Siege of Bristol (1645)

Siege of Bristol
Part of English Civil War
Date 23 August – 10 September 1645 Location Bristol Result Decisive Parliamentary victory
Belligerents
Parliamentarians	Royalists
Commanders and leaders
Lord Fairfax	Prince Rupert

The second siege of Bristol of the English Civil War lasted from 23 August 1645 until 10 September 1645, when the Royalist commander Prince Rupert surrendered the city he had captured from the Parliamentarians on 26 July 1643 to Lord Fairfax the commander of Parliament's New Model Army.

Prelude

Fairfax and the New Model Army, after reducing Bridgwater, had turned back to clear away the Dorsetshire Clubmen and to besiege Sherborne Castle. On the completion of this task, it had been decided to besiege Bristol.

Siege

On 23 August 1645 the New Model Army invested Bristol. On the night of 9/10 September, Fairfax's army stormed Bristol. Prince Rupert had long realised the hopelessness of further fighting the very summons to surrender sent in by Fairfax placed the fate of Bristol on the political issue, the lines of defence around the place were too extensive for his small force, and on 10 September he surrendered Bristol on terms. He was escorted to Oxford with his men, conversing as he rode with the officers of the escort about peace and the future of his adopted country.

Aftermath

King Charles I, almost stunned by the suddenness of the catastrophic loss of Bristol, dismissed Rupert (his nephew) from all his offices and ordered him to leave England. The fall of Bristol mean that Chester, the only important seaport remaining to connect the English Royalists with Ireland.

Notes

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Atkinson, Charles Francis "[[Wikisource:1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Great Rebellion|]]" in Chisholm, Hugh Encyclopædia Britannica 12 Cambridge University Press pp. 403–421