The Battle of Wigan Lane was fought on 25 August 1651 during the
Third English Civil War
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (disambiguation)
* Third Avenue (disambiguation)
* H ...
, between a
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...
army led by the
Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...
and forces loyal to the
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execu ...
under Colonel
Robert Lilburne
Robert Lilburne (1613–1665) was an English Parliamentarian soldier, the older brother of John Lilburne, the well known Leveller. Unlike his brother, who severed his relationship with Oliver Cromwell, Robert Lilburne remained in the army. He i ...
. The Royalists were defeated, losing nearly half their officers and men.
Prelude
After the execution of
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
in January 1649, the Scots
Covenanters proclaimed his son
Charles II king of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. They agreed to restore him to the throne of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, which led to the
Third English Civil War
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (disambiguation)
* Third Avenue (disambiguation)
* H ...
; although
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...
and the
New Model Army won a series of victories over the Scots during the course of 1650, Charles II was crowned at
Scone
A scone is a baked good, usually made of either wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash. The scone is a basic component ...
on 1 January 1651.
Cromwell decided to focus on Scotland, confident his forces in England could deal with any invasion. On 6 August 1651, Charles crossed into England at the head of a predominantly Scottish
Royalist army, heading for
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
, an area strongly
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...
in sympathy. He reached
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
on 22 August 1651, where he halted and awaited English reinforcements before pressing on to London.
One of these was a small Royalist contingent of recruits from the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
and Lancashire commanded by the
Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...
. Regular troops under Colonel
Robert Lilburne
Robert Lilburne (1613–1665) was an English Parliamentarian soldier, the older brother of John Lilburne, the well known Leveller. Unlike his brother, who severed his relationship with Oliver Cromwell, Robert Lilburne remained in the army. He i ...
, supported by militia led by
Colonel Thomas Birch, were ordered to intercept them before they reached Worcester.
Lilburne with a company of
foot from Manchester, two more from Chester, and fifty or sixty
dragoons marched to Wigan, where the enemy was gathering, hoping to surprise them but found they had moved off to
Chorley. The next day, on hearing the Royalists were at Preston, Lilburne set off in pursuit. He
bivouacked within two miles of the town and sent out patrols to harass the enemy. The next afternoon they retaliated. "A party of the enemy's horse fell smartly amongst us, where our horse was grazing, and for some space put us pretty hard to it: but at the last it pleased the Lord to strengthen us, that we put them to the flight, and pursued them to Ribble bridge (this was something like our business at Mussleburg) and killed and took about thirty prisoners."
Lilburne heard Cromwell's regiment of foot was approaching Manchester. Cromwell had detached the regiment with a
troop of horse from Rutherford Abbey in Nottinghamshire on the 20th or 21st. Lilburne halted by the
Ribble, thinking the foot would join him but though it had marched very rapidly as far as Manchester, Cromwell's regiment was now obliged to advance with caution as Royalists were reported to have 500 men in Manchester. In addition, some of Derby's levies were lying between the regiment and Lilburne.
Battle
On the 25th, Lilburne received intelligence that the Earl of Derby was marching towards Wigan and assuming his force was retreating gave chase. However, it was Derby's intention to fall on Cromwell's regiment of infantry before Lilburne's cavalry could join it. When Lilburne reached Wigan he found the enemy in considerable force, both infantry and cavalry, marching out of the town towards Manchester. Having arrived ahead of his own infantry and the terrain surrounding the town consisting of fields and hedges with narrow country lanes unfavourable for cavalry, Lilburne determined to avoid a fight. He instead intended to await infantry reinforcements before flanking the Royalists in Wigan, sending his cavalry around the town to the south while his infantry advanced into the town from the north encircling and preventing Derby's retreat from the town.
![James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby by Sir Anthony Van Dyck](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/James_Stanley%2C_7th_Earl_of_Derby_by_Sir_Anthony_Van_Dyck.jpg)
Derby, aware of Lilburne's inferiority in strength wheeled about and marched back through the town hoping to defeat the
Parliamentarian forces piecemeal before they could combine. In spite of the unfavourable nature of the ground Lilburne decided to make a stand. Lilburne deployed part of his cavalry on Wigan Lane and lined the hedgerows either side of the road with dismounted cavalry forming a choke point. As the Royalists approached they were met with a volley of
musketry. A fierce fight ensued in the same lanes through which Cromwell had chased the Scots in 1648. Derby divided his cavalry into two equal divisions of 300 men. Derby took command of the
vanguard
The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.
History
The vanguard derives fr ...
and gave the
rear guard
A rearguard is a part of a military force that protects it from attack from the rear, either during an advance or withdrawal. The term can also be used to describe forces protecting lines, such as communication lines, behind an army. Even more ...
command to
Sir Thomas Tyldesley. Three times during the day Derby led cavalry charges against the centre of Lilburne's line breaching but failing to break it. By the third charge, the ranks of the Royalists were severely depleted and they were overwhelmed by the superior numbers of Lilburne's arriving infantry, after an hour's fighting the remaining Royalists fled the field.
Lord William Witherington, Sir William Throckmorton, Sir Thomas Tyldesley, Colonel Matthew Boynton and 60 others were killed or died of their wounds and 400 prisoners were taken. Cromwell's regiment, which had advanced to join Lilburne but arrived too late to directly participate in the fighting picked up many of the stragglers from the rout. Derby escaped badly wounded, and joined Charles at Worcester with only 30 horsemen.
Aftermath
The defeat was a blow to the king as this was the only English Royalist force of any size to attempt to ride to his standard in Worcester. Without large numbers of English Royalists to support him, his position was untenable and nine days later his predominantly Scottish army of about 15,000 men was decisively beaten at the
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell d ...
by a Parliamentary army nearly twice the size under the command of Cromwell. This victory brought to an end
Third English Civil War
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (disambiguation)
* Third Avenue (disambiguation)
* H ...
and ushered in
nine years of republican rule. Charles escaped to France and lived in exile until his return at the
Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
in 1660.
On the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
, the impact of the Royalist loss was also significant as few of the 170 men conscripted from the local population returned home. David Craine, in ''Manannan's Isle'' states that "those who did not fall in the fighting
erehunted to their death through the countryside." Such a loss was certainly a multiple of the island's normal mortality rate during this period.
Notes
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
General references
*Beamont, William (1864 editor). ''Remains, Historical and Literary: Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chest'' Volume 62. Published by Chetham Societ
pp. 70–78 Publication of a history written just after the Civil War called ''Discourse of the Lancashire Warr '' by Anon, although the Chetham Society surmised it was written by Major Edward Robinson (see preface xxiv-xxx) and it is written from the perspective of an ardent Parliamentarian.
*Morris, Adrian.
Wigan Archaeological Society Cites "A History of Wigan" vol II by David Sinclair 1883, Reprinted as "The Battle of Wigan Lane" by Smiths Books 1987
Sir Thomas Tyldesley 1612-1651 Tyldesley Family History
Being part of The King's Army The English Civil War Society.
*Slingsby, Henry; Hodgson, John (1806) ''Original memoirs written during the great Civil war, the life of sir H. Slingsby
ritten by himselfand memoirs of capt. Hodgson, with notes
y sir W. Scott. Followed byRelations of the campaigns of Oliver Cromwell in Scotland, 1650'', Arch. Constable and Co. Edinburgh, and John Murray, 32 Fleet-Street, London
p. 152,153 Account by an Officer in Cromwell's own regiment.
*Wyke, Terry (2004). Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester, Liverpool University Press,
Page 425"Wigan Lane Tyldesley Monument"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Wigan Lane
1651 in England
Wigan Lane 1651
History of Wigan
Wigan Lane 1651
Conflicts in 1651
17th century in Lancashire