Battle of Denbigh Green
Who Fought
History & Significance
The Battle of Denbigh Green (1 November 1645) took place during the closing stages of the First English Civil War. Fought just outside the Royalist garrison of Denbigh, it has been described as probably the only action in the North Wales theatre of the war "meriting the description of battle".
In a last-ditch attempt to relieve the strategic port of Chester, Royalist cavalry commander Sir William Vaughan ordered the mustering of around 2,000 men, drawn from garrisons across Shropshire and north-east Wales, at Denbigh Green. Before gathering all his forces he was attacked by a larger Parliamentarian force under Thomas Mytton and Michael Jones; after a hard-fought action, the Royalists were routed and dispersed.
The last substantial Royalist field army was destroyed at Naseby in June 1645. Following a failed attempt to link up with Royalists in Scotland, and with his supporters increasingly confined to a series of small garrisons in the West of England and Wales, Charles I pinned his hopes on reinforcement from Ireland. This required holding the strategic port of Chester, where Lord Byron's garrison had been intermittently blockaded since December 1644.
The siege resumed in earnest in September under Sir William Brereton. A Royalist attempt to relieve the city was defeated on 24 September at Rowton Heath, following which Charles ordered Sir William Vaughan, an experienced cavalryman who had served in Ireland until 1644, to return to Wales with the remains of his brigade and gather forces for another relief attempt.
Vaughan hurriedly began to assemble men at Ludlow from a variety of garrisons, including Ludlow itself, Bridgnorth and High Ercall. His force eventually included remnants of at least ten regiments, though the collapse in Royalist supply lines meant they were poorly armed: it was reported that of the cavalry "scarce a tenth man hath a pistol". By mid-October he had potentially 2,000–3,000 horse available, and issued an order for a general rendezvous with the foot within sight of Salesbury's Royalist garrison at Denbigh Castle.
Vaughan's forces and their probable destination were reported to Brereton as they marched north over Corndon Hill. He ordered 1,500 horse and a similar number of infantry detached from the siege of Chester to engage them, under Colonel Michael Jones and Adjutant-General James Lothian. Jones reached Ruthin on 30 October, where Thomas Mytton, the Parliamentarian commander for North Wales, assumed overall command.
Vaughan's advance guard had reached Chirk Castle, where they picked up a few additional infantry, on the morning of 23 October, Vaughan himself arriving by 26th. By 31 October, Vaughan was encamped on Denbigh Green, an open four-mile tract of commonland outside the town, where he received news Mytton had left Ruthin. Most forces ordered to the rendezvous from the North Wales garrisons had yet to arrive and diarist Richard Symonds, a volunteer with Vaughan, counted the Royalist cavalry at just 700, although this may have been exclusive of several hundred lightly armed Irish. Despite the option of withdrawing to the Royalist stronghold of Rhuddlan, Vaughan chose to stand and fight - a "suicidal" decision given the odds.
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Denbigh Green lies on Permian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Permian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.
- Royalists: 100 killed; 400 captured
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- Battle of Denbigh Green · Wikidata
- Battle_of_Denbigh_Green · Wikipedia