The Battle Draws To A Close
Gerard's men were not left without support for long. At long last some of die Royalist Horse had been brought back under control and returned to save the remnants of their Foot as the Royalist Official account describes 'By this time the Right Wing of our Horse was returned from Chasing the Rebels, and were in some Confusion, because they Came from the Execution but seeing our Foot and Cannon in some danger to be lost, by reason that the Rebels Horse and Foot those Horse which had never been...
Dutch Style Cavalry Deployment
THE FORM Of THE DUKE OF BRUNSWYCKS HORSE BAtTAHE IN THE PLAIHE Of ELTON. THE 5 Of SEPTEMBER. 16Z5 wiru. tavalru oj th . SweJiih Note tht. i M5k W Wotly bttwan tht Cftvatnj pirww in lim- Alternate icplojmtMs for cavuU s mutans f ir the Impwwllrh Rflimonto Mortttcvtccoli's 'S lle Battadiii circa 1442 Tht rrows show tht line of rdrwt of flrjt lint c v lrij s uoirons but still preferred large units and German regiments were commonly deployed in a single body. Either style could be used by the...
Opposing Armies And Formations
The battlefield tactics used during the English Civil War do not exist in isolation, they are part of the military practice which developed in western Europe during a series of wars during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The most significant were the Dutch Revolt in the Low Countries 1567-1648 , the French Wars of Religion 1562-98 and the Fronde 1648-53 , and the Thirty Years War 1618-48 . The latter is commonly thought of as a German war but its campaigns ranged over Denmark, Bohemia,...
Foot And The Train Of Artillery
The equipment for infantry, cavalry and artillery is described in more detail in Elite 25 Soldiers of the English Civil War 1 Infantry and Elite 27 Soldiers of the English Civil War 2 Cavalry. By 1642 there were only two types of cavalry in English service, cuirassiers and harquebusiers. There were very few cuirassiers, troopers armoured from head to knee and armed with a sword and two pistols. Individual troopers on both sides were armed to this standard but the only complete formations were...
The Royalist Commanders
King Charles I 1600-1649 exercised command over all Royalist forces with the assistance of a Council of War. This Council comprised ministers, peers, generals and more junior officers whose past military experience was considered relevant. Elements of military theory were part of the education of any prince in this period and the King was also able to draw on the advice of a number of competent and experienced soldiers. However, he had no practical experience of campaigning or warfare and his...
The Battle Of Edgehill Yup
23 October 1642, c.4.30-6.00pm, viewed from the south showing the closing stages of the battle. With two of their five infantry brigades routed the Royalists fall back as best they can to positions behind those from which they began the battle. Having lost a large part of their army, including almost all the cavalry, the Parliamentarians are in a poor state to exploit their success against the Royalist infantry although he had a thorough understanding of the theory. He sought to win the war in...
Raising The Armies
Parliament's control of the City of London gave it several advantages access to arms from the arsenal at the Tower of London, control over merchants producing small arms in the City and its suburbs and the ability to raise funds to pay for arms imported through the European arms market in Holland. In addition Parliament obtained arms shipped south from Hull and by donation from the armouries of the City Guilds. It was also able to divert regiments that had been raised for service in Ireland to...
European Background
Charles I succeeded to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1625. His reign began during a period of instability throughout western Europe, with international warfare between the major European countries as well as internal unrest. There was no single cause for the wars which were to engulf the British Isles but three themes should be considered. Firsdy, religious differences between Catholic and Protestant were becoming inextricably linked with politics and war in the Low Countries,...