Battle of Torrington
50°57′11″N 4°08′28″W / 50.953°N 4.141°W / 50.953; -4.141
Battle of Torrington | |||||||
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Part of the First English Civil War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Royalists | Parliamentarians | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Sir Ralph Hopton | Sir Thomas Fairfax | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
3,000 horse 2,000 foot | 10,000 |
- v
- t
- e
- 1st Hull
- Marshall's Elm
- Portsmouth
- Plymouth
- Babylon Hill
- Powick Bridge
- Kings Norton
- Edgehill
- Aylesbury
- Brentford
- Turnham Green
- Farnham Castle
- Piercebridge
- Tadcaster
- 1st Exeter
- Muster Green
- 1st Bradford
- Chichester
1643
- Braddock Down
- Leeds
- 1st Middlewich
- Hopton Heath
- Seacroft Moor
- Camp Hill
- Lichfield
- Ripple Field
- Reading
- Sourton Down
- 1st Wardour Castle
- Stratton
- Wakefield
- 1st Worcester
- Chalgrove Field
- Adwalton Moor
- 2nd Bradford
- Burton Bridge
- Lansdowne
- Roundway Down
- 1st Bristol
- Gainsborough
- Gloucester
- 2nd Hull
- Aldbourne Chase
- 1st Newbury
- Winceby
- Olney Bridge
- 1st Basing House
- Heptonstall
- 2nd Wardour Castle
- Alton
- Bramber Bridge
- Arundel
- 2nd Middlewich
1644
- Nantwich
- Newcastle
- 1st Lathom House
- Newark
- Boldon Hill
- Stourbridge Heath
- Cheriton
- Selby
- Lyme Regis
- York
- Lincoln
- 1st Oxford
- Bolton
- 2nd Basing House
- Tipton Green
- Oswestry
- Cropredy Bridge
- Marston Moor
- Gunnislake New Bridge
- Ormskirk
- Lostwithiel
- Tippermuir
- 1st Aberdeen
- Montgomery Castle
- 1st Chester
- 1st Taunton
- Carlisle
- 2nd Newbury
1645
- Inverlochy
- High Ercall Hall
- Weymouth
- Scarborough Castle
- 2nd Taunton
- Auldearn
- 3rd Taunton
- 2nd Oxford
- Leicester
- Naseby
- Alford
- 2nd Lathom House
- Langport
- Hereford
- Kilsyth
- 2nd Bristol
- Philiphaugh
- 2nd Chester
- Rowton Heath
- Sherburn in Elmet
- 3rd Basing House
- Annan Moor
- Denbigh Green
- Shelford House
- Newark
1646
- Bovey Heath
- Torrington
- Stow-on-the-Wold
- 3rd Oxford
- 2nd Aberdeen
- Lagganmore
- 2nd Worcester
The Battle of Torrington (16 February 1646) was a decisive battle of the south-western campaign of the First English Civil War and marked the end of Royalist resistance in the West Country. It took place in Torrington, Devon.
Prelude
After Lord Wentworth's defeat at Bovey Tracey, Sir Ralph Hopton was appointed Royalist commander in the west, with Wentworth commanding the horse and Sir Richard Grenville the foot. Grenville refused to recognise Hopton's command and was arrested for insubordination and imprisoned on St Michael's Mount.[1]
Hopton's army, numbering 3,000 horse and 2,000 foot, advanced into Devon and occupied Torrington, where defensive works were erected.
Battle
The Parliamentarians approached from the east on the evening of 16 February 1646. In heavy rain and with night falling, the Parliamentarians ran into Royalist dragoons and fighting broke out to the east of Torrington. The Parliamentarian commander, Sir Thomas Fairfax, decided to wait until morning to reconnoitre the Royalists' defences. However, when he sent his dragoons forward to test the defences and they came under fire; Fairfax pushed more troops forward in support and a general fight developed.
The fighting at the barricades lasted two hours at push of pike. At last the Cornish infantry gave way and retreated into the town, where bitter fighting continued. A stray spark ignited the Royalist magazine in Torrington church, where eighty barrels of gunpowder were stored. The explosion destroyed the church, killed all the prisoners held there and narrowly missed killing Fairfax.[1]
Aftermath
The explosion effectively ended the battle with the remaining Royalist troops escaping.
Memorial
The anniversary of the battle is remembered in February each year, with a torch-lit procession and re-enactment.[2]
In fiction
The battle features strongly in the conclusion of Rosemary Sutcliff's historical fiction Simon.
Citations
- ^ a b Plant.
- ^ A Little Local History.
References
- "A Little Local History". Great Torrington. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
- Plant, David. "The Battle of Torrington, 1646". BCW Project. Retrieved 4 July 2016.