Sieges of Taunton 1644
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1644 | Wikidata P580 (start 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 | Edmund Wyndham, George Goring, Lord Goring, James Holborne of Menstrie, John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, Ralph Hopton, 1st Baron Hopton, Ralph Weldon, Robert Blake, Sir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet, Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 51.0190, -3.1000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The sieges of Taunton were a series of three blockades during the First English Civil War. The town of Taunton, in Somerset, was considered to be of strategic importance because it controlled the main road from Bristol to Devon and Cornwall. Robert Blake commanded the town's Parliamentarian defences during all three sieges, from September 1644 to July 1645.
The first siege was laid by Edmund Wyndham on 23 September, and was primarily composed of Royalist troops from local Somerset garrisons. After initial assaults drove Blake and his troops back into Taunton Castle, the blockade was conducted from 1–2 miles (1.6–3.2 km) away, and concentrated more on starving the garrison than continued attacks. The town was relieved by a force under James Holborne on 14 December.
Over the next three months, Blake was able to establish a network of earthen defences in Taunton, including a basic perimeter and several forts. The Royalists began the second, and bloodiest, siege in late March 1645, initially under Sir Richard Grenville. A series of disputes between the Royalist commanders allowed Taunton some respite at the start of the siege, but in May the attacks were fierce under the command of Sir Ralph Hopton.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Sieges of Taunton (revision 1370746831), 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.
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Other battles of the First English Civil War
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- Siege of Gloucester 1643
- Siege of Hull (1643) 1643
- Siege of Lichfield 1643
- Siege of Worcester (1643) 1643
- Battle of Lostwithiel 1644
- Battle of Nantwich 1644
- Battle of Selby 1644
- Battle of Tipton Green 1644
- Relief of Montgomery Castle 1644
All 45 battles of the First English Civil War →
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