Battle of Marston Moor

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Battle of Marston Moor
Part of English Civil War
The Battle of Marston Moor, by J. Barker
Date July 2, 1644 Location near Long Marston, 7 miles west of York Result Decisive Parliamentarian victory
Combatants
Scottish Covenanters Parliamentarians	Royalists
Commanders
Earl of Leven Earl of Manchester Lord Fairfax	Prince Rupert of the Rhine Marquess of Newcastle
Strength
7000 horse 500+ dragoons 14000 foot 30 - 40 guns	6000 horse 11000 foot 14 guns
Casualties
300 killed	4000 killed 1500 prisoners

First English Civil War

Powick Bridge - Edgehill - Aylesbury - Brentford - Hopton Heath - Chalgrove Field - Bradock Down - Boldon Hill - Lansdowne - Roundway Down - Sourton Down - Adwalton Moor - Gainsborough - Hull - Winceby - Reading - Gloucester - 1st Newbury - Alton - Cheriton - Nantwich - Newark - York - Cropredy Bridge - Marston Moor - 1st & 2nd Lostwithiel - 2nd Newbury - Taunton - Naseby - Langport - Rowton Heath

The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on July 2, 1644 during the First English Civil War of 1642-1646. A Royalist army under the command of Prince Rupert of the Rhine and the Marquess of Newcastle was decisively defeated by a combined force of Scottish Covenanter and Parliamentarian troops under the overall command of the Earl of Leven.

Having raised the Siege of York, Prince Rupert's army and the York garrison under Newcastle marched to face the allied army on an expanse of moorland west of York, known as Marston Moor. After a day in which both sides deployed their forces the battle began in the evening of July 2 and lasted two hours. Despite a series of initial successes, the Royalist army was eventually driven from the field by the allied army, ending Royalist hopes of a victory in the north. The largest battle of the Civil War, the Royalist defeat allowed the allied army to once more lay siege to the city of York, which surrendered on July 16; effectively losing the north of England for King Charles I.

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Relief moves 2 Battle 2.1 Prelude 2.2 Deployment 2.2.1 The Allied army 2.2.2 The Royalist army 2.3 Events 3 Aftermath 4 See Also 5 Notes 6 References

[edit] Background

In late 1643, the English Civil War widened. While King Charles negotiated a "cessation" in Ireland which allowed him to reinforce his armies with English regiments sent to Ireland following the uprising in 1641, the Parliamentarians took an even greater step by signing the Solemn League and Covenant, sealing an the alliance with the Scottish Covenanters. Early in 1644, a Covenanter army under Leven invaded the north of England on behalf of Parliament. The Royalist commander in the north of England, the Marquess of Newcastle, was forced to divide his army, leaving a detatchment under Sir John Belasyse to watch a Parliamentarian army under Lord Fairfax in Hull, while he led his main body north to confront Leven.^[1]

During March and early April, the Marquess of Newcastle fought several delaying actions as he tried to prevent the Scots from crossing the Tyne River and surrounding the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. Meanwhile, a Parliamentarian cavalry force under Fairfax's son, Sir Thomas Fairfax entered Yorkshire from Cheshire and Lancashire where they had been campaigning during the winter. To prevent them rejoining Lord Fairfax in Hull, Belasyse occupied Selby which lay between them. On April 11, Sir Thomas Fairfax's force together with infantry under Sir John Meldrum, stormed Selby, capturing Belasyse and most of his force. ^[2]

Hearing the news, Newcastle realised that the city of York was threatened. York was the principal city and bastion of Royalist power in the north of England, and its loss would be a serious blow to the Royalist cause.^[3] He hastily retreated to York. Leven's army, less a detachment left to mask the Royalist garrison of Newcastle upon Tyne, followed up and on April 22, Leven joined forces with the Fairfaxes at Wetherby to begin the Siege of York. On June 3, they were reinforced by the Parliamentarian army of the Eastern Association under the Earl of Manchester, and siege operations began in earnest as York was now completely encircled. Leven was accepted as Commander in Chief of the three combined allied armies; not only were the Scots the largest single contingent, but Leven was a respected veteran of the Thirty Years' War. ^[4]

[edit] Relief moves

News of the siege soon reached Oxford, where King Charles had his wartime capital. From April 24 to May 5, he held a council of war attended by his nephew and most renowned field commander, Prince Rupert. It was settled that, while Charles attempted to play for time in Oxford, Rupert would relieve York.^[5]

Rupert set out from Shrewsbury with a small force on May 16. His first moves were intended to gather reinforcements along the way to bolster his army, and secure Lancashire for the troops heading over from Ireland for the Royalist cause. At Chester, he assumed command of a small Royalist army under Lord John Byron, raising his force to 2,000 horse and 6,000 foot. Having forced a crossing of the Mersey at Stockport, he stormed Bury, killing or capturing the Parliamentarian garrison of 1,600. Resting at Bolton nearby, Rupert was joined by the Marquess of Newcastle's cavalry under Lord George Goring, and several regiments which were being freshly raised in Lancashire by the Earl of Derby. Having sidestepped the Parliamentarian stronghold of Manchester, Prince Rupert approached Liverpool on June 6, and after a five day siege wrested control from Parliament.^[6]

With Lancashire secured, Rupert now hesitated; unsure whether to continue on to York or consolidate the Royalist hold in Lancashire, securing more reinforcements in the process. He was also distrustful of Charles’s council of war, and wary of being so far from the King's side. On June 16 Rupert received an ambiguous dispatch from the King, which contained troubling news. The King’s advisors on the council of war, having overturned Rupert’s defensive policies, had sent the garrisons in Reading and Abingdon on an offensive in the West Country; a blunder that had left Oxford exposed to a sudden threat by Parliamentarian armies and forced the King to flee the city and head to Worcester.^[7] Together with this unfortunate news, the letter contained some ambiguous orders regarding Rupert’s northern offensive and future plans;

“

But now I must give the true state of my affairs, which, if their condition be such as enforces me to give you more peremptory commands than I would willingly do, you must not take it ill. If York be lost I shall esteem my crown little less; unless supported by your sudden march to me; and a miraculous conquest in the South, before the effects of the Northern power can be found here. But if York be relieved, and you beat the rebels' army of both kingdoms, which are before it, then (but otherwise not) I may possibly make a shift upon the defensive to spin out time until you come to assist me. Wherefore I command and conjure you, by the duty and affection that I know you bear me, that all new enterprises laid aside, you immediately march according to your first intention, with all your force to the relief of York. But if that be either lost, or have freed themselves from the besiegers, or that for want of powder, you cannot undertake that work, that you immediately march with your whole strength, directly to Worcester to assist me and my army; without which, or you having relieved York by the beating the Scots, all the successes you can afterwards have must infallibly be useless onto me.”[8]

”

Rupert understood the letter to be an order to relieve York and defeat the allied army before heading south once more in aid of the King.^[9] By this time Rupert’s army now numbered 14,000, and he set off on the last stage of the gruelling "York march", crossing the Pennines and arriving at Knaresborough on June 30, 14 miles north-west of York. The Allies had been hoping that reinforcements from the Midlands under Sir John Meldrum and the Earl of Denbigh could ward off this threat, but they learned that these forces could not intervene in time. Therefore they abandoned the siege on the night of June 30, and on July 1 they concentrated their forces at Marston Moor, where they would block Rupert's expected direct march to York (along the old Roman road named Ermine Street, the modern A59).

However, Rupert made a 22-mile flank march via Boroughbridge and Thornton Bridge, which put the River Ouse between himself and the Allied armies. Late on July 1 his forces defeated Manchester's dragoons, left to guard a bridge of boats across the Ouse at the village of Poppleton a few miles north of York.^[5] With York definitely relieved, Newcastle sent Rupert a fulsome letter of welcome and congratulations. Rupert replied, not in person but through Goring, with a peremptory demand for Newcastle to march his forces to Rupert's assistance on the following morning.

[edit] Battle

[edit] Prelude

On July 2, the Allied commanders debated their options. They decided to march south to the neighbourhood of Tadcaster and Cawood where they could both protect their own supply lines from Hull, and also block any move south by Rupert. The Parliamentarian foot, ordnance and baggage set off early, leaving the horse as rearguard. At about 9 o'clock in the morning, the Allied generals learned that Rupert's army had crossed the captured bridge of boats at Poppleton and was advancing onto Marston Moor. The Parliamentarian foot, some of whom had already reached Tadcaster, were hastily recalled.^[4]

Meanwhile, there was tension between Rupert on the one hand, and Newcastle and his Lieutenant General Lord Eythin, who were both strongly opposed to a pitched battle.^[10] Newcastle counselled that the allied army would eventually dissolve and an engagement was unnecessary, but Rupert was adamant that the King's letter (which he never showed to the Marquess) was a command to engage the enemy immediately.^[4] Furthermore, Rupert wished to compensate for the Royalists' numerical inferiority by catching the enemy unawares and before further Parliamentarian reinforcements could increase their superiority in numbers.

However, Newcastle’s soldiers refused to fight unless given their delayed payment. A number were also absent, pillaging the abandoned trenches outside the city, and had yet to return.^[10] The late arrival of Newcastle's troops and a number of other factors thwarted Rupert's plans for a quick strike. His men were exhausted from their long march, as were the soldiers from York who had undergone the strain of ten weeks of siege. Rupert therefore did not attack; and during the day, the odds against him lengthened as the Parliamentarians returned from their aborted move south and took position.

[edit] Deployment

[edit] The Allied army

The Parliamentarians occupied Marston Hill, a low but nevertheless prominent feature in the flat Vale of York, between the villages of Long Marston and Tockwith. They had the advantage of height, but cornfields stretching between the two villages hampered their deployment.

Their left wing was under the command of Manchester's Lieutenant General Oliver Cromwell, and consisted of 3000 horse from the Eastern Association, including Cromwell's own regiment of Ironsides. There were also 600 attached musketeers, in platoons of 60 between the "divisions" of horse. Their purpose was to disrupt attacking cavalry or dragoons. This was a common practice in the Swedish army of the Thirty Years' War, and was also adopted by the Royalists. 1000 lighter Scots horse under Sir David Leslie were deployed to Cromwell's rear, and 500 Scots dragoons on the extreme left.

The centre, under several Generals with no overall commander, consisted of over 14000 foot, with 30 to 40 pieces of artillery. The various regiments had been hastily deployed as they returned to the field and were considerably mixed up, but most of Manchester's foot under Sergeant Major General Lawrence Crawford were on the left of the front line, and Lord Fairfax's in the centre. Scots brigades, the "Vanguard" of their army, made up the right of the front line under Lieutenant General William Baillie. The second line consisted entirely of Scots, their "Main Battle" or simply "Battle", under Sergeant Major General James Lumsden. The weaker third and fourth lines consisted of some of Fairfax's infantry, a single Scots brigade, and the Earl of Manchester's own regiment of Foot.

The right wing was commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax (with John Lambert as his second in command), with 2000 horse from Yorkshire and Lancashire and 600 musketeers, with 1000 Scots horse to his rear.^[4]

[edit] The Royalist army

The Royalists occupied the low-lying moor, behind a drainage ditch that Rupert noted as an effective obstacle for a cavalry charge. When the contingent from York belatedly arrived accompanied by Eythin, Rupert's dispositions were criticised by Eythin as being drawn up too close to the enemy. It was unfortunate that Rupert and Eythin already knew and disliked each other. Both had fought at the Battle of Vlotho in 1638, where Rupert had been captured and held prisoner for several years. Rupert blamed Eythin's caution for the defeat; Eythin blamed Rupert's rashness. Some of Eythin's remarks on July 2 seem quite insolent. When Rupert proposed to move his army out of range of Allied artillery as Eythin suggested, Eythin pontificated that it was too late in the day for such a move.^[4] The Royalist army prepared to settle down for the night, close to the Allied armies.

The Royalist left wing consisted of 2100 cavalry, mainly from the "Northern Horse", and 500 musketeers, with the first line under Lord Goring and the second under Sir Charles Lucas.

Their centre was nominally commanded by Eythin, although Rupert's Sergeant-Major General Henry Tillier led most of the troops. A forlorn hope of musketeers lined the ditch. The infantry units of Rupert's army, 7000 strong, formed the first line, with the 3000-man infantry contingent from Newcastle's army, and a brigade of "Northern Horse" numbering 600 under Sir William Blakiston, behind them. There were also 14 field guns.

The right wing was commanded by Lord Byron, with 2600 horse and 500 musketeers. The second line, of comparatively inexperienced regiments, was commanded by Lord Molyneaux.

Rupert commanded a reserve of 600 cavalry, including his elite Lifeguard of Horse, in person.^[4]

[edit] Events

Delayed by the late arrival of the York garrison, it was late evening before the Royalists were fully deployed. A flurry of rain showers and the discouragement of Newcastle and Eythin persuaded Rupert to delay his attack until the next day; from the ranks of the allied army he could hear the singing of psalms. As his troops broke ranks for their supper, Leven noted the lack of preparation among his opponents, and ordered his men to attack at shortly after half-past seven, just as a thunderstorm broke out over the moor.^[11]

On the allied left, Cromwell's horse quickly defeated Byron's wing. Though under orders to stand his ground and rely on the ditch and musket fire to slow the progress of an enemy attack, Lord Byron instead ordered a hasty counter-charge which disordered his own troops and prevented his musketeers firing without fear of hitting their own cavalry.^[12] In the clashes which followed, Cromwell was slightly wounded in the neck, by a pistol ball in most accounts, and briefly left the field to have the wound dressed. Meanwhile, Rupert led his reserve towards the right, rallying his own fleeing Regiment of Horse and leading them in a counter-attack. A Parliamentarian officer wrote:

“

"Cromwell's own division had a hard pull of it; for they were charged by Rupert's bravest men both in front and flank; they stood at the sword's point a pretty while, hacking one another; but at last (it so pleased God) he [Cromwell] brake through them, scattering them before him like a little dust." [13]

”

Sir David Leslie's Scots eventually swung the balance for Cromwell. Rupert's right wing and reserve were routed and he himself narrowly avoided capture by hiding in a nearby bean field.^[14]

In the centre, Crawford's, Lord Fairfax's and most of Baillie's foot initially succeeded in crossing the ditch, capturing at least three royalist pieces of artillery. On the right, Sir Thomas Fairfax's wing fared less well. Sir Thomas Fairfax himself later wrote,

“

"Our Right Wing had not, all, so good success, by reason of the whins and ditches which we were to pass over before we could get to the Enemy, which put us into great disorder: notwithstanding, I drew up a body of 400 Horse. But because the intervals of Horse, in this Wing only, were lined with Musketeers; which did us much hurt with their shot; I was necessitated to charge them. We were a long time engaged with one another, but at last we routed that part of their Wing ... [I] myself only returned presently, to get to the men I left behind me. But that part of the Enemy which stood, perceiving the disorder they were in, had charged and routed them, before I could get to them." [15]

”

Most of Goring's victorious wing either scattered in pursuit, or fell out to loot the allied baggage train, but some of them under Sir Charles Lucas wheeled to attack the right flank of the Allied infantry. Meanwhile, some of Newcastle's foot counter-attacked Lord Fairfax's foot in the centre of the allied front line and threw them into confusion. Following up this advantage, Blakiston's brigade of horse (with its numbers probably augmented by a troop of "Gentleman Volunteers" under Newcastle himself) charged the allied centre. Under these assaults in the confusion and the gathering darkness, over half the Scots and Parliamentarian infantry fled. Leven and Lord Fairfax also left the field, believing all was lost.^[16] Manchester remained, but commanded no more than his own regiment of foot near the Allied rear. However, one Scottish brigade at the right of their front line under the Earl of Crawford-Lindsay and Viscount Maitland, stood firm against Lucas, even succeeding in taking him captive^[16], and behind them the Scottish Sergeant Major General Sir James Lumsden managed to reform part of the Allied centre.

By now it was nearly fully dark, although the full moon was rising. The countryside for miles around was covered with fugitives from both sides. A messenger from Ireland riding in search of Prince Rupert wrote,

“

"In this horrible distraction did I coast the country; here meeting with a shoal of Scots crying out, 'Weys us, we are all undone'; and so full of lamentation and mourning, as if their day of doom had overtaken them, and from which they knew not whither to fly; and anon I met with a ragged troop reduced to four and a Cornet; by and by with a little foot officer without hat, band, sword, or indeed anything but feet and so much tongue as would serve to enquire the way to the next garrisons, which (to say the truth) were well filled with the stragglers on both sides within a few hours, though they lay distant from the place of the fight 20 or 30 miles." [17]

”

With no general present in command of either side, a drawn battle might have resulted, but Cromwell's disciplined horsemen had rallied behind the Royalist right. Sir Thomas Fairfax, finding himself alone in the midst of Goring's men, removed the "Field Sign", (a handkerchief or slip of white paper which identified him as a Parliamentarian), from his hat, and made his way to Cromwell's wing to relate the state of affairs on the Allied right flank.^[15] Cromwell now led his cavalry, with Leslie's Scots horse in support and Crawford's foot on his right flank, around the Royalist rear to attack Goring's wing from behind. Goring's tired and disorganised troops were driven from the field.

The triumphant allies now turned on the remains of the Royalist centre, overrunning successive units and cutting down many fugitives. Finally some of Newcastle's foot, the "Whitecoats", gathered for a last stand in a ditched enclosure named White Sike Close, in the rear of the Royalists' original position. They refused to surrender and repulsed constant allied cavalry charges until the last 30 survivors finally surrendered.^[18]

Approximately 4000 Royalist soldiers had been killed, many in the last stand of the "Whitecoats", and 1500 captured including Charles Lucas and Major General Henry Tillier. The Royalists lost all their guns, with many hundreds of weapons and several standards also falling into the hands of the allied forces. The allied generals' dispatch, and other Parliamentarian accounts, stated that 300 of their soldiers were killed.^[4] One of those mortally wounded was Sir Thomas Fairfax's brother, Charles.^[15]

[edit] Aftermath

Late at night, the Royalist generals reached York. A diary later written by one of Rupert's entourage stated,

“

"After ye Enemy having broken or horse the foot stood till night and in ye night some of em [sic] came off after ye P[rince] and Genll King had drawn up as many as he could before ye town of York" [8]

”

Newcastle, having seen his forces broken and having spent his entire vast fortune in the Royalist cause, resolved that he would not endure the "laughter of the court". He departed for Scarborough on July 3 and went into exile in Hamburg, with Eythin and many of his senior officers.^[14] Two days after the battle, Rupert rallied 5000 cavalry and a few hundred infantry in York. He considered that, rather than attempt to restore Royalist fortunes in the north, he was required to return south to rejoin the King. Leaving York, he marched back over the Pennines, having made a detour by way of Richmond to escape interception. Goring, who had accompanied him this far, headed for Scotland to aid the Royalists there under Montrose. With the departure of Newcastle and Rupert, the Royalists effectively abandoned the north.

The Allies regrouped themselves and resumed the siege of York. Under the agreement that no Scottish soldiers were to be garrisoned in the city, the garrison surrendered on honourable terms on July 16. ^[19] Leven subsequently took his troops north to besiege Newcastle upon Tyne, while Manchester's army returned to Lincolnshire and eventually moved into the south of England.^[14]

Over the next few months the Scots and Parliamentarians slowly eliminated the remaining Royalist garrisons throughout northern England. The Royalist cavalry from the area, the "Northern Horse", continued to fight for King Charles under Sir Marmaduke Langdale, and even made several forays from the south to relieve Royalist garrisons in south Yorkshire, but they became increasingly undisciplined and licentious, turning many former sympathisers away from the Royalist cause.

The defeat at Marston Moor was a serious blow to the Royalist cause. Prince Rupert had been decisively beaten for the first time in the war, and lost his reputation for invincibility. In the aftermath of the battle, the body of his lapdog, "Boye", was discovered; Parliamentarian propaganda made much of this, treating Boye almost as a Devil's familiar.^[19] By contrast, Oliver Cromwell's reputation as a cavalry commander was firmly established. It was acknowledged that the discipline he had instilled into his troops, and his own leadership on the battlefield had been crucial to the victory. From this moment, he was to exert increasing influence both in the House of Commons and in the Parliamentarian armies in the field.

[edit] See Also

Marston Moor order of battle

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Newman, P.R. & Roberts, P.R. Marston Moor 1644: The Battle of the Five Armies (Pickering: Blackthorn, 2003) ISBN 0-9540535-2-4
• Royle, Trevor Civil War: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1638-1660 (London: Abacus, 2004) ISBN 0-349-11564-8
• Young, Peter Marston Moor 1644: The Campaign and the Battle (Kineton: Roundwood, 1970)
• Warburton, Eliot Memoirs of Prince Rupert and the Cavaliers 2nd volume (London: 2003) ISBN 978-1421249407
• Woolrych, Austin Battles of the English Civil War (London: B.T. Batsford Ltd, 1961)