A Royalist cavalry charge secured a key river crossing, allowing Queen Henrietta Maria's supply convoy to reach King Charles I at Oxford.
Key Facts
- Date
- 4 July 1643
- Conflict
- First English Civil War
- Royalist commander
- Colonel Thomas Tyldesley
- Parliamentarian commanders
- Captain Thomas Sanders; Colonel Richard Houghton
- Outcome for Tyldesley
- Knighthood and promotion
- Burton final Parliamentarian control
- 1646
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Queen Henrietta Maria was travelling south from Yorkshire with a vital convoy of military supplies intended for King Charles I at Oxford. The river crossing at Burton upon Trent was strategically essential for the convoy's route, and the town was held by a Parliamentarian garrison under Captain Thomas Sanders and Colonel Richard Houghton.
On 4 July 1643, Royalist forces under Colonel Thomas Tyldesley launched a cavalry charge across Burton Bridge. The assault overcame the Parliamentarian defenders, capturing most of their officers, including Sanders and Houghton, and secured the crossing for the Royalist cause during the First English Civil War.
With the bridge taken, Queen Henrietta Maria's supply convoy continued south unimpeded to Oxford. Colonel Tyldesley was rewarded with a knighthood and a military promotion. Burton upon Trent changed hands several more times during the war before coming under permanent Parliamentarian control in 1646.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Colonel Thomas Tyldesley.
Side B
1 belligerent
Captain Thomas Sanders, Colonel Richard Houghton.