The English Civil War

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

The English civil war began in England in 1642 between the English king Charles the I and the English parliament, it ended in 1645 with the victory of the parliament (English civil war history learning site). King Charles had declared war on his own people, the country of England. This civil war was a key point event in the history of England because the English monarchy nearly ended forever. The Roundheads won the English civil war because of their more qualified leaders, because they had better tactics despite the fact that they were sometimes outnumbered the Chevaliers.

The battle of Naseby is considered one of the pivoting battles in the English civil war because the chevaliers suffered great losses in battle, this made the chevaliers weak and from that point onwards the where always attacked, not the attackers (history learning site, battle of Naseby; history on the net, civil war battles) More qualified leaders managed to control in a better and more organized way the soldiers. "The New Model Army was a military force based on a person’s ability rather than on your position within society. If you were good enough, you could be an officer in it."(English civil war history learning site). Oliver Cromwell had understood that in order to win the soldiers had to be controlled by good leaders who knew what they had to do, on the other side the chevaliers had military ranks based on the society rank of your family or name. Talented low class people could become high ranked military leaders in the New Model Army. "One of the leading officers in the New Model Army had been a butcher."(history learning site, new model army) Despite the fact that the new model army was made up of various private armies of different English lords or of different towns which all had different leaders Oliver Cromwell managed to unite them all under one general commander who was Lord Thomas Fairfax. During the battle of Naseby the trained model army cavalry and leaders of it managed to promptly defend and counter attack Charles the I troops and defeat them irreparably for the rest of the civil war. When the Roundheads counter-attacked the king’s troops, the incompetent nobles didn’t realize on time and where forced to surrender (history learning site, battle of Naseby).

During the battle of Marston Moor for the first time in history the Parliament’s cavalry, the ironsides named like that because of their iron armor, managed to defeat prince Rupert’s cavalry, who had heavy armor which made them more resistant to enemy attacks but they were slow and clumsy (history learning site, the new model army). Better tactics and organization helped the roundheads reduce losses and win battles. The tactics used by the 2 armies where similar but had some key differences: both armies had the foot-men in the middle and the cavalry on the side but the difference vas in the cavalry, parliament had light and fast soldiers while chevaliers where heavy and slow "The horses were the key to the success of the New Model Army as an attack by an unit of the New Model Army was based on speed - surprising the enemy with the speed of an attack, hitting the enemy hard and decisively and then moving on."(history leaning site, the new model army). During the Marston moor battle the armies where outnumbered but the royalists had the geography of the moor on their side, Prince Rupert manned those ditches in order to gain more defense against Cromwell’s cavalry but the attempt failed. The fast cavalry of the parliament under a good control and trained all the same managed to counterattack both flanks of the enemy and isolate the foot soldiers which, without discipline, fled the battlefield and doomed the battle to a loss of the king. This battle was one of the most important in the English Civil War because it was the first of a series of parliamentarian victories and because most of the north of England lost trust in the king therefor Charles I had to flee one of the last safe parts of the country.

During the first battle of Newbury the roundheads where outnumbered by 1000 men approximately but this didn’t prevent them from fighting, the point wasn’t fighting but winning, they achieved this because Charles left them place a line of cannons which proved decisive in damaging the kings troops before even arriving to the enemy. Even if sometimes outnumbered the roundheads managed to prevail on the chevaliers. First the kings troops attacked but where rejected, this happened for other 2 times. Bye the end of the day the battle resulted in a draw. This battle wasn’t so important for the civil war but it was a great milestone for the parliamentarian army because Oliver Cromwell understood the key for winning the war: discipline and training. Cromwell’s ironsides where considered the elite of the army, the problem was that the rigorous laws that they attended where not spread to the rest of the soldiers. Troops where trained, people where recruited and equipment was improved, the New model army was born. This single, failed and disappointing battle made the new model army which was the last decisive step toward the kings end (YouTube). During the battle of Newbury the king had lost an important stronghold of its power London, because of low ammunition and defeated men the king had to move in the city of oxford, this made him weaker to the view of his sustainers, soldiers and nobles who were still loyal to the crown of England. With the events of this battle and of what succeeded it we can see how much the king was hated and that he was doomed to fail his "cause" even if till Newbury he was in advantage over the parliament.

The events that led to the English civil war are many, the causes of who won and why are still many, but for certain there is the fact that the king lost and that England changed forever. The Roundheads won the English civil war because of their more qualified leaders, because they had better tactics despite the fact that they were sometimes outnumbered the Chevaliers. Many events linked in a chain that led people to change, and armies to evolve, the new model army, the father of the English "redcoats" was born in those years, for the first time in history a king was killed by his own people. The English civil war was the beginning of a period of revolutions, reforms and new ways of thinking and reacting. The beginning of the modern age.

Work’s Cited

"Sir Thomas, Lord Fairfax 1612-1671." Sir Thomas Fairfax. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/biog/fairfax.htm>.

"Prince Rupert of the Rhine 1619-1682." Prince Rupert of the Rhine 1619-82. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://www.british-civil- wars.co.uk/biog/rupert.htm>.

"English Civil War - The Main Battles." English Civil War. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. <http://www.historyonthenet.com/Civil_War/civil_war_battles.htm>.

"Roundhead." Roundhead. Princeton, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. <http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Roundhea d.html>.

"Roundheads." Spartacus Educational. Spartacus, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/STUroundheads.htm>.

"Oliver Cromwell." Spartacus Educational. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/STUcromwellO.htm>.

"Cavaliers: The English Civil War." Cavaliers: The English Civil War. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2013. <http://www.sirclisto.com/cavalier/cavaliere.html>.

"English Civil War." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War>.

"Category:Battles of the English Civil Wars." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Mar. 2013. Web. 02 Apr. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Battles_of_the_English_Civil_War s>.

Smith, S.E., and Bronwyn Harris. WiseGeek. Conjecture, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013. <http://www.wisegeek.com/who-were-the-cavaliers.htm>.

"The Battle of Naseby." The Battle of Naseby. History Learning Site, n.d. Web. 02 May 2013. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_naseby.htm>.

"The English Civil War." The English Civil War. History Learning Site, n.d. Web. 02 May2013.http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/civil_war_england.htm

"The Battle of Marston Moor." The Battle of Marston Moor. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_marston_moor.htm>.

YouTube. YouTube. YouTube, 15 June 2011. Web. 03 May 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7BLiuiORHI>.