Battle of Edgehill

Battle of Edgehill
Part of the First English Civil War
Date October 23, 1642 Location Edge Hill, Warwickshire Result Inconclusive, arguable Royalist victory
Belligerents
Royalists	Parliamentarians
Commanders and leaders
Charles I, Prince Rupert	Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex
Strength
14,400	14,700

The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on 23 October 1642. The inconclusive result denied the Royalists the chance to march on London and achieve a quick victory over the Parliamentarians, and led to three years of civil war.

Prince Rupert, at Shrewsbury, held war council considering two courses of action: Either to advance towards Essex's new position near Worcester, or as the road to London was open to advance towards London. It was decided to advance towards London not to avoid a battle, for the Royalist generals wanted to fight Essex before he grew too strong, and the temper of both sides made it impossible to postpone the decision. In the Earl of Clarendon's words: "it was considered more counsellable to march towards London, it being morally sure that Essex would put himself in their way". Accordingly, the army left Shrewsbury on October 12th, gaining two days' start on the enemy, and moved south-east. This had the desired effect as it forced Essex to move to intercept them. On the morning of October 23rd, the Royalists readied for battle near the top of Edgehill, facing towards Kineton. Essex, was an experienced soldier, yet lacked trust in the rather inexperienced Parliamentarian army too much to decide the previous Battle of Powick Bridge on the 23rd of September.

Strategy

On 12 October King Charles I set out with his Royalist forces from Shrewsbury heading for London. In parallel to Charles' southerly movement, the Earl of Essex with the Parliamentarian forces set out from Worcester, also headed for London. By 21 October they were barely seven miles away from each other.

Perceiving the dangers of a flanking attack, Charles was persuaded by Prince Rupert to deploy on the side of Edge Hill. Essex, unaware of their proximity, drew dangerously close before actually preparing his troops. Battle commenced in the afternoon of 23 October.

Tactics

As Charles rode past his forces to raise morale, the Parliamentarian artillery opened fire because they thought they were being teased. This started an exchange of artillery fire that lasted for about an hour. At this point Prince Rupert started the battle properly by leading the Royalist cavalry charge, whereupon a substantial number of the Parliamentarian cavalry defected by prior arrangement and rode off to join the Royalists. A swath was cut through the remaining cavalry on the Parliamentarian left wing so that two neighboring infantry regiments were disrupted. Many of their men routed and ran when faced by Rupert's cavalry and the sight of their own cavalry's treachery. The Royalist cavalry continued in pursuit of the fleeing infantry sensing a raid on Essex's baggage train at Kineton, leaving the Royalist right unsupported.

Soon after, with Parliamentarians and Royalists engaged below Edgehill, before Radway, Balfour routed Sir John Byron's Brigade at the heart of the Royalist formation. On the right flank of the action, a dramatic moment marked the peak of the fighting, when Sir Edmund Verney was killed defending the Royalist Standard. Though the Standard was briefly captured by Parliamentarian Ensign Arthur Young, it was soon back in the hands of the Royalists after only six minutes.

The Parliamentarian cavalry reserve was brought up and the Royalist infantry centre, unprotected by cavalry, was cut apart from the rear. This is where Lord Lindsey died. The Royalist Cavalry at Kineton returned to the fold and kept Rupert's center from collapsing entirely under Lieutenant General Balfour's assault. The Royalist infantry managed to regroup and form a new defensive line. Essex, conscious of the gathering darkness, soon decided to disengage, though the battle wouldn't officially end until the next morning.

The greatest error of the battle would prove to be Rupert's Cavalry raid at Kineton, which ultimately cost the Royalists the chance of a decisive victory over the Parliamentarians.

The action before Edgehill on the 23rd of October, 1642 is said to have lasted only four hours. Four hours inevitably leading to four years of bloodshed and civil war.

Outcome

Neither side at Edgehill could claim a decisive victory. Essex withdrew to Warwick Castle and the road to London was now open to King Charles. Prince Rupert pieced together the remains of his cavalry and appealed to King Charles to advance upon London. Charles denied Rupert this opportunity, in a decision that gave the Parliamentary forces valuable time to regroup. In London, the Parliamentarians gathered numerous though inexperienced citizen-troops as a garrison (by the time his troops reached Reading, Essex had regained the city, preventing any further royalist advance).

Charles' caution asserting itself, the Royalists lost the clearest opportunity of the war to strike at the Parliamentarians center of resistance to the crown. Both sides having lost an oddly symmetrical 3000 wounded and 3000 dead (estimated), neither side could claim the day, though Essex claimed a victory for the Parliamentarians. This claim came after King Charles offered Essex a pardon and marked the beginning of a bloody, modern war.

The high number of surviving wounded has been attributed to the cold conditions of the night from October 23rd to the 24th, 1642 (allowing many wounds to congeal and stave off infection or simply, bleeding to death).

On the morning of the 24th, both sides were still on the field, but neither engaged in further action. England would have two "Capitals". London in the hands of the Parliamentarians and Oxford.

Charles and the Royalists rested at the university-city of Oxford for the winter, securing the city and forming a redoubt.

The next time King Charles would see London would be in the arms of his captors for his beheading.

Maps

• The official Battlefield. This is the site of the Parliamentarian army's centre about which much of the fighting was done.
• The broader Battlefield. (Zoom out one step). The narrow wood, which has probably grown since the battle, marks the scarp of Edge Hill at the top of which the king's army formed up before the battle. Towards the north-west, it overlooks the lower slope and the plain on which the battle was fought. Parliament's army was formed up on the site of the later military depot with its left wing on the road.

References

Seymour, W. Battles in Britain, 1066-1746. (1997) ISBN 1-85326-672-8

Scott, C.L., Turton, A & Gruber von Arni, E. Edgehill: The Battle Reinterpreted. (2005) ISBN 1-84415-133-6

Tincey, John, Roberts, Keith, Edgehill 1642: The English Civil War. (2001) ISBN 1-85532-991-3

The UK Battlefieds Resource Center, The Battlefields Trust, Meadow Cottage, 33 High Green, Brooke, Norwich, NR15 1HR

Bott, Gavin, Executive Producer, "Line of Fire: Battle of Edgehill". (2006) History International Channel U.S.