The Battle of Nantwich 1644, by John Barratt

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The Battle of Nantwich 1644, by John Barratt

Booklet published by Stuart Press in 1993, 36 pages. Slim A5 size booklet (N7433)

The Battle of Nantwich was fought during the First English Civil War, between the Parliamentarians and Royalists, northwest of the town of Nantwich in Cheshire on 25 January 1644. The Royalists under Lord Byron were besieging Nantwich, and Sir Thomas Fairfax led an army to relieve the town. As Fairfax approached, a sudden thaw caused the River Weaver to rise, dividing Byron's cavalry from his infantry and artillery, who were overrun and destroyed by Fairfax. The Parliamentarian victory halted a run of Royalist successes in the area, and was a major setback to King Charles I's plan of campaign for the year.

From the introduction: Nantwich is one of the most difficult of English Civil War battles to reconstruct successfully. There are a number of reasons for this; partly because of the nature of the terrain, and also because of the circumstances in which it took place, the action was an encounter engagement rather than a set-piece affair, and by its nature inevitably confused. An important additional factor was that neither of the opposing generals, John, Lord Byron for the Royalists, and Sir Thomas Fairfax for the Parliamentarians, had cause to be satisfied with their conduct of the battle, and their "after-action" reports reflect this in their vagueness, distortions and ommissions. Nevertheless, careful study of the admittedly scanty sources, and the nature of the terrain, make it possible to re-construct the general course of this interesting, if rather neglected, battle, with some degree of confidence. Contents include:

Introduction
Preliminaries
Opening Moves: The Approach
The Battle
Conclusions
Terrain
The Armies: Royalist
The Armies: Parliamentarian
Coat Colours
Contemporary Accounts
Sources and Abbreviations
Maps: The Nantwich Campaign, The Battle Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3

The condition of the booklet is generally good. The cover has several minor scuffs and blemishes (including a faint crease running from left to right across the covers), but the staple spine is intact, and all pages are intact, unblemished and tightly bound. There is a small price sticker on the rear side cover.