The Battle of Warrington Bridge was a skirmish fought on 13 August 1651 between the invading Royalist Scottish army of Charles II and Parliamentary forces under the command of Major-General

John Lambert John Lambert may refer to: *John Lambert (martyr) (died 1538), English Protestant martyred during the reign of Henry VIII *John Lambert (general) (1619–1684), Parliamentary general in the English Civil War *John Lambert of Creg Clare (''fl.'' c. ...

Prelude

Lambert returned to England from Scotland with a cavalry corps that had accompanied

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 Ki ...

when he invaded Scotland. His orders were to harass the Royalist army. Major-General Thomas Harrison had been left in command of Parliamentary forces in England. Harrison and Lambert's forces rendezvoused near

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Battle

The united forces of Harrison and Lambert, reinforced by some 3,000 militia from

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, amounting to some 3,000 foot and 9,000 horse took up position at the Bridge at Warrington, over the

Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

where it divided the Counties of

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 Lancashi ...

and Cheshire, and prepared to resist its passage by the Scots. Lambert sent a few troops north to skirmish with the advanced guard whilst occupying the bridge and preparing it for defence. The skirmishers encountered the royalists two miles north of the town and were quickly dispersed. The royalists then pressed on into the town reaching the bridge at noon. On reaching the bridge the Scots at once attacked and a sharp fight ensued between their advance guard and Harrison's troops. The Cheshire foot who were posted there held their ground for an hour and a half; with 2,000 Scots sent in against them they were for a time hard pressed. When Lambert found the Scots were in considerable force he fell back, after his men had done what damage to the bridge they could. His retreat was quickened by pressure from the Scots' attack.

Aftermath

Lambert's rapid retreat enabled the Royalists to claim they had forced the bridge and won a victory.

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Warrington Bridge, Battle of Battles of the English Civil Wars 1651 in England Conflicts in 1651

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...