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| Nantwich 1644 | ||
| Nantwich was the only town in Cheshire to have sided with
the Parliamentarians and was besieged by the Royalists on several
occasions.
Charles had arranged a peace in Ireland which allowed his troops to return to England to fight for the Royalist cause. They landed at Chester to join Byron. |
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| Jan 25 | The town of Nantwich had been besieged for six weeks by
Lord Byron's 5,000 men. William Brereton did not have enough troops to
engage the enemy...but then... Fairfax was sent across the Pennines with
3,000 men to help.
Becoming aware of Fairfax's approach from the north-west, Byron started assembling his army on a hill at Acton, a mile west of Nantwich. His infantry and artillery were sent across the river Weaver. A sudden thaw caused the frozen river to flood and this split the Royalist forces - the cavalry were unable to cross the river as the bridge could not be used. Byron had to make a 6-mile detour to the north to find a crossing, in order to combine his forces. Fairfax appeared with his armies. He sent some of his infantry to hold back the Royalist horsemen while he attacked the infantry on the hill. Both of these attacks were successful. The Royalist cavalry were unable to charge because of the many hedgerows, and were unable to fight their way through to join their infantry. The infantry were attacked on two sides as a detachment from the town of Nantwich came out to join in the battle. |
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| The overwhelmed infantry surrendered. About 1500 prisoners
were taken and these promptly changed sides and enlisted with the
Parliamentarians.
Byron escaped with only his cavalry.
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The townspeople celebrated their victory by wearing holly in their hats | |
| Royalists (5,000): Lord
Byron
Parliament (5,000): Thomas Fairfax, William Brereton |
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