the withdrawal of Essex the road to London was clear. King Charles had the advantage. Although the Royalists took Banbury and then Oxford the King’s army did not arrive in London until 13 November. Here they were forced to retreat in the face of a numerically superior Parliamentarian force at Turnham Green. The Royalists had failed to capitalise on their advantage and lost the chance to bring a swift end to the war. Battle of Marston Moor – 02 July 1644 The Battle of Marston Moor was the largest battle of the English Civil Wars. In 1644 York was under siege from Parliamentarian and Scottish forces. King Charles commanded that Prince Rupert and his army relieve York. However, the letter from Charles seemed to suggest to Prince Rupert that he should also “…beat the rebels’ army of both kingdoms which were before it…” On 02 July 1644 Prince Rupert’s Royalist army and men from the York garrison assembled for battle on Marston Moor. They opposed the numerically superior forces of the Scottish and Parliamentarian armies.

At around 7.30pm, just when the Royalists thought it had got too late in the day for battle, the Parliamentarian infantry advanced in the rain. At first the Royalist army had the upper hand. Cavalry charges inflicted heavy losses. Many of the Scottish and Parliamentarian troops fled. Discipline was lost. Then Oliver Cromwell led his cavalry unit behind the Royalist line and attacked. This changed the course of the battle. The Royalist cavalry was defeated. Many of their infantry surrendered. Casualties were high. The Whitecoats, the elite Royalist infantry made a last stand, but the survivors were eventually forced to surrender. The Parliamentarians had won the Battle of Marston Moor. York surrendered two weeks later. The North was now effectively under the control of the Parliamentarian and Scottish forces. Their decisive victory had almost wiped out the Royalist northern field army. Prince Rupert of the Rhine had lost his reputation as an invincible opponent. Oliver Cromwell was seen as an effective commander. His strong leadership and the discipline of his men had played a crucial role in winning the battle.

Battle of Naseby – 14 June 1645 The Battle of Naseby was the decisive battle of the first English Civil War. Sir Thomas Fairfax, commander of the Parliamentarian New Model Army had been ordered to break off his siege of Oxford. The Royalist army of King Charles had taken the Parliamentarian garrison at Leicester. The New Model Army marched north from Oxford with orders to attack the Royalists. King Charles marched south to aid Oxford, his winter headquarters. At Daventry, King Charles discovered that Fairfax and the New Model Army were closing on his army. Instead of retreating, King Charles chose to stay and fight. The Parliamentary forces had taken up position on a ridge, just outside Naseby. Joshua Sprigge, chaplain to Sir Thomas Fairfax, described in his Anglia Rediviva [1647] how some of Fairfax’s men were arranged on the reverse of the ridge “…so the Enemy might not perceive in what form our battell was drawn…”. The Royalists attacked first. The Parliamentarian infantry were forced back and some of their cavalry fled. Prince Rupert and his cavalry units left the field and headed for the Parliamentarian baggage train at Naseby.

Oliver Cromwell, commander of the right flank of cavalry units successfully repelled a Royalist cavalry charge and then sent units to attack behind their lines. Parliamentarian forces re-grouped and lined up for another advance. The Royalist infantry was defeated. Some surrendered others fled. Prince Rupert returned to the battlefield but his men refused to fight. The New Model Army had won a decisive victory. On the 18th June, Fairfax retook Leicester. Naseby was the beginning of the end of the first English Civil War. King Charles had lost his main Royal army. As well as the loss of his infantry, many horses, field arms, artillery pieces and gunpowder barrels were also captured. Resources the King could not easily replace. The royal baggage train had also been taken. This included the personal correspondence of King Charles. The publication of these as The King’s Cabinet Opened, gained support for Parliament as they showed Charles was seeking Catholic support. The success of the New Model Army demonstrated the benefits of having a national standing army, rather than one with regional allegiances. King Charles II, after the restoration, created a standing army which was the forerunner of the modern British army.

The English Civil War - Facts and Events war First English Civil War (1642 - 1646)Second English Civil War (1648) Third Civil War (1650 – 1651) The English Civil War - Build up to war The relationship between King Charles I and Parliament had become increasingly strained. Factions within Parliament had also opened up between the King's supporters and those who wanted to see greater reform. In January 1642 King Charles entered the House of Commons with an armed unit of soldiers. He intended to arrest five Members of Parliament. The MPs had been forewarned and were not there. King Charles left London. In March 1642 Parliament passed the Militia Ordinance which put the control of the local militia (known as the Trained Bands) in the hands of Parliament. King Charles headed north for York. In April 1642 King Charles was refused entry to the main northern arsenal in Hull by Sir John Hotham. In June 1642, Parliament began to muster troops under the authority of the Ordinance. In response King Charles began to raise his own Royalist army.

He issued individual commissions to those gentry who were loyal to the Crown, to take control of their local Trained Bands or raise their own soldiers. Without a Parliament, King Charles I had to reinstate the outdated Commissions of Array to try and raise troops. The navy declared their support for Parliament under the command of the Earl of Warwick. In July 1642 Parliament voted to raise an army under the command of the Earl of Essex. Royalist and Parliamentarian forces seized military strongholds and raided stores for arms and munitions. The major cities and towns began to declare whether they were for the King or for Parliament. First English Civil War (1642 - 1646) On 22 August 1642 King Charles I raised the Royal Standard at Nottingham. King Charles had effectively declared war against Parliament. On 23 September 1642 the first significant military action of the War took place. The Battle of Powick Bridge near Worcester was essentially a cavalry skirmish. Prince Rupert of the Rhine distinguished himself as a cavalry commander when he routed the Parliamentarian cavalry. The Battle of Edgehill took place on 23 October 1642.

It was the first major battle of the War. The Earl of Essex had been ordered to prevent King Charles from marching on London. Neither side gained an outright victory. The Earl of Essex withdrew northwards to Warwick leaving King Charles with the advantage as the road to London was clear. Parliamentarian representatives including Sir John Evelyn attempted to re-open peace negotiations with King Charles at Reading, which Charles agreed to in principle. On 13 November 1642 the Royalist army advanced on London. It was forced to withdraw at Turnham Green by numerically superior Parliamentarian forces. King Charles retreated back to Oxford, which became his headquarters. In February 1643 peace negotiations were unsuccessful as King Charles rejected the proposals put forward by Parliament in the Treaty of Oxford. During the early part of 1643, the Royalists had made gains in Yorkshire at the Battle of Adwalton Down and in the southwest. In July Prince Rupert seized Bristol. In September 1643 James Butler, Earl of Ormond negotiated a one year cease fire with the Irish Confederates. The purpose of this was to free up Royalist troops fighting in Ireland so that they could be brought back to England to fight for King Charles against Parliament.

However by negotiating with the Irish Catholics, King Charles damaged his reputation and lost favour with some of his supporters. September also saw gains for the Parliamentarians when the Earl of Essex relieved the siege of Gloucester. The Earl of Essex went on to win the First Battle of Newbury as his army moved back to London. On 25 September the Solemn League and Covenant was signed. This formed a military alliance between the English Parliamentarians and the Scottish Covenanters. The Covenanters would send an army to fight on the side of the Parliamentarians. The Scottish army marched south and joined with the Parliamentarian forces besieging York. In July 1644 Prince Rupert raised the siege at York. On 2 July he was heavily defeated at the Battle of Marston Moor by the combined Scottish and Parliamentarian armies. Oliver Cromwell and his cavalry, the ‘Ironsides’, played a significant role in the battle, demonstrating Cromwell’s abilities as a military commander. When York surrendered two weeks later, the Royalists were all but defeated in the north. Things did not go so well for Parliament in Cornwall with the defeat of the Earl of Essex at the Battle of Lostwithiel.

It was the defeat at the Second Battle of Newbury that led Oliver Cromwell amongst others, to call for a change in the way the army was run. In January 1645 peace negotiations opened at Uxbridge. King Charles refused to accept the terms that were offered. The House of Lords passed the New Model Army Ordinance in February. This created a national standing army of professional soldiers. Importantly they were to have no regional affiliations. The militia had previously been organised at the local level and the Parliamentarian armies recruited from these regional associations. On occasion, this left army commanders with men who were reluctant to go on campaign outside their own region. In March the Self-Denying Ordinance was passed. This Ordinance stated that Members of the House of Commons and the Lords could not hold military office. The officers in command of this new Army were to be chosen on merit and not on social standing or wealth. Oliver Cromwell was one of only a handful of men who by passing of an Ordinance, served as a commander in the Army and as a Member of Parliament. On 14 June 1645 the New Model Army under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax won a decisive victory at the Battle of Naseby.

Oliver Cromwell and his cavalry once again played an important part in obtaining victory. The private correspondence of King Charles I was captured with the baggage train. The publication of these letters as The King's Cabinet Opened showed everyone that Charles was seeking support from Ireland and continental Europe. They also revealed that he had never had any intention of accepting the terms of the Treaty of Uxbridge. These revelations damaged his reputation and lost him supporters. Victory against Lord Goring’s Royalist army at the Battle of Langport in July 1645 effectively saw the end of the Royalists last field army. Bristol fell to the Parliamentarians in September. King Charles blamed his nephew Prince Rupert for surrendering too easily. Parliament took control of the West. In May 1646 the New Model Army laid siege to Oxford, the Royalist headquarters. King Charles I surrendered to the Scottish Covenanters at Southwell, Nottinghamshire on the 5th May. The first Civil War had ended with a victory for Parliament. Having won the war Parliament now tried to secure the peace. They opened negotiations with King Charles trying to find a settlement that he would accept. Parliament was divided over what these terms should be.

Presbyterians and Independents were each trying to gain control of Parliament. At issue was just how much influence the King should have in the running of Government, and what form the established Church in England was to take. In July 1646 Parliament presented King Charles with The Newcastle Propositions. This consisted of nineteen propositions which would form the basis of a peace treaty. The main points were that King Charles had to sign the Covenant. Religion was to be reformed according to the Covenant and settled by Act of Parliament, thereby imposing this new Presbyterian form of worship on everyone. Strict laws against Catholics and Catholicism were to be enforced. Parliament was to retain control of the military for the next twenty years and leading officials were to be nominated and appointed by Parliament. King Charles delayed giving an answer. He did not agree with the Propositions but he was still hoping for aid from abroad, or for a breakdown in relations between Parliament and the Scottish Covenanters. In January 1647 the Scottish Covenanters handed King Charles I over to Parliament in exchange for payment of reparations. The New Model Army began to make increasingly politically demands. Marching on London they declared that they were trying to purge corruption from Parliament.

They also sought religious tolerance and the restoration of the Anglican Church. They independently offered their own peace settlement to the King, the Heads of Proposals. The terms of these Proposals were more generous than those offered by Parliament and called for greater religious tolerance. At the end of October the Putney debates began. These were a series of debates involving different factions within the Army and the Levellers. They were trying to work out what form the new constitution of England should take. In November King Charles I escaped from Hampton Court. He went to the Isle of Wight, where he was imprisoned in Carisbrooke castle. Parliament continued to try and negotiate a peace settlement with King Charles, offering revised editions of the Newcastle Propositions. In December 1647 Parliament offered Charles the Four Bills, which were based upon the Propositions. Charles refused to accept them. On 26 December King Charles I signed a secret treaty, known as the Engagement, with a faction of the Scottish Covenanters. Charles agreed to establish Presbyterianism in England in exchange for a Scottish army to help put him back on the throne. With this action King Charles had re-started the war.

Second English Civil War (1648) There were uncoordinated Royalist uprisings throughout England and Wales. In May the Royalist army in South Wales was defeated at the Battle of St Fagans. In July rebel forces surrendered to Lieutenant-General Oliver Cromwell at the siege of Pembroke. Colonel John Poyer was later executed for his part in the rebellion. The Scottish Engager army commanded by the Duke of Hamilton crossed the border into England in July 1648. On 17 August, Oliver Cromwell with his first full command of the Army defeated Hamilton’s Scottish forces at the Battle of Preston. Parliament had won the second Civil War. On the 28 August Colchester finally surrendered to Sir Thomas Fairfax, having been besieged since June. Two of the Royalist commanders were executed by firing squad. The senior Army leaders thought that Charles could not be trusted to negotiate and should be put on trial for his actions. In December 1648, the Army surrounded the House of Commons and only allowed those MPs who supported putting Charles on trial to enter. This became known as ‘Pride’s Purge’ after the commanding officer Colonel Thomas Pride.

The remaining MPs made up what was known as the Rump Parliament. They voted to put the King on trial and in January 1649 formed a High Court of Justice. On 27 January King Charles I was sentenced to death. He was executed in Whitehall, London on 30 January 1649. Third Civil War (1650 – 1651) On 1 May 1650 Charles Prince of Wales, son of King Charles I, signed the Treaty of Breda. This was an agreement with the Scottish Presbyterians in which he promised to sign the Covenant, in return for their help to put him on the throne. Charles had already been proclaimed as King of Scotland in February 1649. In June 1650 Charles II landed in Scotland and signed the Covenant. In May 1650 Oliver Cromwell returned after a successful campaign against an alliance of English Royalists and Irish Confederates in Ireland. The Council of State in England sent an army under the command of Cromwell, to invade Scotland. On 3 September 1650 Cromwell defeated the Scottish at the Battle of Dunbar. In December he captured Edinburgh.

In January 1651 Charles II was crowned king at Scone. In August 1651 Charles II and his Scottish Covenanter army crossed the border into England. They were defeated by Oliver Cromwell and his army at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. Charles II escaped and fled to France ending the Civil Wars. Timeline: The English Civil War, 1642-46 The Triennial Act passed, guaranteeing that Parliament will be called at least once every three years. Mar 22 Opening of the trial of the Earl of Strafford. May 03 The House of Commons draws up the Protestation Oath against popery. May 05 John Pym reveals details of the "First Army Plot": an alleged conspiracy by Royalist officers to coerce Parliament. May 10 The King reluctantly assents to the act of attainder against the Earl of Strafford. May 12 Execution of the Earl of Strafford. Jul 05 Parliament abolishes the courts of High Commission and Star Chamber; the Council of Wales and the North abolished; powers of the Privy Council suppressed.

Sep 01 The House of Commons passes a resolution for the destruction of altar rails, crucifixes and other 'innovations' introduced under the Laudian reforms. Oct 23 News of the Irish Uprising reaches London. Dec 01 The Grand Remonstrance presented to King Charles at Hampton Court. Dec 27-9 Riots at Westminster against bishops and papists. Popular support for Parliament forces the King and royal family to leave London. Feb 12 The King refuses to surrender control of the militia to Parliament. Mar 5 Parliament passes the Militia Ordinance , despite the King's objections. Mar 19 King Charles sets up his court at York. Apr 23 Sir John Hotham prevents the King and his entourage from entering Hull , the site of England's main northern arsenal. Jun 01 The Nineteen Propositions passed by Parliament, requiring the King to give up control of the militia and the right to appoint ministers. Jun 06 The King issues the first Commissions of Array . Jun 18 The King rejects the Nineteen Propositions. Jul 02 The fleet declares for Parliament and accepts the Earl of Warwick as its Admiral.

Jul 04 Parliament appoints the Committee of Safety . Jul 10 The first military action of the English Civil War takes place when a Royalist raiding party approaches Hull to burn down buildings outside the town walls, but is driven away by gunfire from the defenders. Jul 12 Parliament resolves to raise an army. The Earl of Essex commissioned Captain-General. Aug 21 Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice join the King. Aug 22 King Charles raises the royal standard at Nottingham Castle. King and Parliament now at war. Sep 07 Sir William Waller captures Portsmouth for Parliament. Sep 09 The Earl of Essex marches from London against the King. Sep 23 Action at Powick Bridge near Worcester: Prince Rupert routs Essex's advance guard. Oct 23 Battle of Edgehill : the Earl of Essex fails to prevent the Royalists advancing on London. Nov 13 Royalist advance on London halted at Turnham Green . Nov 29 The King's army withdraws to Oxford which remains the Royalist capital for the rest of the war. Battle of Braddock Down : Sir Ralph Hopton defeats Colonel Ruthven and secures Cornwall for the King. Feb 01 Treaty negotiations open at Oxford.

Mar 27 Parliament issues it first ordinance for sequestration (confiscation of Royalist estates). Apr 14 Oxford treaty negotiations break down. Apr 14 The Earl of Essex besieges Reading . Jun 30 Battle of Adwalton Moor : The Earl of Newcastle defeats Lord Fairfax to secure most of Yorkshire for the King. Jul 01 The Westminster Assembly meets to discuss reform of the Anglican church. Jul 13 Battle of Roundway Down : Sir William Waller's Western Association army destroyed. Jul 26 Bristol falls to Prince Rupert. Aug 10 The King's army besieges Gloucester . Sep 02 The Scottish invasion : the Army of the Covenant crosses the River Tweed and marches into England. Jan 22 King Charles formally opens the Oxford Parliament . Feb 16 The Committee for Both Kingdoms formed to co-ordinate the Parliamentarian and Scottish armies. Mar 12 The trial of Archbishop Laud opens in London. Mar 21 Prince Rupert relieves the siege of Newark . Mar 29 Sir William Waller defeats Lord Forth and Lord Hopton at the battle of Cheriton ; Parliament's first decisive victory of the war.

Apr 20 Allied Parliamentarian and Scottish armies besiege York . May 16 Prince Rupert marches for the relief of York. Jul 02 Battle of Marston Moor : Royalist power in the north of England ended. Aug 30 The Marquis of Montrose raises his standard in Scotland. Sep 02 The Earl of Essex abandons his army at Lostwithiel . Sep 18 Battle of Montgomery : Parliamentarians gain control of central Wales. Oct 27 Second battle of Newbury : Parliamentarian commanders bickering. Nov 25 Oliver Cromwell presents his complaints against the leadership of the Earl of Manchester in the House of Commons. English Civil Wars | English history | Britannica.com English Civil Wars Alternative Titles: Great Rebellion, Wars of the Three Kingdoms Related Topics William Cavendish, 1st duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne English Civil Wars, also called Great Rebellion, (1642–51), fighting that took place in the British Isles between supporters of the monarchy of Charles I (and his son and successor, Charles II ) and opposing groups in each of Charles’s kingdoms, including Parliamentarians in England , Covenanters in Scotland , and Confederates in Ireland .

The civil wars are traditionally considered to have begun in England in August 1642, when Charles I raised an army against the wishes of Parliament , ostensibly to deal with a rebellion in Ireland. But the period of conflict actually began earlier in Scotland, with the Bishops’ Wars of 1639–40, and in Ireland, with the Ulster rebellion of 1641. Throughout the 1640s, war between king and Parliament ravaged England, but it also struck all of the kingdoms held by the house of Stuart —and, in addition to war between the various British and Irish dominions, there was civil war within each of the Stuart states. For this reason the English Civil Wars might more properly be called the British Civil Wars or the Wars of the Three Kingdoms . The wars finally ended in 1651 with the flight of Charles II to France and, with him, the hopes of the British monarchy. Battle of Naseby, by an unknown artist.

The victory of the … Photos.com/Jupiterimages United Kingdom: Civil war and revolution Compared with the chaos unleashed by the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48) on the European continent, the British Isles under Charles I enjoyed relative peace and economic prosperity during the 1630s. However, by the later 1630s, Charles’s regime had become unpopular across a broad front throughout his kingdoms. During the period of his so-called Personal Rule (1629–40), known by his enemies as the “Eleven Year Tyranny” because he had dissolved Parliament and ruled by decree, Charles had resorted to dubious fiscal expedients, most notably “ ship money ,” an annual levy for the reform of the navy that in 1635 was extended from English ports to inland towns. This inclusion of inland towns was construed as a new tax without parliamentary authorization. When combined with ecclesiastical reforms undertaken by Charles’s close adviser William Laud , the archbishop of Canterbury , and with the conspicuous role assumed in these reforms by Henrietta Maria , Charles’s Catholic queen, and her courtiers, many in England became alarmed.

Nevertheless, despite grumblings, there is little doubt that had Charles managed to rule his other dominions as he controlled England, his peaceful reign might have been extended indefinitely. Scotland and Ireland proved his undoing. Charles I, king of Great Britain and Ireland. Photos.com/Thinkstock Crimean War In 1633 Thomas Wentworth became lord deputy of Ireland and set out to govern that country without regard for any interest but that of the crown. His thorough policies aimed to make Ireland financially self-sufficient; to enforce religious conformity with the Church of England as defined by Laud, Wentworth’s close friend and ally; to “civilize” the Irish; and to extend royal control throughout Ireland by establishing British plantations and challenging Irish titles to land. Wentworth’s actions alienated both the Protestant and the Catholic ruling elites in Ireland. In much the same way, Charles’s willingness to tamper with Scottish land titles unnerved landowners there. However, it was Charles’s attempt in 1637 to introduce a modified version of the English Book of Common Prayer that provoked a wave of riots in Scotland, beginning at the Church of St. Giles in Edinburgh .

A National Covenant calling for immediate withdrawal of the prayer book was speedily drawn up on February 28, 1638. Despite its moderate tone and conservative format, the National Covenant was a radical manifesto against the Personal Rule of Charles I that justified a revolt against the interfering sovereign . The Bishops’ Wars and the return of Parliament (1640–42) History of Warfare The turn of events in Scotland horrified Charles, who determined to bring the rebellious Scots to heel. However, the Covenanters , as the Scottish rebels became known, quickly overwhelmed the poorly trained English army, forcing the king to sign a peace treaty at Berwick (June 18, 1639). Though the Covenanters had won the first Bishops’ War , Charles refused to concede victory and called an English parliament, seeing it as the only way to raise money quickly. Parliament assembled in April 1640, but it lasted only three weeks (and hence became known as the Short Parliament ). The House of Commons was willing to vote the huge sums that the king needed to finance his war against the Scots, but not until their grievances—some dating back more than a decade—had been redressed.

Furious, Charles precipitately dissolved the Short Parliament. As a result, it was an untrained, ill-armed, and poorly paid force that trailed north to fight the Scots in the second Bishops’ War. On August 20, 1640, the Covenanters invaded England for the second time, and in a spectacular military campaign they took Newcastle following the Battle of Newburn (August 28). Demoralized and humiliated, the king had no alternative but to negotiate and, at the insistence of the Scots, to recall parliament. Britannica Stories Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent A new parliament (the Long Parliament ), which no one dreamed would sit for the next 20 years, assembled at Westminster on November 3, 1640, and immediately called for the impeachment of Wentworth, who by now was the earl of Strafford.

The lengthy trial at Westminster, ending with Strafford’s execution on May 12, 1641, was orchestrated by Protestants and Catholics from Ireland, by Scottish Covenanters, and by the king’s English opponents, especially the leader of Commons, John Pym —effectively highlighting the importance of the connections between all the Stuart kingdoms at this critical junction. John Pym, detail of an engraving by G. Glover, 1644, after a portrait by Edward Bower. Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum To some extent, the removal of Strafford’s draconian hand facilitated the outbreak in October 1641 of the Ulster uprising in Ireland. This rebellion derived, on the one hand, from long-term social, religious, and economic causes (namely tenurial insecurity, economic instability, indebtedness, and a desire to have the Roman Catholic Church restored to its pre- Reformation position) and, on the other hand, from short-term political factors that triggered the outbreak of violence. Inevitably, bloodshed and unnecessary cruelty accompanied the insurrection, which quickly engulfed the island and took the form of a popular rising, pitting Catholic natives against Protestant newcomers.

The extent of the “massacre” of Protestants was exaggerated, especially in England where the wildest rumours were readily believed. Perhaps 4,000 settlers lost their lives—a tragedy to be sure, but a far cry from the figure of 154,000 the Irish government suggested had been butchered. Much more common was the plundering and pillaging of Protestant property and the theft of livestock. These human and material losses were replicated on the Catholic side as the Protestants retaliated. Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest The Irish insurrection immediately precipitated a political crisis in England, as Charles and his Westminster Parliament argued over which of them should control the army to be raised to quell the Irish insurgents. Had Charles accepted the list of grievances presented to him by Parliament in the Grand Remonstrance of December 1641 and somehow reconciled their differences, the revolt in Ireland almost certainly would have been quashed with relative ease. Instead, Charles mobilized for war on his own, raising his standard at Nottingham in August 1642. The Wars of the Three Kingdoms had begun in earnest.

This also marked the onset of the first English Civil War fought between forces loyal to Charles I and those who served Parliament. After a period of phony war late in 1642, the basic shape of the English Civil War was of Royalist advance in 1643 and then steady Parliamentarian attrition and expansion. The first English Civil War (1642–46) The first major battle fought on English soil—the Battle of Edgehill (October 1642)—quickly demonstrated that a clear advantage was enjoyed by neither the Royalists (also known as the Cavaliers ) nor the Parliamentarians (also known as the Roundheads for their short-cropped hair, in contrast to the long hair and wigs associated with the Cavaliers). Although recruiting, equipping, and supplying their armies initially proved problematic for both sides, by the end of 1642 each had armies of between 60,000 and 70,000 men in the field.

However, sieges and skirmishes—rather than pitched battles—dominated the military landscape in England during the first Civil War, as local garrisons, determined to destroy the economic basis of their opponents while preserving their own resources, scrambled for territory. Charles, with his headquarters in Oxford , enjoyed support in the north and west of England, in Wales , and (after 1643) in Ireland. Parliament controlled the much wealthier areas in the south and east of England together with most of the key ports and, critically, London , the financial capital of the kingdom. In order to win the war, Charles needed to capture London, and this was something that he consistently failed to do. England during the Civil Wars. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Yet Charles prevented the Parliamentarians from smashing his main field army. The result was an effective military stalemate until the triumph of the Roundheads at the Battle of Marston Moor (July 2, 1644).

This decisive victory deprived the king of two field armies and, equally important, paved the way for the reform of the parliamentary armies with the creation of the New Model Army , completed in April 1645. Thus, by 1645 Parliament had created a centralized standing army, with central funding and central direction. The New Model Army now moved against the Royalist forces. Their closely fought victory at the Battle of Naseby (June 14, 1645) proved the turning point in parliamentary fortunes and marked the beginning of a string of stunning successes—Langport (July 10), Rowton Heath (September 24), and Annan Moor (October 21)—that eventually forced the king to surrender to the Scots at Newark on May 5, 1646. Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Marston Moor. Photos.com/Jupiterimages Strategic plan for the Battle of Naseby, June 14, 1645; from Anglia Rediviva (1647). © The British Library/Heritage-Images It is doubtful whether Parliament could have won the first English Civil War without Scottish intervention.

Royalist successes in England in the spring and early summer of 1643, combined with the prospect of aid from Ireland for the king, prompted the Scottish Covenanters to sign a political, military, and religious alliance—the Solemn League and Covenant (September 25, 1643)—with the English Parliamentarians. Desperate to protect their revolution at home, the Covenanters insisted upon the establishment of Presbyterianism in England and in return agreed to send an army of 21,000 men to serve there. These troops played a critical role at Marston Moor, with the covenanting general, David Leslie, briefly replacing a wounded Oliver Cromwell in the midst of the action. For his part, Charles looked to Ireland for support. However, the Irish troops that finally arrived in Wales after a cease-fire was concluded with the confederates in September 1643 never equaled the Scottish presence, while the king’s willingness to secure aid from Catholic Ireland sullied his reputation in England. Oliver Cromwell, portrait attributed to Anthony van Dyck.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images Conflicts in Scotland and Ireland Trending Topics Eyjafjallajökull volcano The presence of a large number of Scottish troops in England should not detract from the fact that Scots experienced their own domestic conflict after 1638. In Scotland loyalty to the Covenant, the king, and the house of Argyll resulted in a lengthy and, at times, bloody civil war that began in February 1639, when the Covenanters seized Inverness , and ended with the surrender of Dunnottar castle, near Aberdeen , in May 1652. Initially, the Scottish Royalists under the command of James Graham, earl of Montrose , won a string of victories at Tippermuir (September 1, 1644), Aberdeen (September 13), Inverlochy (February 2, 1645), Auldearn (May 9), Alford (July 2), and Kilsyth (August 15) before being decisively routed by the Covenanters at Philiphaugh (September 13). Marquess of Montrose, portrait miniature after a painting by W.

Dobson; in the Wallace Collection, … Courtesy of the trustees of the Wallace Collection, London Like Scotland, Ireland fought its own civil war (also called the Confederate Wars). Between 1642 and 1649, the Irish Confederates, with their capital at Kilkenny , directed the Catholic war effort, while James Butler, earl of Ormonde , commanded the king’s Protestant armies. In September 1643, the two sides concluded a cease-fire, but they failed to negotiate a lasting political and religious settlement acceptable to all parties. James Butler, 1st duke of Ormonde, detail of a painting after Sir Peter Lely, c. 1665; in the … Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London Second and third English Civil Wars (1648–51) Although the Scottish Covenanters had made a significant contribution to Parliament’s victory in the first English Civil War, during the second (1648) and third English Civil Wars (1650–51) they supported the king. On December 26, 1647, Charles signed an agreement—known as the Engagement —with a number of leading Covenanters.

In return for the establishment of Presbyterianism in England for a period of three years, the Scots promised to join forces with the English Royalists and restore the king to his throne. Early in July 1648, a Scottish force invaded England, but the parliamentary army routed it at the Battle of Preston (August 17). The execution of Charles I in January 1649 merely served to galvanize Scottish (and Irish) support for the king’s son, Charles II , who was crowned king of the Scots at Scone , near Perth , on January 1, 1651. Ultimately, the defeat of a combined force of Irish Royalists and Confederates at the hands of English Parliamentarians after August 1649 prevented the Irishmen from serving alongside their Scottish and English allies in the third English Civil War. As it was, this war was largely fought on Scottish soil, Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army having invaded Scotland in July 1650.

Despite being routed at the Battle of Dunbar (September 3, 1650), which Cromwell regarded as “one of the most signal mercies God hath done for England and His people,” the Scots managed to raise another army that made a spectacular dash into England. This wild attempt to capture London came to nothing. Cromwell’s resounding victory at Worcester (September 3, 1651) and Charles II’s subsequent flight to France not only gave Cromwell control over England but also effectively ended the wars of—and the wars in—the three kingdoms. Charles II, 19th-century engraving by William Finden. © iStockphoto/Thinkstock Cost and legacy While it is notoriously difficult to determine the number of casualties in any war, it has been estimated that the conflict in England and Wales claimed about 85,000 lives in combat, with a further 127,000 noncombat deaths (including some 40,000 civilians). The fighting in Scotland and Ireland, where the populations were roughly a fifth of that of England, was more brutal still.

As many as 15,000 civilians perished in Scotland, and a further 137,000 Irish civilians may well have died as a result of the wars there. In all nearly 200,000 people, or roughly 2.5 percent of the civilian population, lost their lives directly or indirectly as a result of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms during this decade, making the Civil Wars arguably the bloodiest conflict in the history of the British Isles. These were the last civil wars ever fought on English—but not Scottish or Irish—soil, and they have bequeathed a lasting legacy . Ever since this period, the peoples of the three kingdoms have had a profound distrust of standing armies, while ideas first mooted during the 1640s, particularly about religious toleration and limitations on power, have survived to this day. More about English Civil Wars 30 References found in Britannica Articles Assorted References Major battles of the English Civil War Major battles of the English Civil War The first battle of the Civil War was at Edgehill near Birmingham in 1642.

At the battle of Edgehill so that the soldiers could tell which side they were on, they wore coloured belts tied round their waists. These belts were called sashes. During the battle some soldiers that supported parliament changed sides and decided to support the king. Some of the soldiers forgot to take off their belts and they ended up being shot by the kings men. This was the first battle of the war and not many weapons had been made. About 400 of the kings men did not have guns, they just had wooden sticks called clubs. The king won this battle. After the battle the king went to London but they wouldn't let him into the city. The Battle of Marston Moor was fought in July 1644. Marston Moor is in Yorkshire. The kings army was lead by a man called Prince Rupert. Until now Prince Rupert had been the most successful of the kings generals. The kings army was well beaten, 4,000 men died. Cromwell with the help of soldiers from Scotland won. After this battle Cromwell was seen as one of the most important parliamentary generals.

The Battle of Naseby in Northamptonshire took place in June 1645 Cromwell won because he had a bigger army. Parliament were fighting with their new model army. Cromwell had more men than the king. This was really the end for the Royalists. 4,500 prisoners were taken, the rest of the Royalist army died. After the battle king Charles escaped to Wales. The New Model Army went on to defeat another Royalist Army in Somerset. UK Battlefields Resource Centre - The Civil Wars - The Edgehill Campaign - The Battle of Battle of Edgehill Battle of Edgehill 23rd October 1642 The battle of Edgehill, on Sunday 23rd October 1642, saw the army of the Earl of Essex, the parliamentarian Lord General, and the King’s army clash in the first major action of the Civil War in England. It was fought in the open fields between the villages of Radway and Kineton in Warwickshire. The battle of Edgehill, or Kineton Fight as it was sometimes known, was intended to be the one great battle to decide the war.

Although often viewed as an indecisive battle, in effect a bloody draw, the king actually gained an important advantage. Essex failed to break through and had to retreat northward, to the security of the parliamentarian garrisons at Warwick and Coventry. This left the royalists in command of the road to London, and control of the capital was the key to the war. The battlefield is largely agricultural land and appears at first sight to be well preserved. In reality it has been extensively disturbed and several key rights of way closed by the construction, in the late 1940s, of a military depot. Many of the silos and rail lines have been removed, but a great deal of damage has been done to the archaeology of the battle. In places even the underlying form of the land has been altered. Most of the battlefield still remains in Ministry of Defence ownership and is inaccessible, so it is difficult for a visitor to fully appreciate the terrain of the battlefield. However the MOD cooperated closely with the Trust to facilitate its major survey of the battlefield. We hope that, in the future, it may also prove possible to improve public access to and interpretation of the battlefield. KEY FACTS

Question: Which was the first major battle of the English Civil War, that took place in October 1642?
Answer: Battle of Edge Hill