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Battle of Winceby
11th October 1643
The battle of Winceby is one of the lesser battles of the civil war, with no more than 6000 troops engaged, but its significance far outweighs its scale. For parliament’s Eastern Association army from East Anglia this was their first major campaign. It was also the first nationally important victory for Cromwell’s cavalry and the first action in which he fought side by side with Sir Thomas Fairfax, with whom in the New Model Army he would finally destroy the royalist cause in 1645-6.
In this battle, which lasted no more than half an hour, followed by many hours of pursuit, the parliamentarians destroyed a combined force of royalist cavalry and dragoons from Lincolnshire and Newark. The victory was so swift and complete that the Association infantry did not even have time to engage the enemy. The outcome was the fall of much of the county of Lincolnshire to parliament and a halting of the royalist ascendancy in the region.
The battle was fought on the high ground, where the route from royalist garrison at Lincoln via Horncastle to the besieged royalist garrison at Bolingbroke crosses the Lincolnshire Wolds. Although the general location of the battlefield is certain the exact place where the action was fought within Winceby parish is still open to dispute.
KEY FACTS
Name: Battle of Winceby (Horncastle fight)
Type: Battle
Campaign: Lincolnshire campaign of 1643
War period: Civil War
Outcome: Parliamentarian victory
Country: England
County: Lincolnshire
Place: Winceby
Location: Approximate
Terrain: Enclosed pasture, possibly partly open field or moor
Date: 11th October 1643
Start: early afternoon
Duration: 15 – 30 minutes
Armies: Royalist under Sir William Widdrington ; Parliamentarian: under Earl of Manchester, although Cromwell commanded the cavalry and dragoons which were the only troops actually engaged.
Numbers: Parliamentarian: circa 3000 horse & dragoons, circa 2000 foot ; Royalist: 2500-3000 cavalry & dragoons
Losses: Royalist: more than 200-300 killed on the field and more in the pursuit, 800 captured ; Parliamentarian: perhaps 20 killed but many more wounded.
Grid Reference: TF317684 (531700,368400)
OS Landranger map: 122
OS Explorer map: 273
English Heritage Battlefields Register report CLICK HERE
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