Major
battles of the English Civil War
The
first battle of the Civil War was at Edgehill near
Birmingham in 1642. At the battle of Edgehill so
that the soldiers could tell which side they were
on, they wore coloured belts tied round their waists.
These belts were called sashes. During the battle
some soldiers that supported parliament changed
sides and decided to support the king. Some of the
soldiers forgot to take off their belts and they
ended up being shot by the kings men. This was the
first battle of the war and not many weapons had
been made. About 400 of the kings men did not have
guns, they just had wooden sticks called clubs.
The king won this battle. After the battle the king
went to London but they wouldn't let him into the
city.
The
Battle of Marston Moor was fought in July 1644. Marston
Moor is in Yorkshire. The kings army was lead by a
man called Prince Rupert. Until now Prince Rupert
had been the most successful of the kings generals.
The kings army was well beaten, 4,000 men died. Cromwell
with the help of soldiers from Scotland won. After
this battle Cromwell was seen as one of the most important
parliamentary generals.
The
Battle of Naseby in Northamptonshire took place in
June 1645 Cromwell won because he had a bigger army.
Parliament were fighting with their new model army.
Cromwell had more men than the king. This was really
the end for the Royalists. 4,500 prisoners were taken,
the rest of the Royalist army died. After the battle
king Charles escaped to Wales.The New Model Army went
on to defeat another Royalist Army in Somerset.
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