The Armies

• The Armies From the very useful Battlefields Trust website. Detailed web articles on
  • Infantry
  • Pike
  • Musket
  • Artillery
  • Cavalry
  • Dragoons
• Soldiers of the Civil War. Interesting and valuable descriptions of how the soldiers fought. But: remember to switch off the sound. the site has an infuriating pseudo civil war soundtrack...  §
• Early 17th Century Drill, illustrated and animated Flash animations by Barry Siler explaining 17th Century drill and weapons handling.

The New Model Army

• The New Model Army basic details from the History Learning site
• The New Model Army  good outline cross-referenced with other BCW&C articles

• There Were No Twelve Apostles- Being the reason why 'Apostles' should not be used when referring to a musketeer's Collar of Bandoliers By Robert Giglio ECSWA
• The Officer and the Sword- Being the last & final word on safe & proper swordplay for officers & their portrayal in the English Civil Wars and a continuation of 'The Mark of a Soldier' By Robert Giglio ECSWA
• Tactical Push of Pike- A report on the (modern) impracticalities of using and transporting a Pike. By Robert Giglio ECSWA
• Dragoons in the Civil War- Being a true relation of their weapons & uses. From Historical Collections by Robert Giglio based on an article by Keith Roberts (Caliver Books/Partizan Press) ECSWA
• Poisoned Bullets- Being information on a special topic of the Civil Wars from the siege of Colchester, 1648. From 'ECW Notes & Queries' (Caliver Books/Partizan Press)

• Royalist Recruitment During the Civil Wars- Being the reasons why the Oxford Army maintained Old regiments over raising new ones By Robert Giglio from ECWSA Collections
• Disease and the Civil War Soldier by Derek Hall, From 'ECW Notes & Queries' (Caliver Books/Partizan Press) ECSWA
• Soldier's Food and Utensils- During the English Civil Wars Comprehensive. Includes rations and arrangements for camp followers as well as soldiers. By Robert Giglio ECSWA
• The Name of the Game: Hazard- Being a 17th century dice game for use in camp during times of relaxation by Robert Giglio ECSWA
• Marching Along- Being a Royalist song of the Civil War submitted by Mark Arnold ECSWA

• Period Prose- Being an authentic poem of the Civil Wars from Historical Collections

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

 

2. Battles of the Civil Wars, 1642-9 

---

• The Battlefields Trust truly excellent resource for info on even the smallest of incidents during the civil wars. You can select details by battle/action or campaign. Maps, details of the event and aerial views, images/details of the sites today. Very extensive Links section as well as an interesting subsite on Archaeological Evidence
• Map of Civil War battlefields in England from the Battlefields Trust
• Battle Plans By Keith Roberts, From 'English Civil War Times' (Caliver Books/Partizan Press)
• Counting the cost Excellent overview of the armies & outcome from the Channel 4 War site  § 
• Chronology of First Civil War: A casahistoria netguide in pdf format. Requires adobe reader. For more casahistoria netguide revision go to IB/Alevel/K12 revision in the young casahistoria section.
• A Plan of The City & Environs of London as Fortified by Order of Parliament. 1642/43  Interesting and clear map of the London fortifications. Published by Walter Harrison in his History of London (1777)

• Battle of Edgehill This excellent article discusses the 23 October 1642 and is an excerpt from "A Relation of the Battle fought between Keynton and Edgehill, by His Majesty's Army and that of the Rebels."  §
• Battle of Edgehill - 1642 Maps, details of the event and aerial views, images/details of the sites today from the Battlefields Trust
• English Civil War: Battle of Edgehill Article from HistoryNet by Eric Niderost and originally appeared in the October 1993 issue of Military History magazine
• The Battle of Edgehill, 1642 - Terrain Conjecture 2011 review and reconstruction of the contemporary terrain experienced by the Royalist and Parliamentarian armies and how the landscape may have appeared in October 1642. Interesting and detailed piece which looks to understand and interpret the Edgehill battle by lending greater attention to the terrain and its physical archaeology, taking account modern field based work as well as research of documents.
• Documentary accounts:
  • Sir Richard Bulstrode, Prince of Wales' Regiment of Horse §
  • Sir Robert Walsh §
  • Sir Philip Warwick, King's Lifeguard of Horse §

Newbury, 1643

• Battle of Newbury - 1643 Maps, details of the event and aerial views, images/details of the sites today from the Battlefields Trust

• Rupert's Masterstroke- Historical Background of the Second Siege of Newark (March 21st, 1644) by Robert Giglio from ECWSA collections
• The King's Last Stand- Historical background of the Third Siege of Newark (1645-46) by Robert Giglio from ECWSA collections

• Battle of Marston Moor - 1644 Maps, details of the event and aerial views, images/details of the sites today from the Battlefields Trust
• English Civil War: Battle of Marston Moor Article from the History.net by John Woolford
• Witness accounts:
  • Cromwell on a Soldier's Death at Marston Moor, 1644  §
  • Arthur Trevor on the Battle of Marston Moor, 1644  §

• Naseby Battlefield Project Thorough and well presented site with updated battlefield images today as well as maps diagrams and a very full narrative over several pages:
  • Naseby Campaign; The Approach; Formal Phase; The Retreat; The Flight; The Aftermath; The Armies; Further Reading
• Battle of Naseby - 1645 Maps, details of the event and aerial views, images/details of the sites today from the Battlefields Trust
• Cromwell's Report on the Battle of Naseby Short article and facsimile of the actual report.

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

 

3. Local War Studies 

---

• Battles & campaigns Excellent chapters on the conduct of the war by year and region from BCW&C. Well described and clearly presented with maps to help you to follow the campaigns.

East and north east of England

• Essex: A county for Parliament Interesting website that exploits the civil war sources housed in the Essex Record Office.
• Siege of Colchester 1648 Article by Alf Thomas on events surrounding the siege of Colchester 1648, including, diagrams, pictures and a detailed "siege diary"  §
• Sieges of Hull An account of the actions around Hull, 1642-3 on the Yorkshire History website.  §
• North-Eastern Campaign 1644 The military campaign in the north-east of England, leading to the Battle of Marston Moor and the storming of Newcastle.

• Civil War in Birmingham Timeline of events around the Birmingham area, 1642-8.  §
• Civil War in Nottinghamshire Text written by Robert Mellors in 1908 on the Nottinghamshire Historical and Archaeological website.

South

• Civil War in Hampshire Details of military actions at Alton and Basing House and the effects of the war on Southampton, Portsmouth and Winchester. As this has been removed from Southampton University site, this is the Wayback record. No images but all the text & links are  present  §

Still looking for the action?

• BCW&C: Civil War battles. This is the exhaustive list of battle descriptions from the Site Map

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

 

4. British Wars of the Commonwealth 

---

• Third Civil War 1649-55 Outline history from BCW&C

Scotland

• Scot's Military Action 1639-1646 Details of battles fought in Scotland or involving Scottish troops during the Civil Wars, including Montrose's victories. §  Part of the Scot Wars military history and re-enactment portal. Use the home page to find many articles on Scots military involvement in during this period .   
• Highlanders - Myth and Reality By Stuart Reid From ECW Notes & Queries (Caliver Books/Partizan Press)
• The Covenant and the Cromwellian Conquest Useful BBC Scotland essay
• The Worcester Campaign 1651 Maps, details of the event and aerial views, images/details of the sites today from the Battlefields Trust
• Essex Men at the Battle of Worcester Essex Men at the Battle of Worcester. September 1651: by David Appleby from: The Essex Trained Bands' part in the Parliamentarian victory.  §
• Battle of Carbisdale: (final defeat of the Marquis of Montrose),
• Battle of Dunbar (Cromwell defeats the Covenanters in Scotland) & Battle of Worcester: Cromwell's "crowning mercy"; the final defeat of the Royalists. Outline history from BCW&C.
• Scottish Civil War: Battle of Dunbar Article from the History.net by Sean Purdy
• Cromwellian Scotland outline narrative from the The Scots Wars.com site

Ireland

Ireland For background to the English plantation of Ireland, go to to the casahistoria site

• Ireland and the War of the Three Kingdoms by Micheál Ó Siochrú (lecturer in history at Aberdeen University & author of Confederate Ireland, 1642-49: A constitutional and political analysis) BBC series of articles giving a sound basic outline of events & links
• The Irish Uprising 1641 Concise account from British Civil Wars and Commonwealth website.
  • Follow up with The Confederate War in Ireland 1642-1653
• Rise and Progress of the Protestant Religion in Ireland; with an Account of the Barbarous Massacre of 1641 From the contemporary continuation of Fox's Book on Martyrs
• Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland Argues that Oliver Cromwell's Irish campaign is remembered for both its brilliance and its bloody-handed ruthlessness. Article by Basil P. Briguglio, Jr. for Military History Magazine
• Cromwell in Ireland: Outline history from BCW&C with details of the battle of Rathmines, massacre at Drogheda & the conquest of Ireland.

• The effect of Oliver Cromwell's period of rule on Ireland. Compares the proportion of land in each county in Ireland that was owned by Roman Catholics. (Click on map alongside)

 

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

 

5. Overseas Wars of the Commonwealth

---

 

War at Sea 

• English Line of Battle, 1653 The official guidelines.... §
• Command of the Ocean For the possible origins of later British imperial seapower in this republican period see this extract from the excellent book by NAM Rodger.
• Royalist vessels of the English Civil Wars and Commonwealth A real labour of love! This is a comprehensive list of all the fleets main vessels. Sizes, displacements, guns, building details, naming/renaming.....

1651 Navigation Act 

• 1651 Navigation Act from BCW&C
• 1651 Navigation Act The document from Gardiner: Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution
• Navigation Acts Outline and look at how the system was developed after 1660 from History of the United States of America, by Henry William Elson, New York, 1904 

Dutch Wars 

• The Anglo-Dutch War 1652-4 Outline history from BCW&C
• First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654) Brief description from the Kentish Knock Company but see also their history of warship design and exclusive works of art pages which focus on the Dutch war period
• Anglo-Dutch Wars blog Has much of interest - for real enthusiasts!
• Dutch Naval Battles (click on the battles below to enter the site beyond the title page) §  Part of the website of the Dutch Naval Museum; includes information on naval battles of Blake and Monck during the Anglo-Dutch Wars. Being redone at the moment - a little chaotic at times.... Includes from First Dutch-Anglo War ( 1652 - 1654 ):
  • 1652 26/08 Battle of Plymouth §
  • 1652 10/12 Battle of Dungeness §
  • 1653 14/03 Battle of Livorno §
  • 1653 13/06 Two Days Naval Battle near Nieuwpoort §
  • 1653 10/08 Battle of Ter Heyde § see also:
  • Battle of Scheveningen (also known as the Battle of Texel or the Battle of Ter Heide)
• Anglo-Dutch Wars: If you want an overview of the three key wars, read this useful guide from the UK's Channel 4 TV. §

Anglo-Spanish War 1655-60 

• The Anglo-Spanish War 1655-60 Outline history from BCW&C  
• Western Design Outline from BCW&C