Second Battle of Newbury 1644
Who Fought
Royalists: 8,500 (3,500 cavalry, 5,000 infantry); Parliamentarians: 19,000 (7,000 cavalry, 12,000 infantry)
History & Significance
The Second Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War fought on 27 October 1644, in Speen, adjoining Newbury in Berkshire. The battle was fought close to the site of the First Battle of Newbury, which took place in late September the previous year.
The battle ended indecisively, the Parliamentarian army, commanded by Sir William Waller and the Earl of Manchester, attempted to trap the royalist forces in a pincer by attacking both sides of Charles' army simultaneously. The Parliamentarian attacks were repulsed by the Royal army. Charles however realised following the battle, his position had been rendered untenable and withdrew towards Oxford during the night. The exhausted Parliamentarian army was unable to block the royalist retreat and Charles was able to leave unmolested, despite being heavily outnumbered.
The tactical failures in the command and control of the Parliamentarian army during this battle led to several major military reforms that resulted in the creation of the New Model Army for Parliament the following year.
In the early months of 1644, the Parliamentarians had won victories at Cheriton in the south of England and Nantwich in the northwest. Also, they had secured the allegiance of the Scottish Covenanters, who sent an army into the north east. These developments both distracted the Royalists and weakened their forces around Oxford, King Charles's wartime capital.
Early in June, the Parliamentarian armies of the Earl of Essex and Sir William Waller threatened to surround Oxford. King Charles made a night march to escape to Worcester. He was still in danger but on 6 June, Essex and Waller (who disliked each other) conferred at Stow-on-the-Wold and fatally decided to divide their armies. While Waller continued to shadow the King, Essex marched into the West Country, to relieve Lyme which was under siege, and then to subdue Devon and Cornwall.
This allowed the King to double back and return to Oxford to collect reinforcements. On 29 June, he then won a victory over Waller at Cropredy Bridge. Waller's army, most of which was unwilling to serve far from its home areas in London and the southeast, was subsequently crippled for several weeks by desertions and threatened mutinies. The King was thus free to march after Essex's army.
Essex was soon trapped against the coast at Lostwithiel. He relied on support from the Parliamentarian navy, but contrary winds prevented the Parliamentarian ships leaving Portsmouth. Although Essex himself escaped in a fishing boat and his cavalry broke out of encirclement, the rest of his army was forced to surrender on 2 September, losing their arms and equipment. The troops were paroled, but suffered severely from exposure and attacks by country people during their march to Portsmouth. Although they were re-equipped, only 3,000 infantry (out of the 6,000 who started) were fit for service.
The ground they fought on
The site of Second Battle of Newbury 1644 lies on Lambeth Group, bedrock that formed in the Paleocene. The rock here is clay, silt, sand and gravel.
- Royalists: 1,500; Parliamentarians: 2,000
Frequently Asked Questions
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- Second Battle of Newbury · Wikidata
- Second_Battle_of_Newbury · Wikipedia