Battle of Edgehill (1642): First Pitched Battle of the Civil War

The Battle of Edgehill, fought on 23 October 1642 in south Warwickshire, was the first pitched battle of the English Civil War. King Charles I’s Royalist army met Parliament’s army under the Earl of Essex below the ridge of Edge Hill. The fighting was bloody but indecisive, and its outcome showed that the war would not be settled quickly.

Background

Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham on 22 August 1642. He then moved west to Shrewsbury, where recruits from Wales and the Welsh borders swelled his army. In October he set out for London, Parliament’s stronghold, hoping to end the conflict with one decisive march.

Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, Parliament’s lord general, had gathered his army at Worcester. As the king marched south-east, Essex followed, and on 22 October the two armies found themselves close together near Banbury. The Royalists took position on the high ground of Edge Hill, a steep escarpment overlooking the plain towards Kineton, where Essex’s army lay.

The armies

The two forces were of similar size, each usually estimated at 13,000 to 15,000 men. Most soldiers were inexperienced, and many officers had learned their trade in continental wars, especially the Thirty Years’ War. The Royalists had more and better cavalry, while Essex had slightly more infantry and artillery, though some of his regiments had not yet arrived.

The Royalist command was divided. The Earl of Lindsey, the king’s general, disagreed with the king’s 22-year-old nephew, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, about how to draw up the infantry. When Charles backed Rupert, Lindsey gave up overall command and chose to fight on foot at the head of his own regiment. Patrick Ruthven, Earl of Forth, took his place.

The battle

On the afternoon of 23 October the Royalists came down from the ridge to fight on the open ground below. The battle opened with an artillery exchange at about 2 or 3 pm.

Prince Rupert then led a fierce cavalry charge on the Royalist right, and Henry Wilmot did the same on the left. Both swept away the Parliamentarian horse facing them, helped by the defection of a troop of Parliamentarian cavalry under Sir Faithful Fortescue. However, most of the Royalist cavalry, including the reserve, galloped on in pursuit towards Kineton and turned to plundering Essex’s baggage train instead of returning to the fight.

In the centre, the infantry of both armies fought at close range with pike and musket. Parliament’s remaining cavalry under Sir William Balfour and Sir Philip Stapleton, which had not been routed, attacked the Royalist foot and caused heavy losses. Lindsey was mortally wounded and captured, and he died the next day.

The royal standard-bearer, Sir Edmund Verney, was killed and the standard was captured, but it was recovered shortly afterwards by a Royalist officer, Captain John Smith, who was knighted for the deed. As darkness fell, both sides were exhausted and drew apart. The king’s young sons, the future Charles II and James II, had watched the battle and were briefly at risk of capture.

Casualties

Losses are uncertain. Most estimates put the dead at about 1,000 to 1,500, with many more wounded, some of whom died in the bitter cold of the following night. Both armies remained near the field on 24 October, but neither renewed the attack.

Aftermath

Essex withdrew to Warwick, leaving the road to London open. The king took Banbury and then entered Oxford, before advancing on the capital. His forces sacked Brentford on 12 November, but on 13 November they found their way blocked at Turnham Green by Essex’s army and the London trained bands, together perhaps 24,000 men. Charles chose not to attack and withdrew to Oxford, which became his capital for the rest of the war.

Edgehill therefore confirmed that neither side could win at a stroke. It also exposed a lasting Royalist weakness: brilliant but poorly controlled cavalry, a problem that would recur at the Battle of Marston Moor and the Battle of Naseby. Oliver Cromwell, a captain of horse in Essex’s army, later argued that Parliament needed cavalry of better quality and discipline.

The Edgehill ghosts

In January 1643 a London pamphlet called “A Great Wonder in Heaven” reported that shepherds and others had seen the battle re-fought in the sky over Edgehill around Christmas 1642. According to the pamphlet, the king sent officers to investigate, who claimed to recognise some of the dead. The story is folklore rather than history, but it shows how deeply the battle shocked contemporaries.

Timeline

• 1642, 22 August: Charles I raises his standard at Nottingham.
• 1642, 12 October: The king leaves Shrewsbury and marches towards London.
• 1642, 23 October: Battle of Edgehill.
• 1642, 24 October: The Earl of Lindsey dies of his wounds; the armies separate.
• 1642, 29 October: The king enters Oxford.
• 1642, 13 November: Stand-off at Turnham Green; the king withdraws to Oxford.

Why it matters

Edgehill was the first major clash of the English Civil War and destroyed hopes of a short war. Its indecisive result allowed both sides to build larger, better organised armies, and the lessons drawn from it, especially about cavalry discipline, helped shape the Parliamentarian forces that would win the war.