The First Civil War
- Created by: Lauriie
- Created on: 05-02-16 22:45
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- The First Civil War
- Why did Parliament Win?
- Attitudes
- Parliamentary commanders grew much more ruthless when they realised they couldn't afford to lose
- The New Model Army: known as the 'praying army', it retained godly preachers and genuinely belived they were fighting with God on their side
- Generally well-disciplined with harsh punishments for infractions
- Charles was portrayed as a Catholic sympathiser which damaged his army's morale and confidence
- After Naseby his personal letters were released which further damaged his reputation
- He found it increasingly difficult to recruit new or replacement troops
- Attitudes
- Timeline
- October 1642: Edgehill (inconclusive)
- November 1642: Turnham Green (parliament)
- July 1643: Capture of Bristol Lansdown Hill, Roundway Down (Royalist)
- Aug-Sept 1643: Siege of Gloucester First Newbury (parliament)
- June 1644: Siege of York Cropredy Bridge (royalist) Marston Moor (Parliament)
- August 1643: Lostwithiel (royalist)
- October 1644: Second Newbury
- Feburary 1645: The New Model Ordinance The Self-Denying Ordinance
- June 1645: Naseby
- July 1645: Langport (Parliament)
- September 1645: Recapture of Bristol (parliament)
- May 1646: Charles surrenders to the Scots
- June 1646: Oxford surrenders
- less resentful/radical
- Charles sent Rupert into exile
- May 1646: Charles surrenders to the Scots
- South-west Royalists were cut off from the main army
- September 1645: Recapture of Bristol (parliament)
- First test of NMA results in a decisive victory. Cromwell's cavalry routed the royalist horse, then regrouped to attack the infantry.
- July 1645: Langport (Parliament)
- formed an organised paid army under Essex's command. Officers could not also be MPs
- June 1645: Naseby
- mutual recriminations as Manchester seemed reluctant to follow through on victories
- Feburary 1645: The New Model Ordinance The Self-Denying Ordinance
- Fairfax's army was defeated in Cornwall
- October 1644: Second Newbury
- Jan 1444- Scots Covenanter troops arrive
- Cromwell's cavalry command and the Scots covenanters resulted in a decisive victory for Parliament
- August 1643: Lostwithiel (royalist)
- Charles' siege on Gloucester was broken by Essex's army, which forced its way back to London at Newbury
- June 1644: Siege of York Cropredy Bridge (royalist) Marston Moor (Parliament)
- The governer of Bristol, Nathaniel Fiennes, was court-martialled and narrowly escaped execution
- Both battles were in the South West: Hopton vs Waller
- Aug-Sept 1643: Siege of Gloucester First Newbury (parliament)
- Charles marched towards London but was stopped by the London trained bands (unable to capitalise on early success)
- July 1643: Capture of Bristol Lansdown Hill, Roundway Down (Royalist)
- 3000 dead
- Many people lost support for the war
- Parliament started to sue for peace thinking they would lose the war, but Charles refused
- Ended in a draw because Rupert's cavalry left the field, despite early victories and Sir Faithful Fortesque's troops crossing over to the royalists (ironically)
- November 1642: Turnham Green (parliament)
- October 1642: Edgehill (inconclusive)
- Why were the Royalists originally successful?
- Command
- a unified high command, leaders such as Rupert were experienced
- Charles was 'not lacking in either personal bravery or tactical agility' -Seel
- Charles had legal authority
- The Council of War was 'flexible in its strategic thinking, and efficient in carrying it into practice'
- Parliament had to invent completely new executive bodies, were never sure if it was MPs or field commanders in charge
- Eg Lostwithiel 1644
- FACTIONAL SPLIT in Parliament between independents and presbyterians
- The committee of both kingdoms spent a lot of time arbitrating petty disputes
- Parliament had to invent completely new executive bodies, were never sure if it was MPs or field commanders in charge
- Strategic aims
- Charles only wanted to take London
- Many of the Presbyterian faction in Parliament only wanted to negotiate with the King: unwilling to follow through on victories.
- eg Marston Moor
- Parliament didn't really manage to combine local militia and the field army
- Money
- Parliament's financial superiority didn't really come through until 1643
- Henrietta Maria: collected arms and money on the continent
- Logistics
- Commission of Array forces were legally allowed to move beyond county borders
- parliament's local militia were focussed on country defence: couldn't combine with Essex's main field army very easily
- Lots of resentment and bad communication (eg in the Eastern Association
- Command
- What was the impact of the Civil War?
- Financial Burden
- Parliament charged new taxes (Feb 1643: a weekly land tax and an excise tax on commodities such as meat)
- Property of opposing sides seized- Parliament seized 5000 Royalist and Roman Catholic estates
- if territories changed hand multiple times (eg Tewkesburyt) they could end up having to pay multiple fines and taxes
- Casualties
- David L Smith: 'the impact of the war was horribly destructive at all levels of society'
- one in 5 Englishmen fought at some point
- at any given time in the summer between 120 000 and 140 000 men were in arms (1 in every 8)
- Heavy burden on local people
- Over 100 towns in England were besieged for more than a month
- Armies demanded 'free quarter' from communities
- Armies tended to loot as they were badly disciplined and paid
- Clubmens associations sprang up to protect their local communities from both armies (CONTROVERSY LINK: neutralism)
- Many counties signed neutrality pacts: Yorkshire's neutrality pact was even signed by Fairfax
- Divided local communities (controversy link)
- eg Henry Hopton and William Waller, the Verney family
- sometimes counties split along the lines of an existing local feud (for example Leicester
- If side-taking was due to local issues, why did friends and family fight against each other?
- Financial Burden
- Why did Parliament Win?
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