“Now go and smite Amalek (and Jerim) and destroy everything that he has (do not take anything from them, but destroy and cast over everything that he has); and give him no mercy, but put him to death from husband to wife, from boy to suckling child, from ox to sheep, from camel to donkey."
(1 Kings 15: 3).
Everything has its beginning and end, the Bible says, and if the Battle of Nesby or Naseby (as the English call it) decided the outcome of the war between Parliament and the king, which began in 1642, then the Battle of Marston Moor on July 2, 1644 was the first victory. captured by the army of parliament during this war. The battlefield was a swampy area called Marston Moore, located 11 kilometers west of York. The army of Parliament was 27,000 people (including the allies of the Scots), but in the army of Prince Rupert, sent by King Charles I to help the besieged city of York, only 17,000.
It all began with the fact that General William Cavendish (Marquis of Newcastle), who commanded the royal corps, was blockaded in York in the northern part of England by the army of Parliament, led by Lords Fairfax and Manchester. The king was well aware that if York fell, he would lose not only the royalist forces surrounded there, but also that the parliamentary troops besieging the city would free themselves and join other parliamentary forces. As a result, such a large parliamentary army could appear that the king simply could not find the strength to stop it. Therefore, Charles I decided to defeat the parliamentary troops as soon as possible and in parts. To do this, he sent his nephew Prince Rupert, ordering him to unblock York, and to defeat and destroy the forces of the parliamentary army that were besieging him in a field battle.
Prince Rupert (1619 - 1682) First Duke of Cumberland and Earl of the National Maritime Museum of the Rhine. Portrait by Peter Layley. National Portrait Gallery.
Prince Rupert was an intelligent and experienced military leader. Therefore, having arrived at York on July 1, he, with a dexterous maneuver, forced the parliamentary troops to withdraw from the city and thus lift the siege from it. The Cavendish soldiers immediately joined his forces, after which he began to move towards Marston Moore, where the parliamentary troops withdrew.
William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne. Portrait by William Larkin. National Portrait Gallery.
The troops converged on July 2, 1644, and the royalist army, as already mentioned, consisted of 17 thousand people, including 6 thousand horsemen - "cavaliers", while the parliamentary had 27 thousand people in its composition, including 7 thousand cavalrymen - " Ironsides ".
It is believed that this was the name of the first cavalry regiment, formed by Cromwell in 1642 and distinguished by discipline that was not characteristic of the then army. According to another version, that was the name of Cromwell himself - "Old Iron-sided" and this is his nickname and "stuck" to his soldiers. In theory, Rupert should not have attacked an army that outnumbered his own troops by one and a half times, but he believed that since the main striking force of the army was at that time in the cavalry, the overall numerical superiority of the army of parliament did not matter so much.
Oliver Cromwell, portrait by artist Samuel Cooper. National Portrait Gallery.
From childhood, the English nobility learned to ride on horseback and prepared for service in the cavalry. That is why at the very beginning the king had an advantage to the cavalry, and Cromwell had to teach his horsemen everything from scratch. Therefore, it is not surprising that in a number of previous clashes, the horsemen of Prince Rupert defeated even parliamentary generals, who outnumbered him in the number of their troops.
Cromwell's death mask from the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
At the same time, in the battle at Grantham, and later at Gainsborough, and at Winsby, the battlefield remained with the horsemen of Cromwell, although Rupert for some reason did not pay attention to this and, apparently, attributed these failures to chance. In addition, Cromwell was confident that the pikemen of the parliamentary army, acting with their five-meter pikes in one formation, would repel any "cavaliers" primarily because of their numbers.
Cromwell noticed that Rupert's cavalry had poor discipline and, attacking, each cavalier-cavalier, like a knight before, attacked his chosen target, regardless of the actions of everyone else. Therefore, he taught his riders not to crumble during an attack, but to hold fast together. The contemporaries of those events drew attention to the high fighting qualities of the "iron-sided" ones. In particular, the historian Clarendon wrote about them: “After the attack, the royal troops are never built again and are not able to attack on the same day, while the soldiers of Cromwell, regardless of whether they won a victory or were beaten and persecuted, immediately take battle order in anticipation of new orders. " That is, the advantage of the "iron-sided" was not in their courage, strength and courage of each individual soldier, but in the fact that they acted on the battlefield as a whole, obeyed the orders of their boss and … did not seek to somehow stand out with their personal bravery among others …
Oliver Cromwell's Basket Sword circa 1650 Philadelphia Museum of Art.
During the Battle of Marston Moore, the strength of parliament consisted, in fact, of three armies at once with separate command: the army of Lord Fairfax, the army of the Eastern Association and the Scots, commanded by Lord Lieven. This was dangerous, because any disagreements between the commanders could lead to big problems in the command and control of the troops in general. But … Cromwell turned to God and he, apparently, suggested that he rely on the common sense and experience of his comrades in arms, since he still did not seek one-man command in the face of the enemy. Although, of course, I understood its benefits.
The battle formations of the combatants can be characterized as primitive to the extreme: infantry in the center, cavalry on the flanks, artillery along the front, the guns of which were located between the pikemen and musketeers.
Rice. A. Shepsa
The position was stretched out between two settlements - Long Marston and the village of Tocqueiff and stretched along the road that connected them. A ditch stretched along it, which was a natural obstacle for the cavalry, although not too significant, since it was all overgrown with grass. The left flank of the royal army was commanded by Lord Goring, opposed by Lord Fairfax, and on the opposite flank against the cavalry of Prince Rupert stood the "iron-sided" Cromwell, who also had a reserve of Scottish cavalry under the command of Leslie. In the center were the infantry of the Earl of Manchester and Leuven, opposite which stood the royal infantry of Porter and Newcastle.
A cannon from the Civil War. South Aurshire, Scotland.
They were preparing for the battle all day, but the weather prevented it from starting: it began to rain several times, and in the rain it was impossible to shoot from muskets and pistols. An artillery duel began only at about 5 pm. But even then, many believed that the battle would not take place, since it was late afternoon and many feared that the weather would deteriorate even more. Rupert's cavalry generally sat down to dinner, although they did not unsaddle their horses.
The use of a cuirass, a helmet and a bracer on the left hand made it very difficult for horsemen who fought with melee weapons to hit each other. But on the other hand, the vulnerability of the right hand, which held the heavy rider's rapier, increased. The basket guards were invented, completely and completely protecting the entire hand. In addition, in a close cavalry battle, such a guard could deliver a stunning blow to the face.
And then at 7 o'clock in the evening, singing a psalm from the First Book of Kings, as was their custom, Cromwell's horsemen unexpectedly crossed the ditch and galloped towards the enemy. The avalanche of riders in yellow buff leather jerseys with plain linen collars, potted lobster-tail metal helmets and cuirass shining in the sun looked simple but imposing. The cavalry cavalry, also in armor, lace collars and "musketeer" hats with multi-colored feathers and with a metal helmet inside, galloped towards them. The "Iron Sides" fired a volley at them and killed many, but for this they had to slow down, so Cromwell did not manage to immediately break through the enemy's front.
Prince Rupert considered that the decisive moment had come and ordered a second time to trumpet the attack. The two masses of horsemen clashed in a fierce battle in which everything was confused. Cromwell, who fought in the front ranks, was wounded in the neck and was forced to leave the battlefield to be bandaged. At this critical moment, Leslie's cavalry attacked Rupert's horsemen from the flank. Meanwhile, Cromwell returned to the battlefield and ordered the squadrons to make a volt and rebuild, and again moved them to attack the enemy. For the "cavaliers" scattered across the entire field, it was simply impossible to reflect the blow. It became apparent that the Roundheads had succeeded here, and that Rupert's cavalry had been completely crushed.
Ironsides in attack. Still from the movie "Cromwell" (1970)
Meanwhile, the parliamentary infantry located in the center, attacking the enemy, met with decisive resistance, and was thrown back in places, and in places continued to fight, finding itself in a very disadvantageous position, since its united front was torn apart as a result. On the right flank, Goring's cavaliers managed to break through the ranks of the parliamentary troops of Fairfax, cut him off from the main forces and began to threaten the flank of the parliamentary infantry. The situation seemed so serious to Manchester and Leuven that they … left the battlefield, believing that the battle had already been lost!
And this is how it happened in reality. Modern renovation.
The situation was saved by the decisiveness and military talent of Cromwell, who, having received a message about the difficult situation on the right flank, again gathered his cavalry and again rushed into a second attack on Rupert's horsemen in order to finish them off completely. He managed to break through their ranks - or rather what was left of them, and put the enemy to flight. Then, having finished crushing him in his sector, he sent the Scots Leslie to pursue Rupert and his horsemen, and he himself repeated the maneuver of Alexander the Great in the battle of Gavgamekh, that is, he bypassed the royal troops from behind, and then attacked Goring's cavalry from the rear. Together with the units of Fairfax, his cavalry was defeated, after which Cromwell attacked the royalist infantry with all his might. And this finally decided the outcome of the battle in favor of the army of parliament. Then began the massacre of the survivors, and still trying to somehow resist the royalists. Later, Cromwell wrote about this in his report to Parliament as follows: "God made them stubble for our swords." About 4000 royalists were killed, 1500 were taken prisoner. Up to 1,500 people were killed and wounded by the parliamentary army. As trophies, she also got 14 guns, 6,000 muskets, and part of the royal banners. "God was with us and for us!" said Cromwell.
Modern "soldiers of Cromwell".
The Battle of Marston Moore was the first truly significant victory for the Army of Parliament. Previously considered invincible, the royal cavalry of Prince Rupert was utterly defeated by the "iron-sided" Oliver Cromwell. Speaking in the language of modernity, we can say that this was a fundamental turning point in the course of the Civil War in England.
A memorial monument installed at the site of the battle.
