Capture of Wakefield 1643
Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).
Key facts
| Date (year) | 1643 | Wikidata P585 point in time |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 17th century | derived |
| Period | Civil Wars | derived |
| Country | England | derived |
| War / conflict | First English Civil War | Wikidata |
About the battle
The capture of Wakefield occurred during the First English Civil War when a Parliamentarian force attacked the Royalist garrison of Wakefield, Yorkshire. The Parliamentarians were outnumbered, having around 1,500 men under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax, compared to the 3,000 led by George Goring in Wakefield. Despite being outnumbered, Parliamentarians successfully stormed the town, taking roughly 1,400 prisoners.
Around 800 Parliamentarians had been taken prisoner after being defeated at Seacroft Moor, and Fairfax plotted the capture of Wakefield to take prisoners of his own to exchange for his men. He marched his force from Leeds and split it in two to attack from different directions. After around two hours of fighting early in the morning of 21 May, 1643, Fairfax broke through into Wakefield. Goring, who had been in bed suffering from either illness or a hangover, rose and led a counterattack in his nightshirt, but to no avail and the town was captured. Fairfax gained the prisoners he needed and much ammunition. According to his own account, the Parliamentarians lost no more than seven men.
Visiting the battlefield
Location
- Recorded location (Wikidata; may be approximate): 53.6831, -1.4969
Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Capture of Wakefield (revision 1370609887), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations removed. No text added.
Battle location from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby battlefields
- Battle of Wakefield 1460 · 0 km
- Battle of Leeds 1643 · 13 km
- Battle of Adwalton Moor 1643 · 14 km
- Battle of Ferrybridge 1461 · 15 km
- Battle of Seacroft Moor 1643 · 20 km
- Battle of the Trent 679 · 20 km
Other battles of the First English Civil War
- Battle of Aylesbury 1642
- Battle of Babylon Hill 1642
- Battle of Brentford 1642
- Battle of Edgehill 1642
- Battle of Turnham Green 1642
- Battle of Adwalton Moor 1643
- Battle of Aldbourne Chase 1643
- Battle of Braddock Down 1643
- Battle of Burton Bridge 1643
- Battle of Camp Hill 1643
All battles of the First English Civil War →
Browse more: battles in England · Civil Wars · 17th century battles