Battle of Aylesbury facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Battle of Aylesbury
Part of the First English Civil War
Plaque commemorating the battle
Date 1 November 1642 Location Holman's Bridge near Aylesbury Result Parliamentarian victory
Belligerents
Royalists	Parliamentarians
Commanders and leaders
Prince Rupert	Sir William Balfour
Strength
2,000	1,500
Casualties and losses
500 killed	90 killed

The Battle of Aylesbury was an engagement which took place on 1 November 1642, when Royalist forces, under the command of Prince Rupert, fought Aylesbury's Parliamentarian garrison at Holman's Bridge a few miles to the north of Aylesbury. The Parliamentarian forces were victorious, despite being heavily outnumbered.

Background

Prince Rupert took possession of Aylesbury with a force of several thousand infantry and cavalry but subsequently received intelligence of the impending arrival of a brigade of Parliament's troops from Stony Stratford.

The battle

Prince Rupert marched out with most of his force to confront the enemy at a site a few miles north of the town. He arrived at a ford and encountered a unit of 1,500 Parliamentarian troops under Sir William Balfour on the opposite bank. Prince Rupert, supported by Sir Lewis Dyve in reserve, charged across the ford and engaged the Parliamentarians. Rupert was driven back across the stream and was forced to retreat towards the town of Thame. Some 500 of Rupert's men fell and over 90 of the Parliamentarian forces died.

Legacy

In 1818, remains were discovered in a field at Holman's Bridge (near the old ford), outside Aylesbury, by labourers digging pits for gravel, which were believed to belong to the fatalities from the battle. Many appeared, from the way they were laid, to have been graves of officers. They were buried in a common grave in St Mary's churchyard in Hardwick.