Siege of Carlisle (1644)

Siege of Carlisle during the First English Civil War

54°53′50″N 2°56′31″W﻿ / ﻿54.89726°N 2.941936°W﻿ / 54.89726; -2.941936

Siege of Carlisle

Part of the First English Civil War

Carlisle Castle
| Date| October 1644 – 25 June 1645

|

Location|

Carlisle, Cumbria, North West England, England

Result|  Covenanter/Parliamentarian Victory
Belligerents
Covenanters
Parliamentarians|  Royalists
Commanders and leaders
Earl of Leven|  Sir Thomas Glennam
Sir Henry Shadling
Strength
4,000[1]|  700[2]
Casualties and losses
Low|  Low

Carlisle

Marston Moor

Newcastle

class=notpageimage|

Northern England and Carlisle

* v
* t
* e

First English Civil War

1642

* 1st Hull
* Marshall's Elm
* Portsmouth
* Plymouth
* Babylon Hill
* Powick Bridge
* Kings Norton
* Edgehill
* Aylesbury
* Brentford
* Turnham Green
* Farnham Castle
* Piercebridge
* Tadcaster
* 1st Exeter
* Muster Green
* 1st Bradford
* Chichester

1643

* Braddock Down
* Leeds
* 1st Middlewich
* Hopton Heath
* Seacroft Moor
* Camp Hill
* Lichfield
* Ripple Field
* Reading
* Sourton Down
* 1st Wardour Castle
* Stratton
* Wakefield
* 1st Worcester
* Chalgrove Field
* Adwalton Moor
* 2nd Bradford
* Burton Bridge
* Lansdowne
* Roundway Down
* 1st Bristol
* Gainsborough
* Gloucester
* 2nd Hull
* Aldbourne Chase
* 1st Newbury
* Winceby
* Olney Bridge
* 1st Basing House
* Heptonstall
* 2nd Wardour Castle
* South Harting
* Alton
* Bramber Bridge
* Arundel
* 2nd Middlewich

1644

* Nantwich
* Newcastle
* 1st Lathom House
* Newark
* Boldon Hill
* Stourbridge Heath
* Cheriton
* Selby
* Lyme Regis
* York
* Lincoln
* 1st Oxford
* Bolton
* 2nd Basing House
* Tipton Green
* Oswestry
* Cropredy Bridge
* Marston Moor
* Gunnislake New Bridge
* Ormskirk
* Lostwithiel
* Tippermuir
* 1st Aberdeen
* Montgomery Castle
* 1st Chester
* 1st Taunton
* Carlisle
* 2nd Newbury

1645

* Inverlochy
* High Ercall Hall
* Weymouth
* Scarborough Castle
* 2nd Taunton
* Auldearn
* 3rd Taunton
* 2nd Oxford
* Leicester
* Naseby
* Alford
* 2nd Lathom House
* Langport
* Hereford
* Kilsyth
* 2nd Bristol
* Philiphaugh
* 2nd Chester
* Rowton Heath
* Sherburn in Elmet
* 3rd Basing House
* Annan Moor
* Denbigh Green
* Shelford House
* Newark

1646

* Bovey Heath
* Torrington
* Stow-on-the-Wold
* 3rd Oxford
* 2nd Aberdeen
* Lagganmore
* 2nd Worcester

The siege of Carlisle occurred during the First English Civil War when the allied forces of the Scottish Covenanters and the English Parliamentarians besieged Carlisle Castle which was held at the time by the English Royalist forces loyal to King Charles I. The siege took place in Carlisle, Cumbria from October 1644 to 25 June 1645.

## Background

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For 500 years, Carlisle Castle served as the principal fortress of England's north-western border with Scotland. In 1642 at the start of the First English Civil War, the castle was held and garrisoned by Royalist forces. Because of its location far to the north of England, the castle remained under the control of the Royalists for the first two years of the civil war.[3]

On 2 July 1644, the combined forces of the Covenanters and the Parliamentarians decisively defeated the Royalists at the Battle of Marston Moor near York. The Royalists lost 5,500 men along with all their ordinance, gunpowder, and supplies. Two weeks later the besieged city of York surrendered. The commander of the Royalist northern army, the Marquis of Newcastle, and other senior officers fled the country in embarrassment. As a result, the Royalist no longer had an army in the north.[4]

After the Parliamentarian victory at Marston Moor, Alexander Leslie who commanded the Covenanters began a campaign in the north to capture Royalist garrisons and urban centers. By 15 August, Leslie's Covenanter army had reached the important port city of Newcastle and resumed a siege that had ended unsuccessfully the previously February.[5][6]

## The siege

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After the surrender of Newcastle on 27 October 1644, Leslie took 4,000 of his Covenanters, composed of both infantry and cavalry, to Carlisle and began the siege of the walled city and fortress. He quartered his force in the villages surrounding Carlisle and erected siege works on the four major roads leading to the city. The siege works blocking the road from the north was placed in the churchyard at the village of Stanwix and included three small cannons. All the other siege works seemed to simply be fortifications designed to hold 60 to 100 cavalry riders. Together the four siege works blocked access to the city and castle from all four directions of the compass.[7]

This initial encirclement of Carlisle was not particularly confining to the Royalists as it left a substantial amount of grazing ground for cattle and horses outside the walls of the city. Leslie, however, didn't seem to be in a hurry to take the garrison. For approximately six months, Leslie seemed content to sit and wait. All that while, the Covenanters never attacked the city. During that time the primary action between the two opposing forces were skirmishes that took place when the Royalist would sally outside the city walls to procure cattle and provisions.[8]

In the spring, the Covenanter forces were joined by Parliamentarian forces.[3] About that time, at the end of April, Leslie began to move his siege works closer to the city and to erect additional fortifications. The contraction of the siege perimeter slowly reduced the number of successful sallies the Royalists were able to conduct diminishing their food supplies.[9] Starvation set in on the garrison causing the besieged Royalist to eat whatever they could including horses, dogs and rats.[3] Finally in the summer of 1645, King Charles and his Royalist army lost another major battle at Naseby. Out of provisions with a diminished hope of relief, the Royalist garrison at Carlisle Castle surrendered on 25 June 1645.[3][10]

## Aftermath

[edit]

The terms of the "Articles of Agreement for the Surrender of Carlisle Castle" included the following provisions:

* The castle, city, and Citadel of Carlisle along with all forts, towers, canons, ammunition, and furniture shall be surrendered to Lieutenant General Leslie.
* Sir Thomas Glennam, Sir Henry Stradling, their officers and men shall be allowed to march out of Carlisle as free men with their colours flying and drums beating. They shall be allowed to leave Carlisle with their firearms, bags, baggage, and twelve charges of powder each. They shall be allowed to march from Carlisle to join their King without the fear of being attacked.
* The people of Carlisle shall not be harmed, nor shall their homes be looted or destroyed.[11]

## Citations

[edit]

1. ^ Ferguson (1889), p. 109.
2. ^ Ferguson (1889), p. 111.
3. ^ a b c d Brindle (2020).
4. ^ Plant (27 June 2008).
5. ^ Lindsay (2011).
6. ^ Serdiville (2011), p. 83.
7. ^ Ferguson (1889), p. 110.
8. ^ Ferguson (1889), pp. 111–112.
9. ^ Ferguson (1889), pp. 112–113.
10. ^ Ferguson (1889), p. 113.
11. ^ The Articles of Agreement for the Surrender of Carlisle Castle June 1645 (2020).

## References

[edit]

* "The Articles of Agreement for the Surrender of Carlisle Castle June 1645". CLEO. Cumbria and Lancashire Education Online. 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
* Brindle, Steven (2020). "History of Carlisle Castle". English Heritage. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
* Ferguson, Chancellor (1889). "The Siege of Carlisle, in 1644–5. General Leslie's Works". ads - Archaeology Data Service. University of York. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
* Lindsay, Euan (12 November 2011). "The Siege of Newcastle 1644". Wayback Machine. Internet Archive. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
* Plant, David (27 June 2008). "The Battle of Marston Moor, 1644". BCW Project. David Plant. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
* Serdiville, Rosie; Sadler, John (2011). The Great Siege of Newcastle 1644. Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-5989-9.

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