Cheshire in 1643-4

Sir William Brereton arrived in Nantwich in January 1643 to secure the county of Chester for Parliament.  He brought with him just two troops of horse, three troops of dragoons, and his own company of foot.  This tiny force formed the nucleus of an army that was to frustrate Royalist plans in the north west for the next three years, and make a significant contribution to parliament's ultimate victory in the first civil war.

 

The County

In the 1640s Cheshire had a total population of about 75-80,000 and was a fairly small, mostly rural, and only moderately wealthy country. 

Chester, with a population of around 6000, was the only significant city in the north west of England at the time. Its prosperity was largely built on being the major port for trade with Ireland, a position that it was slowly losing to Liverpool as silting of the Dee made navigation harder. Nantwich was the next largest town with about 2500 residents, when not heavily garrisoned.  Cheshire’s land was mainly given over to rural activities with cattle farming, cheese production, leather goods, and salt mining the major industries. Significant enclosures of woodland, heath and scrublands had began by this time, changing the character of the land.  The county lacked large internal waterways, with the Dee not navigable above Chester, but the Mersey on the northern boundary, with Lancashire, and the Weaver in the east of the county providing some opportunity for river travel.  Nantwich was a major crossing of the Weaver. The north east and ‘pan handle’ nearest Manchester had a growing textile industry centred on Stockport, and was becoming increasingly educated and puritan in outlook.  

The short lived Bunbury Agreement tried to keep Cheshire neutral but it’s strategic importance doomed these efforts to failure and local forces quickly drifted into one of the two camps. Chester and most of the rural gentry were staunchly Royalist but the east of the county and especially the towns were predominantly for Parliament.

Click on the image below for a higher resolution map of Cheshire from the time of the civil war, it has good detail and I might use it to make maps for a campaign eventually.  This site is great for period maps.  This is the Cheshire page. 

The lead up to Nantwich

The Roundheads quickly secured the town of Nantwich in south-east Cheshire as their main base, and drove the local Royalists, under Sir Thomas Aston and Lord Capel, from most of the county.  However, by late 1643 Lord Byron had come north from Oxford to take command, and joined with soldiers of the King's Irish Army landing in Chester and North Wales. This drastically changed the military situation in favour of the Royalists.  

Ragged and mutinous though they were on arrival, these veteran reinforcements were a real danger to the Parliamentarian cause, and the Committee of Both Kingdoms sent a relief force of cavalry from Lincolnshire, under Sir Thomas Fairfax.  

 

Hastily reequipped in Chester, Byron's army immediately went on the attack, before idleness could alienate the city and breed rebellion.  Now badly outnumbered, Brereton's forces fell back on Nantwich and Manchester, losing a confused battle at Middlewich, and all the gains they had made that year.  The Cavalier's most celebrated victory was the daring capture of Beeston castle by the bombastic Captain Thomas Sandford and his firelocks, 

Byron's advance quickly surrounded Nantwich, but a direct assault against the garrison was a costly failure, and his army settled down for a miserable winter siege.  If the town fell, the Royalists could push on into Lancashire, where they hoped to recruit many more men, and then aid the Earl of Newcastle in defeating the Scots, securing the the North of England for the King.  

 

Sadly for Charles it was not to be. Fairfax' column crossed the Pennines in terrible weather and joined up with Brereton's small Cheshire army, and several regiments of Lancashire Parliamentarians, at Manchester.  Combining their forces under Fairfax overall command, they hurried to relieve the now desperate garrison.  Arriving outside Nantwich from the north on the 25th of January, they fought and won a battle against Byron's army in the fields between Welsh Row and Acton.