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| Lansdown Hill, 1643 | ||
| Jul 4 | Lansdown Hill overlooks the city of Bath to the North. Sir
William Waller had moved his troops out of the city to the more
defendable slopes of this hill.
Hopton arrived in the morning to find Waller's troops holding a strong position on the top of the hill. Hopton retired his forces to Marshfield in order to plan an assault - watched all the time by the Parliamentarians on the hill.
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Waller's force
: 1500 foot, 2500 horse.
Hopton : 4000 foot, 2000 horse, 300 dragoons. |
| Jul 5 | Early in the morning Waller
moved his troops to the north of the high ground at Hanging Hill to face
the Royalist forces on Freezing Hill - another area of high ground to
the north. Dragoons from each side met in the hedges of the valley
below. The Royalist dragoons were forced to retreat back towards
Marshfield. |
|
| The Parliamentarians saw the Royalists retiring and
charged with their cavalry and dragoons, under Major Dowett and Col.
Carr, down the hill.
The Royalist horse, which were protecting the retreating foot, were
routed but the Cornish infantry stood firm with their pikes and muskets
and repelled the attack. Carnarvon's horsemen were then able to reform,
and push Dowett and Carr back towards Lansdown. |
Less than 1,000 horse and dragoons charged the entire Royalist army - some 6,000 men. | |
| Waller ordered Burghill's
regiment to advance and attack Carnarvon's horse if they came too close.
There was a number of charges and counter-charges between these two sets
of cavalry. Both leaders were wounded before Burghill retreated back up
the hill to rejoin the main Parliamentary forces with two re-captured
cannon. |
Burghill was
shot in the arm and Carnarvon was shot in the leg.
This fight lasted two hours. |
|
| 5 pm | The Royalist attack up the hill was commenced. The Cornish
pikemen of Sir Bevil Grenville in the centre flanked by musketeers on
the wooded sides. The ascent of the hill was steep and open. |
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| The Parliamentary guns fired down the hill
but in an astonishing display of bravery the Cornishmen progressed up
the hill. It took three major assaults before they stood at the top of
the hill and formed a defensive square position. Their losses were heavy
but eventually the Parliamentarians retreated back behind a stone wall.
Sir Bevil Grenville led his men from the front and was mortally wounded in the third charge of Heselrige's cavalry. |
"...the
air was so darkened by the smoke of the powder, that for a quarter of an
hour... there was no light seen, but what the fire of the volleys of
shot gave; and 'twas the greatest storm that ever I saw, in which though
I knew not whither to go, nor what to do. My horse had two or three
musket balls in him presently, which made him tremble under me .. and I
could hardly with spurs keep him from lying down, but he did me the
service to carry me off ... and then died" 'Captain Richard Atkyns (Royalist)' |
|
| 9 pm | Both sides exchanged fire until darkness
fell.
Waller retreated back to Bath, leaving burning match-cord on the walls and standing pikes to make the enemy think they were still there. The Royalists had suffered too much to follow and retreated northwards.
|
'We had a weary and dangerous days fight, the night parting us and so well did we knock each other than in the night we both retreated...We had the advantage of the ground but the Cornish hedgers beat us from it, though they bought it at a dear rate....' Waller. |
| Jul 6 | The day after the battle, Hopton
had ridden over to inspect some prisoners who were being carried on a
wagon with some ammunition. One of them used a match to light his
tobacco and a spark blew up 8 barrels of the gunpowder. Hopton had
already been wounded in the arm and was deeply shocked.
Eventually it was the Royalists who retreated back to Devizes, followed and harried by Waller's men.
|
Hopton was 'miserably burnt, his horse singed like parched leather' |
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To the immortal memory of his renowned Grandfather and valiant Cornish Friends, who conquered, dying in the Royal Cause, July 5th, 1643, this Column was de- dicated by the Hon. GEORGE GRANVILLE, Lord LANSDOWN, 1780. |
The monument to Sir Bevil
Grenville.
On the monument can be found: A description of the battle. A tribute to Grenville
from A poem about the battle by William Cartwright. |
|
| Royalist : Hopton, Sir Bevil
Grenville, Lord Carnarvon
Parliament : Waller, Heselrige, Burghill, Nicholas Slanning, Col. Carr, Major Dowett |
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