Siege of Lincoln

Siege ofLincoln
Part of theFirst English Civil War
Royalistgarrison commander, SirFrancis Fane
Date 3 - 6 May 1644 Location Lincoln,Lincolnshire Result Parliamentarian victory
Belligerents
Royalists	Parliamentarians
Commanders and leaders
Sir Francis Fane Charles Dallison	Earl of Manchester Oliver Cromwell
Strength
2,000 foot	6,000 foot and horse
Casualties and losses
50 killed 750-900 captured	8 killed 40 wounded

Thesiege of Lincolntook place from 3 to 6 May 1644 during theFirst English Civil War,when the important town ofLincolnwas besieged byParliamentarianforces under theEarl of Manchester.On the first day, the Parliamentarians took the lower town. TheRoyalistdefenders retreated into the stronger fortifications of the upper town, which encompassed and incorporatedLincoln CastleandLincoln Cathedral.The siege ended four days later when the Parliamentarian soldiers stormed the castle, taking prisoner the Royalist governor, SirFrancis Fane,and what remained of his garrison.

Prelude

Early in 1644, Parliamentarian forces underLord Willoughbybesieged theRoyaliststronghold ofNewark-on-Trent.As overall commander of Parliamentarian forces inLincolnshire,Willoughby ordered the Lincoln garrison to come to his aid.In April, a combined Parliamentarian-ScottishCovenanterforce began theSiege of York,threatening the Royalist position in the north.In response,Charles I of Englandordered his nephewPrince Rupertto relieve Newark and collect all the troops he could inShropshire,Cheshire,andWales.He would then march intoLancashire,where he would be reinforced by levies from the RoyalistEarl of Derby's tenantry, then proceed intoYorkshireand relieve York.

Command of the Parliamentarian forces investing Newark passed to veteran Scottish soldier SirJohn Meldrum,who chose to oppose Rupert rather than retreat. Rupert defeated him on the banks of theTrenton 22 March 1644 andrelieved Newark.This allowed the Royalists to occupy the county, with a garrison taking possession of Lincoln on 23 March, where the Royalists found and requisitioned 2,000 muskets. The Parliamentarians abandonedSleafordand on orders from Meldrum,Gainsboroughwas slighted so that it could not be garrisoned by the Royalists.

Lincoln

Stamford

Mansfield

Sleaford

Gainsborough

Winceby

Newark

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Key locations, East Midlands

However, Rupert decided that he could not hold his gains, and withdrew into theWest Midlands,leaving a garrison in Lincoln under SirFrancis Fane.At the same time, theMarquess of Newcastle,Royalist commander in York, decided his cavalry would be of little use within the besieged city. Led byLord Goring,they broke out of the city, and made their way to Newark.

The Parliamentarian army of theEastern Associationunder theEarl of Manchesterused Rupert's withdrawal as an opportunity to counterattack.In the last week of April, Manchester was atStamford.He ordered his cavalry under the command ofOliver Cromwellto advance. They cleared Lincolnshire of marauding parties of Cavaliers from Newark and drove them across the Trent, where they joined Goring atMansfield.Manchester then marched to Lincoln, arriving on 3 May 1644.

Siege

Partial view of the eastern gate (to the right; the observatory tower is to the left)

Manchester's army of about 6,000 infantry and cavalry faced a Royalist garrison around 2,000 strong.On 3 May, the Parliamentarians managed to capture parts of the lower town and the Royalists retreated to their upper works which surroundedLincoln CastleandLincoln Cathedral. The attack was suspended the next day, because heavy rain made the ground too slippery.

Cromwell posted his horse so as to cover the siege from any interruption from Goring. He made his dispositions so well that, hearing on 5 May that Goring had crossed the Trent, Cromwell's troopers were assembled and drawn up in little over an hour from the news being received. Goring, finding the outposts on the alert, fell back again.A contemporary Royalist report states that that night the Parliamentarians attempted to storm Lincoln Close but were repulsed with about 60 killed.

The castle was stormed on the night of 6 May;although thescaling laddersproved to be too short, but the Parliamentarians managed to scale the walls and enter the castle. The Royalists fled from theparapetsand asked forquarterwhich was granted. Parliamentarian casualties were eight killed and about 40 wounded. The Royalists suffered about 50 killed with 100 officers and between 650 and 800 soldiers taken prisoner. Among the officers captured were SirCharles Dallison,the former Recorder of Lincoln, and Sir Francis Fane.The Parliamentarians also captured eight cannons, and much other usefulmateriel.

Aftermath

View from Lincoln Castle

The victorious Parliamentarian troops pillaged the upper town. On receipt of Manchester's report theCommittee of Both Kingdomsin London sent him their congratulations. Shortly after the capture of Lincoln, Manchester ordered abridge of boatsto be built over the Trent at Gainsborough, and Cromwell crossed with 3,000 horse, while two regiments of foot (infantry) held the bridge. Goring appears to have had at least as many troopers as Cromwell, but the latter drove him up the Trent towards Newark, and headed him off atMascomb Bridge,forcing him to swim the river in order to escape.

Cromwell then returned toBawtryandTuxford(both on theGreat North Road), whereDavid Lesliejoined him with a strong party of Scottish horse and placed himself under his command. Goring crossed from Newark intoLeicestershire,where he commenced plundering the country up and down. The allied generals, however, refused to allow their horse to follow him, being convinced by this time that Rupert intended to relieve York. They therefore kept their horse in hand in south Yorkshire and waited for Manchester to advance with his foot.Goring subsequently moved viaDerbyshiretoBuryin Lancashire, where he joined Rupert.

Manchester himself remained in Lincoln until around 22 May when he sent a report on his preparations for his advance to link up with the besiegers of York. He joined them on 3 June. Manchester, Fairfax and the Scots ultimately won a major victory over Rupert at theBattle of Marston Mooron 2 July.

Sources

• Hill, J.W.F. (1955).Tudor & Stuart Lincoln.CUP Archive.ISBN978-1-00-140586-5.
• Bell, J., ed. (January–June 1832)."Lady William Montague".Belle Assemblée: Or, Court and Fashionable Magazine; Containing Interesting and Original Literature, and Records of the Beau-monde.London: Edward Bull.

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:Baldock, Thomas Stanford (1809).Cromwell as a soldier.The Welessley Series. Vol. 5. K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & co., ltd. p.138.