Battle of Stow on the Wold, 21 March 1646

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Battle that saw the defeat of Charles I's last field army during the First Civil War. Lord Jacob Astley, an experienced soldier, had managed to raise 2,000 Welsh infantry, but was faced with the problem of getting them from Worcester to Oxford, where it was hoped they would allow the King to avoid surrender, and perhaps gain help from overseas. However, Astley's force was harrassed by Colonel Thomas Morgan, commander of the garrison of Gloucester, which slowed him down enough for Sir William Brereton to arrive with his cavalry. On the morning of 21 March, Astley formed up in a strong position on the slopes of the hill below Stow on the Wold, but his Welsh levies surrendered almost without a fight, while his cavalry fled the field. Astley himself surrendered. News of the defeat ended any lingering hopes Charles I still had. On 5 May, Charles surrendered to the Scottish army at Southwell in Nottinghamshire, from where he was soon led away to Newcastle.
cover The English Civil War , Richard Holmes & Peter Young, an early work by one of the country's best known military historians, this is a superb single volume history of the war, from its causes to the last campaigns of the war and on to the end of the protectorate.
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See Also
Books on the English Civil War
Subject Index: English Civil War

How to cite this article: Rickard, J. (8 April 2001), Battle of Stow on the Wold, 21 March 1646, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_stowwold.html

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