The Prince Rupert Newark

On 12 March 1644, Prince Rupert was conferring with Lord Byron at Chester regarding the defence of the city when he received orders from the King to march to the relief of Newark. He hurried back to his headquarters at Shrewsbury and selected as many musketeers as could be spared from the troops returning from Ireland. By 15 March, Rupert was at Bridgnorth in Shropshire to join forces with Colonel Tillier. Gathering reinforcements from garrisons in the Midlands as he hurried across country, Rupert rendezvoused with Lord Loughborough at Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire on 18 March. Two days later, Rupert was at Bingham, ten miles south-west of Newark with a makeshift army of 3,500 horse, 3,000 foot and three field guns. Rupert was determined to destroy the besieging Parliamentarian army rather than allow it a chance to withdraw and return to Newark at a later date. In the early hours of 21 March, he led the vanguard of his cavalry by moonlight around the south of the town to approach the Parliamentarians from the south-east, pinning them against the River Trent and cutting off their line of retreat towards Lincoln.

Prince Rupert and his advance guard occupied the crest of Beacon Hill to the east of Newark as Parliamentarian cavalry outposts fell back to the lower slopes of the hill, hoping to lure the Cavaliers towards the guns of Sir John Meldrum's main body of troops, which was massed around the Spittal and on the Island. Without waiting for the rest of his army to arrive, Rupert led an immediate attack on the Parliamentarian cavalry. Colonel Rossiter and Colonel Thornhaugh, commanding the Parliamentarian left and right wings, fought back fiercely but were eventually overwhelmed and driven back across the bridge of boats and onto the Island. Soon after the initial cavalry melee was over, Colonel Tiller came up with the Royalist infantry. Supported by cavalry units, Tillier worked his way around to the north-east to lead an attack on Meldrum's main position. Tillier tried to capture the bridge of boats across the River Trent, but found the Parliamentarian defences too strong and was obliged to withdraw.

The Parliamentarians were now hemmed in, with Tillier to the north-east, Rupert to the south-east and Newark itself to the south-west. After Rupert ordered part of the Newark garrison to seize Muskham bridge on the far side of the Island, the tables were completely turned on Meldrum, whose besieging force was surrounded by the Royalists with no room for manoeuvre and food for two or three days at most. With quarrels breaking out amongst the Parliamentarian commanders and a mutiny amongst some of his troops, Meldrum called for a parley. The Roundheads were allowed to march away, but all their artillery, ammunition and firearms were surrendered to Prince Rupert. Over 3,000 muskets, eleven artillery pieces and two mortars were captured.

The relief of Newark was one of Prince Rupert's most brilliant victories and ensured the garrison's survival until the end of the First Civil War. Returning his borrowed troops to their garrisons, Rupert marched back to Shrewsbury