Relief of Newark

Part of the English Civil War

Date	21 March 1644
Location	Newark on Trent, Nottinghamshire
Result	Royalist victory

Belligerents

Parliamentarians

Royalists

Commanders and leaders

Sir John Meldrum

Prince Rupert of the Rhine

Strength

2,000 horse
5,000 foot
13 siege guns

3,500 horse
3,000 foot
3 field guns

The Relief of Newark was a Royalist victory during the First English Civil War. It was a personal victory for Prince Rupert of the Rhine, and it resulted in the Royalists holding Newark-on-Trent until very near the end of the war.

At the start of 1644, King Charles hoped to form an army in the northwest of England, built around regiments which he had been able to bring back from Ireland as a result of the signing of a treaty, or "cessation", with the Catholic Confederates. Lord Byron commanded this army, but at the Battle of Nantwich on 26 January, Byron was defeated, with heavy casualties to the first regiments of foot landed from Ireland. In the aftermath of this setback, Charles ordered his nephew, Prince Rupert, to take command and restore Royalist fortunes in the north west. Rupert set up his headquarters in Shrewsbury on 21 February.

Meanwhile, the Parliamentarian forces in the midland counties advanced to besiege the Royalist stronghold of Newark on Trent. Newark was a vital garrison, as it dominated the River Trent, and also posed a threat to the Parliamentarians in the eastern counties of England. The town's defences were naturally very strong. The Trent divided above the town and merged below it, surrounding the town with water. The garrison under governor Richard Byron, brother of Lord Byron, fortified the town itself with earthworks and batteries.

The Parliamentarian force was led by an experienced Scottish professional soldier, Sir John Meldrum. On 6 March, Meldrum's forces forced a crossing of the eastern branch of the river, but were thrown back when they tried to attack the town itself on 8 March. They then began constructing formal siege works and entrenchments.

On 12 March, Charles ordered Rupert to relieve Newark. Hastily returning to Shrewsbury from Chester, where he had been conferring with Lord Byron, Rupert collected a force based around his own regiment of horse, and musketeers detached mainly from two regiments from Ireland (Tillier's and Broughton's) which had recently landed in North Wales and which had therefore not been involved in the defeat at Nantwich. He marched towards Newark via the Royalist-held towns of Wolverhampton, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Bingham, augmenting his force with troops drawn from their garrisons.

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Wikipedia