The Battle of Cheriton was a battle of the First English Civil War which was fought on 29 March 1644 between William Waller's Parliamentarian army and a Royalist force commanded jointly by the Earl of Forth and Ralph Hopton. Outmaneuvered, the Parliamentarian force decided to attack, bringing about a fight for Cheriton Wood. A disorganized Royalist cavalry attack was beaten off, after which the Royalist force retreated. The Royalist defeat at Cheriton cemented Parliamentarian control over South East England for the rest of the war.
Background[]
In the summer of 1643, a Royalist army led by Ralph Hopton invaded Hampshire and Sussex with the objective of capturing the Wealden iron works, Parliament's main source of armaments. However, King Charles I ordered a retreat to Wiltshire in January 1644, and, when Hopton insisted on remaining in Hampshire, Charles sent Patrick Ruthven, 1st Earl of Forth from Oxford to reinforce Hopton's army. Meanwhile, William Waller's army at Arundel was reinforced to 8,000 troops, and Parliament ordered him to slip past Hopton and retake South West England, lost to the Royalists after the Battle of Roundway Down. The Royalists aimed to cut off Waller from London before he could do so, advancing from Winchester to New Alresford on 27 March. The next day, they advanced south towards Cheriton, where they met the Parliamentarians on 29 March.
Battle[]
Waller chose to halt his army's initial retreat and advance, with the City of London Brigade occupying Cheriton Wood. The Royalists withdrew to a ridge north of the wood as Waller advanced, and Hopton was initially able to force the Parliamentarians out of the wood with 1,000 Royalist musketeers. However, Sir Henry Bard impetuously pressed the Royalist advance rather than defend the wood, and Arthur Haselrig's armored "London lobster" cavalrymen charged and destroyed Bard's command. The Royalist cavalry on the right wing was also defeated in turn, and the Parliamentarians counterattacked and regained Cheriton Wood. The Royalists lost several senior commanders, including Lord John Stewart, John Smith, and Henry Sandys, and the Royalist defeat ended Royalist hopes of recapturing Sussex and Kent. Additionally, Waller and the Earl of Essex's armies were now able to focus on Oxford, replacing the Royalists' offensive war with a defensive one.