Monmouth made plans to depart, making for Keynsham
and thence to the Severn, where he would cross and then destroy the bridge,
using the river to guard his right flank as he advanced north into Cheshire,
where friends were waiting. Mr William Sparke, a Monmouth sympathiser viewed
the King’s forces from the church tower of Weston, and sent his servant,
Richard Godfrey, to inform Monmouth of their numbers and positions. Godfrey
reported to Monmouth in Bridgwater, and from the spire of the church there,
said to be the tallest in Somerset, the forces ranged against him were pointed
out on the vast, dismal levels.
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| Bridgport Church Spire |
Two thousand foot were at Penzoy-pound, in Zog,
under Weston Zoyland, where a further five hundred horse were camped. There were more
militia at Middlezoy and Othery, with the artillery ranged alongside the
Bridgwater road. Monmouth’s council advised him that the King’s forces could be
attacked to advantage provided they were not intrenched; Richard Godfrey, the
local, went out to spy, returned with the news that the King’s men were not
intrenched and was paid a guinea. If the artillery were avoided, Monmouth could
strike in the night, so a strategy was made to advance across Sedgemoor, but in
his path lay three rhines or ditches, including a great rhine (the word rhymes
with ‘seen’). This rhine no longer exists, and should not be confused
with the later Bussex-rhine or the much broader Sedgemoor Drain or 'cut'; it
contained no more than two feet of water but the mud at the bottom was deep enough to cover a
man.
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| The Duke of Monmouth |
Country folk brought news that Lord Feversham’s men were drinking the
local cider and going to their beds over in Weston, so at seven in the evening
of July 5th Monmouth’s men rendezvoused on Castle-field in the east
side of the town. The King’s officers and men may well have been drunk on
scrumpy, but many of Monmouth’s men were also half-cut when they left
Bridgwater that evening. At about 11 pm on Sunday July 5th, Monmouth
marched at the head of his men into the narrow Somerset lanes, making for the
village of Weston.
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| The Duke of Monmouth |
At Peasy Farm, on the Axbridge road, Monmouth left his
forty-two baggage wagons, with a light guard, and turned into the Northmoor.
Godfrey, the manservant turned spy, who had guided them through the lanes
became indispensable on the open moor, leading them to the ford (also locally
called a plungeon or steaning) over the Black Ditch, on to the Langmoor rhine,
where in the darkness and fog Godfrey missed the crossing, leading to delay and
confusion. The long, narrow, straggling column on the moor made its way
forward, to within a mile of the King’s forces and divided into two, with foot
soldiers on the left and cavalry on the right; it was, as yet, undiscovered.
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| The Battle of Sedgemoor |
No
one knows for sure what happened next. Some say an officer, feeling he had been
passed over for advancement, deliberately fired a pistol; others say a
musketeer stumbled in the dark and discharged his weapon by accident. Either
way, the alarm was raised and the King’s men were roused. Lord Grey started
forward with the cavalry, but his advance was checked by the last great rhine,
and he was challenged by sentries. The royal troops fired into the rebel
horsemen, scattering them and driving them back; these were, it should be
remembered, local volunteers, farm labourers and so forth, mounted on farm
horses, both unused to warfare and armed combat. It is no surprise they were
routed.
 |
| The Battle of Sedgemoor |
The Kings Guards and the Blues rode in at speed from Weston and
scattered the insurgents. As they rode back, they spread fear and panic amongst
the foot soldiers following them, who also began to retreat, taking the ammunition
wains and baggage train with them. Monmouth brought his column of foot forward
to the edge of the unexpected rhine, formed them up and began to fire on the
King’s regiments on the opposite bank, but again, his men were untrained
countrymen who tended to fire high. The King’s men, in contrast, were regular
soldiers, disciplined and used to following orders; his cavalry were veterans
and knew how to fight on horseback. John Churchill, later to become the famous
Duke of Marlborough, commanded his infantry to great effect, and adding greatly
to the distress of Monmouth’s raw men. The King’s artillery were brought up and
caused even further damage and as dawn began to break,
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| The Defeat of the Rebels |
Monmouth could see that
his plans had gone awry. His men ran in panic, crying for ammunition that was
no longer to be had, leaping the ditches and fleeing into the moorland. The
royal troops and horsemen pursued them, and whereas three hundred of Monmouth’s
men had been killed in the battle, one thousand were slaughtered in the following
pursuit, mainly in the ditches and a cornfield beyond, with another twelve
hundred taken prisoner. Monmouth’s
original force had been numbered between four and six thousand, depending on
differing reports; the King’s army had been about half that, but their better
discipline and experience was invaluable and that, together with Monmouth
losing the element of surprise, gained them the day – they lost only about two
hundred of their number.
Throughout the day, the King’s men savagely ran down
the fleeing rebels, into Bridgwater town where many were killed in the streets,
others taken and slain on the roads and in the lanes. Locals were pressed into
digging a great pit, in which the dead and the nearly dead were stacked and
buried. Gibbets were set up along the road between Bridgwater and Weston and
men hanged on each, some left to rot in chains, some quartered and put on
spikes.
The Battle of Sedgemoor was the last battle to be fought on English soil. There are some other skirmishes and sieges which are claimed to be the last, but these are not really to be taken as serious claims. The last pitched battle between opposing armies in England was Sedgemoor.
Tomorrow - The fate of Monmouth ...
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