The Civil War

comes to Leeds

 It's December 1642, the English Civil War has begun.

King Charles has appointed the Earl of Newcastle as his General-in-Chief in Yorkshire with Sir William Saville of Thornhill as his second in command. Parliament has nominated Lord Fairfax of Denton Hall as their general with his son Sir Thomas Fairfax as his second in command.

 The following January Thomas Fairfax gathers his troops from the Bradford, Halifax and surrounding areas and marches on Leeds. His force consists of six troops of horse and three companies of dragoons (mounted infantry), nearly one thousand musketeers and two thousand clubmen, literally, men armed with clubs to bludgeon the enemy.

A company of parliamentary dragoons, under Cpt. Mildmay, with thirty musketeers and one thousand clubmen marched on the south side of the river and threatened the royalists over the bridge.

 On arriving at the moor they hold position on the site where the university is today. At that time this position afforded a clear view down onto the Leeds bridge. Thomas Fairfax sends a trumpeter to Sir William Saville requiring him, in writing, to give up the town to the Parliamentarians.

Sir William, having one thousand-five hundred foot soldiers, five hundred horse and two demi-culverins*, refused both the first and second requests to surrender.

*Demi-culverin : a cannon five to six feet in length, having a bore of 4.5 inches, and firing a shot of ten pounds in weight.

 The attack commenced along a line of fortifications that the royalists had thrown up on the western side of the town extending from the newly built St. John's church down to the river. There are no accounts of the fortifications at the eastern side of the town but as they were not attacked they were probably stronger then those on the western and northern sides.

The attack commenced along a line of fortifications that the royalists had thrown up on the western side of the town extending from the newly built St. John's church down to the river. Five companies of the best-trained soldiers of the parliamentary forces marched on St John's church, at the same time a fierce skirmish started between the opposing musketeers.The parliamentary musketeers advanced under cover of a hill, through the fields, before reaching 'a great long trench', on the west of the town.

 The royalists, assaulted at three points, and being cut off from escape by the bridge, were broken and driven back to their works in the east of the town near to the parish church.

From the church they attempted to escape across the river, many of them succeeded but several were drowned.

In the engagement the parliamentary forces took five hundred prisoners, four colours, two brass cannon and arms and ammunition. In all about forty men were killed of whom twelve were on the parliamentary side.

The prisoners, having taken a common oath not to take any further part in the conflict, were released.

 Soon after this defeat the royalists troops fell back to the city of York. This however was immediately followed by another advance of the royalist army into the West Riding. The battle on Adwalton Moor saw the parliamentary army, commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax, defeated by royalist forces.

This enabled the royalists to recover Leeds and Bradford until the Scottish army advanced south to the assistance of the parliamentary forces. On their advance the royalists retreated to York and were a short time later, defeated at the battle of Marston Moor.

Colonel Thoresby, the father of the noted Leeds antiquary Ralph Thoresby, commanded one of the Leeds parliamentary regiments at Marston Moor.