Trifter

THE battle of Newburn Ford, fought in August , 1640 is a little known encounter, yet it was the precursor to the English Civil War. Charles I and William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury had tried to force their New Book of Common Prayer onto the Scottish Presbyterians in 1637. The Scots resisted and the First Bishop’s War had began. Charles was too weak to either force the Scots to accept the book or even prevent an invasion of Northern England.

Charles was encourage by the Earl of Stafford to once again attempt to impose his will on Scotland in 1640. However Alexander (Sandy) Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven led a Scottish army about 20,000 strong over the Northumbrian Border heading for Newcastle upon Tyne.

The main Royalist army was being mobilised in Yorkshire. Charles sent Lord Conway with 13,000 soldiers to Newcastle.

Patrols reported that the Scottish army was only miles away from Newburn, four miles upstream of Newcastle.  It was one of the few undefended crossing places on the River Tyne.

Conway immediately led a small for of 2.000 foot and 1,500 cavalry to cover the ford. Reinforcements of 2,00 infantrymen under Sir Jacob Astley quickly joined him.

Meanwhile Leslie was marshalling the Presbyterian army on the north bank of the river. He placed artillery on the slopes overlooking Newburn Ford and a smaller one at Kelshaw, about half a mile downstream. There were more Scottish guns in the tower of Newburn Parish Church able to fire across the river.

The Royalists placed 400 musketeers and four cannon in two quickly constructed earthwork emplacements along the flood plain on the river’s southern banks.

Heavy Scottish artillery fore forced the Royalists to withdraw from one fortification by the afternoon.  The river was now at low ebb and the Scottish cavalry surged over the ford.. They were counterattacked by the English horsed force who were put to flight by more Scottish salvoes.

A well-timed charge by the combined Scottish cavalry and infantry forces, supported by a heavy artillery barrage quickly overran the second bastion. The English forces withdrew from the flood plain to the higher ground south of the river.  This left the fords open and more Scottish soldiers crossed the river. Sir Jacob Astley rallied his troops in woodland behind the hill. H led his infantry to the top of the hill where they were joined by six troops of Royalist cavalry.

The King’s men now advanced down the hill on their way to once again engage the Scottish main force. They were still in line of march when the Scottish cavalry took them in the flank and overrode them.

This action proved to be the turning point of the day. The English army retreated leaving the road to Newcastle wide open. The Scots marched into the city on August 30 and forced the king to sign a humiliating treaty. One of the clauses was a payment by Charles to the Scottish army of £850 per day. This led to the king calling the Long Parliament and ultimately to the First Civil War.

Newburn Ford is a registered battlefield which has been partly built over. The river has changed its course since 1640 and the flood plain has altered considerably. The land south of the ford is still fairly open as can the northern slopes to a lesser degree. The battlefield has a number of public footpaths.

The Battle of Newburn Ford proved to be a microcosm of the later Civil wars between King and Parliament.