The Battle of Boldon Hill was a day-long engagement that took place in modern-day Tyne and Wear between

English Royalists The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ). It w ...

and an army made up of

Scottish Covenanters Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from ''Covenan ...

in alliance with Parliamentarians from nearby

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

on 24 March 1644 during the

First English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the Anglo ...

Background

In 1643, the Parliamentarians made an overture to the

Covenanters Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from ''Covenan ...

of Scotland for military assistance in the First English Civil War. On 29 November, the Covenanters and the Parliamentarians signed a military treaty in which the Scots would enter the war as an ally of the Parliamentarians and attack Royalist positions in northern England. In January 1644, the Covenanters entered

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

with an army of 18,000 foot and 3,000 horse commanded by

Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (15804 April 1661) was a Scottish soldier in Swedish and Scottish service. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of a Swedish Field Marshal, and in Scotland b ...

. The immediate expectation on the part of the Parliamentarians was that the Covenanters would capture the strategic Royalist stronghold of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. The town of Newcastle, however, was a medieval walled fortress complete with a “High Castle.” The Royalist garrison was only 500 men but the town had access to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and international trade including guns, ammunition, and grains. The Royalist forces in northern England and Newcastle were commanded by the Marquess of Newcastle and before the Scots approached he took refuge in Newcastle and reinforced the garrison with the addition of a Royalist force of 5,000 commanded by Colonel Sir

Thomas Glemham Sir Thomas Glemham (c. 1594 – 1649) was an English soldier, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1625. He was a commander in the Royalist army during the English Civil War. Early life and career Glemham was ...

Before the battle

The Covenanter army began arriving in the vicinity of Newcastle on 2 February. Covenanter musketeers fired on the city forts from open fields and the Royalists responded with musket and cannon shots from inside the fortification. Nothing came of the initial exchange and the Covenanters backed away and retired for the night a mile from Newcastle. On 3 February, Lord Leven attacked an outlying fort in Shieldfield and summoned Newcastle to surrender. Glemham, now serving as the Governor of Newcastle, requested five days to consider the proposition and respond. Lord Leven granted the request as it would give him the time that he needed to bring up the siege guns and prepare for an assault. As the full Covenanter army reached the vicinity of Newcastle over the next couple of days it had to be quartered all across the surrounding countryside. Time passed. Newcastle did not surrender and Lord Leven did not attack. Unwilling to simply sit in Newcastle and wait for an attack, the Royalists on 19 February sent thirty-five troops of horse out in an attempt to spring a surprise attack on their besiegers. The attack took place west of Newcastle at

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was known to the Romans as something like ''Corstopitum'' or ''Coriosopit ...

. Although the attack was not a complete surprise, the Royals killed or captured over one hundred of the Scots. The attack caused Lord Leven to take action. On 22 February, Leven ended the siege and began to move his army across the River Tyne south into Sunderland and toward

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

. At Newcastle, Leven left six regiments with Sir James Lumsden as a covering force. Meanwhile, the Royalist forces in Newcastle were reinforced with twelve troops of horse from Yorkshire commanded by Sir

Charles Lucas Sir Charles Lucas, 1613 to 28 August 1648, was a professional soldier from Essex, who served as a Cavalier, Royalist cavalry leader during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Taken prisoner at the end of the First English Civil War in March 1646, ...

. This brought the total number of Royalist forces at Newcastle to 14,000. Given the increased size of the Royalist forces at Newcastle, the Marquess decided to pursue Lord Leven's army in an attempt to keep them from travelling further south and linking up with the Parliamentarians. As such, the Royalists left a force of 1,700 at Newcastle to defend against the regiments of Lumsden and followed the Covenanters to the vicinity of Boldon Hill where on 7 March they drew up in battle order two miles from the Scots. The Scots recognized the threat and responded by marching north and drawing up in battle order facing the Royalists. A clash, however, did not occur as the field between the two armies was impassable with many ditches and hedges between the two forces. So the two armies stood facing each other for several hours until the Royalists left the field at sunset. The next day there was minor skirmishing between small parties of horse, however, the Royalists did not challenge the Scots as they had done the day before. Over the next couple of weeks the respective leaders of the two armies repositioned their forces. The Royalists travelled to Durham; linked up with additional reinforcements; and returned north to confront the Scots. The Covenanters travelled to the north side of the River Wear at Sunderland; added provisions as they could; and then attacked and captured the Royalist fort at South Shields near the mouth of the River Tyne east of Newcastle.

Battle of Boldon Hill

On about 22 March, the two armies became aware of each other's respective positions and initiated the preparations for another confrontation. Over next two days the two armies retook positions near where they had faced each other earlier in the month. The Royalists were again atop Boldon Hill while the Scots positioned themselves at Whitburn Lizard (Cleadon Hills) three miles away. On Sunday 24 March, the battle began when the Royalists advanced toward the Scots at “

Sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

time.” The Royalist musketeers took positions at hedges and stopped as the field between them and the Scots was impassable as before. The Covenanters responded with their musketeers taking positions and returning fire from the hedges on their end of the field. Cannon fire from both armies then commenced and continued without stop. In the afternoon, Scot dragoons attacked Royalist musketeers in East Boldon but otherwise the cannon duel which continued until midnight became the primary means of exchange during the battle. Eventually the Royalists retreated back to Boldon Hill and the Scots retired back to Whitburn Lizard. The exchange of musket and cannon fire in this battle was ultimately hampered by the terrain and was largely ineffective. Both sides claimed victory. The actual number of casualties is unknown; the Royalists admitted to a loss of 240 men.

Aftermath

After the battle, the Royalist army withdrew to Durham in route to York. Five days later the Covenanters followed the Royalist south. The two armies would meet again at the

Siege of York The siege of York in 1644 was a prolonged contest for York during the First English Civil War, between the Scottish Covenanter army and the Parliamentarian armies of the Northern Association and Eastern Association, and the Royalist Ar ...

in April and at the

Battle of Marston Moor The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639 – 1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters und ...

in July. After the Parliamentarian victory at Marston Moor, Leven and the Covenanters would return to Newcastle where on 15 August the siege of Newcastle would resume in earnest ultimately resulting in the formal surrender of the fortress on 27 October 1644.

Citations

References