The History Of The English Civil Wars
The History Of The English Civil Wars
Charles I was attempting to enforce Anglican reforms onto the Scottish church. However the Scots were opposed to this, and even wanted to destroy the control that bishops had over the church. To this end, Charles' reforms were rejected by the Scottish Assembly at Glasgow in 1638.
Charles was furious that the Scots had rejected his proposals, and hastily formed an English force with which to march on Scotland in 1639. He did not have the funds for such a military expedition, nor confidence in his troops, so he was forced to leave Scotland without fighting a battle.
The unrest continued in Scotland, and when Charles discovered that they had been plotting with the French he again decided to mount a military expedition. This time, Charles called Parliament in order to get funds (1640).
When parliament formed, they immediately wanted to discuss grievances against the government, and were generally opposed to any military operation. This angered Charles and he dismissed parliament again, hence the name "Short Parliament" that it is commonly given.
Charles went ahead with his military operation without Parliament's support, and was beaten by the Scots. The Scots, taking advantage of this, went on to seize Northumberland and Durham.
Charles found himself in a desperate position, and was forced to call parliament again in November, 1640. This parliament is known as the "Long Parliament".
The Civil Wars 1642-51
The tension between Charles and Parliament was still great, since none
of the issues raised by the Short Parliament had been resolved. This
tension was brought to a head on January 4th, 1642 when Charles attempted
to arrest five members of parliament. This attempt failed, since they
were spirited away before the king's troops arrived.
Charles left London and both he and parliament began to stockpile military resources and recruit troops.
Charles officially began the war by raising his standard at Nottingham in August, 1642. Robert Devereux (3rd Earl of Essex) was made parliamentary commander.
At this stage of the wars, parliament had no wish to kill the king. It was hoped that Charles could be reinstated as ruler, but with a more constructive attitude to parliament.
The majority of the country was neutral in the civil wars, and both sides only had about 13,000 men in 1642.
The areas of Royalist support tended to be the North, West and Wales. Parliament were supported by the richer South and East, including London. Parliament also held most of the ports, since the merchants that ran them saw more profit in a parliament-lead country.
Parliament definitely had access to more resources than the king, and could collect taxes. Charles had to depend on donations from his supporters to fund his armies.
The first war stretched from 1642 to 1646, beginning with the king's raising of the standard.
Charles marched on London, hoping for a quick victory that would negate the benefits of parliament's resources. He was met at Edgehill (Oct 23 1642) by Essex and a battle was fought. This battle proved inconclusive, but failed to stop Charles' advance. He was met by another force at Turnham Green, however, and was forced to turn away from London.
Charles withdrew to Oxford, where his headquarters was based for the rest of the war.
In 1643, many battles were fought all over the country.
The royalist forces won at Adwalton Moor (Jun 30), taking control of Yorkshire. They also won at Lansdown and Roundway Down (Jul) in the South-West, allowing Prince Rupert to take Bristol.
The forces of parliament won at Winceby (Oct 11), taking Lincoln, but on the whole had the worst part of military actions for the year.
At Newbury (Sep), a large battle took place that was inconclusive. After this testing of the major armies, both sides sought allies elsewhere.
Parliament drew up the "Solemn League & Covenant", which promised the Scots religious reforms in return for their help.
Charles negotiated a cease-fire in Ireland that freed English troops for action on the mainland.
In 1644, military actions were more balanced. Parliament won at Marston Moor (Jul 2), allowing them to take York with the Scots' help. They lost at Lostwithiel in the South-West, and withdrew from Newbury after a second inconclusive battle.
In 1645, the New Model Army was formed by Fairfax. This army won two important victories, at Naseby (Jun 14) and at Langport (Jul 10), effectively destroying all of Charles' armies.
In 1646, Charles had little choice but to disband his remaining forces. Oxford surrendered, and Charles fled North seeking refuge with the Scots, bringing the first war to a close.
Charles was ransomed by parliament, and held at Holmby House whilst parliament drew up proposals. In the mean time, parliament began to disband its army.
However, the army was unhappy about issues such as arrears of pay and living conditions, and resisted the disbandment. Eventually the army kidnapped Charles in an attempt to win a bargaining piece. However, Charles escaped to the Isle of Wight.
Increasingly concerned, the army marched to London (Aug 1647) and debated proposals of their own at Putney.
Charles took advantage of this shift of emphasis away from him to negotiate a new agreement with the Scots, again promising church reform (Dec 28 1647). This agreement lead to the second war.
A series of royalist rebellions and a Scottish invasion (Jul 1648) took place. However, all were defeated by the now powerful standing army. This new betrayal by Charles caused parliament to debate whether Charles should be returned to power at all. Those who still supported Charles' place on the throne tried once more to negotiate with him.
The army, angry that parliament were still considering Charles as a ruler, marched on parliament and conducted "Pride's Purge" (named such since the commanding officer of the operation was Sir Thomas Pride). 45 MP's were arrested, 146 were kept out of parliament, and only 75 were allowed in, and then only to do the army's bidding.
This rump parliament was ordered to set up a high court of justice in order to try Charles I for treason in the name of the people of England.
The trial of the king (Jan 1649) found Charles guilty as charged, and he was beheaded on January 30th.
Oliver Cromwell then lead the army in quelling revolts in Ireland and Scotland (1649-50) to finally restore an uneasy peace.
Charles II was then crowned in Scotland, claiming that the throne was rightfully his. He marched with the Scots on England. Cromwell beat the Scottish forces at Dunbar (Sep 3 1650), but could not prevent Charles II marching deep into England.
Cromwell finally engaged the new king at Worcester (Sep 3 1651) and beat him. Charles II fled abroad, ending the civil wars.
The Commonwealth was then established, with Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector of England.