BattlefieldsPeterloo Massacre St Peter's Field 1819
modern

Peterloo Massacre St Peter's Field 1819

1819
Lancashire, England
Era
modern
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Lancashire, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Forces
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
approximately 60,000 peaceful reformers including women and children.
VS
Victor
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Manchester and Salford Yeomanry and 15th Hussars regular cavalry
Outcome
Fifteen dead and approximately 700 wounded. Government endorsed the magistrates and yeomanry. The Six Acts were passed restricting press and meetings. The event became a founding moment of the labour and reform movements.
The Battle

History & Significance

Manchester and Salford Yeomanry cavalry charged a crowd of approximately 60,000 people at St Peter's Field gathered to hear Henry Hunt speak on parliamentary reform. Fifteen people were killed and hundreds wounded in the most notorious act of domestic military violence in nineteenth-century England.

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