English Civil War of 1642–1651
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a significant conflict that arose from escalating tensions between King Charles I and Parliament, fueled by issues of governance and religious authority. Starting with conflicts over royal authority and the imposition of episcopacy in Scotland, the war saw the king struggle to assert his power against a Parliament increasingly influenced by Puritan ideals. The initial phase of the war began in 1642, marked by the battle at Edgehill, where Royalist forces initially gained an advantage due to experienced leadership and cavalry. However, as the war progressed, Parliament organized the New Model Army, which gained prominence under leaders like Oliver Cromwell.
The conflict evolved into a broader British struggle, with both sides seeking support from Ireland and Scotland, respectively. The war unfolded in three main phases, including a brief Royalist resurgence in 1648 and culminating in the defeat of Charles II at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Following his execution in 1649, England transitioned to a commonwealth, controlled by Cromwell, who later became Lord Protector. The war not only reshaped the political landscape of England but also set the stage for debates on governance, authority, and the role of monarchy in the subsequent Restoration of Charles II in 1660.
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English Civil War of 1642–1651
At issue: Struggle between the Crown and Parliament for control of Britain
Date: August 22, 1642-September 3, 1651
Location: British Isles
Combatants: Royalists vs. Parliamentarians
Principal commanders:Royalist, Charles I (1600–1649), Prince Rupert (1619–1682); Parliamentarian, Robert Devereux, third earl of Essex (1591–1646), Thomas Fairfax, third baron of Cameron (1612–1671), Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658)
Principal battles: Edgehill, Marston Moor, Naseby, Preston, Dunbar, Worcester
Result: The Parliamentary armies defeated the Royalists, tried and executed the king, subdued Ireland and Scotland, and crushed the forces seeking to restore the future Charles II at Worcester; the victorious army established a commonwealth in 1649
Background
Tensions in England heightened in 1638 when the king’s efforts to impose episcopacy in Scotland led to a disastrous war, a Scottish invasion of northern England, and the humiliating treaty at Berwick. Desperate for monies to prosecute the war, Charles I summoned Parliament after an eleven-year hiatus. The Puritan House of Commons, sympathetic to the Scottish opposition to bishops, demanded redress of grievances and restrictions on royal authority before voting revenues. Charles dissolved the first Parliament of 1640 and called a successor; however, it was even less compliant. The Irish rebelled in 1641 (Great Irish Rebellion, 1641–1652) and relations between Charles and the House of Commons worsened. Following a botched attempt to arrest opposition leaders in January, 1642, the king left London, and both sides moved closer to military conflict. With some local variations, support for King Charles generally came from the poorer regions of the north and west, and Parliament drew its strength from the wealthier areas of the south and east. Once war commenced, Parliament was better able to tax its followers while the king relied heavily on the private wealth of his supporters. Charles issued Commissions of Array on June 12, to summon local militias, and a month later, Parliament established its own army under Robert Devereux, third earl of Essex. The king raised his standard at Nottingham on August 22, 1642, and hostilities commenced.
Action
Because England had no standing army, the condition of the military was poor for both sides at the outset of the war. Soldiers were untrained and inadequately paid. The Royalists had better officers, many with experience in the Thirty Years’ War, and superior cavalry; therefore, they had an initial advantage. The first part of the English Civil War lasted from Edgehill (1642), where Prince Rupert’s Royalist cavalry forced Essex to withdraw and opened the way to London, until Charles surrendered to the Scots on May 5, 1646. Edgehill exhausted the Royalists, and they did not march immediately on London. Instead, the Parliamentary army regrouped, and Charles established his headquarters at Oxford.
What began as an English Civil War quickly became a British one as the crown made peace with Ireland, bringing needed veterans to the colors, and the parliament, through the Solemn League and Covenant, brought in the Scots. The Royalists won a number of early, minor victories, but were unable to deliver a knockout blow. A year after the major success at Marston Moor (1644), Parliament authorized the New Model Army under the leadership of Sir Thomas Fairfax, third baron of Cameron. It also passed the Self-Denying Ordinance, which compelled members of Parliament to resign their military commissions. Better-equipped and better-trained, the New Model was also committed to winning the war and creating a new political and religious order. An exception to the Self-Denying Ordinance allowed Oliver Cromwell to retain his command. His cavalry turned the tide at Naseby (1645). Afterward, the Parliamentary armies pursued the king, forcing his surrender. Oxford was handed over by Rupert in June, and the remaining garrisons capitulated by August.
Divisions between Parliament and the army over arrears of pay and the postwar settlement were exacerbated when Cornet George Joyce seized the king and brought him to Newmarket in June, 1647. This action, and growing hostility toward the Puritans, precipitated Royalist risings that constitute the second phase of the English Civil War (May-September, 1648). Rebellions occurred in South Wales, Kent, Essex, and the west. Royalist forces also seized Carlisle and entered Lancashire. Cromwell subdued the rebellion in Wales, and Fairfax reduced the east to obedience. Both armies turned north to confront the Scottish Royalists meandering south through Lancashire to join forces with Sir Marmaduke Langdale. Langdale’s forces were surprised and beaten at Preston (1648), receiving little support from their Scottish allies. The Scots, though they had scarcely fought, continued south before surrendering at Uttoxeter in August, 1648.
With the second phase of the English Civil War successfully concluded, Cromwell and the army purged Parliament of its monarchist sympathizers and moved to bring the king to justice. The Rump Parliament created a court to try the king, and Charles was executed at Whitehall on January 30, 1649. Cromwell brutally subdued the remaining Irish garrisons in 1649 and 1650 before defeating the Scottish Covenanters at Dunbar in September, 1650.
The third phase of the English Civil War was a pitiful attempt by Scottish Royalists to place Charles II on the throne in England. Charles agreed to establish Presbyterianism in return for Scottish support. Crowned at Scone in January, 1651, he entered Worcester in August with an army of 16,000. On September 3, his army was destroyed by Cromwell’s superior force of 28,000, and the English Civil War was finally over.
Aftermath
Although a commonwealth was established in 1649, the army controlled Britain. Cromwell dissolved the republic and became lord protector in 1653. He ruled until his death in 1658; however, his son, Richard, proved incapable of governing, and George Monck, the Cromwellian commander in Scotland, crossed into England and marched triumphantly to London in February, 1660, to restore order. He restored the old Parliament and opened negotiations that returned Charles II to the throne of England in May, 1660.
Bibliography
Carlton, Charles. Going to the Wars: The Experience of the British Civil Wars, 1638–1651. London: Routledge, 1992.
Gentles, Ian. The New Model Army in England, Ireland, and Scotland, 1645–1653. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992.
Kenyon, John, and Jane Ohlmeyer. The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638–1660. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Kishlansky, Mark A. The Rise of the New Model Army. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
Young, Peter, and Richard Holmes. The English Civil War: A Military History of the Three Civil Wars, 1642–1651. London: Eyre Methuen, 1974.