BattlefieldsMaidstone 1648 Second Civil War Battle
English Civil War

Maidstone 1648 Second Civil War Battle

1648
England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Kentish Royalists
Forces
Kentish Royalists approximately 11,000 under the Earl of Norwich
VS
Victor
Parliamentary New Model Army
Forces
Parliamentary New Model Army under Fairfax approximately 6,000
Outcome
Decisive Parliamentary victory; Kentish rising broken; survivors fled to Colchester; Fairfax methodical town assault ended the Second Civil War in Kent.
The Battle

History & Significance

The Battle of Maidstone on 1 June 1648 was the decisive engagement of the Kentish Royalist rising in the Second Civil War. Fairfax stormed the town house by house in a bloody night fight through the streets, with the Royalists defending barricades and rooftops until the last. Approximately 1,200 Royalists were killed or taken in the town; the surviving leaders crossed the Thames to join the Colchester rising.

Questions & Answers

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