The fall of Selby in April 1644 was a major blow to the Royalist cause in northern England. It forced the Marquis of Newcastle to abandon his campaign against the Covenanter invasion in County Durham and withdraw to defend York, the northern Royalist capital, which now came under threat from Lord Fairfax and the Yorkshire Parliamentarians. As the Marquis withdrew, the Earl of Leven pursued with the Covenanter army. On 20 April 1644, Leven joined forces with Lord Fairfax at Wetherby. The combined "Army for Both Kingdoms" marched to besiege York, arriving before the city on 22 April.
The Siege of York, April-July 1644
The besiegement of York was a formidable undertaking. The city was defended by a continuous circuit of Roman and medieval walls and two medieval castles. Although some of its defences had become ruinous by the first half of the 17th century, King Charles ordered that they should be repaired and strengthened during his four-month stay at York in 1642. An outer ring of earthworks and forts was constructed outside the walls for additional protection and cannon were mounted on the city's four main gates and on the castles. The garrison was well supplied with provisions and was fully manned after the arrival of the Marquis of Newcastle's northern army on 18 April 1644.
The besieging army settled around the city in a great arc, with Lord Fairfax's army to the east, the Covenanters to the south and west. Before the siege could begin in earnest, the Allies had to secure the surrounding country. Stamford Bridge was captured on 24 April but Allied attacks on Cawood Castle were repulsed. Raiders from the Royalist garrison at Pontefract threatened Allied positions to the south of York while Sir Hugh Cholmley sent raiders from Scarborough to harass those to the east. To the north, the Marquis of Montrose and Sir Robert Clavering captured Morpeth Castle, forcing Lord Leven to send troops from the siege to secure his lines of communication with Scotland. But gradually the Allies consolidated their position. Sir John Meldrum finally captured Cawood Castle on 19 May and outposts were established to contain Royalist raids.
In early June 1644, the Earl of Manchester arrived at York with the army of the Eastern Association, having secured Lincolnshire for Parliament with the capture of Lincoln and Gainsborough. Manchester's forces occupied the northern approaches, bringing the total number of Allied troops before York to 25,000. On 5 June, Allied batteries began bombarding the walls. On 7 June, the Covenanters stormed three outlying forts that covered the western approach to the city, two of which were captured. The next day, the Marquis of Newcastle opened negotiations for surrender. After an exchange of correspondence with the Allied commanders, a cease-fire was arranged for 14 June when commissioners from both sides met to discuss terms. They were unable to reach agreement. The Allied leaders suspected that Newcastle was playing for time and pressed ahead with plans to carry the city by storm.
Realising that the walls of York were too strong to be breached by artillery fire, the Allies initiated mining operations at two points: in the south-east at Walmgate Bar and in the north-west near St Mary's Tower. The plan was to explode the mines and assault the two breaches simultaneously. On 16 June, however, the mine at St Mary's was exploded prematurely. Major-General Crawford sent 600 Eastern Association infantry through the breach, but the attack was carried out in isolation. The Royalists counter-attacked and secured the breach. The attackers were cut off and forced to surrender before the Allies could support the assault, suffering up to 300 casualties. After this setback, no more attempts were made to storm the city. Meanwhile, a Royalist relief force commanded by Prince Rupert was preparing to lift the siege of York.
The York March, 16 May-1 July 1644
Prince Rupert first set out on the "York March" from Shrewsbury on 16 May with 6,000 foot and 2,000 horse. Rupert could not go directly to the siege because he needed to pick up reinforcements along the way and to secure Lancashire for the troops expected from Ireland. Reinforced by Lord Byron's contingent from Chester, Rupert stormed and captured Stockport on 25 May. He by-passed the well-fortified town of Manchester then stormed Bolton on 28 May. Bolton, known as the "Geneva of the North" because of its austere Puritanism, fell to Prince Rupert after two hours fighting. The Royalists slaughtered the defenders and sacked the town. At Bury, George Goring and Sir Charles Lucas joined the march with 5,000 men and a herd of stolen cattle, then the Earl of Derby brought in a force of raw local infantry. The Puritans of Lancashire quailed at Rupert's approach; the mayor of Preston nervously invited him to a banquet but Rupert was unimpressed and placed him under arrest. The Royalist citizens of Wigan strewed flowers and green boughs before him. The besiegers of nearby Lathom House, which had been defended for two months by the Countess of Derby, abandoned the siege and fled. On 6 June, Rupert approached Liverpool, defended by Colonel Moore. The Parliamentarians held out for five days against intense artillery bombardment then Moore loaded what stores he could onto ships and escaped by sea. Rupert stormed into Liverpool on 11 June. The first part of his plan was complete. Most of Lancashire was under Royalist control and he had secured Liverpool as another landing place for troops from Ireland.
Rupert hesitated at Liverpool, unsure whether to proceed to York or turn south to be near the King who was surrounded by advisers whom Rupert mistrusted. He also needed time to recruit troops, consolidate his army and complete the subjugation of Lancashire. On 18 June, Rupert received an ambiguous despatch from the King which he interpreted as ordering him not only to relieve York but also to fight the combined Scots and Parliamentarian armies that besieged it. With an army now 15,000 strong, Rupert set out across the Pennines on the final stage of the York March. He arrived at Knaresborough, 14 miles to the west of York on 30 July. The Allied generals decided to withdraw their forces from York to face him, blocking the road from Knaresborough at Long Marston, thinking that this was his only feasible approach. But Rupert moved swiftly north-west from Knaresborough, marching his army 22 miles in one day, crossing two rivers and approaching the city from the north via Boroughbridge. The speed of the manoeuvre completely outwitted the Allies. The siege was raised and the defenders of York swarmed out to plunder the abandoned Allied positions. Rupert's main force made camp in the Forest of Galtres while his cavalry secured the approaches to York. Rupert rode with his advance guard to reconnoitre the positions of the three Allied armies drawn up on Marston Moor.
Marston Moor, Yorkshire, 2 July 1644
When Prince Rupert arrived to raise the siege of York on 1 July, he intended to strike immediately at the Allied army. In response to the Marquis of Newcastle's elegant letter of welcome and congratulation, Rupert sent a curt military order directing Newcastle and the York garrison to be ready to march against the enemy early the next morning. Newcastle took offence at Rupert's brusqueness of manner. His military adviser Lord Eythin already held a grudge against Rupert. This resulted in a lack of co-operation amongst the Royalist commanders which cost Rupert his best chances of defeating the Allies. The Allied generals Leven, Manchester and Fairfax did not expect Rupert to fight immediately. They feared that he would strike southwards through Lincolnshire to join forces with the King's army. In the early hours of 2 July, the Allies began to withdraw from Marston Moor towards Tadcaster in order to cut off the route south. The infantry had already gone when Allied rearguard cavalry patrols clashed with Rupert's advance guard as he began to deploy his forces on the Moor. Realising that Rupert intended to fight, the Allied generals sent urgent orders to recall the infantry, knowing that it would take several hours to re-deploy their troops. At 9 o'clock in the morning, the Marquis of Newcastle with an entourage of Yorkshire gentlemen joined Rupert on Marston Moor and informed him that Lord Eythin would bring up the York garrison when they had finished plundering the abandoned Allied camp outside the city. Rupert, aware of the present disordered state of the Allied army, suggested an immediate attack without waiting for Eythin, but Newcastle objected to this and Rupert deferred to his judgement. By the time Eythin arrived with the York infantry at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the Allies were drawn up in battle order and singing psalms.
Both armies were deployed conventionally with cavalry on the wings, pikes and musketeers in the centre. The Covenanters provided the largest contingent in the Allied army, so Lord Leven was given overall command. The Allied right wing, around 5,000 strong, consisted of the horse of Fairfax's army commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax with three Scottish regiments under Lord Eglinton in reserve. The Swedish tactic of interspersing musketeers between bodies of horse was used by both sides. The Allied centre comprised 11,000 foot in four lines. In the first line, soldiers from the three Allied armies were interspersed, with Major-General Crawford commanding the English and Major-General Baillie commanding the Scots. Major-General Lumsden's Scots occupied the second line, while Lords Fairfax and Manchester commanded their brigades in the third line. A reserve Scottish brigade occupied the fourth line. The 5,000 cavalry on the left wing consisted of the Eastern Association horse — Oliver Cromwell's Ironsides — supported by Major-General David Leslie's Scottish horse.
A long ditch sparsely fringed with hedges separated the two armies. Rupert deployed musketeers from his own and Lord Byron's regiments of foot as a "forlorn hope" to harass and disrupt the Allies as they tried to negotiate the ditch. Facing Cromwell on the Royalist right wing were 2,600 horse interspersed with musketeers under Lord Byron. The bulk of the Royalist foot occupied the centre, around 10,000 in number under the overall command of Lord Eythin. The first line comprised the troops that had marched to York with Prince Rupert, the second third lines were composed of Newcastle's Whitecoats, commanded by Sir Francis Mackworth. Colonel Napier's brigade covered the gap between the centre and Byron's horse on the right, and the Royalist centre was further bolstered by Sir William Blakiston's cavalry brigade. The Royalist left wing of around 2,100 horse and 500 musketeers was commanded by George Goring supported by Sir Charles Lucas' regiment and Sir Marmaduke Langdale. Cavalry regiments were posted on each flank to prevent them being turned by the enemy. Rupert kept back a reserve of 700 horse, including his own and Newcastle's Lifeguard.
Lord Eythin was openly critical of Rupert's deployment of the Royalist army, saying that they were too close to the enemy. Supported by Newcastle, he protested that it was too late in the day when Rupert suggested that they should take the initiative and begin operations. Discouraged by the hostility of his colleagues, Rupert's judgement wavered and he allowed his troops to break ranks for supper while he rode off to his quarters in the rear. At about half past seven the sky darkened and a clap of thunder heralded a sudden rainstorm. Just as it broke, the whole Allied line surged forward. Cromwell's Ironsides on the Allied left flank crossed the ditch in good order. Lord Byron reacted quickly enough to mount a counter-charge, but his cavalry got in the line of fire of the Royalist musketeers, preventing them from disrupting Cromwell's attack. The Ironsides routed Byron's first line. Prince Rupert himself rallied the disordered cavalry. Cromwell is said to have been wounded and forced to leave the field for a time, but a flank attack by Major-General Leslie supported the Ironsides and shattered the Royalist right wing. Prince Rupert was separated from his Lifeguard and forced to hide in a beanfield to avoid capture.
On the opposite flank, however, the Allies came off worst. Sir Thomas Fairfax's cavalry came under heavy fire from Goring's musketeers as they struggled to cross the ditch and were driven back with heavy losses when Goring's cavalry charged. Fairfax found himself surrounded by enemy troopers and tore off his field sign to avoid recognition before riding the length of the battlefield to join Cromwell on the opposite flank. Goring's cavalry made repeated charges against the Allied infantry in the centre, who were already struggling against Newcastle's Whitecoats. Lord Fairfax's brigade of foot and several Scots regiments broke and fled. Even the Allied generals thought the battle was lost. Lord Fairfax and Lord Leven both fled the field; only the Earl of Manchester stood his ground. It was the resolution of two Scottish regiments, the Earl of Lindsay's and Lord Maitland's, that prevented a complete rout in the Allied centre. Meanwhile on the Allied left flank, Cromwell rallied his cavalry, wheeled and rode around behind the battle to charge Goring's cavalry and drive them from the field. Cromwell then turned to attack the Royalist foot. Newcastle's Whitecoat regiment made an heroic stand in a ditched enclosure called White Syke Close. Refusing to surrender they resisted repeated charges by the Ironsides until no more than 30 were left alive.
The battle of Marston Moor had lasted two hours. It is said to have been the biggest battle ever fought in Britain. Over 4,000 Royalists were killed and around 1,500 taken prisoner. The Allied losses were much lighter, with about 300 killed. All the Royalist ordnance, gunpowder and baggage were captured, along with 100 regimental colours. The city of York surrendered two weeks after the battle, ending Royalist power in the north of England. Prince Rupert rallied the survivors and retreated to Chester where he stoically set about building a new Royalist army. The Marquis of Newcastle, unwilling to "endure the laughter of the Court," abandoned the King's cause and fled to the Netherlands with Lord Eythin.
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
William Seymour, Battles in Britain 1066-1746, 1997
Austin Woolrych, Battles of the English Civil War, 1961
P. Young and W. Emberton, Sieges of the Great Civil War, 1978
Links:
Battle of Marston Moor : UK Battlefields Resource Centre