Marshall's Elm, Somerset, 4 August 1642
In July 1642, King Charles sent the Marquis of Hertford into Somerset to rally support for the Royalist cause. Lord Hertford began mustering Royalist forces at Wells while the Parliamentarians occupied nearby Shepton Mallet. On 1 August, a street fight broke out at Shepton Mallet when Hertford's second-in-command Sir Ralph Hopton confronted Colonel Strode, who had called out the local militia for Parliament. Two days later, Lord Hertford sent troops into Shepton Mallet to intimidate the Parliamentarians and to seize their weapons. Hertford's commission as Lieutenant-General of the south-west and of south Wales became official on 2 August.
The gentry of Somerset were predominantly Parliamentarian. John Pyne MP recruited a force of 600 foot and marched to join forces with Colonel Strode. One of the earliest skirmishes of the English Civil War took place at Marshall's Elm on 4 August 1642 when the Royalist Sir John Stawell led a troop of 80 horse to prevent Pyne from reaching Shepton Mallet. Stawell drew up his troops on Walton Hill as the Parliamentarian column approached. Stawell decided to attack and sent his dragoons to take up position at the foot of the hill. The Parliamentarians halted when the Royalist dragoons opened fire, then Stawell led a charge down the hill with the rest of his cavalry. The inexperienced Parliamentarians broke and fled. 27 were killed and 60 taken prisoner.
Sherborne and Babylon Hill
On 6 August 1642, the Marquis of Hertford withdrew from Wells to concentrate Royalist forces at Sherborne in Dorset, where he repaired the castle defences and began recruiting. Meanwhile, Parliament sent the Earl of Bedford to take command of its forces in Somerset. By the end of August, Bedford had mustered 7,000 men at Wells in preparation for a march on Sherborne Castle. When Bedford launched his first attack on the castle on 3 September, however, most of his troops fled as soon as they came under fire. After several Royalist sallies against the Parliamentarian camp, the Earl of Bedford decided to abandon the siege. He marched away towards Yeovil on 6 September.
The Marquis of Hertford sent Sir Ralph Hopton with 350 men to secure the surrounding region. Hopton drew up his forces on Babylon Hill to keep watch over the Parliamentarian troops in Yeovil. There was minor skirmishing throughout the day, but the Parliamentarians seemed reluctant to risk a major engagement. As evening fell and Hopton was preparing to withdraw, the Parliamentarians launched a sudden attack. Taken by surprise, the Royalists were almost routed. Hopton managed to retain cohesion and retreated in good order, but 20 Royalists were killed in the skirmish.
The Parliamentarians continued to build up their forces in Somerset. On 19 September, the Marquis of Hertford abandoned Sherborne and marched for Minehead, intending to cross the Bristol Channel to raise support for the King in south Wales.
Cornwall and Devon, September-December 1642
On 22 September, the Marquis of Hertford crossed from Minehead into south Wales with his artillery and infantry and marched to join the King in time for the battle of Edgehill. A small force of 160 Royalist cavalry and dragoons under the command of Sir Ralph Hopton stayed behind. Hopton marched through north Devon into Cornwall, intending to raise the county for the King. He joined forces with the Royalist Sir Bevil Grenville, though most of Cornwall remained uncommitted to either side. An attempt was made to arraign Hopton at Truro Assizes for bringing armed forces into the county but he succeeded in winning over the jury and was acquitted. In the King's name, Hopton mobilised 3,000 well-armed troops of the Cornish militia (posse comitatus) and occupied Launceston on 15 October. The Parliamentarian governor of Launceston, Sir Richard Buller, fled into Devon.
Cornish Royalists secured the fortresses at Pendennis and St Mawes which guarded the approaches to Falmouth, from where Sir Nicholas Slanning organised a fleet of Royalist privateers to raid merchant shipping in the Channel in defiance of the Parliamentarian fleet. Realising that the militia was unlikely to fight outside Cornwall, Hopton began recruiting a volunteer army of five regiments of foot and 500 horse with the intention of marching into Devon. By November 1642, Hopton's cavalry were raiding across the River Tamar.
In early December 1642, Hopton secured the Cornish side of Plymouth Sound, but his attempts to blockade Plymouth itself were thwarted by the spirited defence conducted by Colonel William Ruthin, the Parliamentarian governor, who mounted two amphibious raids across the Sound against the Royalist positions. Realising that a siege was untenable, Hopton attempted to call out the posse comitatus of Devon at Modbury on 6 December. He was disappointed to find that the Devon militia showed little enthusiasm for the King's cause. Colonel Ruthin sent 500 cavalry from Plymouth in a surprise attack to disperse the gathering; Hopton and his officers narrowly escaped the raid. At the end of December, Hopton approached Exeter and called for its surrender, but Ruthin had reinforced the city with troops from Plymouth and the summons was rejected. The Royalists withdrew into Cornwall.
Civil War in the South-West 1643 >
References:
A.H. Burne & P. Young, The Great Civil War, a military history, 1959
S.R. Gardiner, History of the Great Civil War vol. i, 1888
Peter Gaunt, The Cromwellian Gazetteer, 1987
P.R. Newman, Atlas of the English Civil War, 1985