The Storming of Bolton was a battle of the First English Civil War which occurred on 28 May 1644, when Prince Rupert of the Rhine's Royalist army captured the Parliamentarian-held town of Bolton and infamously massacred its garrison.
Background[]
Following his Relief of Newark in March 1644, Prince Rupert of the Rhine was sent to regain North West England as the Parliamentarians and Scottish Covenanters began their Siege of York. Because Rupert lacked the manpower to relieve York, he was first sent into Lancashire to restore the Royalist fortunes there before using the Earl of Derby's influence to gather fresh recruits and take the key port of Liverpool to allow communications with Royalist forces in Ireland. On 16 March, Rupert marched north from Shrewsbury, and he stripped every garrison and press-ganged every stray regiment on the line of march. He went on to carry out a series of ferocious attacks on the scattered Parliamentarian garrisons in a short campaign marked by the bitterness of the fighting. He stormed Stockport on 25 May, followed by Bolton two days later.
Battle[]
The Parliamentarian general Alexander Rigby abandoned his siege of Lathom House upon hearing of Stockport's fall and retreated to Bolton. Rupert's army attacked the retreating and disorganized Parliamentarian troops in pouring rain, and, while Rupert's first attack was repelled with 300 losses, his second assault made it into the streets of Bolton. Rigby escaped in the confusion after learning the Royalists' watchword, and the Royalists went on to slaughter 1,600 of Bolton's surrendered soldiers and civilians, producing a Parliamentarian propaganda coup.
Aftermath[]
Prince Rupert went on to take Liverpool by storm on 11 June after a short siege, and he then received a confusing letter from King Charles which demanded that Prince Rupert march to Worcester to reinforce his army, but also hinted at ordering Rupert to fight. Rupert decided to first march to York and attempt to lift the siege, resulting in the disastrous Battle of Marston Moor.