the Battle of Naseby 1645

• It took place near Market Harborough, Leicestershire.
• when was the battle of Naseby?

  1645
• Charles Ist Vs parliment
• what were the roylasits sometimes referred to?

  cavaliers
• what was parliamentarians sometimes refered to as ?

  roundheads
• why was Naseby so important?

  it was the turning point for the civil war and for English History
• in 1944 the commanders cromwell and Fairfax fromed the New Model Army
• context of the Battle of Naseby

  - occurred during the English civil wars- fought between the Royalist army (King Charles I) and the Parliamentary army (Oliver Cromwell) which had the newly formed New Model Army.
• Numbers of troops at Naseby

  Royalist troops 5000 Cavalry (experienced, skilled and had overall more battle experience than the parliamentary troops)4000 Infantry Parliamentarian troops 6500 Cavalry ( experienced, skilled and disciplined. They were trained together so had the experience of fighting in unison under a leader)6500 Infantry
• Position of troops at Naseby

  - both armies were positioned opposite one another on grass ridges with shallow dip of land in-between. - The parliamentary troops had a higher ridge and their flanks were protected by thick hedges and rough boggy ground- The royalist troops had lower ridge that provided some protection but not a significant amount
• Stage 1 of the Battle of Naseby

  Artillery- Royalists advanced- Parliamentarians fired 5 of their artillery but most cannon balls overshot the royalist advance- the royalist advance became to close to fire more artillery before infantry became involved and firing at this point could harm own troops- the royalists did not use their artillery as it was not put into position in time for the battle
• Stage 2 of the Battle of Naseby

  Royalist Cavalry- Royalist cavalry charge up the slope on the left side of the battlefield (led by Prince Rupert, nephew of the king and leader of the Royalist cavalary)- the Royalist charge chases off around 1000 of the Parliamentary cavalry using pistols and swords
• Stage 3 of the Battle of Naseby

  Infantry-musketeers in Swedish salvo formations from both sides fired a volley of shots as the infantry advanced- the armies were so close that there was only time for 1 volley before they met and so hand-to-hand combat occurred. Musketeers resorted to using the butts of their muskets like clubs -the pikemen engaged in the push of the pike tactic- The more experienced Royalist infantry pushed the Parliamentary infantry back
• Stage 4 of the Battle of Naseby

  Parliamentarian cavalry- Parliamentarian cavalry on the right side of the battlefield charge towards the Royalist cavalry- these troops were called the ironsides and were well equipped, well trained and well disciplined. They were Parliament's best troops- the ironsides used swords and pistols against the Royalist cavalry, who they defeated and chased off- Cromwell regrouped the cavalry and led them against the flanks of the Royalist infantry, which began to collapse.- The royalist cavalry had ridden off to loot the parliamentary baggage train at the back of the battlefield and didn't return for an hour, this was mostly due to poor leadership from Prince Rupert. It may have also been the case that a signal was misinterpreted and the cavalry believed that they had to leave the battlefield
• outcome of the Battle of Naseby

  - Royalist infantry collapsed due to lack of support from Royalist cavalry- almost all of the Royalist infantry was captured, as well as gunpowder and firearms - around 100 Royalist casualties (exact figure unknown) and half this number of Parliament's troops
• role of Oliver Cromwell


  - only sure to engage in battle when he knew his troops outnumbered the Royalist troops- selected an appropriate starting position on the battlefield which offered protection from both the front and flanks- His new model army (particularly the ironsides) proved to be well led and trained- he was personally involved in the combat and was seen as a brave commander
• reasons for Parliament's victory

  - leadership of Cromwell- ironsides (new model army/ changes in training and recruitment) this was because of the limitations of muskets- battlefield position- Royalist mistakes
• poor communications at Naseby

  - communications depended on hand gestures and voice commands- use of muskets and artillery created noise and a thick black smoke which meant that it was hard to tell who was on what side let alone communicate effectively (this was also because they had no uniform at this point)- secret words and distinguishing objects were used to try and identify fellow troops and avoid being killed by them