Alton

Date: 12th December 1643 Location: Alton, Hampshire Parliamentarian Commander: Sir William Waller Royalist Commander: Ludovich Lindsay, 16th Earl of Crawford Victor: Parliamentarians

By December 1643, the Royalist position in the South of England was strong. Hopton had forced Parliamentarian forces out of the West Country, and was pushing East into Sussex. However, his forces were now spread thinly by necessity. Hopton's main garrisons were at Arundel and Winchester, with a smaller garrison at Alton under the command of Lord Crawford. Sussex was important to Parliament, since the iron foundries of the Sussex Weald produced much of Parliament's armaments.

Crawford commanded 300-500 horse and the infantry regiment of Colonel Richard Bolle. His forces had built fortifications in the form of a half-moon and breast works.

Crawford was said to have sent a request to his opponent, Waller, for "a runlet of sack" (wine), presumably in jest, promising a fat ox in return. Waller, being a gentleman, obliged by sending the wine and asked for his ox. Crawford, however, said that Waller would have to come and fetch it himself.

Waller was only too happy to march on Alton, since he had been planning an attack anyway. Taking advantage of a heavy frost that hardened the usually muddy winter ground, he marched with 5000 men to Basing and then South to Alton.

Upon the arrival of Waller's army, Lord Crawford attempted to leave Alton with his cavalry for Winchester, to the West. He was turned back by Sir Arthur Haselrigg's "Lobsters" - Parliamentarian heavy cavalry. He did manage to escape to the South, however, leaving Bolle to defend the town with only his infantry.

Waller's forces had not fully arrived at this point, and he wished to wait for the London Regiments before attacking, so he lined his forces along the hedges before the town. Musketeers from both sides began an exchange that would clearly not settle the matter. The Parlimentarian artillery added its weight to the barrage a little before the London Regiments and 4 companies of the Farnham Castle garrison attacked.

The weight of this advance, centered on the Royalist fortifications, was enough to breach the line. The Green Auxiliaries marched on into the town, setting fire to a thatched building in order to smoke out some of the Royalist defenders. A 2 hour street fight began, with the Parliamentarian forces slowly forcing the Royalists back. In order to minimise friendly fire both sides had passwords - the Royalists "Charles" and the Parliamentarians "Truth and Victory".

Colonel Bolle and his remaining defenders were eventually forced into the Church, where they were killed in a last stand behind a barricade, supposedly of dead horses.

Waller recovered his wine and also took some 500 prisoners, many of which joined the Parliamentarian cause. When Charles I heard of Bolle's death he asked for a mourning scarf since, he said, "I have lost one of the best commanders in this kingdom".

Hopton could ill afford to lose so many troops, and his position in the South was now threatened. Waller marched on to Arundel and began a seige of the castle. Arundel fell to Parliament on 6 Jan 1644, stablising the power balance in the South.