14th June 2008
On 14th June 2008 it was the anniversary of the Battle of Naseby, one of the most important battles to take place on English soil, so LPS decided to go there and do an investigation.
By 10am the two armies were on the battlefield with the Royalists to the north of Broad Moor valley along Dust Hill and the Parliamentarians to the south on Moot Hill. Because of the shape of the ridge most of the Parliamentary forces could not be seen by the Royalists who thought there were fewer men than there actually were. In reality the number of Parliamentary troops was 13,576 men (5,400 Cavalry, 7,500 Infantry and 676 Dragoons [mounted infantry]) and the Royalists 10,150 (5,500 Cavalry and 4,600 Infantry).
Report by Bill King
Team 1 Report
The day turned out to be a rather eventful one not least because we met up with another group, the Northampton Paranormal Society, who were investigating there as well. For full reports see the notes below.
The battlefield was defined by the very substantial Sulby Hedge which bordered the parish to the west and to the east by scrub, furze, boggy land and a rabbit warren. Oliver Cromwell saw the potential of this hedge and sent Colonel John Okey and his Dragoons to position themselves along the west side of the hedge where they could shoot at the enemy, specifically Prince Maurice’s cavalry, as they were forming up. Things didn’t go quite as expected as Maurice’s musketeers fired on Okey and his troops causing them to fall back before they could open fire. When they did start to shoot it provoked Maurice into a premature advance to escape the shooting. Carefully crossing the valley, Maurice’s cavalry, accompanied by Prince Rupert, trotted up the hill towards the Parliamentary lines before breaking into a gallop and falling on Commissary-General Henry Ireton's cavalry. In the attack two of Ireton’s regiments broke and fled the field pursued by the Royalists.
Seeing the movement of their cavalry the Royalist infantry advanced across the valley. By the time they reached the bottom of the hill nothing could be seen of the Parliamentary forces due to the shape of the land. As they advanced up the hill the terrain caused the infantry to form into a wedge which first hit Pickering and Wallace’s regiments in the centre of the field. For a while the Royalist infantry were on the point of breaking the Parliamentary troops until Colonel Thomas Pride brought up his reserves and the now greater number of Parliamentary troops drove the Royalists back.
To the east Sir Marmaduke Langdale’s cavalry moved against Cromwell’s cavalry but could not maintain their momentum because of the slope and the nature of the terrain. Cromwell’s cavalry were hard hit but stood their ground mainly because they were so tightly packed that they had no where to go so they had to advance and drove Langdale back. Unlike Maurice’s cavalry Cromwell only let part of his regiment pursue Langdale whilst the rest wheeled left to support the infantry in the centre.
By now Rupert had returned to his lines to find that his reserve of horse had been sent to support Langdale and his reserve of foot, the Bluecoats, were sent to the left on the forward slope of Dust Hill. The Royalist infantry were now streaming back across the field making for the ridge behind the Bluecoats with a lot of them surrendering to the pursuing Parliamentarians. The Bluecoats were surrounded and fought on until they were over-ridden by pistol-wielding horsemen.
The pattern of shot found on the ground shows the Royalist army retreating back towards Market Harborough under the covering fire of others (including the Royalist baggage train) and having several fire fights. Another battle took place to the north when the opposing forces faced each other across a small valley then the pattern of shot peters out to the north as the number of fleeing Royalists declines.
The battle decimated the Royalist army and came as a severe blow to Charles I. It is said that during the battle 1,000 Royalists lost their lives with only 4,000 escaping the field, whilst only 150 Roundheads died.
The Deployment of the Armies and the Action at Naseby
To view images see:
Naseby Album
To view the investigation notes click on the links below
Team 2 Report
For other reports about Naseby see:
26-06-2004