Year 1 (1642) (1642) 1 1 Year Year
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Year 1 (1642) The Race for Weapons London A lot of the weapons that the armies of England normally used were in London, kept at the Tower of London. These weapons now belonged to Parliament. Queen Henrietta Maria’s secret mission In February, the King sent his wife, Queen Henrietta Maria, to Europe to hire foreign soldiers to fight for him. These types of soldiers were called mercenaries. They came from Germany, France, Ireland and the Netherlands. Hull There was another stash of weapons in the Yorkshire city of Hull. In July, the King went to Hull to claim the weapons. Hull refused to let the King in. These weapons now belonged to Parliament. The King was seriously in need of weapons. The War Begins The King travelled to Nottingham. On August 22 he raised his flag (or standard) in Nottingham. When he did this, he was declaring war on Parliament. But didn’t the King have very few weapons? This is true BUT he also had rich supporters (like William Cavendish) who could pay for their own armies and weapons. His wife was hiring soldiers in Europe. His nephew, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, was one of the best soldiers in Europe. Rupert travelled to England from Austria to fight for his uncle, arriving in England in August. The First Great Battle of the Civil War The first great battle of the civil war was the Battle of Edgehill. It wasn’t the first battle. Parliament had already captured the city of Portsmouth and there had been fighting in Worcester. Edgehill was the first big battle of the Civil War. Edgehill The battle took place on 25th October, in Warwickshire. The Roundhead army was led by Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex. The Cavalier army was led by the King and Prince Rupert. Both sides thought that one big battle would win the war. Both sides believed that whoever won the Battle of Edgehill would win the war They were wrong, weren’t they? Obviously, the war carried on for another four years. So, what happened? The battle was a draw. Is that possible? Both sides killed and wounded almost exactly the same number of soldiers (500 dead and 1,500 wounded on each side). Sounds like a draw to me. `e Year One (1642) The King Tries to Capture London After Edgehill, the King and his army marched toward London to try and recapture it. If the Cavaliers could capture London, the war would be over. The Cavaliers captured lots of towns on the way to London. The Royalists were doing well. But then they stopped. Why did the Royalists stop? Some of the King’s officers didn’t want to attack London. They wanted to talk to Parliament and try and end the war peacefully. The King thought this was a good idea. But what were the Roundheads doing? Because the King had slowed down, it gave the Earl of Essex time to get his army back to get London and properly defend it. The King changed his mind and decided he wanted to attack London after all. But he was stopped from getting into London by Essex, his army and many other soldiers from London who met the King at Turnham Green on November 13th. Essex’s army was too big to fight properly. So the King left London and went to Oxford. Why Oxford? Because the King had made Oxford his new capital city. England had two capital cities during the civil war? It did. London was the Roundhead capital. Oxford was the Cavalier capital. `e.