Battles in the British Isles - A Mystery Sort Quiz

Answer: Irish Rebellion - 1798

The Irish Rebellion of 1798 saw an uneasy coalition between Dissenting Protestants in the north of Ireland (which of course was one country then) and Catholics in many other parts of the country under the name "The Society of United Irishmen". These parties had been planning a country-wide rebellion for some time, but almost the entire organising committee was arrested in March 1798; what occurred after that was uncoordinated, piecemeal risings in different areas.

In Wexford, the rebels occupied the main towns and attempted to march on Dublin, but on 21 June 1798, about 16,000 were routed at Vinegar Hill by a force of about 13,000 government soldiers commanded by General Lake.

Answer: Irish Rebellion - 1798

The 1798 Rebellion in the north of Ireland was led by a Belfast man, Henry Joy McCracken. In June 1798, there were local uprisings in many towns, with the green flag being raised in Ballymena (something that would be more-or-less impossible today). However, on 6 June McCracken failed to take Antrim town, suffering heavy casualties in the process. Upon hearing this news the rebels started to melt away, and eventually on 12-13 June at Ballynahinch, government troops under General Nugent defeated the only sizeable force of rebels.

There were widespread retributions after the battle, with many rebels being summarily executed; in July, McCracken was captured and hanged in High Street, Belfast - very close to where I used to work, in fact.

Answer: Irish Rebellion - 1798

Although by August 1798 the Rebellion in Ireland was effectively over, on 22 August an expeditionary force of about 1,000 French soldiers under General Humbert landed at Kilcummin, County Mayo. Recruiting about 1,000 locals they marched towards Dublin, and by using local tracks over the mountains they surprised General Lake and his 6,000 militia at Castlebar on 27 August.

The government forces were routed and fled, leading to the engagement being termed the "The Castlebar Races".

Answer: Irish Rebellion - 1798

After their victory at Castlebar the rebel force attracted many more volunteers, and they pressed on towards Dublin. However, General Humbert realised that his force was greatly outnumbered and that his position was hopeless, so at Ballinamuck on 8 September he surrendered.

Many of the rebels returned to County Mayo, where on 23 September they made a last stand at Killala. About 2,000 of them were slaughtered by government forces under James Joseph MacDonnell. Many more rebels were executed by the High Sheriff of Mayo, Denis Browne, earning him the nickname Donnchadh an Rópa (Denis the Rope).

Answer: Wars of the Roses

The First Battle of St. Albans on 22 May 1455 was the first major engagement of the Wars of the Roses. In a battle fought mainly in the streets of the town itself, the Duke of York and the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick defeated a royal army commanded by the Duke of Somerset. Somerset was killed in the battle and King Henry VI was captured; this led to the subsequent parliament appointing the Duke of York as Lord Protector.

It's thought that fewer than 60 men were killed at the battle, yet the consequences were significant.

Answer: Wars of the Roses

The Battle of Towton on 29 March 1461 was probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil. With about 50,000 participants it was fought in a snowstorm with strong winds, which gave the Yorkist archers a major advantage. However, determined fighting by the Lancastrians appeared to have won them the day until the Duke of Norfolk (a Yorkist) arrived and attacked their left flank. Many Lancastrians were slaughtered during their retreat - in fact, more than were killed in the actual battle.

The consequences of the battle were that Henry VI and his loyalists fled Britain, and Edward IV was affirmed as king.

Answer: Wars of the Roses

The Battle of Mortimer's Cross was fought on 2 February 1461 in Herefordshire between a Lancastrian force led by Owen Tudor and his son, Jasper Tudor, and a Yorkist army led by Edward, Earl of March. A Lancastrian attack routed the Yorkist right wing, but the Lancastrian attack on the Yorkist left wing was put to flight; the Lancastrian centre also fell apart. Owen Tudor was captured and executed.

There's a lot that's not known about this battle owing to poor documentation; even the date is debatable.

Answer: Wars of the Roses

The Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471 was a decisive engagement during the Wars of the Roses in which the Yorkist Edward IV faced the Earl of Warwick - a former supporter of his popularly known as the "Kingmaker".

Edward's army was outnumbered by about two to one, so the night before the battle he brought his forces within close proximity of his enemy's. But the morning dawned with thick fog, and the two armies were laterally displaced so that neither army was fully facing the other. The Lancastrian right wing outflanked the Yorkist left and pushed it southwards, while the Yorkist right wing attacked the Lancastrian left. However upon the return of the victorious Lancastrian right wing their fellow Lancastrians in the centre mistook them for Yorkists and attacked them. This led to cries of "treason" which were taken up throughout the Lancastrian army, and many soldiers fled in panic and confusion. In the general rout that followed Warwick was killed.

With this victory Edward secured the throne.

Answer: First Civil War

The Battle of Roundway Down took place on 13 July 1643 at Roundway Down near Devizes during the First English Civil War when Lord Wilmot's three brigades of outnumbered and exhausted Royalist cavalry inflicted a crushing defeat on Sir William Waller's Parliamentarian Army of the West.

Through prompt action, Wilmot managed to catch Waller unprepared and out of position, and his cavalry swept the Parliamentarian cavalry off the field. Some of the latter went over the 300-foot scarp edge of Roundway Down. The Royalist cavalry returned to the fray, capturing all the Parliamentarian artillery and turning it on the Parliamentarian infantry; the Parliamentarian army broke apart and was badly mauled.

The Parliamentarian Army of the West was virtually wiped out, losing 600 killed and 1,200 captured, along with its artillery, ammunition and supplies.

Answer: First Civil War

The Battle of Cheriton on 29 March 1644 was an important Parliamentarian victory in the First Civil War. Lord Hopton's Royalist army had marched into Hampshire in late 1643 in order to disrupt the iron industry there which supplied Parliament with a lot of its money. Based in Arundel, Sir William Waller's Parliamentarian Army of the Southern Association had taken on more recruits and had become a sizable force. Waller was ordered to slip past Hopton and to march into south-west England, which had been lost to the Royalists after their victory at Roundway Down the previous year. However, a deserter from Waller's army told Hopton of this plan, enabling Hopton to manoeuver his army between Waller and London.

The battle started with a detachment of the Parliamentarian force occupying Cheriton Wood, but they were displaced by Hopton's musketeers and guns. Hopton intended to make this a defensive location, but one of his infantry commanders advanced further. This regiment was destroyed by the Parliamentarian cavalry, as was Royalist cavalry sent in support. Another Parliamentarian attack forced Hopton out of Cheriton Wood, and the whole of his force retreated.

The battle forced the Royalists out of south-east England, enabling the Parliamentarians to focus their attention on Oxford, where King Charles had his headquarters. Despite localised successes, after Cheriton the Royalists in the south were always on the back foot.

Answer: First Civil War

The Battle of Cropredy Bridge took place on 29 June 1644 near Banbury during the First English Civil War. Due to the strong support for the Parliamentarian cause in London, Charles I had taken up residence in Oxford. However, he found himself in danger of being surrounded there, so he mounted some complex manoeuvres in order to bring Sir William Waller to battle. On 29 June, the King was marching north on the east bank of the River Cherwell, with Waller marching in parallel on the west bank, less than a mile away.

However, the Royalist army became strung out, and their rearguard was attacked. Confused fighting followed, with both sides trying to secure crossing places over the river; the Royalists managed to capture a number of guns. The battle ended indecisively - having only just avoided capture, Charles retreated with the guns he'd captured. He lost few men, but Waller lost about 700, mostly due to desertions. His army's morale was low and became lower, with mutinies and more desertions. Eventually it became so weak that Charles was able to safely by-pass it, marching into the West Country and forcing the surrender of the Earl of Essex and his army.

Those of you who've followed my quizzes over the years will know that I've been a great fan of the English folk/rock band Fairport Convention since about 1968. For quite a few years now they've been staging an annual reunion music festival at Cropredy, which always ends with a rendition of "Meet on the Ledge". Sadly I've never been able to go - perhaps one day.

Answer: First Civil War

The Battle of Marston Moor took place on 2 July 1644; a combined force of the English Parliamentarians and Scottish Covenanters defeated a Royalist commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine that had marched north to relieve the city of York which was under siege by the Parliamentarians.

On 1 July Rupert's forces had entered York, lifting the siege, but Rupert decided to engage the Parliamentarians in battle the next day at Marston Moor, despite being outnumbered. The two armies faced each other across the Moor for most of the day, but in the evening, while the Royalists were settling down for the night, the Parliamentarians attacked. The Parliamentarian cavalry under Cromwell routed the Royalist cavalry and then turned on the Royalist infantry, which was destroyed.

The largest battle of the Civil Wars was thus over in two hours; the Parliamentarians lost 300 men killed, the Royalists lost 4,000 mean killed and 1,500 captured. The battle resulted in the Royalists totally losing control over northern England.

Answer: Wars against the Scots

The Scots fought the English for over 1,000 years. From the first recorded battle at Degsastan in about 603 to the last at Culloden in 1746, Wikipedia lists over 70 sieges, battles and other engagements. The Battle of the Standard (also known as the Battle of Northallerton) took place on 22 August 1138 in Yorkshire when an English force led by William of Aumale defeated an invading Scottish army led by King David I of Scotland; the latter had invaded to support his niece Matilda in her claim to the English throne against that of King Stephen.

Despite being hitherto successful and outnumbering the English forces, David's army suffered a crushing defeat; English casualties are described as "light" while the Scots lost about 10,000 men. Many of these casualties were caused by the English archers.

The battle got its name from the three consecrated banners of the minsters of York, Beverley and Ripon which were flown from a mast mounted upon a cart.

Answer: Wars against the Scots

The Battle of Halidon Hill was an engagement in the Second War of Scottish Independence. It took place on 19 July 1333 when a Scottish army commanded by Sir Archibald Douglas attacked an English army led by King Edward III.

Edward was besieging the strategically important border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed. A much larger and stronger Scottish army marched to relieve Berwick, but knowing that the town would soon have to surrender they were forced to confront the English army which had taken up a good defensive position on the hill. The Scots attacked but were targeted during their advance by the English longbowmen, who caused thousands of casualties. In the few places where the Scots reached the English line they found it stronger than they expected, and they were routed. They were pursued for eight miles by mounted knights who literally took no prisoners.

The best estimate for the number of Scots casualties is in the region of 3,000 dead; depending on which documents are examined, the English lost either seven or 14 dead. The battle was a staggering demonstration of the efficiency of the longbow as a weapon.

Answer: Wars against the Scots

The Battle of Otterburn, also known as the Battle of Chevy Chase, took place either on 5 August 1388 or on 19 August, according to which source is consulted; it was part of the continuing border skirmishes between the Scots and English.

There's little contemporary documentation of this engagement; the bare bones are that Sir James Douglas led a force of Scottish soldiers into Northumberland on a looting expedition and was attacked by a force led by Sir Henry Percy. Percy's troops had ridden from Newcastle; they were disorganised, tired, and strung out along the line of march. However Percy was confident of victory so he led an attack without waiting for a large proportion of his column to arrive.

During the battle Douglas was killed, but this didn't become known until after the Scots had won the battle. About 1,040 English were captured and 1,860 killed; the Scots lost 200 captured and 100 killed. Harry Percy was taken prisoner.

Answer: Wars against the Scots

The Battle of Flodden took place on 9 September 1513. Although it was an England v. Scotland affair, it stemmed from a European conflict, the War of the League of Cambrai (1508 to 1516). This was fought between France and her allies on one side, and Venice, the Papal States and allies - the "Holy League" - on the other. Scotland was an ally of France while England - still at that time a Catholic country - was in the Holy League.

In mid-1513, King Henry VIII was campaigning in Europe, so King James IV of Scotland decided to invade. Marching into Northumberland he encountered the English army led by the Duke of Suffolk, and took up a good defensive position at Flodden Edge. Suffolk refused to fight there, and in a nighttime march he headed east, then north and then west, placing his army between the Scottish army and their route home. His objective was Branxton Hill, about two miles north of the Scottish position. However, James became aware of this plan and so he moved his army to occupy Branxton Hill.

Suffolk took up position on a rise, with a very damp valley in between his forces and the Scots. The Scots advanced, but became disorganised by the conditions underfoot. This was particularly severe for the Scottish infantry, many of whom were carrying long pikes. James had put himself in the centre of his army, but as the left and right flanks of the English army put their Scottish equivalents to flight they turned their attention upon his group, which was soon wiped out - King James included.

The English lost about 1,500 men killed of their 26,000-strong army, while the Scots lost about 10,000 to 12,000 of their army of about 35,000 men. Along with King James, a huge number of Scottish aristocracy perished: ten earls, 11 lords of Parliament, five high-level clergy including a bishop and an archbishop, and about 55 other chieftains, nobles and knights. The song "Flowers of the Forest" was written to commemorate the dead.

Aged 17 months, King James V came to the throne in Scotland, and the country withdrew from the war.