Battle of Winnington Bridge
Who Fought
History & Significance
The Battle of Winnington Bridge, often described as the last battle of the English Civil War, took place on 19 August 1659 during Booth's Uprising, a Royalist rebellion in north-west England and Wales.
During the battle a Parliamentary army of around 5,000 men under the command of General John Lambert defeated a rebel army of 4,000 men under the command of Sir George Booth.
The rebels had first mustered under Booth at Warrington on 1 August. Booth's rising was part of a larger national conspiracy, led by John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, to return the exiled Charles II by taking advantage of ongoing political instability in the Commonwealth of England. While the national rising was quickly suppressed, Booth had local success, seizing the city of Chester and attracting 3-4,000 followers. Liverpool and parts of north-east Wales also declared for the rebels.
Booth initially began marching towards Manchester, but quickly realised that he was isolated, and turned back after receiving reports that government forces under General John Lambert were en route to confront him. While Booth had been a Parliamentarian colonel in the First English Civil War, he was unsure how to respond; he opened negotiations with Lambert, while simultaneously attempting to withdraw to the relative safety of Chester.
Lambert had left London on 6 August, following two infantry regiments that had set out the previous day. By 10th he had reached Coventry; on 14th the infantry rendezvoused with cavalry forces at Market Drayton in Shropshire. By 15th Lambert and the main army were at Nantwich; a force under Robert Lilburne was marching on Cheshire from the north, while Parliament had ordered a 1,500-strong brigade under Sankey to sail from Dublin to Beaumaris and secure the rebel districts' western flank.
Lambert was making directly for Chester, but on receiving information that Booth and a force estimated at 4-5,000 were near Northwich, advanced to cut off the rebels in the area of Delamere Forest. Lambert's rapid advance took the rebels by surprise and only a retreat ordered by Roger Whitley saved them from being overrun. On the evening of 18 August Lambert's scouts made contact with Booth's rearguard in Delamere Forest, but as darkness fell the two armies went into quarters, Lambert in Weaverham and Booth a few miles to the east in Northwich.
On the early morning of 19th Lambert found that the rebels had drawn up north of the River Weaver. Booth held the river crossing at Winnington Bridge, placing additional skirmishers on its approaches; the majority of his army was positioned on high ground north of the river, protected by steep slopes and a ditch at the base of the hill.
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Winnington Bridge lies on Triassic Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Triassic. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.
- Commonwealth of England: 1 killed
- Royalists: 30 killed; 200 captured
Frequently Asked Questions
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- Battle of Winnington Bridge · Wikidata
- Battle_of_Winnington_Bridge · Wikipedia