Battle of Langport

The Battle of Langport (English Battle of Langport ) in the English Civil War was a victory of the Parliament troops who defeated the last remaining royalist army on 10 July 1645 and thus got the final control of the West of England. Prior to the west of the country had been major supply territory of the king troops for reinforcements, resources, and imports.

Campaign

The city of Taunton had been conquered in June 1644 to the Parliament of Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex 3 and his army. But after he had to capitulate in September of the year in the Battle of Lostwithiel in Cornwall, the Royal began to besiege Taunton. Before the city was conquered, the end of November appeared Sir William Waller with a relief army and liberated the city from its besiegers.

The setbacks for the parliamentary army in the Southwest led in winter 1644/45 to the formulation of "Self - denying Ordinance, " and to set up the " New Model Army ".

Beginning of the year 1645 asked King Charles I, George Lord Goring in order to recapture Taunton and other parliamentary outpost in the West. This prompted the Parliament end of April, to summon as a countermeasure to the main part of the New Model Army under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax to the west. Then Goring withdrew his troops to meet with the royal main army at Oxford. Fairfax broke now its march to the west, to besiege Oxford. A clash of armies failed to materialize when the king marched with the main body of the army under Prince Rupert of the Rhine to the north, while Goring resumed the siege of Taunton.

When the king the end of May in Staffordshire from the siege of Oxford learned from Fairfax, he called upon Goring, again to join him, while he himself attacked Leicester to dissuade Fairfax from his siege of Oxford. On June 14, 1645 Fairfax won with the main part of the New Model Army at the Battle of Naseby a decisive victory over the royal army. Under him served as a lieutenant general of cavalry Oliver Cromwell. After four days later recaptured the previously looted from the Royal Leicester, he turned again to the south, to relieve Taunton. The defeated king retired now back to Wales to be able to dig new troops in the hope of there, or to receive support from Ireland.

Fairfax's army reached on July 4, Beaminster, where it was learned from the task of Taunton siege by Goring. This withdrew towards the royalist stronghold of Bridgwater, because his army was numerically much inferior to that of Fairfax. From Taunton Fairfax joined a detachment under the command of Colonel Ralph Weldon.

On the 7th of July, Fairfax Yeovil. A part of his army under the command of Major General Edward Massey, he sent in the direction of Taunton, as Goring had sent there an equestrian department to distraction. This was defeated by Massey in Ilminster on July 8. On July 10, we began to encounter from Fairfax and Goring's armies.

The Battle

Lord Goring had occupied a strong defensive position, not least to allow its slow artillery and the supply convoy to retreat. Its main troops defended a passage extending from north to south increase, one mile east of Langport. Against this increase was a marshy valley and the river Wagg Rhyne. Only a narrow path that was lined with trees and hedges, led up by a ford over the river and the hill. Lord Goring posted above in this way two guns that could fire along the road. In the hedges themselves entrenched experienced Welsh foot soldiers. Goring hoped that Fairfax thus should carry out time-consuming evasive maneuvers.

Fairfax continued, however, that the superior morality of his cavalry would offset the advantage of Goring's position. During his artillery Goring destroyed both guns, Fairfax sent 1,500 musketeers through the swamps to drive the Welsh infantry from the hedges. Then he ordered two cavalry " divisions " (actually numerically regiments ) the attack on the hill along the road. These two regiments, it was mostly to fanatical Puritan veterans of Oliver Cromwell " Ironsides " regiment.

The first division of Major Christopher Bethel galloped in Vierrerreihen up the road and hit two royal regiments to flight. A third Royal Regiment led a counter-attack, but was attacked by the second parliamentary division under Major John Desborough and forced to retreat. As more and more Parliament troops stormed up the hill, took the Lord Goring's troops to flight.

Cromwell was waiting with his troops on the hill, until his troops had reformed and then began the persecution of the king troops. 3 km further tried Lord Goring also to gather his troops, but failed in the face of invading troops of Cromwell.

Result

Lord Goring's army was the last intact army, which was available to the King. Their defeat meant by Naseby another heavy blow.

On July 23, conquered Fairfax Bridgewater and on September 10, Bristol. These conquests isolated the West of England from the rest of the royal troops, who still held Oxford and other towns in the Midlands. The Civil War was limited now to eliminate these scattered garrisons by the Parliament armies, without it even came to larger battles.