Everything about First Battle Of Middlewich totally explained
The
First Battle of Middlewich took place on the
13 March,
1643, during the
English Civil War, and was fought between the
Parliamentarians, under
Sir William Brereton, and the
Royalist supporters of
King Charles I of England, under Sir
Thomas Aston.
Background
In the summer of 1642 came the final split between the King and Parliament and both sides made preparations for raising an army. Throughout the summer
Commissioners of Array for the King and
Deputy Lieutenants for Parliament attempted to raise the
trained bands and to seize the in every county. During the confusion caused by the troops waiting to be shipped from
Chester to
Ireland to suppress the rebellion there, Sir William Brereton, the Parliamentary representative in Cheshire, turned to what was virtually recruiting. He found himself opposed by Sir Thomas Aston and all the resident Cheshire nobility and he failed in his attempt to secure Chester for Parliament.
At this time Aston was probably the recognized representative of the King in the county and was able to present the latter with a list of men willing to serve in the King's army. The King decided to base this army at
Shrewsbury and when he arrived there on the
20 September 1642 he wrote to
Lord Kilmorey,
Lord Cholmondeley and "the other of the subscribers for Horse in Cheshire" telling them to deliver their horses into the charge of Aston who was to bring the forces raised to Shrewsbury to join with the main body of the army. Charles made it unnecessary for Aston to leave for Shrewsbury as he instead came to Chester and it was from here that he issued, on the
26 September, an order for the seizure of arms and horses from those people who had carried out Parliament's
Militia Ordinance in Cheshire. These were to be delivered to Aston who was able to leave with the King at the head of three troops of horse.
Sir Thomas obviously conducted himself satisfactorily in the campaign culminating in the
battle of Edgehill because an order from
Prince Rupert in January 1643 refers to him as a colonel of a regiment of cuirassiers, and two days later on the
19 January the King announced that he was sending Aston as a Major-General to Cheshire and Lancashire. Aston's orders were simply stated by Prince Rupert; he was to take his regiment to Shropshire, raise forces of horse and foot there, and then defend Cheshire against the Parliamentary force that was heading to the county from London under the leadership of Sir William Brereton. He was also to seize arms and ammunition for the King's use and "put into execution the laws and customs martial upon all offenders.....for the better preventing of disorders, plunderings and outrages which are often committed by soldiers." He was told to achieve this and return to the main army by the
15 March unless he received orders to the contrary.
The preparations for Aston's march and arrival in Cheshire reveal the King's interest in keeping Cheshire Royalist. The authorities of the areas that Aston was to pass through on his way from
Oxford to Cheshire were ordered to provide food and lodgings for his men. The Cheshire Commissioners of Array were also given explicit orders as to what they should do to help Aston. The King explained to them that as the Parliamentarians had rejected the
Bunbury Agreement and were sending a force to Cheshire, he was sending Aston and his regiment of horse to protect the county. The Commissioners were to assemble the trained bands and summon
Quarter Sessions to decide on a method of raising money to pay the soldiers. They were also to help Aston raise a regiment of dragoons (mounted infantry armed with muskets) and seize arms from "malignants" to arm them. In addition the parishes were to supply horses for mounting them.
Parliament also realised how important Cheshire was and sent Sir William Brereton to raise support for its cause. Professor Eric Ives summed up the importance of Cheshire in a lecture given in July 2001. Geographically Cheshire lies between the Pennines and the Welsh hills and so whoever controlled Cheshire controlled the north – south corridor. For Parliament the control of Cheshire would mean separating the King's northern supporters from the King and his army at Oxford. It could also stop the King bringing in reinforcements from his Irish army through the port of Chester. '
When Sir Thomas arrived in Shropshire he found that there were only 60 dragoons instead of the 600 promised. The authorities promised him another 200 and so he decided to wait for two days before moving on to Cheshire. During this time he was ordered to
Stafford to help the sheriff there (perhaps against the Moorlanders who had risen for Parliament). However Sir Thomas didn't neglect his prime objective and ordered the Cheshire Commissioners of Array to defend
Nantwich with 150 musketeers and to inform him of Brereton's progress. Neither order was carried out and Aston wasn't informed until it was too late to arrive at Nantwich before Brereton.
The skirmish at Nantwich
Sir William Brereton meanwhile had ridden into
Congleton on the evening of
27 January with
his own troop of horse and three companies of dragoons. Although he was joined in Congleton by the ex-Mayor William Edwards with another troop of horse, his whole force couldn't have amounted to more than about 500 men. His mission, however, wasn't to conquer Cheshire but to rouse and organize the Parliamentary sympathizers in it. He had with him the cadre of a foot regiment, a case of Drakes (small cannon about 7½ feet long) and 700 muskets in his baggage train as well as an experienced Scottish professional, Major James Lothian, to train recruits. He had wide powers to construct fortifications and raise more men and was to finance the whole enterprise by voluntary payment and upon the rent and goods of local Royalists.
He approached Nantwich on the 28th not just "to releave the town, beinge in greate danger to be plundered and destroyed by the Kings Armye and Commissioners of Array", but also because it offered the only alternative to Chester as a county headquarters. It had sufficient wealth and housing to accommodate a large garrison and staff and was the centre of a network of roads leading to the
Midlands and
London, to North
Wales,
Lancashire,
Yorkshire and
Scotland.
Brereton sent ahead 50 dragoons under Major Lothian to occupy the town and they got there before Aston who had finally been informed of Brereton's progress by
Orlando Bridgeman, the son of the Bishop of Chester. Aston had with him his own troop of horse and some companies of Shropshire dragoons under the command of Colonel Sir Vincent Corbett totalling about 500 men. Despite his superiority of numbers Aston failed to take the town and at dusk he retreated eastwards down Hospital Street. In a narrow lane his force met the remainder of Brereton's force and confusion was the result. A company of Brereton's dragoons dismounted but failed to leave anyone to control the horses which bolted into the fields and were taken by the Royalists for charging cavalry. The confusion was added to when some Parliamentarians loaded and fired one of the drakes. This doesn't seem to have caused any injury but the flash and the roar amid the general confusion frightened the Royalists so much "that they weire all scattered and quyte Rowted". It isn't known why Middlewich was chosen as opposed to the much safer
Knutsford where it would have been possible to retreat to
Warrington if necessary. In his account of the battle of Middlewich Sir Thomas didn't say why he came to Middlewich on
11 March but explained that he'd no wish to linger there. He realized the dangers of staying in an open town with enemy forces at both
Northwich and Nantwich. Sir William Brereton, who was recruiting in Northwich, commented on the boldness of the Royalists for camping at Middlewich. He believed it resulted from overconfidence in their ability to win over the county and rid it of the Parliamentarians.
Saturday 11 March
Aston arrived at Middlewich with about 500 mounted troops and over 1000 of the trained bands of the
Broxton and
Wirral Hundreds plus 3 cannon. William Brereton sent a strong party of horse from Northwich "who gave them an alarm." Aston had meanwhile received a letter from the Governor of Chester, Sir
Nicholas Byron, telling him that if he provided an escort for
Lord Brereton's family and goods to Chester then the latter, who was a relative of Sir William Brereton, would provide men for Aston. The latter, in consultation with the sheriff, Sir
Edward Fytton, and Colonel Ellis decided it was worth staying. Sir Thomas was reluctant to linger in Middlewich and therefore sent a letter to Lord Brereton urging him to act straight away even though it meant travelling on Sunday.
Sunday 12 March
Brereton, wanting "to annoy our enemy", set out with 2 or 3 companies of dragoons to give alarm at Middlewich. He had no intention of attacking but wanted to harass the Royalists. In the meantime Lord Brereton hadn't done as Aston requested but instead came to Middlewich to confer further. Sir Thomas believed that Lord Brereton's presence in Middlewich led to the attack by the Parliamentarians because they wanted to prevent the Royalists from joining forces. Sir William however, in his account of the battle, made it clear that he attacked because he believed a Royalist presence in Middlewich posed too much of a threat to be ignored.
In order to confer with Lord Brereton and also the sheriff’s desire to "sumon the countrey with theire contribucon and assistance, necessitated a ioynt consent to stay there on Monday."
The Aftermath
Sir Thomas Aston
Sir Thomas sent a messenger to rally his cavalry at
Rudheath intending to go on to Brereton and collect Lord Brereton's force. The cavalry were, unfortunately, beyond recall and so Aston went on his own to give an account of the battle and to see if Lord Brereton was still willing to support him. Finding that he was, Aston returned to Whitchurch to raise the Shropshire forces. However, the trained bands there had been disbanded leaving Sir Thomas no alternative but to return to Cheshire, rally his men and await his fate. He summed up his feelings about the battle thus:
"It is the plain truth, the enemy having no diversion, but att liberty with their full power to fall on us from all parts, were much too hard for us in a place not defensible. And without some more experienced foot officers, I must freely say no number will be found sufficient to withstand ready men."
In 1645 Sir Thomas served in the West Country under George Goring until September or October when he decided to return home. He passed through Kidderminster and Stourbridge on his way to Cheshire. At the beginning of November he was captured by a Parliamentary force under the command of a certain Captain Stones "att or neere Banke" (possibly near Walsall) along with about 60 Royalists - presumably Cheshire men who had fought in Aston's regiment and who were also returning home. From there he was taken to prison and placed under arrest. On the 24 March 1646 Sir Thomas Aston died of a fever brought on by his various wounds, including a blow to the head received during an unsuccessful attempt to escape.
Sir William Brereton
Sir William Brereton declared God responsible for him winning the battle:
"I desire the whole praise and glory may be attributed to Almighty God, who infused courage into them that stood for His cause, and struck the enemy with terror and amazement."
By the end of the spring Parliamentary forces, with Brereton as commander-in-chief, controlled five of the seven Hundreds of Cheshire. From this time on through to February 1646, when the last remaining royalist base at Chester surrendered to him, the county was dominated by Sir William and he proved to be a dynamic war-time leader not just militarily but also politically and administratively. According to Professor Ives, because of the importance of Cheshire, Sir William Brereton "had more influence on the outcome of the First English Civil War than Oliver Cromwell had."
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