Battle of Marshall's Elm
Who Fought
History & Significance
The battle of Marshall's Elm was a skirmish that took place near Street, in the county of Somerset, South West England, on 4 August 1642. The engagement occurred during the build-up to formal beginning of the First English Civil War on 22 August, while the Royalists and Parliamentarians were recruiting men in the county. The Royalists had established their regional headquarters in Wells, but were threatened by superior Parliamentarian numbers in the vicinity. The Royalist commander sent out a mounted patrol consisting of 60 to 80 cavalry and dragoons, which came across a force of between 500 and 600 Parliamentarian recruits travelling north across the Somerset Levels under the command of Sir John Pyne.
The Royalists set an ambush at Marshall's Elm, where the road rose out of the Levels into the Polden Hills. After a parley between the leaders was unsuccessful, the Parliamentarians were caught in the ambush. Facing musket fire from the hidden dragoons, and being charged at by the Royalist cavalry, they were routed. The Royalists killed around 27, and took 60 prisoners, including two of the Parliamentarian officers. Despite their victory, the Royalists were forced to withdraw from Wells, and later from Somerset altogether, due to their inferior numbers.
Conflict between the English Parliament and its monarch on religious, fiscal and legislative matters had been ongoing since at least 1603. The tension between Parliament and King Charles escalated sharply during 1642 after the King had attempted to arrest five Members of Parliament, who he accused of treason. In preparation for the likelihood of conflict with Parliament, Charles appointed the Marquess of Hertford as commander of his forces in the West Country, supported by Sir Ralph Hopton, a local Member of Parliament (MP) and an experienced army officer. Both sides were attempting to recruit the existing militia and new men into their armies. Parliament passed the Militia Ordinance in March 1642 without royal assent, granting themselves control of the militia. In response, Charles granted commissions of array to his commanders, a medieval device for levying soldiers which had not been used since 1557. One such commission was issued to Hertford, for the levying of troops in south-west England and south Wales.
Hertford chose Wells in Somerset as the Royalists' headquarters in the West Country, and they arrived in the city on 28 July. The decision was based on the fact that Wells housed the county magazine, had Royalist sympathies, and was geographically central within the area. In his 1973 book, Somerset in the Civil War, the historian David Underdown criticises the decision, citing Wells' vulnerable position in the Mendip Hills, and the strong Parliamentarian views held by the majority of Somerset's rural population. Hopton had previously acted as one of the deputy lieutenants for Somerset, making him responsible for training and leading the county's militia. Hopton's standing helped the Royalists' recruiting, but the general population of the county, many of whom were Calvinist Protestants, or worked in industries depressed by royal policies, was more sympathetic towards Parliament than the King. Broadly speaking, the Royalists were more successful in recruiting cavalry and members of the gentry; Hopton, John Digby and Francis Hawley each brought a troop of horse, but attempts to raise an infantry regiment were unsuccessful. In contrast, the Parliamentarians signed up more men, but many of these were untrained and unarmed countrymen.
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Marshall's Elm lies on Lias Group, bedrock that formed in the Aalenian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, limestone and sandstone.
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- Battle of Marshall's Elm · Wikidata
- Battle_of_Marshall's_Elm · Wikipedia