In 1644 the Scots joined
forces with Parliamentary forces to lay siege to the Royalist held
city of York. In June 1644 Prince
Rupert and his Cavaliers set out
to rescue the Earl of Newcastle and
his forces. On 2nd July the Royalists confronted the Parliamentarians
at Marston Moor.
Edward
Montagu and Thomas
Fairfax, the leaders of the Parliamentary forces, decided to withdraw
from Marston Moor towards Tadcaster in order to cut off any attempt
by the Earl of Newcastle to escape.
Prince Rupert decided to attack the retreating
troops. This resulted in the Parliamentary army being ordered back
to Marston Moor.
That afternoon Oliver
Cromwell and his forces charged John Byron
and his cavalry. His men, instead of pursuing Byron's cavalry, regrouped
and returned to protect the infantry that had now come under attack
from George Goring and his cavalry.
The Earl
of Newcastle and his Whitecoat regiment made a heroic last stand
and resisted repeated charges by the Parliamentary army until no more
than 30 were left alive.
The battle lasted two hours.
Over 3,000 Royalists were killed and around 4,500 were taken prisoner.
The Parliamentary forces lost only 300 men. The city of York
surrendered two weeks after the battle, ending Royalist power in the
north of England. Prince Rupert rallied
the survivors and retreated to Chester where he attempted to build
a new Royalist army.
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