Battle of Powick Bridge 1642
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 23 September 1642 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1642 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | England | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | First English Civil War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Nathaniel Fiennes, Prince Rupert of the Rhine | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 52.1703, -2.2425 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The battle of Powick Bridge was a skirmish fought on 23 September 1642 south of Worcester, England, during the First English Civil War. It was the first engagement between elements of the principal field armies of the Royalists and Parliamentarians. Sir John Byron was escorting a Royalist convoy of valuables from Oxford to King Charles's army in Shrewsbury and, worried about the proximity of the Parliamentarians, took refuge in Worcester on 16 September to await reinforcements. The Royalists despatched a force commanded by Prince Rupert. Meanwhile, the Parliamentarians sent a detachment, under Colonel John Brown, to try to capture the convoy. Each force consisted of around 1,000 mounted troops, a mix of cavalry and dragoons.
The Parliamentarians approached the city from the south on the afternoon of 23 September. Their route took them up narrow lanes and straight into Rupert's force, which was resting in a field. The noise of the approaching Parliamentarian cavalry alerted the Royalists, who quickly formed up. The Royalist dragoons gave their cavalry time to prepare, firing at point-blank range as the Parliamentarians emerged into the field. Rupert's cavalry then charged and broke most of the Parliamentarian cavalry, although one troop stood its ground and returned fire.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Powick Bridge (revision 1380793770), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Worcester 1651 · 3 km
- Siege of Worcester (1643) 1643 · 3 km
- Siege of Worcester 1646 · 3 km
- Battle of Upton 1651 · 12 km
- Battle of Ripple Field 1643 · 15 km
- Battle of Tewkesbury 1471 · 21 km
Other battles of the First English Civil War
- Battle of Aylesbury 1642
- Battle of Babylon Hill 1642
- Battle of Brentford (1642) 1642
- Battle of Edgehill 1642
- Battle of Turnham Green 1642
- Siege of Hull (1642) 1642
- Siege of Reading 1642
- Battle of Adwalton Moor 1643
- Battle of Aldbourne Chase 1643
- Battle of Braddock Down 1643
All 45 battles of the First English Civil War →
Browse more: battles in England · Europe · Early modern battles