English+Civil+War+-+Battle+of+Edge+Hill

Ryan Brown aebrown4656@aol.com Brian Brooks. soccerman7262@aim.com Kyle Berlin kmankyle72@yahoo.com

= = = = =The English Civil War: Battle of Edgehill= = =
 * [] powerpoint link**

__Background__

 * August 22, 1642, King Charles I of England publicly displayed his Royal Standard (banner) officially proclaiming that Britain's Parliamnet and troops were traitors to the crown.
 * The public raising of his banner signaled the start of the English Civil War.
 * King Charles wanted absolute monarchy and the Parliament wanted a share of the government.
 * Religion was also a major factor: King Charles-Anglican Church and Parliment-Calvinist Puritans. Puritans hated Anglicans.
 * London along with much of Southern England sided with parliment, King Charles moved north and made Shrewsbury his headquarters.
 * In early October of 1642 King Charles, after collecting his army, held a council of war and decided it was time to move south towards London to confront the Parliamentarian Army.

__The Battle__
> At the end of the day, the Earl of Essex ordered his army to halt the battle and both sides held their postions during the night.
 * Took place October 23, 1642 in Edgehill, Warwickshire England.
 * King Charles I of England lead his army called the Royalist. Prince Rupert, the King's nephew, voluntarily lead the King's Cavalry and was an important leader to the Royalist.
 * The Earl Essex lead the Parliamentary army which were called Parliamentarians.
 * The Royalist had 12,400 troops and the Parliamentarians 15,000 at this battle.
 * October 12, 1642 King Charles left Shrewsbury and proceeded south towards London.
 * It took 10 days to march 100 miles south near Banbury. On October 22, 1642 Royalist troops ran into Parliamentary troops while trying to get lodging for the night.
 * Prince Rupert secured the strategic highground at top of Edgehill.
 * By luck, the Royalist had positioned themselves between the Parliamentarian troops and London forcing the Earl of Essex to have to confront them.
 * **Similarities of Armies**: -both had very raw experienced soldiers with several experienced officers.
 * Both armies artillery was equally matched
 * **Differences of Armies**: -Royalist calvery was superior to Parliamentarians at this stage of the war. Parliamentarians tried to fire pistols and carbines from saddle while Royalists would charge with swords in hand.
 * The Parliamentarians foot soldiers were better equiped. Royalist pikeman lacked armour and their muskets lacked swords. Several hundred Royalist lacked any weapons other than clubs.
 * The Battle began with an artillery duel followed by several rounds of calvary and infantry charges back and forth.

__Results__
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Gentles, I. (2003). This Confused, divided and wretched city: the struggle for london in 1642-1643. //Canadian Journal of History//, 38. Retrieved from http://galenet.galegroup.com > Niderost, E. (1993, october 9). //Historynet.com//. Retrieved from http://www.historynet.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > (n.d.). //Wikipedia//. Retrieved (2009, November 21) from hhtp://en.wikipedia.org > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > **add any thing more to my research and add resources! > Ryan Brown**
 * Royalists - 500 dead and 1,500 wounded/Parliamentarins- 500 dead and 1,500 wounded
 * A very cold night is believed to have helped many survive their wounds by slowing the bleeding.
 * Both armies reformed the next day but neither was willing to resume battle.
 * Earl of Essex withdraw on October 25th to Warwick Castle.
 * Rupert urged the King to move on to London with the Parliamentarian Army out of their way.
 * Although Edgehill was technically a draw, Rupert's Royalist Calvary beat the Parliamentarian Calvery. If the King had moved on to London it was believed that neutral parties would have sided and joined with the perceived winning side.
 * King Charles hesitated going to London most likely due to the numbers of dead and injured. The Royalists eventually moved on to London but were turned away by the Parliamentarians after having time to regroup.
 * Edgehill became a "school of war". Parliamentary Captain Oliver Cromwell learned that their Calvery was very ill-trained compared to the Royalist. Cromwell took the lessons learned and modeled a new army that surpassed anything King Charles could gather. Cromwell's Ironsides Cavalry would eventually contribute to Parliament's victory over the King.
 * by ryan brown