Battle of Bovey Heath 1646
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 9 January 1646 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1646 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | England | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| Coordinates | 50.5756, -3.6667 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The battle of Bovey Heath took place on 9 January 1646 at Bovey Tracey and Bovey Heath (about 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Exeter in Devon, England) during the First English Civil War. A Parliamentarian cavalry detachment under the command of Oliver Cromwell surprised and routed the Lord Wentworth's Royalist camp.
After a series of losses for the Royalists in the southwest of England, they had retreated to Exeter and beyond. The Parliamentarian New Model Army besieged Exeter, and when a Royalist army was raised to try to relieve the city, the Parliamentarian commander, Sir Thomas Fairfax launched a preemptive strike. He first sent Cromwell to attack the cavalry lodged at Bovey Heath, where they were able to rout the Royalists who were not prepared for an attack. Wentworth and most of his leading commanders were able to escape, but Wentworth was stripped of command of the Royalist army in the West, which passed to the Lord Hopton.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Bovey Heath (revision 1370108101), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Exeter (1068) 1068 · 19 km
- Battle of Pinhoe 1001 · 23 km
- Battle of Blackpool Sands 1404 · 29 km
- Battle of Sampford Courtenay · 31 km
- Battle of Sourton Down 1643 · 31 km
- Battle of Gunnislake New Bridge · 39 km
Browse more: battles in England · Europe · Early modern battles