The Battle of Naseby, the Formal Phase,
10am to about Noon
It is certain, that, in a battle, the next man can hardly make a true relation of the actions of him that is next to him; for in such a hurry and smoke as in a set field, a man takes notice of nothing but what relates to his own safety: so that no man give a clear account of particular passages.
The battle ground was flanked on the west by the robust boundary hedge that kept Sulby parish secure and on the east by the scrub, furze and boggy bottom land under the ridge on the Clipston parish boundary as well as by Naseby's rabbit warren on Lodge Hill.
The Royalists were drawn up, in accordance with their standard battle plan, north of Broadmoor valley while the Parliamentarians lined the ridge and its reverse slope to the south.
Cromwell saw the potential of the hedge and sent Colonel John Okey and his dragoons up behind it to harass their enemies as they drew themselves up for the fight. The musketeers with Prince Maurice's cavalry gave the dragoons a nasty fright by opening fire through the hedge and Okey had to fall back a little before peppering the enemy cavalry and provoking them into a premature advance.
Okey's Dragoons Harass the Royalist Horse
Click on an image for a larger version.
Maurice's men, Rupert with them at this time, paused in the bottom of the valley to pick their way through muddy ground, regained their formation, and pressed forward, packed solid thigh-to-thigh, at a good, firm trot before breaking into a last-minute charge against Commissary-General Henry Ireton's cavalry. They broke and put to flight two of Ireton's regiments.
The Royalist Infantry Advance
The Royalist infantry was startled into action by the cavalry movement and the line began to move, first on the right, then in the centre and finally on the left. By the time the valley floor had been crossed the slope before them cut off what little they could see of their enemies and a shallow depression on the face of the hill, a re-entrant running south, reshaped their advance.
Click on an image for a larger version.
The Royalists in the centre maintained their pace as their comrades on each side slowed up the slope; a wedge formation was created by the terrain. It hit Pickering's and Waller's regiments with great force, smashing them back and leaving Skippon's men, together with the rump of Ireton's horse, isolated on the left of the line. For a while, perhaps a quarter or half an hour, the Royalists found themselves on the brink of breaking their adversaries, but Colonel Thomas Pride pushed his reserves up, the roundheads rallied and then their greater numbers began to tell.
The Cavalry Engage
Meanwhile, on the eastern flank, Sir Marmaduke Langdale's cavalry had moved against Cromwell's horse, crammed in between the hostile terrain of rabbit warren and furze-covered bog and the right of the infantry frontage, where Fairfax's regiment stood.
Click on an image for a larger version.
The Royalists charged uphill but could only maintain their momentum on a two-regiment frontage where the going was good. Packed solid and deep, Cromwell's men took heavy casualties but did not break; there was, in fact, nowhere for them to go but forward and Langdale's men were thrust back. As his front-line regiments pursued the shattered Royalists, Cromwell had little difficulty in maintaining control of the rest, closed in as they were, and he turned them left to assault the flank of the attacking infantry.
The Royalist Infantry Defeated
The Parliamentarian infantry were now solid and secure once more. Rupert had returned to the king's side only to find that the reserve of horse had been sent to support Langdale and the reserve of foot had also been committed - his own regiment, the Bluecoats, on the left, on the forward slope of Dust Hill, where Langdale's men were sheltering behind them.
Click on an image for a larger version.
The Royalist infantry was in part streaming back across the valley, making for the ridge to the Bluecoats' rear, and in part surrendering. Fairfax demanded of his regimental commander, D'Oyley, why the Bluecoats were still there and what was being done about them. On being told they had attacked twice, fiercely, Fairfax told D'Oyley to try again while he himself took a party round to the Bluecoats' rear. Subjected to assault front and rear the gallant band was finally smashed with butt-end of musket and over-ridden by pistol-wielding horsemen. The battle was, however, only half done.
