Editing Battle of Lansdowne

{{Short description|1643 English Civil War battle}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Coord|51.4313|-2.4010|display=title}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Lansdowne
| image             = Battlefield of Lansdown.JPG
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = The battlefield today<br>with [[Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument]]
| partof            = [[First English Civil War]]
| date              = 5 July 1643
| place             = [[Lansdowne Hill]], near [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[Somerset]]
| result            = [[Cavalier|Royalist]] victory (see {{slink|#Aftermath}})
| combatant1        = [[Cavalier|Royalists]]
| combatant2        = [[Roundhead|Parliamentarians]]
| commander1        = [[Ralph Hopton, 1st Baron Hopton|Lord Hopton]] [[Wounded in action|+]]<br>Sir [[Bevil Grenville]]{{KIA}}<br>Colonel [[John Giffard (1602–1665)|John Giffard]]{{sfn|Vivian|1895|p=400}}
| commander2        = Sir [[William Waller]]
| strength1         = 2,000 horse<br>4,000 foot<br>300 dragoons<br>16 guns
| strength2         = 2,500 horse<br>1,500 foot<br>Unknown number of guns
| casualties1       = 200–300 killed<br>600–700 wounded
| casualties2       = 20 killed<br>60 wounded
|}}

{{Location map many | Somerset | relief=yes | width=305
| caption= Somerset and Lansdowne
| lat1_deg = 51.4313
| lon1_deg = -2.401
| label1   = Lansdowne}}

{{Campaignbox First English Civil War|state=collapsed}}

The [[First English Civil War]] battle of '''Lansdowne''', or '''Lansdown''', was fought on 5 July 1643, at [[Lansdowne Hill]], near Bath, Somerset, England. Although the [[Cavalier|Royalists]] under [[Ralph Hopton, 1st Baron Hopton|Lord Hopton]] forced the [[Roundhead|Parliamentarians]] under Sir [[William Waller]] to retreat from their hilltop position, they suffered so many casualties themselves and were left so disordered and short of ammunition that an injured Hopton was forced to retire.

==Prelude==
By late May 1643, Lord Hopton's Royalist army had captured most of the south-west of England. Joined by the [[William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset|Marquess of Hertford]], he then advanced eastward into Parliamentarian-held territory. Sir [[William Waller]]'s army held [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], to obstruct their further advance. On 2 July 1643 the Royalists seized the bridge at [[Bradford-on-Avon]]. On 3 July, skirmishes took place at [[Claverton, Somerset|Claverton]] and at Waller's positions south and east of Bath. Waller retired to a strong position on Lansdowne Hill, north-west of Bath while the main Royalist force moved north through [[Batheaston]] to [[Marshfield, Gloucestershire|Marshfield]].{{sfn|Barratt|2005|pp=44-56}}

Hopton's forces encountered Waller's position on Lansdowne Hill on 4 July and were unpleasantly surprised at its strength. They withdrew {{convert|5|mi|0}} north-east to Marshfield, while their rearguard repulsed an attempt by Waller's cavalry to pursue them.{{sfn|Plant 1 December 2009}}{{sfn|Battle of Lansdown Hill, British Battles}}{{sfn|English Heritage Battlefield Report: Lansdown 1643}}

==Battle==
Early on 5 July 1643, Waller moved to the north end of Lansdowne Hill, where he built crude [[breastworks]] for his infantry,{{sfn|Plant 1 December 2009}} and sent some of his cavalry against Hopton's outposts. The Parliamentarians put to flight some badly led Royalist cavalry, and the alarm caused all of Hopton's army to form up and to begin advancing west until they came in sight of Waller's position.

The two forces engaged in indecisive skirmishing for two hours until Waller tried to withdraw. Waller once again sent his horse and [[Dragoon|dragoons]] against the Royalists' rearguard, and this time they routed the Royalist cavalry, although the infantry stood firm. Hopton's army then turned about and ultimately defeated the Roundhead cavalry in a confused action. With his Cornish foot regiments already advancing without orders, Hopton at last attacked Lansdowne Hill.

As they charged up the steep slopes towards the Parliamentarian position on the crest, Hopton's cavalry suffered badly, and many panicked. As many as 1,400 of them fled, some as far as [[Oxford]]. Under Sir [[Bevil Grenville]], Hopton's Cornish pikemen stormed Waller's breastworks, while Royalist musketeers outflanked Waller's forces through the woods on each side of his position. Grenville was mortally wounded in hand-to-hand combat as the Parliamentarian horse cavalry counter-attacked and were driven off. Waller's infantry fell back to a wall across the crest of the hill from where they kept up musket fire until darkness fell. During the night, they withdrew silently, leaving burning matches on the wall to deceive the Royalists that they still held the position.{{sfn|The Battle of Lansdown Hill, The Battlefields Trust}}

==Aftermath==

[[Image:Sir Bevil Grenville monument.JPG|thumb|right|150px|[[Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument]], at the place where he fell]]
[[Image:Battle of Lansdown marker.JPG|thumb|left|150px|Battlefield marker]]

The day after the battle, a Royalist ammunition cart exploded. Hopton was injured and temporarily blinded. The loss of the powder and the absence of most of their horse meant that the Royalists could not fight another action. Meanwhile, Waller had retired to Bath, where he was reinforced and was ready to attack again. Hopton's army retreated in low spirits to [[Devizes]]. Hopton's army was in such a poor situation before their retreat that Hopton's military opponent but old friend Waller offered him hospitality in Bath, though the former refused it.

A Cornish officer describing the battle wrote that Waller was ''"... the best shifter and chooser of ground when he was not Master of the field that ever I saw"''. (sic)

The site of the battle is marked by a [[Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument|monument to Sir Bevil Grenville]], who died after the battle in [[Cold Ashton]] Rectory.{{sfn|Barratt|2005|pp=44-56}}
The battlefield is included on the [[Registered Battlefields (UK)|Register of Historic Battlefields]] which is part of the [[National Heritage List for England]].<ref name=nhle-lansdown>{{NHLE |num=1000017 |desc=Battle of Lansdown (Hill) 1643}}</ref>

==Citations==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{cite book |title=The civil war in the south west |last=Barratt |first=John |year=2005 |publisher=Pen & Sword Military|location=Bernsley |isbn=1-84415-146-8 }}
*{{cite web|title=Battle of Lansdown Hill|url=http://www.britishbattles.com/english-civil-war/battle-of-lansdown/|publisher=British Battles|access-date=12 September 2017 |ref={{sfnref|Battle of Lansdown Hill, British Battles}}}}
*{{cite web | url=http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/civil-war/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=21 | publisher=The Battlefields Trust |title= The Battle of Lansdown Hill | access-date=9 January 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101212171037/http://battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/civil-war/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=21| archive-date= 12 December 2010 | url-status= live |ref={{sfnref|The Battle of Lansdown Hill, The Battlefields Trust}}}}
*{{cite web|title=English Heritage Battlefield Report: Lansdown 1643|url=https://content.historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/battlefields/lansdown.pdf|publisher=Historic England|access-date=12 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912234118/https://content.historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/battlefields/lansdown.pdf|archive-date=12 September 2017|url-status=dead |ref={{sfnref|English Heritage Battlefield Report: Lansdown 1643}}}}
*{{cite web |last=Plant |first=David |date=1 December 2009 |url=http://bcw-project.org/military/english-civil-war/west-country/battle-of-lansdown | publisher=British Civil War Project | title=Lansdown Hill and Roundway Down | access-date=7 September 2017 |ref={{sfnref|Plant 1 December 2009}}}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Vivian |editor1-first=Lt.Col. J.L. |editor-link=John Lambrick Vivian |title=The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564, & 1620 |date=1895 |location=Exeter}}

==General references==
{{cite book |last1=Rodgers |first1=Colonel H.C.B. |title=Battles and Generals of the Civil War |date=1968 |publisher=Seeley Service & Company Publishers |ref=none}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lansdowne, Battle of}}
[[Category:1643 in England]]
[[Category:Battles of the English Civil Wars]]
[[Category:Military history of Somerset]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1643]]
[[Category:Registered historic battlefields in England]]
[[Category:History of Bath, Somerset]]
[[Category:17th century in Somerset]]