Siege of Arundel
Who Fought
Parliamentarians: approximately 5,000 men from the South-Eastern trained bands under Sir William Waller. Royalists: originally 800 infantry and four troops of horse under Governor Colonel Joseph Bampfield (horse withdrawn by Hopton before the siege).
History & Significance
The siege of Arundel took place during the First English Civil War, from 19 December 1643 to 6 January 1644, when a Royalist garrison surrendered to a Parliamentarian army under Sir William Waller.
At the end of 1642, South-East England was largely controlled by Parliament, with pockets of Royalist support in Hampshire and Kent. In an October 1643 offensive led by Sir Ralph Hopton, the Royalists advanced into Sussex, where a small garrison at Arundel Castle surrendered without fighting on 2 December.
Hopton's policy of trying to hold as many towns as possible left individual garrisons isolated, while the Royalists lacked a mobile field army, capable of quickly supporting threatened positions. Arundel was attacked by a large Parliamentarian force on 19 December; although strongly held, severe weather and poor roads meant it could not be relieved, and surrendered on 6 January.
When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, Parliamentarian forces secured most of southern England, including the ports of Southampton and Dover, as well as the bulk of the Royal Navy. After Portsmouth surrendered in September, Parliament controlled every major port from Plymouth to Hull, preventing the Royalists from importing arms and men from Europe. This situation changed on 13 July 1643 when Sir Ralph Hopton, Royalist commander in the south-west, inflicted a serious defeat on Sir William Waller at the Battle of Roundway Down outside Devizes.
Parliamentarian garrisons in the west were left isolated, enabling Prince Rupert to storm Bristol on 26 July. Capturing the second largest city in Britain was a significant achievement, and allowed the Royalists to transfer troops from Ireland. With South West England secured, it also provided an opportunity to threaten London and persuade moderates like Denzil Holles to negotiate peace. At a strategy meeting in Oxford, it was agreed Prince Rupert would take Gloucester, the last major Parliamentarian position in the west, then march on the capital. Hopton would support him by advancing into Hampshire and Sussex, whose Wealden iron industry was Parliament's main source of armaments.
However, Hopton was short of money and supplies, while his infantry consisted mostly of half-trained Irish conscripts, which delayed him until mid-October. By then, Prince Rupert had failed at Gloucester, and his advance on London was checked at the inconclusive battle of First Newbury on 20 September. This would prove the highpoint of Royalist success and by the time Hopton was ready to move their chances of military victory had passed.
One of his officers was Sir William Ogle, who had been serving in Ireland, but came from Winchester. In late October, he discovered the Parliamentarian garrison had been withdrawn and occupied the town, forcing Hopton to advance before he was ready. On reaching Winchester in early November, his troops promptly mutinied and a number were executed before order was restored.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Arundel lies on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.
When Waller intercepted Hopton's relief column at North Marden on 27 December 1643, the Royalist commander found himself outnumbered despite having received an additional 1,000 horse under Lord Wilmot from Oxford; he had lost 600 infantry at Alton and was desperately short of foot soldiers. Forced to withdraw, Hopton left the garrison to its fate, and Waller was free to bring heavy artillery from Portsmouth to bear on the castle walls. With the besiegers having already drained the lake that was the garrison's chief water supply and the defenders ravaged by typhus, Colonel Bampfield's men had little choice but to surrender on 6 January 1644.
- Lt-Colonel John Birch was shot in the stomach during the assault on the outer defences on 20 December. The garrison was weakened by typhus before the final surrender.
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