Storming of Bristol
The storming of Bristol, a port then second only in importance to London, on 26 July 1643 by Royalist forces led by Prince Rupert (1619-1682) was a major coup against the Parliamentarians during the English Civil Wars (1642-1651). The Royalists were able to break through the long perimeter fortifications, which were manned by a defensive force spread too thinly. Taken in a day but with many casualties on both sides, Bristol became a vital Royalist centre until its fall to the Parliamentarians after the siege of 1645.
From Edgehill to Bristol
King Charles I of England (r. 1625-1649) considered himself an absolute monarch with absolute power and a divine right to rule, but his unwillingness to compromise with Parliament, particularly over money and religious reforms, led to a civil war from 1642 to 1651. Fought between the 'Roundheads' (Parliamentarians) and 'Cavaliers' (Royalists) in over 600 battles and sieges, the war was a long and bloody conflict. The northern and western parts of England largely remained loyal to the monarchy but the southeast, including London, was controlled by Parliament. The Parliamentarians also controlled the Royal Navy, a significant impediment to Charles receiving reinforcements from the Continent and Ireland. The king would need a port if the war dragged on, but if he could capture London in a decisive engagement, perhaps the war would be quickly over. Charles made his intent clear and raised the royal colours at Nottingham on 22 August 1642.
The first major engagement of the war had been the Battle of Edgehill in Warwickshire on 23 October 1642, which ended in a draw. Charles then delayed and captured Oxford before turning on London, where he was rebuffed by the presence of a 20,000-strong Parliamentarian army at Turnham Green. The king decided to fight another day and retreated to Oxford, which became the Royalist capital. A series of skirmishes and small-scale battles followed over the next year as neither side sought to commit all of their troops in a single field engagement. Rather, both sides concentrated on capturing what strategically valuable towns and cities they could. There were, too, half-hearted negotiations to bring peace through the winter and spring of 1643, but it seems that both sides were confident that they could press their advantage better on the battlefield when warmer weather arrived.
The indecisive nature of the war so far had not helped the Royalists in their predicament concerning sea power. In the summer of 1643, Prince Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine and Duke of Bavaria, Charles' nephew and commander of the Royal cavalry, was tasked with capturing Bristol, second only to London as the kingdom's most important port and an important regional military stronghold. Bristol was a major commercial centre, exporting such regional goods as cheese from the Wessex vales and importing many vital raw materials. It was a naval base and so could control the Irish Sea, and it was a major regional administrative centre. At the time, Bristol had a civilian population of around 15,000, making it the second-largest city in England after the capital.
Rupert, who was still only 23, had gained invaluable experience during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) in Central Europe. Rupert had been involved in the siege of Breda in 1637 and had fought well, if a little impetuously, in the Civil War so far, notably at Edgehill. Bristol was his next important target, but he would have to overcome the city's defences which he knew the value of, having himself advised the king (and been ignored) that Royalist cities should be heavily fortified.
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