Battle of Piercebridge
Who Fought
Royalists approximately 6,000 troops (4,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry/dragoons, 10 artillery pieces) under the Earl of Newcastle; Parliamentarians approximately 580 troops (400 infantry, 180 cavalry) with 2 cannons under Captain John Hotham
History & Significance
The battle of Piercebridge was fought on 1 December 1642 in County Durham, England, during the First English Civil War. The Earl of Newcastle was advancing with an army of 6,000 from Newcastle upon Tyne to York to reinforce the local Royalists. Aware of his approach, the Parliamentarians defended the main crossing over the River Tees, at Piercebridge. Under the command of Captain John Hotham, around 580 troops had barricaded the bridge.
Newcastle sent an advance guard under the command of Sir Thomas Howard to take the crossing. The Royalists placed their ten artillery pieces on a hill to the north east of the bridge, allowing them to soften up the Parliamentarian defences. Howard, who was killed during the engagement, led his dragoons in an assault on the bridge, and after three hours of heavy fighting, Hotham and his men retreated, allowing the Royalists to continue on to York. The introduction of Newcastle's army into Yorkshire gave the Royalists a numerical advantage in the county, and led the Parliamentarians to rely on Fabian tactics for the next eighteen months.
In December 1642, the First English Civil War was in its fourth month since Charles I had raised the Royal Standard in Nottingham and declared the Earl of Essex, and by extension Parliament, traitors. That action had been the culmination of religious, fiscal and legislative tensions going back over fifty years.
Even before the formal start of the war, Yorkshire was a key area in the conflict. After Charles attempted to arrest five members of parliament in January 1642, members of the gentry started openly taking sides and preparing for war. Sir John Hotham seized Hull for Parliament the same month, and after fleeing London, the King established himself at York in March. The King twice attempted to take Hull in 1642 without success, and subsequently returned south to Nottingham. The Earl of Cumberland assumed command of the King's forces in Yorkshire. The Parliamentarians did not have a unified command: Ferdinando Fairfax, Lord Fairfax commanded their forces in the West Riding; Sir John Hotham held most of the East Riding; and Sir Hugh Cholmeley had a garrison in Scarborough, in the North Riding.
In the immediate aftermath of the King's departure in August, several of the gentry sought to dampen the escalation towards war within the county, even while continuing to consolidate their power; raising troops and establishing garrisons. Lord Fairfax arranged a meeting with some of the local Royalists which was held on 29 September, and they signed a Treaty of Neutrality. The treaty, which it was hoped could be used as a model for the whole country to adopt, suspended both the Militia Ordinance and the commissions of array, the methods of recruitment being used to raise forces, and disbanded the forces already raised within the county. It also called for all of Yorkshire to unite to repel any external force which entered the county. Although it was signed by twelve prominent leaders, neither the Hothams (Sir John Hotham and his son, Captain John Hotham) nor Cumberland were signatories, which the modern historian Stanley D. M. Carpenter cites as "ensuring its ultimate failure". Parliament rejected the treaty, while the Hothams rebelled against it, and attacked Selby and Cawood Castle in early October. By the middle of the month, Lord Fairfax renounced the treaty and resumed military operations.
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Piercebridge lies on Zechstein Group, bedrock that formed in the Late Permian. The rock here is dolomitised limestone and dolomite.
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- Battle of Piercebridge · Wikidata
- Battle_of_Piercebridge · Wikipedia
- Battle of Piercebridge · Battlefields Trust