Battle of Marston Moor: Encyclopedia II - Battle of Marston Moor - The Battle

Battle of Marston Moor - The Battle

Battle of Marston Moor - Opening Phase

Although there were brief exchanges of artillery fire and some skirmishes between outposts during the afternoon, Rupert thought that he still had the initiative and that the battle would take not place until the next day. However, at about 7:30 pm, Leven suddenly attacked under cover of a rainstorm, taking the Royalists by surprise.

On the Allied left, Cromwell's deliberate advance, supported by Lawrence Crawford, shattered Byron's wing. Byron had ordered a counter-charge, thus disrupting his own troops and preventing his musketeers from firing, which Rupert was later to blame for the defeat. In the centre, most of the Allied front line of infantry managed to force their way across the ditch. On the right, Sir Thomas Fairfax's wing fared less well. His cavalry were disordered by the ditch and by royalist musket fire and when Goring counter-attacked, Fairfax's men were driven from the field.

Most of Goring's troops scattered in pursuit or fell out to loot the Allied baggage train, but some of them under Sir Charles Lucas wheeled to attack the right flank of the Allied infantry. At the same time, some of Newcastle's foot and Blakiston's brigade of horse counter-attacked them in front. Under these assaults in the confusion and the gathering darkness, over half the Scots and Parliamentarian infantry fled. Leven and Lord Fairfax also left the field, believing all was lost. Manchester remained, but commanded no more than his own regiment of foot near the Allied rear. However, one Scottish brigade under the Earl of Crawford-Lindsay and Viscount Maitland stood firm against Lucas, and behind them the Scottish Sergeant Major General Sir James Lumsden managed to reform part of the Allied centre.

Meanwhile, Rupert rallied some of Byron's men (including Rupert's own Regiment of Horse) and led them and his reserve against Cromwell. A Parliamentarian officer wrote, "Cromwell's own division had a hard pull of it; for they were charged by Rupert's bravest men both in front and flank; they stood at the sword's point a pretty while, hacking one another; but at last (it so pleased God) he brake through them, scattering them before him like a little dust.". Sir David Leslie's Scots eventually swung the balance for Cromwell. Rupert's cavaliers were routed and he himself narrowly avoided capture.

Battle of Marston Moor - Cromwell's Victory

By now it was fully dark. The battlefield was a scene of wild confusion, and thousands of fugitives from both sides were scattered over the countryside for miles around. All five armies had lost their commanders-in-chief. (Newcastle, who in any case rarely led in the field, had charged with a body of "gentleman volunteers" and was out of touch.) An indecisive drawn battle might have resulted, but Cromwell's disciplined horsemen had rallied and were the key to victory. Sir Thomas Fairfax had managed to make his way alone through Goring's men to reach Cromwell and relate the state of affairs on the Allied right flank. Cromwell now led his cavalry right around the Royalist rear to attack Goring's wing from behind. Goring tried to rally his tired troops to meet this threat, but they too were routed.

Cromwell and Crawford now turned on the remains of the Royalist centre, routing successive units. Finally some of Newcastle's foot, the "whitecoats", gathered for a last stand in an enclosure named White Sike Close, where for a while they repulsed all Cromwell's attacks. They refused to surrender and eventually they were overwhelmed, only a handful surviving.

The Royalists lost 4000 men killed, many from the last stand of the whitecoats. 1500 Royalists were taken prisoner, including Sir Charles Lucas and Henry Tillier. The Scots' and Parliamentarian casualties were much lighter; perhaps as few as 300 killed. The brunt of the Allied casualties fell on Fairfax's army. Sir Thomas Fairfax's brother Charles was mortally wounded.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Battle", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki