Siege of Pembroke
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (August 2020) |
Siege of Pembroke | |||||||
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Part of the Second English Civil War | |||||||
The Northwest side of Pembroke Castle | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Royalists | Parliamentarians | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Gen. R. Laugharne Col. Rice Powell Col. John Poyer | Oliver Cromwell | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
30+ killed | Unknown | ||||||
The siege of Pembroke took place in 1648 during the Second English Civil War. In the engagement, Parliamentarian troops led by Oliver Cromwell sieged Pembroke Castle in Wales. The Castle had become a refuge for rebellious Parliamentarian soldiers after the end of the First English Civil War.
Background
In April 1648, Parliamentarian troops in Wales, who had not been paid for a long time, staged a
Prelude
Colonel Horton marched his 3,000 well disciplined troops, about half of which were
Kemeys was killed when Chepstow Castle was stormed on 25 May, and Powell was taken prisoner when he surrendered Tenby Castle to Horton on 31 May, but Pembroke Castle was a very strong medieval fortress which could not be taken as quickly. It stood on a rocky promontory surrounded on three sides by the sea, and on the landward side its defences consisted of a deep ditch and walls up to 20 feet (6.1 m) thick.
The siege
Ships carrying siege artillery to Cromwell were forced back up the
Eventually, the siege ended when Cromwell's forces discovered the conduit pipe which delivered water to the castle, and cut off the defenders' water supply. Poyer and Laugharne were forced to surrender on 11 July.
Cromwell then ordered the castle slighted so that it could never again be used as a military fortress. Laugharne, Poyer and Powell were taken to London, tried and sentenced to death, but Poyer alone was executed on 25 April 1649, being the victim selected by lot.[1]
Citations
- ^ a b Atkinson (1911), p. 418.
References
- Atkinson, Charles Francis (1911). Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. . In