| |
| 1642–46 |
| |
| THE CIVIL WAR. Roughly, northern and west-central England stood by the king; East Anglia, London, and the south with parliament. Socially, the gentry, the Anglican clergy, and the peasantry were royalist; the middle classes, the great merchants, and many great nobles were parliamentarians. But neither Roundhead (parliamentarian, Puritan) nor Cavalier (royalist) describes completely an economic or social class. Armies were small. Until Cromwell's Ironsides the royalist cavalry was superior. The war was relatively free from excesses. | 1 |
| |
| 1642 |
| |
| After the drawn Battle of Edgehill (Oct. 23), the king marched on London but turned back at Brentford when confronted by Essex (Nov. 12). The eastern counties raised a force entrusted to Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658), which as the Ironsides finally became the best troops in the war. First Battle of Newbury (Sept. 20). | 2 |
| |
| Sept. 25 |
| |
| The SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT, signed by 25 peers and 288 members of the commons, agreeing to make the religions of England, Ireland, and Scotland as nearly uniform as possible and to reform religion “according to the word of God, and the examples of the best reformed churches.” All civil and military officials were required to sign the covenant (nearly 2,000 clergymen refused and lost their living). The Scots now consented to help the English parliamentarians; a Scottish army crossed the Tweed (Jan. 1644). Charles rashly enlisted Irish Catholic insurgents with whom he concluded peace, (See 1649, Jan. 17) thus alienating many Englishmen. | 3 |
| |
| July 2 |
| |
| BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR. Prince Rupert, after defeating the Scots, was decisively beaten by Cromwell and his Ironsides. This was the crucial battle of the war and gave the north to parliament. York surrendered (July 16); Newcastle (Oct. 16). | 4 |
| In Scotland, Montrose, after slipping into the country in disguise (Aug. 1644), raised highland clans for Charles and gained several victories over the Covenanters. At one time he held most of Scotland, but his armies melted away when the parliament sent General Leslie into Scotland after Naseby, and at Philiphaugh (Sept. 13, 1645) the Stuart partisans were decisively beaten. Montrose fled to the Continent. | 5 |
| |
| |
