Cromwell’s Conquest of Ireland
Having read God’s Executioners which sadly fell short of addressing any of the issues I would raise. I thought I would create this table. It’s not designed to clear or condemn Cromwell, more to spell out to Cromwell’s critics and supporters the area the debate must fall in.
Also having chatted to the Irish author of this book, I would definately recommend this as a read. Cromwell: An Honourable Enemy
The Last battle of the War of Three Kingdoms
The War of Three Kingdoms famous to most as a bloody series of revolutions and civil wars fought across Britain and Ireland in between 1638 and 1651 where dozens of factions all fought, allied, betrayed and re-allied against one another, where religious fanaticism married political radicalism and blatant opportunism, and a million people lost their lives. It all ended at the battle of Worcester in the west of England in 1651 when Oliver Cromwell defeated the invading Scottish Army of Charles II…………..Or so we’re told.
With Britain exhausted from over a decade of strife Cromwell’s regime was faced with the daunting prospect of re-igniting the economy. At that time the wealthiest place in the world was the West Indies and it was to the New World where Cromwell envisioned the restoration of Britain’s fortunes. Of course there was a problem, the West indies were mostly under the control of Spain, still the main enemy, not France since the days of Elizabeth. But now at last Britain finally possessed a land army to rival Spain: the New Model Army Europe’s finest fighting machine and the first modern army in the world since Roman times made up entirely of grizzled veteran soldiers and officers worked up through the ranks entirely on merit.
In 1654 Cromwell fired the first shot against Spain by occupying Santo Dominigo and then taking Jamaica soon after that and thus the Anglo-Spanish War of 1652-60 began at Cromwell’s instigation. Britain wasn’t alone in fighting Spain, as France was already at war with her, so quickly to two countries formed an alliance with 7000 New Model Army (or Ironsides as they had become known) troops were to France to bolster French armies fighting the Spanish, 3000 of these were included in the army of Vicomte de Turenne giving perhaps the finest general of the age the finest soldiers.
In 1658 Turenne was given the task of invading Flanders and seizing it from the Spanish, taking with him taking 15,000 troops including 3000 Ironsides he laid siege to the city of Dunkirk. The Spanish response was swift and within a few weeks an army under Don Juan of Austria with the Prince de Conde another great French commander as his military chief arrived to break the siege. Conde’s force also numbered 15,000 men and included a British contingent of 2000 Royalists in exile led by Charles II’s younger brothers, the Duke of York and Duke of Gloucester consisting of three regiments, two of English royalist and one Irish, though there were a good many Scots in all three.
Turenne seeing his siege about to be lifted decided to attack despite having only equal numbers. Conde caught somewhat by surprise by the haste in which Turenne marched on him elected to defend and sought out a viable defensive position, eventually settling upon almost flat area of beach. The position was sound with his right flank anchored by the sea and his left to a canal on the shore, only one notable terrain feature sat upon this otherwise completely flat battlefield. This was a large 150 foot tall sand dune, he saw this would give him some advantage over the enemy and deployed his line across it. He deployed his best Spanish infantry on top of it and considered it would be too costly for Turenne to attack as both armies were even in infantry and cavalry. Conde was confident in his position, with no way to flank the army and the right a strongly defensible position, Turenne would have to assault his centre and left where he could mass his troops in depth. Or so he thought.
Any ordinary commander would have been perturbed by the seemingly superior position of the Spanish, but Turenne was no ordinary commander and came up with one of the most cunning battle plans in history to defeat them. He knew the tide would go out in a few hours and he could charge his cavalry around the right flank of the Spanish through the retreating waves. But he also knew a great commander like Conde would quickly see this and expand his line to accommodate, so he had to prevent this. He elected to this with madness by doing the one thing Conde couldn’t have thought he was stupid enough to do, assault the dune. He would launch an attack across the centre and impenetrable right leaving his left weak against Conde’s strong left. This would look not only look incompetent to the Spanish tie up all his troops but it would tie up all their troops on their right and centre too so they could not fill the gap on their flank from the retreating tide. Then at the right moment he could strike. It was a hell of a gamble, but that’s maybe the only way one great commander can break an almost perfect defensive position of another.
Turenne began his assault tasking the Ironsides with the job of mounting the slope and assaulting the Spanish troops on the dune. Comde had deployed the British Royalist troops just to the left of the Dune, it seemed the two British contingents would be within sight of each other but not actually engage. Half the Ironsides began firing vollies into the Spanish at the top of the hill while the other half began to make their way up the Dune coming under withering fire from the Spanish defenders as they did, the casualties were horrendous but the Ironsides didn’t buckle and after upon reaching the summit both pike and musket launched a ferocious charge at the Spanish. For several minutes brutal hand to hand combat took place between the Spanish defender and Ironside attackers. Seeing this the Duke of York personally commanding the Royalists lead reinforcements up the hill to aid the Spanish and once again 7 years after the Battle of Worcester Roundhead fought Cavalier. However even with Royalist reinforcements it wasn’t enough and Ironsides fighting like tigers smashed through the Spanish and Royalist lines sending them fleeing down the dune in confusion. Ironside commander Morgan then rallied the Ironsides and managed to stop them pursuing, instead reforming them on top of the dune.
As the dune fell Turenne judged the sea was shallow enough launching his horse around the Conde’s right and to the rear of the bemused Spanish and Wallons. Almost instantly the right and some of the centre of the Spanish army facing infantry to the front and cavalry to the rear broke or surrendered without a fight with three notable exceptions, the three Royalist regiments who continued fighting, the reason being they were engaging the Ironsides that hadn’t assaulted the hill, for the second time that day Roundhead was meeting Cavalier, old scores were being settled and a ferocious musket and pike duel was ensuing, and aprivate battle taking place oblivious to events around them.
Meanwhile in an attempt the save the day Conde counter attacked on the left with everything he had and very nearly broke though, personally leading three cavalry charges and having his horse shot beneath him he broke through the French right and almost looked like doing the same the Turenne’s right as had been done to his, but for one stubborn regiment of French guards who held ground in porcupine formation firing vollies into his cavalry foiled him.
Conde knew when he was beaten and set about saving what remained of his army and personally organised the retreat saving half his army. Meanwhile the only remaining formed units of his force on the field, the Royalists, were locked in bloody battle with the Ironsides, finally realising the situation they were now surrounded, alone and facing the entire French army they agreed to surrender, but not to the Ironsides, instead to the French regiments that had now moved up on them and that they become French not Ironside prisoners.
Two of the great generals of French history had met, Conde and Turenne, in an almost even battle where one of the great tactical manoeuvres in history was executed to perfection, both these forces with a small contingent of British troops fighting old grievances that spanned two decades and were still boiling strong. How strong this was and how much more ferociously the British troops engaged one another than the French and Spanish can be illustrated by the battle figures. Of the 1000 Spanish casualties over half came from the 2000 Royalists, two of the three regiments were completely destroyed. Of the 400 French casualties most of them came from the Ironsides. For the French and Spanish it was almost a delicate eighteenth century battle of manoeuvre where one army outwitted by another and seeing the position futile gracefully retreated or surrendered. For the British it a was a blood curdling enraged slaughter session where two hated foes tore shreds out of one another as part of a 20 years long vendetta.
After the battle Dunkirk fell to Turenne, who was criticised later by Napoleon for not using this victory as momentum to march on and capture Brussels. Some of the Ironsides stayed to garrison Dunkirk while the rest campaigned on in Belgium for another year, though never to meet another Royalist. Dunkirk and Mardyke became part of Cromwell’s Commonwealth until sold to France in 1662. The Anglo-Spanish War along with the Franco-Spanish War were the conflicts that finally broke the Spanish Empires back, never again would Spain be a force. Britain annexed Jamaica and used it as springboard to control of the Caribbean, the richest prize in the world for the British Empire before India.
English Civil War Faction Video
I did it, I finally became a movie mogul.
Last year I unleashed onto this blog the English Civil War Factions article, (click on English Rebels in the categories on the right of the screen) now I have made it into a mini documentary.
It’s my first attempt at turning an article into a film. I plan to do it with some longer ones, but need to address the problem of how to narrate it, hopefully I’m ok for writing and images. Any ideas on narration, drop me a line.
Fog of War and Marston Moor
Arguably the battle that lost a king his crown, but may never have happened. The battle only happened because of a note sent from Charles to Rupert. For the last three hundred years historians have tried to work out what it said….. Wanna try?
On 2 July 1644 no less than five armies lined up against one another. On one side was the army of Thomas Fairfax and the Northern Parliamentarians, who in the Royalist stronghold of Northern England, out numbered and resourced had fought a brave but doomed struggle against the forces of the Marquis of Newcastle. However this had all changed as the Scots invaded England in the summer of 1644 under the Earl of Leven, one of the finest soldiers in Europe, who had commanded a Brigade for Gustavus Adolphus at Lutzen and promoted to a Swedish field Marshal defeated the combined forces of the Holy Roman emperor and Saxony at Wittstock. Heavily outnumbered Newcastle had fallen back to the Royalist stronghold of York where he found himself besieged by Fairfax and Leven. Matters got worse when a third army, the Eastern Association, under the Earl of Manchester and Oliver Cromwell joined the siege.
With Newcastle in dire straits and faced with losing his most powerful and successful field army King Charles from his Oxford base was forced to act, dispatching the Oxford army under Prince Rupert to aid Newcastle leaving Oxford itself at threat from southern Parliamentarian armies. Rupert initially tried to draw forces away from the York siege by taking the Parliamentarian city of Liverpool however to no avail. What he was to do next was unclear until Charles sent him one of the most famously unclear dispatches in military history.
“But now I must give the true state of my affairs, which, if their condition be such as enforces me to give you more peremptory commands than I would willingly do, you must not take it ill. If York be lost I shall esteem my crown little less; unless supported by your sudden march to me; and a miraculous conquest in the South, before the effects of the Northern power can be found here. But if York be relieved, and you beat the rebels’ army of both kingdoms, which are before it, then (but otherwise not) I may possibly make a shift upon the defensive to spin out time until you come to assist me. Wherefore I command and conjure you, by the duty and affection that I know you bear me, that all new enterprises laid aside, you immediately march according to your first intention, with all your force to the relief of York. But if that be either lost, or have freed themselves from the besiegers, or that for want of powder, you cannot undertake that work, that you immediately march with your whole strength, directly to Worcester to assist me and my army; without which, or you having relieved York by beating the Scots, all the successes you can afterwards have must infallibly be useless onto me”
Few people can comprehend what Charles actually meant but Rupert was clear. He was to break the seige of York and destroy Parliamentary/Scots armies. On the morning of the 2nd of July Rupert in a stroke of genius out maneuvered all three besieging armies and entered York to join up with Newcastle’s forces and by midday Rupert’s entire army was in the city. However Newcastle’s army was far from ready to fight many parts of it off looting. The rash Rupert and the cautious Newcastle immediately fell into disagreement. Rupert wanted to launch a surprise attack on the besiegers immediately but Newcastle wanted to wait for his entire army to return. The dispute between the two commanders magnified as Rupert deployed his forces on Marston Moor ready to attack the besiegers but Newcastle’s troops deployed painfully slowly only finishing when all his troops arrived back in the city, Rupert accusing Newcastle of deliberately delaying things.
It was only around 7pm the Royalists were finally ready to give battle. However then another one of Gustaphus Aldophus’s Scots, Lord Eythin, commanding Newcastle’s army, decided it was too late in the day to attack and called off the assault.
Meanwhile the Earl of Leven in overall command of the Scots and Parliamentary forces took the alternate view declaring “A summer’s evening is as long as a winter’s day” and at 7:30 pm launched an attack on the unprepared royalists.
The battle started with Cromwell charging the cavalry on the Royalist left wing and breaking them. Rupert rushed his cavalry from the right over to reinforce them and halted Cromwell, however David Leslie then charged in support of Cromwell and and the Royalist left was routed. On the right the Royalist cavalry under Goring similarly broke the Parliamentarian left. Meanwhile under Manchester and Fairfax the Parliamentarian infantry assaulted the centre. Initially the assault went well but when Newcastle’s elite whitecoats joined the fray and Goring’s victorious cavalry from the Royalist right waded into the Parliamentry infantry from the flank and they began to waver. The Earl of Leven believing the battle lost fled the field, meanwhile Cromwell seeing the danger rode his cavalry around to the Royalist right and fell upon Goring from behind. A few hours later under moonlight only Newcastle’s whitecoats remained unbroken and surrounded, opting for no-quarter rather than surrender.
The battle was the turning point of the civil war that up to then had been a stalemate. Of the three main Royalist field armies one army had been destroyed, another seriously damaged and the stronghold of the north lost. the fate of a nation had been determined by one of the least clear military dispatches in history.
War of Three Kingdoms Map
Here’s something I drew up last night over a few cans, (click for full size).
The war was fought between 1639-1651 with later risings. There were four sides. All four sides were enemies with the other three and fought each other at some time during the war. Also there were treaties, periods of seperate peace and the odd temporary alliance between sides.
How Far Would You Trace The Orgins Of The English Civil War?
Religious dissent in England went back much further than Henry VIII’s reformation, the Lollards being a prime example around 1350 who dispite being catholics had many traits akin to protestants. They were very influential and powerful for a time having the ruler of England John Gaunt as their patron.
There were Lollardist trials in England as late as 1522 which puts the Lollards contemporary to the English Dissenters and such groups as the Known Men and Free Will Men of the 1540-1560′s were, if not Lollards as many suggest, as close as you can get. Much of the Free Will Movement developed into English Anabaptistism, so one could argue the Lollards still exist today in the form of Menonnites. It’s probably only natural that they developed into a protestant faction in the 16th century.
There is a continuity of Lollardism into puritanism, prebyterianism and anticlericism and if we look at the Bishop’s Wars as the outbreak of the ECW, perhaps they had a great influence on its outbreak
However the civil war not just spiritual it was political and political on several levels.
There was a catholic/protestant dispute between the ruling class however this was fairly recent starting in Henry’s time.
There was a middle class/ruling class dispute as the merchant class began to surpass the landed aristocracy in wealth, this again was fairly recent.
There was the poor vs wealthy dispute as exeplified by the levellers and diggers which at the very latest had its origins in the peasants revolt of 1381 where the leaders such as John Ball were preaching wealth redistribution.
Prior to that the Black death wiped out 1/2 the population of England and in the aftermath a labour shortage occured and the prices peasants sold their labour to lords for went up by up to five times. Peasants were able to break their serfdom and move where the best wages were. The English government quickly passed a law capping wages to a pre-Black Death level however this was impractical and ignored. During the period England had its first recorded strike and peasant labourer went on strike over pay against their lord, somewhat unthinkable prior to the death.
Finally it was a dispute over divine right of kings, system that had been legislated against by the Magna Carta in 1215 and arguambly by the Charter of Liberties in 1100.
So the answer is probably either 1100 or 1215.
World Turned Upside Down Quiz
The War of Three Kingdoms was one of the most important periods in history. Not for the military conflict but the ideas it generated. The conflict was a maelstrom of radical thought as religious, political and social ideas dating back centuries took form in political movements. The Anarchists, Quakers, Communists, Socialists, Methodists and many other dissenters owe their spiritual home to this era.
In a previous blog I outlined some of the factions. Now I have generated a fun quiz testing people’s knowledge of the conflict.
To try your knowledge play the World Turned Upside Down Quiz.
Cromwell the New Che Guevara
Translation: Cromwell lead an anti-capitalist rebellion and his victory was the beginning of equality and democracy.
I’m trying to picture his face on a poster on every student’s wall. The 17th century rebel leader’s image is being used an icon for a new civil war half way around the world. As Thailand descends into classwar, the mostly peasant Thai Red Shirts are now comparing themselves to the Roundheads, maybe to counter the wealthy and middle class Yellow Shirt’s fanatical royalism.
This would be fine except the writing doesn’t mention Cromwell’s execution of the King, or even that Parliament’s war was in part about protecting the merchant class’s substantial capital from the declining royalist aristocrats not opposing it.
English Civil War, which faction would you join?
The English Civil War was the birth place of modern day radical views that had been building up since John Ball and John Wycliffe. Religious movements such Methodists, Quakers, Puritans found there origins there along with Communism, Anarchism and Socialism. Here’s just a few of the opposing factions, which one would you join?
Royalist –
King Charles I was put on the throne by God and he is not subject to earthly authority he is not subject to the will of his people and any attempt to question his absolute authority is to question God’s will thus heresy. Charles I must be maintained in power and the property and status of the lords he created kept in place too. If keeping control of the country means encouraging foriegn countries, Scotland, Ireland, Holland and France to invade England it is not treason and his right to do so. England has long had the Magna Carta and the idea of rule through parliament, however Scotland believes in the Divine Right of Kings, absolute royal power, the English system is wrong. Charles’s queen is Catholic, so is one of his sons and among his strongest supporters are the catholic lords. He believes in religious tolerance for his loyal subjects, but not for disloyal ones such as the confederates in Ireland.
Presbyterian
You were the dominant force in the Houses of Parliament before the civil war and then again during the Rump Parliament, the Independents accuse you of corruption. You are suspicious of the New Model Army and wished to appease the king and come to an amicable peace, however if he refuses to convert to your religion he must go. You see your solace across the border in Presbyterian Scotland, you support all the Scottish incursions into England and would like to see them unify the whole country under Presbyterianism. You will even deal with Charles II to achieve this, as long as he converts to Presbyterianism first.
Leveller
All people should be equal, the wealth of the rich should be taken from them and all people given an equal share. The right to own property should be abolished. The country should be ruled by a democratic parliament with universal suffrage and all people equal in the eyes of the law. Human rights must be respected and religious tolerance adopted. The best way to achieved this is by military coup by the leveller regiments in the New Model Army rising. If Cromwell becomes a tyrant you must assassinate him.
Ranter
Like the Quakers you believe in the inner spirit and accept no authority, but you believe anyone who accepts this is bound by no earthly laws and are free to do anything. God is pantheistic and in everything, alcohol, free sex, drugs, people shouldn’t live life obsessed with the afterlife but live this life to the full now. You will ride up and down the countryside, running hell, fire and damnation preachers out of town and preaching universal love instead.
Independent
The tyrant Charles I must be overthrown by all means necessary, tried and executed as a traitor. You support the creation of the New Model Army this is the way to win the war, not a Presbyterian alliance with Scotland and will give England to power to resist Scotland after the war. You are morally outraged at the licentiousness and corruption of the world and want to pass laws to impose piety and a strong moral code, however tolerating all moderate religions. The Levellers, Diggers, Ranters, Quakers and Fifth Monarchists are beyond saving. Government should be honest and if that means making Cromwell king, so be it.
Fifth Monarchist
You believe it is the dawning of a new golden age, soon Christ’s kingdom on Earth will come, it will be brought in by a society of saints marching on Europe, however at the moment the country is too corrupt. Your job is to convert powerful people and win parliamentary elections if this fails military coup and gain control of the country to make the land fit for saints. Your main support comes from tradesmen and some of the army, you control several seats on the Parliament of Saints and you are strongly anti-Cromwellian.
Digger
The Levellers are mostly middle class agitators or soldiers in the New Model Army, talk a lot and do little. You are peasants at the bottom rung of society and have nothing, land ownership has robbed every Englishman of his birthright, all land is the common property and no-one has the right to own it. Enough with talking, the Diggers will simply move on to the land and begin farming on a collective basis all over the country. You believe the world is sinful and soon the final judgement will come, however those who live puritanical lives will be spared.
Quaker
You believe in the inner light and reject priests and scripture. You don’t like the corruption of the world, you refuse to take public oaths or pay tax, you hate organised churches and disrupt their services. Sometimes you go into rapture and often wear no clothes. You accept no authority, whenever you meet lords or nobles you use insulting terms of address to them
