The Royalist Defeat
Civil War
- Created by: Clodagh
- Created on: 05-05-14 14:29
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- The Royalist Defeat
- Royalist Advantages Early On
- The king was able to call upon many of the gentry and thus acquire both money and skilled horseman
- He was able to call upon foreign rulers, particularly his relatives in the United Provinces
- Unlike parliament he had a unified command and a clear strategy
- Failure of Leadership by Charles I
- Failure of Administration
- Lieutenant Generals were chosen for their social and political status rather than military expertise
- Charles replaced early commanders with his nephews Rupert and Maurice
- Lack of Control
- The Northern and Western armies failed to link up with Charles at his base in Oxford
- There were rivalries between Rupert and Digby (secretary of state)
- Military Mistakes
- Charles failed to take advantage of early strength
- After the stalemate at Edgehill, Charles had the opportunity to advance to London. They were forced back to Turnham Green because of slow progess
- Failure of Administration
- Divisions within Royalist Ranks
- The king aimed at military victory. He took advice from Henrietta Maria, militarists such as Rupert and extremists such as Digby
- In the autumn of 1643 the king retaliated against parliament's Scottish alliance by agreeing to a truce with the Catholic rebels in Ireland
- He wanted to free the experienced English troops in Ireland in order to use them himself
- Lack of Resources & Fewer Long-term Advantages
- The north, south west and west midlands were poorer than parliamentarian counties
- Parliamentary garrisons such as that at Gloucester were not only strategically important but were also able to harass the countryside upon which the royal armies depended
- Parliament were in control of the navy and most of the major ports
- Those cavaliers who left their estates in order to serve the king were increasingly less able to bear the burdens of financing him
- The Role of John Pym (up to Dec. 1643)
- He held together a fragile coalition in parliament made up of the 'peace party', 'war party' and 'middle group'
- He persuaded conservative MPs to adopt radical measures
- He used the failure at Edgehill to persuade MPs to establish compulsory weekly assessments (taxes) in London
- Parliament assumed powers of taxation. Pym laid the basis of a reasonable effective financial structure
- He used the failure at Edgehill to persuade MPs to establish compulsory weekly assessments (taxes) in London
- In December 1642 he was able to reduce localist obstruction by establishing the Midland and Eastern Associations
- Alliance with Scottish Covenanters
- Dangers
- The Scottish rebels had enabled the opposition in the Long Parliament to challenge Charles
- There were too many moderates, which would make a settlement with the king even harder to achieve since his genuine devotion to the Anglican Church would not allow him to accept a Presbyterian settlement
- Pym avoided a total commitment to Scottish Presbyterianism by agreeing to call an Assembly of Ministers to devise a scheme of reform
- The Scots would make a powerful ally
- Dangers
- The Defeat of the Royalists at Marston Moor, 1644
- Military significance
- It secured the north for parliament and reduced royalist control to its western heartlands
- Political significance
- It was Cromwell's cavalry which tipped the balance at Marston Moor. It had sufficient discipline to regroup and attack the royalist centre
- Parliament had sought to recruit men of religious zeal and commitment to the cause
- Military significance
- Parliament's Military Re-organisation
- Self-denying Ordinance
- It admitted faults on all sides, and proposed a separation of military and political functions which would create a new central army
- Parliament members within this army would thus be removed and allow it to function without political interference
- As members of the House of Lords, the old generals would lose their places
- Parliament members within this army would thus be removed and allow it to function without political interference
- It admitted faults on all sides, and proposed a separation of military and political functions which would create a new central army
- The New Model Army
- The Lord General was Sir Thomas Fairfax
- Philip Skippon was Major-General of the Infantry
- Advantages
- Fairly well paid
- Well-drilled and disciplined
- Not attached to any regional location
- The core of the army came from the old army of the Eastern Assocation and carried over the principles of promotion by merit
- The first success was at Naseby in June 1645
- Significance
- The kings army was destroyed
- It was a turning point, it was not the end of the war
- The New Model gained in confidence and experience
- Fairfax gained local support in the follow-up at Somerset
- Rupert surrendered the last remaining royalist stronghold in the south-west, Bristol
- Significance
- Self-denying Ordinance
- Royalist Advantages Early On
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