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Battle of Marston Moor
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The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the First English Civil War of 1642–1646. The combined forces of the Scottish Covenanters under the Earl of Leven and the Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester defeated the Royalists commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine and the Marquess of Newcastle.
During the summer of 1644, the Covenanters and Parliamentarians had been besieging York which was defended by the Marquess of Newcastle. Prince Rupert had gathered an army which marched through the northwest of England to relieve the city, gathering fresh recruits on the way.
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The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the First English Civil War of 1642–1646. The combined forces of the Scottish Covenanters under the Earl of Leven and the Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester defeated the Royalists commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine and the Marquess of Newcastle.
During the summer of 1644, the Covenanters and Parliamentarians had been besieging York which was defended by the Marquess of Newcastle. Prince Rupert had gathered an army which marched through the northwest of England to relieve the city, gathering fresh recruits on the way. The convergence of these forces made the ensuing battle the largest of the Civil Wars.
On 1 July, Rupert outmanoeuvred the Scots and Parliamentarians to relieve the city. The next day, he sought battle with them even though he was outnumbered. He was dissuaded from attacking immediately and during the day both sides gathered their full strength on Marston Moor, an expanse of wild meadow west of York. Towards evening, the Scots and Parliamentarians themselves launched a surprise attack. After a confused fight lasting two hours, Parliamentarian cavalry under Oliver Cromwell routed the Royalist cavalry from the field and annihilated the remaining Royalist infantry.
After their defeat the Royalists effectively abandoned the north of England. Not only did they lose much of the manpower from the counties which were strongly Royalist in sympathy, and access to the continent of Europe through the ports on the North Sea coast, but they were then restricted to Wales and the southwest of England. Although they partially retrieved their fortunes with victories later in the year in the south of England, the loss of the north was to prove a fatal handicap the next year, when they tried unsuccessfully to link up with the Scottish Royalists under James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose.
Background
Siege of York
In late 1643, the English Civil War widened. King Charles I negotiated a "cessation" in Ireland which allowed him to reinforce his armies with English regiments which had been sent to Ireland following the uprising in 1641. Parliament took an even greater step by signing the Solemn League and Covenant, sealing the alliance with the Scottish Covenanters. Early in 1644, a Covenanter army under the Earl of Leven invaded the north of England on behalf of Parliament. The Royalist commander in the north of England, the Marquess of Newcastle, was forced to divide his army, leaving a detachment under Sir John Belasyse to watch a Parliamentarian army under Lord Fairfax in Hull, while he led his main body north to confront Leven.
During March and early April, the Marquess of Newcastle fought several delaying actions as he tried to prevent the Scots from crossing the River Tyne and surrounding the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. Meanwhile, a Parliamentarian cavalry force under Lord Fairfax's son, Sir Thomas Fairfax, entered Yorkshire from Cheshire and Lancashire where they had been campaigning during the winter. To prevent them rejoining Lord Fairfax in Hull, Belasyse occupied the town of Selby which lay between them. On 11 April, Sir Thomas Fairfax's force together with infantry under Sir John Meldrum stormed Selby, capturing Belasyse and most of his force.
Hearing the news, Newcastle realised that the city of York was threatened. York was the principal city and bastion of Royalist power in the north of England, and its loss would be a serious blow to the Royalist cause. He hastily retreated there to forestall the Fairfaxes. Leven left a detachment to mask the Royalist garrison of Newcastle upon Tyne, and followed Newcastle's army with his main body. On 22 April, Leven and the Fairfaxes joined forces at Wetherby, about west of York. Together, they began the Siege of York. Initially, the siege was a rather loose blockade as the Scots and Parliamentarians concentrated on capturing smaller Royalist garrisons which threatened their communications with Hull. On 3 June, they were reinforced by the Parliamentarian army of the Eastern Association under the Earl of Manchester. York was now completely encircled and siege operations began in earnest. Leven was accepted as Commander in Chief of the three combined allied armies before York (referred to by Parliament as the "Army of Both Kingdoms"). Not only were the Scots the largest single contingent, but Leven was a respected veteran of the Thirty Years' War.
Relief moves
News of the siege soon reached Oxford, where King Charles had his wartime capital. From 24 April to 5 May, he held a council of war attended by his nephew and most renowned field commander, Prince Rupert. It was settled that, while Charles attempted to play for time in Oxford, Rupert would relieve York.
Rupert set out from Shrewsbury with a small force on 16 May. His first moves were intended to gather reinforcements along the way to bolster his army, and secure Lancashire for the troops heading over from Ireland for the Royalist cause. He assumed command of a small Royalist army based on Chester under Lord John Byron, raising his force to 2,000 horse and 6,000 foot. Having forced a crossing of the River Mersey at Stockport, he stormed Bolton, allegedly killing 1,600 of the Parliamentarian defenders and citizens. Resting at Bury nearby, Rupert was joined by the Marquess of Newcastle's cavalry under Lord George Goring with a small contingent from Derbyshire, and several regiments which were being freshly raised in Lancashire by the Earl of Derby. Having sidestepped the Parliamentarian stronghold of Manchester, Prince Rupert approached Liverpool on 6 June and wrested control of the city from Parliament after a five-day siege.
Rupert now hesitated, unsure whether to proceed to the relief of York or remain to consolidate the Royalist hold on Lancashire, securing more reinforcements in the process. He also distrusted some of the members of Charles’s council of war and was wary of being so far from the King's side. On 16 June, he received a dispatch from the King which contained troubling news. The King’s advisors on the council of war had overturned Rupert’s defensive policies, sending the garrisons of Reading and Abingdon on an offensive in the West Country. This had left Oxford exposed to a sudden threat by Parliamentarian armies and forced the King to hastily leave the city and head to Worcester. Together with this unfortunate news, the letter contained some ambiguous orders regarding Rupert’s northern offensive and future plans:
Rupert understood the letter to be an order to relieve York and defeat the allied army before heading south once more to aid the King. By this time Rupert’s army numbered nearly . He set out from Liverpool to Preston, which surrendered without a fight. From there he proceeded via Clitheroe and crossed the Pennines to Skipton, where he paused for three days from the 26 June to 28 June to "fix arms" and await some final reinforcements from Cumberland and Westmoreland. He arrived at the Royalist garrison at Knaresborough Castle northwest of York on 30 June.
The allies were aware of Rupert's approach and had been hoping that reinforcements from the Midlands under Sir John Meldrum and the Earl of Denbigh could ward off this threat, but they learned that these forces could not intervene in time. The allied armies around York were separated from each other by rivers, and if Rupert attacked them in their siege lines he could destroy any one army before the other two could intervene. Therefore they abandoned the siege on the night of 30 June, and on 1 July they concentrated their forces at Marston Moor, in an attempt to block Rupert's expected direct march to York (along the old Roman road named Ermine Street, the modern A59), or any move to the south via Wetherby.
However, Rupert made a flank march to the northeast, crossing the River Ure at Boroughbridge and the River Swale at Thornton Bridge. These two rivers merge to form the River Ouse, which Rupert had put between himself and the allied armies. Late on 1 July, his forces defeated Manchester's dragoons, left to guard a bridge of boats across the Ouse at the village of Poppleton a few miles north of York. This had been the only crossing available to the allies above another bridge of boats at Acaster Malbis five miles south of York, and its capture prevented the allies crossing the Ouse to engage Rupert.
Later on the same day, more of Rupert's cavalry arrived at York to gain touch with the garrison. With York definitely relieved, Newcastle sent Rupert a fulsome letter of welcome and congratulations. Rupert replied, not in person but through Goring, with a peremptory demand for Newcastle to march his forces to Rupert's assistance on the following morning.
Battle
Prelude
On 2 July the allied commanders debated their options. They decided to march south to Tadcaster and Cawood, where they could both protect their own supply lines from Hull, and also block any move south by Rupert. The Parliamentarian foot (infantry), ordnance and baggage set off early, leaving the horse (cavalry) as rearguard. At about 9 am, the allied generals learned that Rupert's army had crossed the captured bridge of boats at Poppleton, and was advancing onto Marston Moor. The Parliamentarian foot, some of whom had already reached Tadcaster, were hastily recalled.
Around midday, Rupert was joined on Marston Moor by Newcastle, accompanied by a mounted troop of "Gentleman Volunteers" only. Rupert greeted him by saying, "My Lord, I wish you had come sooner with your forces, but I hope we shall yet have a glorious day." Newcastle was strongly opposed to a pitched battle. He counselled that the allied army would eventually dissolve, and also suggested waiting for a force of under Colonel Clavering and collected garrisons amounting to another to join the Royalist army. Rupert was adamant that the King's letter (which he never showed to Newcastle) was a command to engage and defeat the enemy immediately. Furthermore, Rupert wished to compensate for the Royalists' numerical inferiority by catching the enemy unawares, and before further Parliamentarian reinforcements could increase their superiority in numbers.
However, Newcastle’s soldiers in York had refused to fight unless given their delayed payment. A number were also absent, pillaging the abandoned trenches and encampments outside the city, and had yet to return. Rupert's own infantry were were exhausted from their long march on the previous day. Rupert therefore did not attack, and the odds against him lengthened as the day wore on and the Scots and Parliamentarians returned from their aborted move south and took position.
Deployment
Scots and Parliamentarians
The Covenanters and Parliamentarians occupied Marston Hill, a low but nevertheless prominent feature in the flat Vale of York, between the villages of Long Marston and Tockwith. They had the advantage of height, but cornfields stretching between the two villages hampered their deployment.
At some point in the day, the Royalists attempted to seize a rabbit warren to the west of the cornfields from where they might enfilade the Parliamentarian position, but they were driven off and the Parliamentarian left wing of horse occupied the ground. The wing was under the command of Manchester's Lieutenant General Oliver Cromwell. The first two lines consisted of over cavalry from the Eastern Association, including Cromwell's own Regiment of Ironsides. They were deployed in eleven divisions of three or four troops of cavalry each, with 600 attached musketeers deployed as platoons between them. The use of musketeers to disrupt attacking cavalry or dragoons was a common practice in the Swedish army of the Thirty Years' War, and was also adopted by the Royalists at Marston Moor. No surviving map or account states who commanded the second line, but Colonel Nathaniel Vermuyden was Manchester's Commissary General, or second in command of the Eastern Association horse. Three regiments of Scots horse, numbering and mounted on lighter ponies, formed a third line to Cromwell's rear under Sir David Leslie. Five hundred Scottish dragoons under Colonel Hugh Fraser were deployed on the extreme left.
The centre, under the three generals-in-chief with no overall commander, consisted of over foot, with 30 to 40 pieces of artillery. The various regiments had been hastily deployed as they returned to the field and were considerably mixed up, but most of Manchester's infantry under Sergeant Major General Lawrence Crawford were on the left of the front line, and Lord Fairfax's in the centre. Two Scots brigades, the "Vanguard" of their army, made up the right of the front line under Lieutenant General William Baillie. The second line consisted entirely of Scots, their "Main Battle" or simply "Battle", under Sergeant Major General James Lumsden. The weaker third and fourth lines consisted of some of Fairfax's infantry, a single Scots brigade and an incomplete regiment, and the Earl of Manchester's own Regiment of Foot.
The right wing was commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax (with John Lambert as his second in command). He had at least horse from Yorkshire and Lancashire, deployed in nine divisions, and 600 musketeers, with three regiments of Scots horse to his rear.
Royalists
The Royalists occupied the low-lying moor, behind a drainage ditch that Rupert noted as an effective obstacle for a cavalry charge. There is some dispute over the course of ditch at the time of the battle. Some contemporary accounts support the contention by later historians that it was non-existent on the Royalists' right wing. On the other hand, a plan of the Royalist dispositions by Rupert's chief engineer, Bernard de Gomme, shows the ditch in its present-day alignment. It is generally accepted that it was at least less of an obstacle on the Royalist right.
At about 4:00 pm, the contingent from York belatedly arrived, accompanied by Newcastle's Lieutenant General Lord Eythin. Rupert and Eythin already knew and disliked each other. Both had fought at the Battle of Vlotho in 1638, where Rupert had been captured and held prisoner for several years. Rupert blamed Eythin's caution for the defeat on that occasion, while Eythin blamed Rupert's rashness. On the Moor, Eythin criticised Rupert's dispositions as being drawn up too close to the enemy. His main concern was that a fold in the ground between the ridge and the track between Long Marston and Tockwith concealed the front line of the Allied infantry from both view and artillery fire, allowing them to attack suddenly from a comparatively close distance. When Rupert proposed to either attack or move his army back as Eythin suggested, Eythin then pontificated that it was too late in the day for such a move. The Royalist army prepared to settle down for the night, close to the allied armies.
The Royalist left wing was commanded by Lord Goring. It consisted of cavalry, mainly from the Marquess of Newcastle's cavalry, the "Northern Horse", and 500 musketeers. The first line was commanded by Goring and the second by Sir Charles Lucas.
Their centre was nominally commanded by Eythin. A forlorn hope of musketeers lined the ditch. The infantry units of Rupert's army, strong under Rupert's Sergeant-Major General Henry Tillier, formed the first line. Of them, a brigade numbering under Colonel Robert Napier was deployed at the ditch itself, at the junction of the right wing and centre. The infantry from Newcastle's army under Sergeant Major General Francis Mackworth formed behind the right of the front line when they arrived, and a brigade of "Northern Horse" numbering 600 under Sir William Blakiston, was behind their left. There were a total of 14 field guns deployed in the centre. It has been suggested that some at least of Mackworth's infantry had not taken up their assigned positions when the battle began, leaving the right of the Royalist centre understrength.
The right wing was commanded by Lord Byron, with horse and 500 musketeers. The second line, which included some comparatively inexperienced regiments, was commanded by Lord Molyneaux, but the unprincipled Sir John Hurry apparently acted as Byron's second in command.
Rupert personally commanded a reserve of 600 cavalry, including his elite Lifeguard of Horse.
Events
Delayed by the late arrival of the York garrison, it was late evening before the Royalists were fully deployed. A flurry of rain showers and the discouragement of Newcastle and Eythin persuaded Rupert to delay his attack until the next day. From the ranks of the allied army he could hear the singing of psalms. As the Royalist troops broke ranks for their supper, Leven noted the lack of preparation among his opponents, and ordered his men to attack at shortly after 7:30 pm, just as a thunderstorm broke out over the moor.
On the allied left, Cromwell's horse quickly defeated Byron's wing. Though under orders to stand his ground and rely on the ditch and musket fire to slow and disorder an enemy attack, Byron instead ordered a hasty counter-charge which disordered his own troops and prevented his musketeers and four "drakes" (field guns) attached to Napier's brigade firing without fear of hitting their own cavalry. In the clashes which followed, Byron's front line regiments were put to flight. Cromwell was slightly wounded in the neck, by a pistol ball in most accounts, and briefly left the field to have the wound dressed.
Noting the setback on this flank, Rupert led his reserve towards the right, rallying his own fleeing Regiment of Horse and leading them in a counter-attack. A Parliamentarian officer wrote:
Sir David Leslie's Scots eventually swung the balance for Cromwell. Rupert's right wing and reserve were routed and he himself narrowly avoided capture by hiding in a nearby bean field.
In the centre, Crawford's, Lord Fairfax's and most of Baillie's foot initially succeeded in crossing the ditch, capturing at least three pieces of artillery. On the right, Sir Thomas Fairfax's wing fared less well. Sir Thomas Fairfax himself later wrote:
Fairfax wrote that his second-in-command, Major-General Lambert, could not get up to him, and so charged in another place. A lane, the present-day Atterwith Lane, crossed the ditch on this flank, and some accounts suggest that several units were easy targets for the Royalist musketeers as they advanced along the lane only four abreast. When a small embankment alongside the ditch at this point was removed in the 1960s, several hundred musket balls were recovered.
When Goring launched a counter-charge, the disorganised Parliamentarians were routed, although some of the Scottish cavalry behind them resisted stoutly for some time. Most of Goring's victorious wing either scattered in pursuit, or fell out to loot the Allied baggage train, but some of them under Sir Charles Lucas wheeled to attack the right flank of the Allied infantry. Meanwhile, some of Newcastle's foot counter-attacked Lord Fairfax's foot in the centre of the allied front line and threw them into confusion. Following up this advantage, Blakiston's brigade of horse (with its numbers probably augmented by a troop of "Gentleman Volunteers" under Newcastle himself) charged the allied centre. Under these assaults in the confusion and the gathering darkness, over half the Scots and Parliamentarian infantry fled. Leven and Lord Fairfax also left the field, believing all was lost. Manchester remained on the battlefield, but effectively commanded only his own Regiment of Foot near the allied rear.
One Scottish brigade at the right of their front line under the Earl of Crawford-Lindsay and Viscount Maitland stood firm against Lucas, who launched three charges against them. In the third charge, his horse was killed, and he was taken prisoner. Behind them, the Scottish Sergeant Major General Lumsden managed to re-form part of the allied centre, using two Scottish brigades which had stood fast. Behind them in turn, the Earl of Manchester's regiment repulsed and scattered Blakiston's brigade of Royalist cavalry.
By now it was nearly fully dark, although the full moon was rising. The countryside for miles around was covered with fugitives from both sides. A messenger from Ireland riding in search of Prince Rupert wrote:
With no general present in command of either side, a drawn battle might have resulted, but Cromwell's disciplined horsemen had rallied behind the Royalist right. Sir Thomas Fairfax, finding himself alone in the midst of Goring's men, removed the "Field Sign" (a handkerchief or slip of white paper which identified him as a Parliamentarian) from his hat, and made his way to Cromwell's wing to relate the state of affairs on the allied right flank. Cromwell now led his cavalry, with Leslie's Scots horse in support and Crawford's foot on his right flank, across the battlefield to attack Goring's cavalry.
By this time, Goring's troops were tired and disorganised, and several of his senior officers were prisoners. They nevertheless marched down the hill from the Parliamentarian baggage to occupy roughly the same position which Sir Thomas Fairfax's cavalry had held at the start of the battle, which most contemporary accounts stated to be a position of disadvantage. When Cromwell attacked, Goring's outnumbered troops were driven from the field.
The triumphant allies now turned on the remains of the Royalist centre, overrunning successive units and cutting down many fugitives. Finally some of Newcastle's foot, the "Whitecoats", gathered for a last stand in a ditched enclosure. This has been suggested to be White Sike Close, in the rear of the Royalists' original position, but it is more probable that the enclosure was Fox Covert, a mile north of Long Marston on the natural line of retreat towards York. The Whitecoats refused quarter and repulsed constant cavalry charges until infantry and dragoons were brought up to break their formation. The last 30 survivors finally surrendered.
Approximately Royalist soldiers had been killed, many in the last stand of the "Whitecoats", and captured, including Charles Lucas and Major General Henry Tillier. The Royalists lost all their guns, with many hundreds of weapons and several standards also falling into the hands of the allied forces. The allied generals' dispatch, and other Parliamentarian accounts, stated that 300 of their soldiers were killed.
One of those mortally wounded among the Parliamentarians was Sir Thomas Fairfax's brother, Charles. Another was Cromwell's nephew, Valentine Walton. Cromwell was present when he died afterwards, and wrote a famous letter to the soldier's father, Cromwell's brother-in-law, also named Valentine Walton, which briefly described the battle and then informed the father of the son's last words and death.
Aftermath
Late at night, the Royalist generals reached York, along with many routed troops and stragglers. The Governor of York, Sir Thomas Glemham, refused entry to the city to all who were not part of the garrison (in effect, only a few officers who had participated in the battle as volunteers) in case Parliamentarian cavalry entered the city on the heels of the fleeing Royalists. Many fugitives, including wounded, crowded the streets before Micklegate Bar, the gate into the city.
Newcastle, having seen his forces broken and having spent his entire fortune in the Royalist cause, resolved that he would not endure the "laughter of the court". He departed for Scarborough on 3 July and went into exile in Hamburg, with Eythin and many of his senior officers. Two days after the battle, Rupert rallied cavalry, and a few hundred infantry whom he mounted on spare horses. He considered that, rather than attempt to restore Royalist fortunes in the north, he was required to return south to rejoin the King. Leaving York by way of Monk Bar on the north east side, he marched back over the Pennines, making a detour to Richmond to escape interception. Goring, who had accompanied him this far, headed for Scotland to aid the Royalists there under Montrose. With the departure of Newcastle and Rupert, the Royalists effectively abandoned the north.
The allies regrouped themselves, although too slowly to intercept Rupert as he left York. Leven had fled to Leeds, nearly from the battlefield, and was greatly surprised to learn of the victory. Once the Allied army had reformed, they resumed the siege of York. Under the agreement that no Scottish soldiers were to be garrisoned in the city, the garrison surrendered on honourable terms on 16 July. The allied army soon dispersed. Leven took his troops north to besiege Newcastle upon Tyne and Carlisle, while Manchester's army returned to Lincolnshire and eventually moved into the south of England.
Over the next few months the Scots and Parliamentarians slowly eliminated the remaining Royalist garrisons throughout northern England. The Royalist cavalry from the area, the "Northern Horse", continued to fight for King Charles under Sir Marmaduke Langdale, and even made several forays from the south to relieve Royalist garrisons in south Yorkshire, but they became increasingly undisciplined and licentious, turning many former sympathisers away from the Royalist cause.
The defeat at Marston Moor was a serious blow to the Royalist cause. Prince Rupert had been decisively beaten for the first time in the war and lost his reputation for invincibility. He was deeply affected by the defeat, and kept the King's ambiguous dispatch close to him for the remainder of his life. He had suffered an additional blow through the death during the battle of his lapdog "Boye", who had been a constant companion by his side throughout his campaigns. Parliamentarian propaganda made much of this, treating Boye almost as a Devil's familiar.
By contrast, Oliver Cromwell's reputation as a cavalry commander was firmly established. It was acknowledged that the discipline he had instilled into his troops and his own leadership on the battlefield had been crucial to the victory. Cromwell would later declare that Marston Moor was "an absolute victory obtained by God's blessing". From this moment, he was to exert increasing influence both in the House of Commons and in the Parliamentarian armies in the field.
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