Storming of Bristol
Encyclopedia
The Storming of Bristol took place on 26 July 1643, during the First English Civil War
. The Cavalier
(Royalist) army under Prince Rupert of the Rhine
, King Charles's
nephew and Lieutenant General
, captured the important city and port of Bristol
from its weakened Roundhead
(Parliamentarian) garrison
. The city remained under Royalist control until near the end of the war.
in wealth. The Royalists had failed to secure it when the Civil War began, leaving it under Parliamentarian control although there were many Royalist sympathisers within the city. In July 1643, the city's garrison was weakened when several of its units were detached to reinforce a Parliamentarian field army under Sir William Waller
. On 13 July, Waller's army was destroyed at the Battle of Roundway Down
.
The Royalists quickly realised that this presented them with a great opportunity to capture important Parliamentarian-held towns in the south-west of England. Only two days after the battle, Prince Rupert marched from Oxford, the Royalists' wartime capital, with a large army. He also sent orders to the Royalist Western Army which had been victorious at Roundway Down, now under the command of his younger brother Prince Maurice
, to march against Bristol from the south while he himself advanced on the city from the north.
. His garrison consisted of 300 cavalry and 1,500 infantry, plus some badly-armed town militia. The fortifications consisted of an inner line immediately surrounding the city and resting on the River Avon
and River Frome
, and an outer line about 500 yards outside the inner line. To the south and east the outer line was a continuous curtain wall and ditch on low-lying ground; to the north and west, it consisted of a chain of forts and batteries resting on the high ground overlooking the city, linked by a low earth wall. A total of 100 guns were distributed along the defences.
The Royalists invested Bristol on the morning of 24 July. Rupert formally summoned the city to surrender, but the summons was refused. He then crossed the Avon to confer with Maurice and his officers. There was some dissension. Maurice, with his Cornish
infantry faced the stronger defences south of Bristol and preferred to undertake a formal siege and bombardment. Rupert however, believed that the defences to the north were vulnerable to a storming attempt, given the weak state of the garrison. Eventually, Rupert prevailed, and the attack was planned to begin early on 26 July. The signal for the attack would be a salvo from a Royalist battery facing the Prior's Hill Fort at the northern point of the defences.
The brigade under Colonel Henry Wentworth was more successful. Led by dragoon
s under Colonel Henry Washington, they penetrated up a re-entrant between the Brandon Hill and Windmill Hill forts and found that once against the defences between these two forts they were in "dead ground", safe from fire from the forts. They threw grenade
s over the wall to drive back the defenders, while they pulled down the wall using halberd
s and partisans
. Once they were inside the defences, Fiennes's cavalry tried to counter-attack, but flinched when they faced Royalists wielding "fire-pikes"; pikes to which large fireworks were attached, an early form of flamethrower
.
Wentworth's brigade pushed forward towards the inner defences, followed by Belasyse's brigade and Colonel Arthur Aston
's regiment of cavalry. They captured another strongpoint, the "Essex Work", when the defenders panicked. There was severe fighting for two hours around the Frome Gate, part of the inner defences, as some of the townswomen tried to improvise a barricade of woolsacks behind the gate.
The Royalists secured immmense amounts of booty, in particular munitions of war. Eight armed merchant ships were captured, which later formed the nucleus of a Royalist fleet. The workshops of Bristol eventually re-equipped the entire Royalist army with muskets.
Nathaniel Fiennes was tried by Parliament and sentenced to death, but reprieved.
First English Civil War
The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War . "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War and...
. The Cavalier
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
(Royalist) army under Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, KG, FRS was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century...
, King Charles's
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
nephew and Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
, captured the important city and port of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
from its weakened Roundhead
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
(Parliamentarian) garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
. The city remained under Royalist control until near the end of the war.
Background
During the mid-17th century, Bristol had been one of the most important cities in England, second only to LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in wealth. The Royalists had failed to secure it when the Civil War began, leaving it under Parliamentarian control although there were many Royalist sympathisers within the city. In July 1643, the city's garrison was weakened when several of its units were detached to reinforce a Parliamentarian field army under Sir William Waller
William Waller
Sir William Waller was an English soldier during the English Civil War. He received his education at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and served in the Venetian army and in the Thirty Years' War...
. On 13 July, Waller's army was destroyed at the Battle of Roundway Down
Battle of Roundway Down
The Battle of Roundway Down was fought on 13 July 1643, during the First English Civil War. A Royalist cavalry force under Lord Wilmot won a crushing victory over the Parliamentarians under Sir William Waller who were besieging Devizes in central Wiltshire, which was defended by Lord Hopton...
.
The Royalists quickly realised that this presented them with a great opportunity to capture important Parliamentarian-held towns in the south-west of England. Only two days after the battle, Prince Rupert marched from Oxford, the Royalists' wartime capital, with a large army. He also sent orders to the Royalist Western Army which had been victorious at Roundway Down, now under the command of his younger brother Prince Maurice
Prince Maurice von Simmern
Prince Maurice of the Palatinate KG , Count Palatine of the Rhine, was the fourth son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Princess Elizabeth, only daughter of James I, King of England and Scotland and Anne of Denmark....
, to march against Bristol from the south while he himself advanced on the city from the north.
Defences
The Parliamentarian defenders of Bristol were commanded by Colonel Nathaniel FiennesNathaniel Fiennes
Nathaniel Fiennes was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1659...
. His garrison consisted of 300 cavalry and 1,500 infantry, plus some badly-armed town militia. The fortifications consisted of an inner line immediately surrounding the city and resting on the River Avon
River Avon, Bristol
The River Avon is an English river in the south west of the country. To distinguish it from a number of other River Avons in Britain, this river is often also known as the Lower Avon or Bristol Avon...
and River Frome
River Frome, Bristol
The River Frome is a river, approximately long, which rises in Dodington Park, South Gloucestershire, and flows in a south westerly direction through Bristol, joining the former course of the river Avon in Bristol's Floating Harbour. The mean flow at Frenchay is The name Frome is shared with...
, and an outer line about 500 yards outside the inner line. To the south and east the outer line was a continuous curtain wall and ditch on low-lying ground; to the north and west, it consisted of a chain of forts and batteries resting on the high ground overlooking the city, linked by a low earth wall. A total of 100 guns were distributed along the defences.
Royalist plan
Rupert personally led a reconnaissance of the defences to the north of the city on 23 July. There were some clashes between Royalist parties left on Clifton Hill and Parliamentarian sorties. The Parliamentarians were beaten off.The Royalists invested Bristol on the morning of 24 July. Rupert formally summoned the city to surrender, but the summons was refused. He then crossed the Avon to confer with Maurice and his officers. There was some dissension. Maurice, with his Cornish
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
infantry faced the stronger defences south of Bristol and preferred to undertake a formal siege and bombardment. Rupert however, believed that the defences to the north were vulnerable to a storming attempt, given the weak state of the garrison. Eventually, Rupert prevailed, and the attack was planned to begin early on 26 July. The signal for the attack would be a salvo from a Royalist battery facing the Prior's Hill Fort at the northern point of the defences.
Attack
In the event, the attack was disjointed. The eager Cornish infantry attacked prematurely at 3 a.m., forcing Rupert to fire the signal to attack earlier than he intended.South
The Cornish infantry attacked in three columns. They rolled carts and wagons into the ditch in front of the wall to fill it and allow them to cross. The ditch was too deep for this to succeed, but the Cornish used faggots and scaling ladders to continue the attack. They nevertheless suffered heavy casualties, all three attacking column commanders being killed, and were eventually driven back.North
Rupert's attackers consisted of three brigades of infantry, with some dragoons. Lord Grandison's brigade attacked the Prior's Hill fort and a nearby redoubt at Stokes Croft, but was repulsed. Grandison himself was killed. Sir John Belasyse's brigade also was unsuccessful at Colston's Mount. Rupert had a horse killed under him while rallying some of Belasyse's infantry.The brigade under Colonel Henry Wentworth was more successful. Led by dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s under Colonel Henry Washington, they penetrated up a re-entrant between the Brandon Hill and Windmill Hill forts and found that once against the defences between these two forts they were in "dead ground", safe from fire from the forts. They threw grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
s over the wall to drive back the defenders, while they pulled down the wall using halberd
Halberd
A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. Possibly the word halberd comes from the German words Halm , and Barte - in modern-day German, the weapon is called Hellebarde. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on...
s and partisans
Partisan (weapon)
A partisan is a type of polearm that was used in Europe during the middle ages. It consisted of a spearhead mounted on a long shaft with protrusions on the sides which aided the user in parrying sword thrusts...
. Once they were inside the defences, Fiennes's cavalry tried to counter-attack, but flinched when they faced Royalists wielding "fire-pikes"; pikes to which large fireworks were attached, an early form of flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...
.
Wentworth's brigade pushed forward towards the inner defences, followed by Belasyse's brigade and Colonel Arthur Aston
Arthur Aston
Sir Arthur Aston was appointed Proprietary Governor of Avalon in 1625 by Sir George Calvert. Aston was a devout Roman Catholic and was recommended by Father Stout to govern the Catholic colony...
's regiment of cavalry. They captured another strongpoint, the "Essex Work", when the defenders panicked. There was severe fighting for two hours around the Frome Gate, part of the inner defences, as some of the townswomen tried to improvise a barricade of woolsacks behind the gate.
Surrender and Aftermath
Rupert had sent for the Cornish infantry to reinforce the attack, but at about 6:00 pm, Fiennes asked for terms. Rupert granted easy conditions; the defenders were allowed to march out with their personal property, while their officers (and the cavalry troopers) were allowed to keep their arms. Undisciplined Royalists nevertheless plundered the defenders when they marched out on 27 July.The Royalists secured immmense amounts of booty, in particular munitions of war. Eight armed merchant ships were captured, which later formed the nucleus of a Royalist fleet. The workshops of Bristol eventually re-equipped the entire Royalist army with muskets.
Nathaniel Fiennes was tried by Parliament and sentenced to death, but reprieved.