Battle of Cropredy Bridge

Battle of Cropredy Bridge
Part of theFirst English Civil War
Date 29 June 1644 Location Cropredy,nearBanbury,Oxfordshire Result Royalistvictory
Belligerents
Royalists	Parliamentarians
Commanders and leaders
Charles I	SirWilliam Waller
Strength
5,000 horse 4,000 foot (only part engaged)	5,000 horse 4,000 foot (only part engaged)
Casualties and losses
Unknown	700 11 guns captured

Cropredy Bridge

Oxford

Abingdon

Newbridge

Hanwell

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Oxfordshire and Cropredy Bridge

TheBattle ofCropredy Bridgewas fought on Saturday 29 June 1644 (9 July 1644 Gregorian) nearBanbury,Oxfordshire during theFirst English Civil War.In the engagement, SirWilliam Wallerand theParliamentarianarmy failed to captureKing Charles.

The site was placed on theRegister of Historic Battlefieldsmaintained byHistoric Englandin 1995.

Background

In the early part of 1644, theRoyalistssuffered several setbacks. Two field armies were defeated atNantwichandCheriton,and aScottishCovenanterarmy invaded the north of England, driving the Royalists toYork,where they werebesieged.

King Charles held acouncil of warinOxford,his wartime capital, between 25 April and 5 May. It was agreed that while the King remained on the defensive in Oxford, protected by several outlying fortified towns, his nephewPrince Rupert of the Rhine(the famous Royalist field commander) would proceed to retrieve the situation in the north.The military command of the forces that remained with King Charles fell to Lord GeneralPatrick Ruthven, 1st Earl of Forth.

Campaign

After Rupert departed, the King's council changed this policy. To find reinforcements for the West Country where Rupert's brotherPrince Mauricewasbesieging Lyme Regis,they ordered the fortress ofReading,inBerkshire,to be abandoned. This released 2,500 foot soldiers for service elsewhere, but it also allowed the Parliamentarian armies of theEarl of Essexand SirWilliam Wallerto concentrate against Oxford. On 19 May, they began advancing toward Oxford from Reading. On 25 May, the Royalists abandonedAbingdonin the face of Essex's advance. Essex occupied the town and then crossed theThamesto capture bridges over theRiver Cherwellnorth of Oxford, while Waller passed south of Oxford to capture a crossing over the Thames to the west atNewbridge.

Charles was in imminent danger of being surrounded and besieged in Oxford. As the city was short of provisions, he would soon be forced to surrender. On 3 June, Charles made a feint towards Abingdon to induce Waller to draw back, and then marched westward at night towardsWorcesterwith a force mainly composed of cavalry. With Essex and Waller in pursuit, he was still in danger, but on 7 June, the two Parliamentarian generals (who disliked each other) conferred atStow on the Wold,and agreed that Essex would march westward to relieve the siege of Lyme Regis, while Waller shadowed the King.

This allowed the King to make another feint, which convinced Waller he was about to march northward, and then move back south by carrying his foot soldiers down theAvonin commandeered boats, so as to return to Oxford and collect reinforcements. Waller, having failed to intercept the King, went toGloucesterfor provisions. On 24 June, he marched from Gloucester to Stow on the Wold, where he received intelligence that the King was marching eastward from Oxford into the Parliamentarian-held eastern counties, and soon received orders from the ParliamentarianCommittee of Both Kingdomsto pursue him. By 27 June, Waller had reachedHanwell Castleon high ground to the west of the Cherwell, the King being just 5 miles (8.0 km) away in Edgecote. On 28 June, the King moved toBanbury.He was resolved to offer battle, but Waller held the advantageous position.

Battle

Cropredy Bridge, looking east towardsWilliamscot.On the fence beyond the left-hand parapet may be seen a plaque commemorating the battle.

On Saturday, 29 June, Charles's army began marching north along the east side of the River Cherwell. Waller's forces proceeded to shadow the King's movements on the other side of the river, the two armies little more than a mile apart and in sight of each other, but neither prepared to cross under the fire of enemy guns.

As they approachedCropredy,Charles ordered a small detachment of dragoons to seize the bridge over the Cherwell. At this point, he received a warning that 300 additional horsemen were approaching from the north to join Waller's army, and he ordered his army to hasten its march to cut off this detachment. The Royalist army became strung out. The vanguard and main body had crossed a stream at Hay's Bridge (near the present-day village ofChipping Warden), leaving a rearguard of only two cavalry brigades under theEarl of Clevelandand the twenty-year-oldEarl of Northampton,with some infantry, south of Hay's Bridge.

Waller, seeing his opportunity, sent Lieutenant GeneralJohn Middletonacross Cropredy Bridge with two regiments of horse (those of SirArthur Haselrigand Colonel Jonas Vandruske)and nine companies of foot to isolate the Royalist rearguard, while he himself led 1,000 men across Slat Mill Ford, a mile to the south of the bridge, to catch the Royalist rear in a pincer movement.

The Royalist dragoons holding Cropredy Bridge were soon overpowered. As Middleton's force streamed towards Hay's Bridge, they became strung out and vulnerable. At Hay's Bridge, Middleton's cavalry was checked by Royalist musketeers who had overturned a carriage to block the bridge, while the Earl of Cleveland charged the Parliamentarian foot and artillery behind them. Meanwhile, Northampton's brigade charged downhill against Waller's men, and forced them back across the Slat Mill Ford.

The King was alerted that his rearguard was engaged, and ordered his army to turn about. He also sent his own lifeguard of horse underLord Bernard Stewartback across Hay's Bridge to aid Cleveland. With their help, Cleveland made a second charge which forced Middleton back across Cropredy Bridge, abandoning eleven guns. Waller's major general of ordnance, Sir James Wemyss, was also captured.

The bridge itself was held by two Parliamentarian regiments of foot, ColonelRalph Weldon's Kentish Regiment and theTower HamletsTrained Bands regiment. The Royalists tried to recapture the bridge but were repulsed. Waller's remaining artillery continued to fire from their vantage point on Bourton Hill, forcing the Cavaliers to fall back from the river.

Aftermath

By evening, the two armies still faced each other across the River Cherwell. Charles took opportunity in the lull to dispatch his secretary of war, SirEdward Walker,to parley with Waller with a message of grace and pardon, but the Parliamentarian replied that he had no power to treat.

At length, after receiving further intelligence of additional Parliamentarians nearby, and as the king's train was low in food and supplies, the Royalists slipped away under the cover of night, taking the guns captured from Waller with them. While the Royalists had suffered few casualties, Waller had lost 700 men, many having deserted immediately after the battle.

Waller's army shortly became demoralised, and immobilised by desertions and mutinies by men unwilling to serve far from their homes, chiefly those drawn from London.Charles could afford to ignore Waller and march into the West Country after Essex, forcing Essex's army to surrender atLostwithiel.

Music

The songRed and Goldby (written byRalph McTellforFairport Convention,whoseannual music festivalis held on the outskirts of Cropredy) relates the story of the battle as told by a non-combatant.Versions of the song by various artists exist.

References

• Plant, David (6 September 2010)."The Oxford Campaign & Cropredy Bridge, 1644".BCW Project.David Plant. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020.Retrieved16 August2020.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
• Young, Peter;Holmes, Richard(2000).The English Civil War.Ware: Wordsworth Editions.ISBN1-84022-222-0.

Further reading

• Toynbee, Margaret; Young, Peter (1970).Cropredy Bridge, 1644: The Campaign and the Battle.Kineton: Roundwood Press.ISBN0-900093-17-X.

External links

• The English Civil War
• Robert Giglio.The Battle of Cropredy Bridge Being a short account of the actionfrom the English Civil War Society of America collections.
• British Civil War siteArchived3 August 2007 at theWayback Machine
• Battlefields Trust site
• Historic England site
• English Heritage Battlefield Report