Oliver Cromwell By Joe.p A biographyOliver Cromwelll was born 25th April 1599, In Huntingdon, to a wealthy and influential family. He had seven sisters. Cromwell was Protestant, this is one of the many reasons for which he became a great power. His faith in God would later prove to be his greatest strength, but also his greatest downfall. He went to Sidney Sussex College and Cambridge University, which then drove him on to be MP of Huntingdon in 1628 and MP of Cambridge in 1640. However, he wasn’t a noticeable character in Parliament, and made little effect..... this was until the trauma that shook Britain in 1642. During the reign of Charles 1st, the king was bitterly opposed. This was partly due to laws passed down without Parliamentary consent, such as the levying of taxes. However, it was mainly because Charles’ opposition of the English Church. Leading him to marry a Catholic woman and favour Catholic followers and countries. Forming a rivalry between the Scottish and English Parliaments, with Charles 1st , that can be liked to later crisis’s like The Battle Of The Boyne, and the fighting between Britain and Ireland. Both the Parliaments formed a group called the Parliamentarians. Charles’s men were called Royalists, and were firm believers of the king. In 1642. The English Civil war began. Cromwell was given the position of officer, in charge of a handful of troops, and with no experience of war. But Cromwell had some inner belief, that he said was down to the works of god .In 1643 Cromwell’s brilliance shone through after several battles and was promoted to colonel and given command of his own cavalry. Cromwell fought many battles, and after each he would gain the respect of his follow soldiers. So in 1644 he was appointed second in command of the Eastern Association army, Parliament's largest and most effective regional army, with the rank of lieutenant-general. It was only from about this time he started to become most prominent, for before-hand he had respect, not power. By the start of 1644 the Royalists had already
lost in East Anglia and the East Midlands, which were now under Parliamentary order. During July 1644 he lead Parliamentarians to victory in the north, with the Battle of Marston Moor, which was not only down to their large forces.( Cromwell 22,500 men, Royalists 17,000 men) But because of Cromwell’s tactical genius. As clever positioning behind a ditch prevented cavalry attacks and prevented Royalists gaining land at a great pace.The Parliamentarians then produced a new force, out of their best soldiers; The New Model Army.....Cromwell was appointed second in command. Even after 2 years of war, the Royalists still maintained ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
lost in East Anglia and the East Midlands, which were now under Parliamentary order. During July 1644 he lead Parliamentarians to victory in the north, with the Battle of Marston Moor, which was not only down to their large forces.( Cromwell 22,500 men, Royalists 17,000 men) But because of Cromwell’s tactical genius. As clever positioning behind a ditch prevented cavalry attacks and prevented Royalists gaining land at a great pace.The Parliamentarians then produced a new force, out of their best soldiers; The New Model Army.....Cromwell was appointed second in command. Even after 2 years of war, the Royalists still maintained power within several counties. And so in 1645, Cromwell sealed the Royalists largest sector of land; The Midlands. This happened in the Battle of Naseby(14 June 1645), which at the time was the most important battle of the war. Then after another 3 years, the war finally ended. With Charles 1st captured, in 1649 Cromwell supported the trial and execution of the king. Charles died 30th January 1649. Cromwell finally believed that he had done as god willed, and that how he commanded was how god commandedHowever, after Charles death the Commonwealth of England was founded. This lead to Royalists re-grouping in Ireland, with the catholic Irish. Not only was invading Ireland needed to destroy the rule of Royalists, but the respect of the English needed to be restored and Parliament were in debt to all the soldiers who had fought for the Parliamentarians. So in the late months of 1649 Cromwell lead large military forces to what would be the most controversial moments of Irish and English history. And so, on the 15th August 1649, Cromwell landed in Dublin with what was the largest army ever to land on Ireland. 12,000 men. ( At the time). Securing Dublin was not hard; Within a few hours the perimeter was secure and all hostiles had been eliminated. The next day Cromwell marched north and besieged the town of Drogheda, a town strategically placed on the River Boyne. It was garrisoned by 3,000, but even with these small numbers, the leader of the town, Sir Arthur Aston ( English) rejected a surrender. Not only was the garrison army made up of Catholics, but a vast majority were Protestants. This was an outrage to Cromwell, and would later drive him to cause what to be said criminal acts. Cromwell finally stormed the town, he ordered his men to ‘spare only the lives of civilians’. Many inhabitants fled to St. Peter’s church. But even with the ‘orders’ they were all slaughtered. It cannot be said at first glance that Cromwell broke any warfare laws. As Aston rejected the surrender, Cromwell had the free will to slaughter the garrisons. However, Cromwell speculated that over 3,000 were killed. One of the main reasons the raid was so controversial is because this kind of slaughter had never been seen before on such a large scale. Not only that but Cromwell said that 1,000 of the deaths took place in St. Peter’s Church. This was one the site inhabitants took refugee. Obviously conveying that a vast majority of the deaths were not of the garrisons but the civilians. To make matters worst, by eye witnesses it had seemed as if Aston and his troops had laid down their weapons in surrender, just before the raid took place. This is vital evidence, conveying Cromwell slaughtering the civilians and garrisons of the town, in a way breaking warfare laws!! Only a few days after Drogheda, Cromwell besieged Wexford. After a week of fierce fighting both sides were square. Cromwell decided to make peace with Wexford. Meanwhile, during peace talks confusion broke out between the ranks and like in Drogheda, the civilians were massacred, deaths added up to 2,500. The greatest victory of the campaign was in Cork ,a major city. This victory was diplomatic and ended with Cromwell persuading the protestant royalist ( 2000 men) to join the New Model Army. But soon Cromwell heard word of Charles 2nd on the verge of being crowned king. Cromwell decided to counter act this threat and on the 26th May 1650, he returned to England. Cromwell then invaded Scotland, just after Charles 2nd had been proclaimed king. Cromwell wasn’t a violent towards the Scottish, as to the Irish, for before hand many of the Scottish aided him during the English Civil War. The campaign couldn’t of started worse, due to short supplies and being held up on several occasions by guerrilla attacks. However, on 3rd September 1650, Cromwell fought an unexpected battle, between him and the Covenanter Army in the battle of Dunbar. Killing 4,000 Scottish soldiers and capturing 10,000. This gave the New Model Momentum, and eventually took Edinburgh within a few weeks! The battle of Dunbar and The battle of Edinburgh in succession were Cromwell’s greatest feats. The following year, Charles II and his Scottish allies made a desperate attempt to invade England and capture London while Cromwell was engaged in Scotland. Cromwell followed them south and caught them at Worcester on 3 September 1651. At the subsequent Battle of Worcester, Cromwell's forces destroyed the last major Scottish Royalist army. During the time Cromwell was on campaign, a new Parliament had formed. Called the Rump Parliament. Cromwell on his return tried to make the Rump set up new election dates. Therefore uniting the three countries within the common wealth, and one main church. Instead the Rump held other elections, that did not solve the power struggle nor the religious problem. Angered, in April 1653, Cromwell demanded that the Rump establish caretaker governments, made up of forty Rump and Army officials, and then abdicates. His terms were not met. Feeling him and his god had been betrayed, he stormed Parliament with forty musketeers and dissolved the Rump. Cromwell’s own words were; ‘You are not Parliament, I say you are no Parliament, I will put an end to your sitting!’ After The Rump came the Barebones Parliament, which dissolved a few months after. And John Lambert, English Parliamentary General, created a new constitution; The Instrument of Government. This, in 1653 made Cromwell lord protector of The Commonwealth of England. As Protector, Cromwell had two main targets. First ‘Healing and Settling’ The chaos created by the Civil War, then forming a stable base upon which Cromwell could build his legacy. This did all happen. Even with the controversy surrounding Drogheda and Wexford in Ireland, Cromwell did manage to unite The Commonwealth of England flawlessly, therefore conveying the incredible leadership skills of the man himself. Cromwell’s reign ended in 1658. After catching what is believed malaria and ‘stone’ he passed away on Friday 8th September 1658. Cromwell is so significant in history for several reasons. Not only did Cromwell make English History, but also Irish and Scottish history. ( Irish in particular!)This is because of his affair in Drogheda. To kill such a number of people was unprecedented at the time. But for many of them to be civilians and not soldiers makes the entire case more controversial. This cold blooded murder is one of the few cases in history that have as much effect on humans now as it did hundreds of years ago. That is why Cromwell is significant in ours and other’s history. However, Cromwell did say that the massacre of Drogheda was aimed at the garrisons, not the civilians. But to see such an event twice ( Wexford and Drogheda) Backs up the fact that the massacre was not an accident, but a deliberate attempt of murder! But the major achievement in Cromwell’s life is what all the battles he fought, all the deaths he’s commanded, and pretty much everything he’s ever done have lead to; The Commonwealth of England. To unite three countries that have been at each other’s throats ever since they laid their eyes on each other is incredible. This seems even harder when you consider that both England and Ireland both had different churches. Meanwhile the main reason why Cromwell is so significant in history is not because of what he did, but what happened because of him. Cromwell’s effects can be seen in the Battle of The Boyne, which once again was a battle between the Catholics and the Protestants. ( Much like that of Cromwell’s Irish campaign.)Cromwell was also one of the few people that actually created the great rivalry between Ireland and England due to what happened at Drogheda and Wexford. The effects of this can be linked to modern day crisis’s like Bloody Sunday and The IRA. By Joe.p