The Monmouth Rebellion was a war of succession in England that occurred from May to July 1685 when the Protestant James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, son of the late King Charles II of England, attempted to depose his Catholic uncle James II from the English throne.
The failure of Whig efforts to exclude the Catholic James from the succession during the Exclusion Crisis of 1679-1681 led to the failed 1683 Rye House plot to assassinate Charles II and James and enthrone Monmouth. Monmouth was forced into exile in the Dutch Republic, from which he planned a rebellion in the British Isles with the aid of Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll. Cheshire, Lancashire, and South West England were considered as invasion zones due to their heavy concentration of opponents of the monarchy, and William III of Orange, James' son-in-law, did not detain the conspirators or put a stop to their recruitment efforts. Argyll sailed to Scotland and enlisted the help of Clan Campbell for his rising, while the Presbyterian minister Robert Ferguson drew up Monmouth's proclamation.
On 11 June 1685, Monmouth landed at Lyme Regis in Dorset with 82 supporters, three small ships, four light field guns, and 1,500 muskets. He gathered 300 men on the first day, where Ferguson read a long statement denouncing King James. The mayor of Lyme Regis and customs officer Samuel Damsell informed the local militia regiments and London of Monmouth's arrival, and John Churchill was given command of the King's regular foot, while Louis de Duras, 2nd Earl of Feversham was given overall command of the campaign.
By 15 June, Monmouth rallied over 1,000 troops. The next day, his officer Ford Grey was defeated in a skirmish with Royalist forces at Bridport. However, many of the militiamen deserted and joined Monmouth's army. Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle led a Royalist force from Exeter to join Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset's army, and Monmouth decided to head north towards Somerset rather than march on London. He captured Axminster before increasing his strength to 6,000, including nonconformists, artisans, and farm workers wielding pitchforks; Daniel Defoe was among his recruits. On 20 June 1685, Monmouth was crowned King at Taunton, although some of his supporters, like Nathaniel Wade, sought the restoration of republican rule.
As Monmouth advanced northwards, the Royal Navy captured Monmouth's ships, cutting off his escape route. By 24 June, Monmouth was on the brink of capturing Bristol, recruiting a larger army, and enabling a march on London, but he overestimated the city's strength and instead moved towards Bath, which he also found to be occupied by Royalist troops. By 28 June, Monmouth received word at Frome that Argyll's Rising had been crushed. His army was prevented from recruiting the nonconformist wool workers of Warminster after the Wiltshire militia marched forth, and he was containe din the South West.
On 3 July, Monmouth ordered his troops to fortify Bridgwater, and, on 6 July 1685, he fought against Churchill's Royalist army at the Battle of Sedgemoor. There, the regular army and their horses outflanked and defeated the rebels, and the Royalists were victorious with light casualties. Monmouth was captured in a ditch on 8 July, and, as Parliament had already sentenced him to death as a traitor, he was taken back to Tower Hill and beheaded by Jack Ketch on 15 July 1685. The Bloody Assizes saw 320 of Monmouth's supporters be condemned to death and 800 transported to the Caribbean for hard labor. King James II proceeded to have Parliament repeal the Test Act and habeas corpus, appoint Catholics to senior posts, and raise the strength of the standing army; when Parliament opposed these absolutist moves, the king dismissed it on 20 November 1685.
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