English Civil War

The term English Civil War (or Wars) refers to the series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651. The first (1642–1645) and the second (1648–1649) civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third (1649-1651) was between supporters of Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The third war ended with the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651.

The Third English Civil War

:Main article Third English Civil War.

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Ireland

:See also the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.

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Ireland had known continuous war since the rebellion of 1641, with most of the island controlled by the Irish Confederates. In 1648, in the wake of Charles I's arrest, and the growing threat to them from the armies of the English Parliament, the Confederates signed a treaty of alliance with the English Royalists. The joint Royalist and Confederate forces under Ormonde attempted to eliminate the Parliamentary army holding Dublin, but were routed at the Battle of Rathmines. As the former Member of Parliament Admiral Robert Blake blockaded Prince Rupert of the Rhine's fleet in Kinsale, Oliver Cromwell was able to land at Dublin on August 15, 1649 with the army to quell Royalist alliance in Ireland. Cromwell's suppression of the Royalists in Ireland during 1649 still has a strong resonance for many Irish people. The massacre of nearly 3,500 people in Drogheda after its capture — comprising around 2,700 Royalist soldiers and all the men in the town carrying arms, including civilians, prisoners, and Catholic priests — is one of the historical memories that has driven Irish-English and Catholic-Protestant strife during the last three centuries. However, its significance is mainly symbolic of the Irish perception of Cromwellian cruelty, as far more people died in the subsequent guerrilla and scorched earth fighting in the country than at infamous massacres such as Drogheda and Wexford. The Parliamentarian conquest of Ireland ground on for another four years until 1653, when the last Irish Confederate and Royalist troops surrendered. It has been estimated that up to 30% of Ireland's population either died or were exiled by the end of the wars. Almost all Irish Catholic owned land was confiscated in the wake of the conquest and distributed to the Parliament's creditors, to the Parliamentary soldiers who served in Ireland, and to British who had settled there before the war.

Related Topics:
Rebellion of 1641 - Irish Confederates - Ormonde - Dublin - Battle of Rathmines - Admiral Robert Blake - Prince Rupert of the Rhine - Kinsale - 1649 - Ireland - Drogheda - Capture - Guerrilla - Wexford - Parliamentarian - 1653

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Scotland

The execution of Charles I altered the dynamics of the Scottish Civil War. At first, Charles II encouraged the Earl of Montrose to raise a Highland army to fight on the Royalist side. However, when the Scottish Covenanters who did not agree with the execution of Charles I and who feared for the future of Presbyterianism and Scottish independence under the new Commonwealth offered him the crown of Scotland, Charles abandoned Montrose to his enemies. Due to the dynamics of Highland clan politics and feuds, however, Montrose was unable to abandon the fight. His highland army was defeated at Carbisdale in Ross-shire on April 27, 1650. Montrose was captured shortly afterwards and taken to Edinburgh, where on May 20 he was sentenced to death by the Scottish parliament and was hanged the next day. Charles landed in Scotland at Garmouth in Morayshire on June 23 1650 and signed the 1638 Covenant and the 1643 Solemn League immediately after coming ashore.

Related Topics:
Charles I - Scottish Civil War - Charles II - Earl of Montrose - Presbyterianism - Commonwealth - Ross-shire - April 27 - 1650 - May 20 - Garmouth - Morayshire - June 23 - 1638 Covenant - 1643 Solemn League

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The threat posed by King Charles II with his original Scottish Royalist followers and his new Covenanter allies was considered to be the greatest facing the new English Republic, so Cromwell left some of his lieutenants in Ireland to continue the suppression of the Irish Royalists and crossed the Irish channel to Scotland. He arrived in Scotland on July 22 1650 and proceeded to lay siege to Edinburgh. By the end of August, his army was reduced by disease and a shortage of supplies, and he was forced to order a retreat towards England. A Scottish army, assembled under the command of David Leslie, tried to stop them, but the Scotts were defeated at the Battle of Dunbar on September 3. Cromwell's army then took Edinburgh, and by the end of the year, his army had occupied much of southern Scotland.

Related Topics:
July 22 - David Leslie - Battle of Dunbar - September 3

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In July 1651, Cromwell's forces crossed the Firth of Forth into Fife and defeated the Scots at the Battle of Inverkeithing. The New Model Army advanced towards Perth, which allowed Charles at the head of the Scottish army to move south into England. Cromwell followed Charles into England leaving George Monck to finish the campaign in Scotland. Monck took Stirling on the August 14 and Dundee on September 1. The next year, 1652, the remnants of Royalist resistance were mopped up and under the terms of the "Tender of Union", the Scots were given 30 seats in a united Parliament in London, with General Monck appointed as the military governor of Scotland.

Related Topics:
Firth of Forth - Fife - Battle of Inverkeithing - Perth - George Monck - Stirling - August 14 - Dundee - September 1 - Tender of Union

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England

Although Cromwell's New Model Army had defeated a Scottish army at Dunbar, Cromwell was unable to prevent Charles II from marching from Scotland deep into England at the head of another Royalist army. The Royalist army marched to the west of England because it was in that area that English Royalist sympathies were strongest, but although some English Royalists joined the army, they came in far fewer numbers than Charles and his Scottish supporters had hoped. Cromwell finally engaged the new king at Worcester on September 3, 1651, and defeated him. Charles II fled, via safe houses and a famous oak tree to France, ending the civil wars.

Related Topics:
Worcester - September 3 - 1651 - Oak tree

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