How Far Did The New Model Army Contribute To The Defeat Of The Royalists in 1645-1646?
...have given Parliament the ability to defeat the King as he was weak and therefore maybe easily beaten. This seems to suggest that it was not really the new model army that defeated the King but it was the state of the King’s army that allowed him to be defeated. Another argument for the fact that it was not just the new model army that contributed to the defeat of the royalists was the king’s negotiation skills. Before the new model army was to be undertaken the king had the perfect opportunity to negotiate a settlement. However it was not an honest one and the King was very obstinate. The parliamentarians dismissed this peace settlement and proceeded to create a new model army. So it was again the King’s failure’s that allowed him to be defeated. He made a dishonest settlement which was bound to be refused and his failure as a King therefore bought the downfall upon himself. Another factor may be that Parliament had control of the north of England and also had allegiances with Scotland, an allegiance that the King could not form because of his imposture upon them with a prayer book. Both sides sought aid; the King by bringing troops from Ireland and Parliament from Scotland in the form of the 'Solemn League and Covenant'. The army of the Scottish Coventers crossed the border on 19 January, 1644, in aid of the English Parliament and proceeded to York, which was defended by Royalist forces under the command of Marquis of Newcastle. The Scots were joined by a Parliamentarian army, which was commanded by the Earl of Manchester. The battle took place at Marston Moor. This is generally recognised as the largest battle to ever have taken place on English soil with over 45,000 combat troops involved, it resulted in a comprehensive defeat of the Royalist forces. Parliament now reigned unchallenged in the north. This gave Parliament a superior advantage over the Royalists. The King could in no way challenge Parliament and it seemed at this point that Parliament had the upper-hand. The war now entered a new phase. A Scottish army, under Alexander Leslie, 1st earl of Leven , advanced into Yorkshire early in 1644 and gave aid to the parliamentary army in the north. Charles's nephew, the brilliant and dashing Prince Rupert , did something to stem royalist losses by retaking Newark, but his gains were temporary. His campaign to relieve the besieged York led to the battle of Marston Moor (July 2, 1644), in which Cromwell and Leslie inflicted a crushing defeat on the royalists. Charles managed to cut off Essex in the southwest but shortly thereafter met parliamentary troops from the north in an indecisive engagement at Newbury. Again the Parliamentarians gained a significant advantage. The Scottish troops gave Parliament the ability to crush Prince Rupert who had been a great leader for the royalists. On 14 June, 1645, they met at Naseby. The Royalist forces were outnumbered almost two to one and suffered a massive defeat, this battle was the turning point of the war. Was it this war that finished the royalists or was it because of the new model army? The Battle of Naseby effectively marked the end of Royal chances to win the Civil War. This battle cost the king a large part of his army and rendered the royalist cause hopeless. Unable to join Montrose (who was defeated by Leslie in Scotland) and thwarted in his attempts to secure aid from Ireland or the Continent, the king was unable to halt the steady losses of his party and finally was compelled to surrender himself to the Scots, who made him reassuring but vague promises. Although the king dragged matters out until Oxford surrendered in 1646, the royal military machine was broken irrevocably. Parliament had achieved what they set out to do, destroy the king. It’s still unclear whether it was the new model army that destroyed the king or if it was the help from the Scots or a combination of all factors. The King was already weak, so it cannot be clear whether it was the new model army that defeated him or if, even without his new army, they still would have defeated him. It’s important to remember that the Parliaments had more access to food fresh weapons and new soldiers; whereas the king was rapidly losing support his army was weak and many of his soldiers had already died. To stem the rising dissension among parliamentary leaders, Cromwell sponsored in Parliament the Self-Denying Ordinance, by which all members of Parliament were compelled to resign their commands, Cromwell was later to devise the New Model Army system still evident in military organisation today. This was characterised by a unified command structure and professionalism, which would firmly swing military advantage towards Parliament. The New Model Army was under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax, with Cromwell as his second-in-command and Lieutenant-General of Horse. In two decisive engagements, the Battles of Naseby on June 14 and of Langport on July 10, Charles's armies were effectively destroyed. The New Model Army was created in February 1645 by Parliament as it felt that a professional army would be more successful against the king’s army. It was a military unit that was to transform the English Civil War. The Battle of Marston Moor had been a major victory for Parliament but not totally decisive in the sense that Charles could recover from it. The New Model Army was to change all this. Its commander-in-chief was General Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell was put in charge of the cavalry. Cromwell had already made his mark at the Battle of Marston Moor where his cavalry had done a lot of damage to the king's army. This shows that even without the New Model Army, Parliament was able to defeat the king’s army so it could be that the royalists were defeated by good commanders like Cromwell who could lead an army effectively. The New Model Army was a military force based on a person’s ability rather than on your position within society. If you were good enough, you could be an officer in it. One of the leading officers in the New Model Army had been a butcher. This removal of this social obstacle meant that the New Model Army was open to new ideas and social class meant nothing. Cromwell preferred that the men in the new force were strong believers like himself and many men in the New Model Army did become Puritans who knew that God was on their side. It was not unusual for the men in the New Model Army to sing psalms just b...