Cornish army invades devon

Cornwall played a significant role in the English Civil War, being a Royalist enclave in the generally Parliamentarian south-west.

The English Civil War lasted nearly nine years, having begun with the battle of Edgehill, in Warwickshire, on Sunday, 23 October 1642, and ended with the battle of Worcester, on 3 September 1651.

The Battle of Stratton occurred on 15 May 1643. The Earl of Stamford’s Parliamentarian force was repelled by Sir Ralph Hopton’s men after day-long fighting, with 300 men killed and 1700 captured, and retreated to Bideford. The victories for Hopton with five ‘Old Cornish’ regiments provided the impetus for campaigns in Devon and Somerset.

Taunton and Bridgwater were taken by the Cornish army, but Sir Bevil Grenville was killed in the moment of victory at the Battle of Lansdown in Somerset and Hopton was seriously wounded. Bristol fell to Hopton’s Royalist troops, followed by Exeter