#royalists

On July 13, 1643, the English Civil War witnessed one of the most decisive Royalist victories at the Battle of Roundway Down near Devizes, Wiltshire. Royalist forces commanded by Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester defeated the Parliamentarian army led by William Waller in a dramatic clash that strengthened King Charles I’s position in the conflict.

The battle followed Parliamentarian efforts to contain Royalist advances in the west of England. Waller, known as a skilled military commander, attempted to relieve the siege of Devizes, where Royalist troops under Lord Ralph Hopton and others were under pressure. However, Wilmot’s cavalry arrived to reinforce the Royalist cause, launching a devastating attack against the Parliamentarian forces on the open ground of Roundway Down.

On June 30, 1643, Royalist forces loyal to King Charles I achieved a major victory over Parliamentarian troops at the Battle of Adwalton Moor during the English Civil War. The Royalist army, commanded by William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, defeated the Parliamentarian forces led by Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron.

The battle took place near Bradford in Yorkshire and became one of the most significant Royalist successes in the north of England. Despite fierce resistance from the Parliamentarians, Newcastle’s larger and better-equipped army forced Fairfax’s troops to retreat.

On June 29, 1644, King Charles I of England secured an important Royalist victory at the Battle of Cropredy Bridge during the English Civil War. The battle took place near Cropredy in Oxfordshire as Royalist forces under Charles I confronted a Parliamentarian army commanded by William Waller.

The clash occurred during a period when the Royalist cause was under pressure, with Parliament’s armies gaining strength across England. Charles I’s forces successfully attacked a detached Parliamentarian force, disrupting Waller’s plans and forcing his army to retreat.

On June 28, 1645, during the English Civil War, the Royalist stronghold of Carlisle fell to Parliamentarian forces. The city had been an important base for supporters of King Charles I in the north of England, but after a long siege, Royalist defenders were forced to surrender.

The loss of Carlisle came at a difficult time for the Royalist cause, shortly after the Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Naseby. The defeat weakened Royalist control in northern England and marked another turning point in the struggle between King and Parliament.

Born on June 24, 1614, John Belasyse, 1st Baron Belasyse was an English nobleman, soldier, and politician best remembered for his loyalty to King Charles I during the English Civil War. A member of the powerful Belasyse family of Yorkshire, he became one of the leading commanders of the Royalist cause.

During the Civil War, Belasyse raised troops for the king and fought in several major battles, including the Battle of Edgehill (1642) and the Battle of Brentford (1642). His military leadership and dedication to the monarchy earned him royal favor, and he was later created Baron Belasyse of Worlaby in 1645.

After the defeat of the Royalists and the execution of Charles I, Belasyse remained involved in efforts to restore the monarchy. Following the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, he returned to political life and held important positions, although his later years were marked by suspicion during periods of political tension.

1st September 1644 saw The Battle of Tippermuir and James Graham’s first victory over the Covenanters.

Early in the morning of Sunday 1st September 1644, James Graham, Marquis of Montrose stood on the field of Tippermuir, some 3 miles to the west of the town of Perth, watching his enemies assembling their force into battle order.

Behind him, already formed up and ready to engage, stood the motley army he had managed to assemble in the previous two months, on paper this was a mismatch, what happened showed the spirit Montrose had srirred in his army and kicked off a series of remarkable victories.

Ultimately Montrose would fight six battles in the 12 months of this campaign, the Year of Victories. And he would win them all. However, final success would elude both him and his sorry monarch.

The army he commanded was as eclectic as any that had ever taken to a battlefield in Scotland, before then or since. As King Charles’ properly commissioned Captain-General, Montrose was designated commander of all forces raised in the King’s name, However, a significant element of the men under his command had been brought from Ireland by Alasdair MacColla, who presently stood with them in the centre of the royalist formation.

On the flanks of Alasdair’s Irish stood men from both north and south of the Highland Line. Some of these were experience soldiers, most were not. And it was their rawness that had persuaded Montrose to put them on the flanks ensuring that Alasdair’s men took the centre of the formation to face the most experience element of the Covenant force facing them.

This very force, however, exceeded the Royalist army in its lack of battle experience. With the full Covenant Army deployed south of the border in support of the English Parliamentary army, there were few left behind with any experience or appetite for fighting. They did have two advantages though: greater numbers, probably twice Montrose’s 2000 men; and cavalry, some 300 against Montrose’s complete lack of mounted warriors. With the undisputed Covenant leader, Archibald Campbell, Marquis of Argyll, temporarily missing from the scene. The command of the army fell to The Earl of Lothian. He, however, was in Edinburgh “attending important meetings” so it was Lord Elcho who suddenly found the position thrust upon him, wholly unexpectedly. 11 months later he would once again command in battle against Montrose, at the equally disastrous Battle of Kilsyth.

On the face of it, it seemed like an easy victory for the home team. However, it was to prove to be men against boys. While there were some seasoned veterans of the wars in the Spanish Netherlands amongst the Royalist Scots, Alasdair’s men were emphatically battle-hardened, primarily from the fighting in Ireland which had raged since the initial outbreak of warfare there in 1641.

The men they faced were for the most part hastily levied peasants and burghers, untrained and poorly led. Although Montrose was not aware of this and his decision to now engage superior enemy forces reflects his temperament and his need for a swift and conclusive victory to establish his own martial credentials and to both retain his army as a cohesive fighting force and to attract further recruits.

With the opposing forces now drawn up the action could commence. The Covenant leadership sent forward a detachment of horse in the traditional manner to draw their enemy’s fire and lure them into a premature and ill-co-ordinated forward thrust which could then be exploited by their massed infantry. This manoeuvre back-fired completely. Within moments, in response to this opening move, the entire Royalist centre under Alasdair’s personal command launched what was to become the trademark move of Royalist / Jacobite armies over the next century – the Highland Charge.

The ferocity of this so discombobulated the Covenant centre that they broke almost immediately. Their flank forces followed soon after and the engagement soon dissolved into full-scale, one-sided slaughter as the fleeing Covenanters were pursued back to Perth.

Numbers in Montrose’s battles are always contentious as for the most part the primary sources often contradict one another. However, a consensus of 1500 dead is evident. With corresponding Royalist losses so small as to merit a mention.

19th July 1654 saw a Royalist uprising in the Highlands, it was part what became known as The Glencairn Uprising.

This particular episode became known as the Battle of Dalnaspidal, but reading up on it, it was more of a skirmish or just a rout, the Kings men put up very little fight.

This was all part of a messy affair, which had it’s origins in The English Civil war, this particular era was however known as The War of the three Kingdoms. It was one of the last engagements of the war in Scotland bringing an end to the Royalist rising of 1651 to 1654.

Earl of Glencairn and raised an army mainly from Clan MacGregor. He would have no difficulty recruiting them because one of their opponents was the Earl of Argyll, a Campbell, one of their hereditary enemies.

Alexander, the 12th chief of the Robertson Clan, led his men from Fea Corrie. Both forces met above Annat and marched up the old path to Loch Garry.

On the evening of 19th July 1654, Thomas Morgan, Commander-in-Chief of the English army in Scotland surprised Royalist troops led by John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton near the loch at the Drumochter Pass. The Royalist horse had become separated from the foot. When Morgan’s superior forces advanced towards them, most of Middleton’s cavalry fled, leaving the infantry unprotected. As the cavalry continued to advance, the Royalist infantry also turned and ran.

The fight at Dalnaspidal broke the Royalist insurrection in the Highlands. Although wounded, Middleton managed to escape into the mountains, but he was never able to gather a substantial force again. General Monck wanted all the leaders of the uprising put to death, but the Protector and Council promised a pardon to all those who submitted William, Earl of Glencairn surrendered to General Monck in September 1654. Middleton escaped back to the Continent and rejoined Charles II in exile.