January: Parliament issues a Vote of No Addresses

On the 24th December 1647, Parliament presented its final offer to the King at Carisbrooke. He loftily rejected the terms and on the 26th December, after talks with the Scots Commissioners, signed a treaty with the Covenanters known as 'the Engagement.' Charles agreed to allow Presbyterianism for three years while the Scots would, in return, raise an army to place him back on the throne. For Parliament, this was the final act of double-dealing. On 15th January 1648 they passed the Vote of No Addresses ruling out any future talks with so untrustworthy a King. For the Covenanters, it was a decision they would come to regret horribly.

After a two year recess, the three kingdoms and Wales were hurtling back towards war. The New Model Army went on the alert for renewed conflict. Attempts to free Charles from Carisbrooke became more frequent and more desperate. One almost worked - but Charles was too fat to get out of a window. In Scotland, 'the Engagers', as they became known, began mustering forces. Across England, Charles' few remaining allies resurfaced for a final defence of King and Church. But the Second Civil War was nothing like the first. The diplomacy of the three kingdoms and Wales had shifted. Whereas once the Scottish Covenanters and English Parliamentarians had united against Charles to defend religious freedom, now Charles and the Covenanters were fighting together against religious freedom.

March: Second Civil War begins

War recommences with a rising by disaffected troops in Wales. Although Wales had been a relative backwater during the First Civil War, it was a major focus of activity during the second conflict, and events in Wales catalysed the military phase of the War. The first shots of the Second Civil War came from Colonels Poyer and Laugharne who declared for the King on 23rd March. Poyer and Laugharne had commanded Parliamentary forces in Wales during the First Civil War but had become increasingly alarmed by rising Parliamentary radicalism, and had entered into secret correspondence with Royalists in 1647.

When Parliament attempted to disband troops under their command without paying them, this resentment turned into open mutiny, and they quickly swept east from their Pembrokeshire stronghold with 8000 men under their command, threatening to take Cardiff. Although the Parliamentary forces were heavily outnumbered, they inflicted a stinging defeat on the Royalist rebels at St. Fagans on 8th May. After this reverse, Poyer and Laugharne retreated to Pembroke Castle and were finally starved into submission on 11th July. The Welsh part of the insurrection was over.

The frustration and resentment experienced by the Welsh ex-Parliamentarians was mimicked by other groups across the country who merged with Royalist sympathisers in a revolt which was more anti-Parliament and Army than pro-King. Five years of oppressive taxes and indiscriminate quartering had produced a truly popular uprising, and many communities had been hurt by economic recession and longed for the old familiar rhythms of the Church of England. By May 1648, Berwick and Carlisle were in Royalist hands and Surrey and Kent were also in open revolt.

August: Battle of Preston

Cromwell crushes the Scots Engagers on the banks of the Ribble and, in the same month, Fairfax recaptures Colchester.

With England and Wales in revolt, the Scottish Engagers marched across the border under the command of the King's old ally, the Duke of Hamilton. It would become quickly apparent that Hamilton was hopelessly out of his depth - especially up against Oliver Cromwell. Having invaded through Lancashire, and not the more Royalist Yorkshire, Hamilton rode into Preston and placed his ill-trained, half-starved troops up against the might of the fast-approaching New Model Army.

On the morning of 17th August 1648, Hamilton's troops positioned themselves north of Preston on the edge of Ribbleton Moor. There they waited, in the hedges and sunken lanes, for Cromwell's arrival. When the New Model Army marched in they were met with a sea of pikes. Cromwell's cavalry found the ground too soft and it became a battle of hand to hand infantry combat. But by evening, the Engagers were fast retreating across Preston Bridge in an attempt to put the Ribble between them.

The retreat turned into a rout as Cromwell unleashed his awesome cavalry onto the hapless Scottish infantry. They were forced back to the river, many jumping in and swimming across with their horses. The unlucky Scots left fighting on the bank were cut down in their hundreds. As the rain began to pour, Cromwell turned his fire on the troops defending the bridges. The brave brigades fought to the death in the face of Cromwell's overwhelming might. Over 1,000 Scots were killed at Preston. To finish off any remaining opposition, Cromwell pursued them down to Wigan. The clean-up operation captured Hamilton. His next stop was the block.

While Cromwell was busy dispersing the Scots, Fairfax was showing a similar lack of mercy in Colchester. After a long siege, Colchester gave in and surrendered to Fairfax's surrounding forces. Hoping for clemency, they were proved horribly wrong. The town was stormed, residents butchered and enemy officers executed by firing squad. Cromwell, Fairfax and the whole Army were in no mood for messing around anymore. The chivalry of the First Civil War was gone; the elegant games of Rupert and Manchester were a thing of the past. In its place, a new brutality and an urgent desire to end this interminable conflict once and for all.

Returning to war for the second time was the worst thing Charles could have done. It sealed his fate. Charles was now seen not only as an irresponsible King who had no regard for the well-being of his people, he also came to be seen as defying the judgement of God. For that, only one penalty was appropriate - death.

December: Pride's Purge

The Army removes all its conservative and moderate opponents from Parliament. In pursuing the 'man of blood', Henry Ireton, Cromwell's son-in-law, took charge. Cromwell was keeping himself busy in the North. Why? Either he didn't really know what to do; or he didn't want his fingerprints anywhere near the action. In his absence, Ireton took over while Thomas Fairfax, the commander in chief, was increasingly sidelined.

Ireton was a brilliant tactician and ruthless operator. As a staunch Puritan, he genuinely hated Charles. But he knew that he couldn't simply bump off the King. A quick assassination would be political suicide. His actions needed the air of legitimacy. Charles needed to be tried and his crimes shown up to fit the inevitable sentence. Ireton presented to Parliament a document called the Army Remonstrance, which called for a trial of the King and a new Parliament elected on a reformed franchise. The document seemed to present a just solution while appeasing Leveller demands for political reform.

But a Parliament controlled by conservative Presbyterian MPs would never pass the Remonstrance. So Ireton did what every military coup leader does, he crushed democracy. On the morning of 6th December, 1648 the New Model Army loyalist Colonel Pride stood in front of the House of Commons and turned away every member he suspected of conservative or Presbyterian leanings. Only the Independent MPs, the hardline supporters of the Army got through. If your name wasn't down, you didn't get in. Around 140 MPs were excluded, and 40 arrested. This was a nasty little coup, as squalid and brutal as anything in any of today's banana republics. What was left was a 'Rump Parliament' of 56 MPs ready and willing to carry out the Army's wishes.

The Army Remonstrance was quickly passed and the King was to be tried. Yet still Army leaders tried to reason with Charles. Cromwell, back from the North, proposed a deal which would have saved the King. But Charles rejected all overtures, all solutions. And by late December, Cromwell had accepted the inevitability of a trial - 'the providence of God has cast this upon us', he explained to the Commons. But note, it was 'providence' - something beyond their control. Still no one wanted to take responsibility for this incredible development.

Content last updated: 07/01/2001

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