Battle of Reading (1688)
- See also Battle of Reading (871), Siege of Reading (1642–1643)
Battle of Reading | |||||||
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Part of the Glorious Revolution | |||||||
Map of Reading, 1611. Broad Street is marked with an "N" at upper left. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Dutch Republic English rebels | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Patrick Sarsfield |
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Strength | |||||||
600, Jacobites and Loyalists of James II |
280 Dutch horse and dragoons Reading militia, protestant trainbands | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
12 | Few |
The Battle of Reading
Prelude
On Wednesday 5 November 1688,[a] William III, then the Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, and Overijssel provinces of the Dutch Republic, landed in Devon at the head of a Dutch army in an attempt to wrest control of the country.[1] Five weeks later, on 7 December, the Prince of Orange and a strong body of troops had reached Hungerford. While there, English supporters came into the town, including several hundred cavalry headed by northern lords.
After retreating from
Battle
James had posted an advance guard of 600 Irish
The battle is described with blatant bias by
Aftermath
James was already convinced that only Irish troops could be relied on to defend him, but their defeat by an inferior force and the willingness of the people of Reading to support a Protestant revolt against him underlined his insecurity. On Tuesday 11 December James fled London in an attempt to escape. Unsuccessful at first, he eventually escaped to France, where he found the support of Louis XIV, and then Ireland, where most of the population supported him. His last hopes of regaining the throne were dashed with his defeat in the Williamite War in Ireland.[citation needed]
In light of proposals he had received from James while in Hungerford, William had decided not to immediately proceed to London, but to accept an invitation from the
Notes
- ^ Julian Calendar, which was in contemporary use in England; in the 17th century this was 10 days behind the Gregorian calendar used in Continental Europe, and in the UK today.
- ^ also known as the Battle of Broad Street or The Reading Skirmish or The Reading Fight
References
- ^ a b c d e Childs 2003.
- ^ a b Pihlens
- ^ Thorne 1847, p. 148.
- ^ Ford 2001.
- ^ Defoe, Daniel (1962) [1726]. A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain. Vol. 1. London: Everyman's Library. pp. 290–298.
- ^ Information Services.
Bibliography
- Childs, W.M. (2003) [1905], "The Story of the Town of Reading", in Ford, David Nash (ed.), The Battle of Broad Street, Nash Ford Publishing, archived from the original on 26 September 2008, retrieved 3 August 2010
- Ford, David Nash (2001), "Reading", History of Reading in the Royal County of Berkshire, Nash Ford Publishing, archived from the original on 22 January 2011, retrieved 12 December 2010
- Information Services, William of Orange's Itinerary, University of Nottingham, retrieved 3 August 2010
- Pihlens, Hugh. "William of Orange at the Bear". Hungerford Historical Association. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013.
- Thorne, James (1847). Rambles by rivers: The Thames. Vol. 1, 2. C. Cox.
Further reading
- Collier, John Payne; Percy Society (1840). "The Reading Skirmish". Early English poetry, ballads, and popular literature of the Middle ages. Vol. 1. The Percy Society.