Battle of Reading (1688): Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|1688 engagement of the Glorious Revolution}}

''See also [[Battle of Reading (871)]]''

{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}

{{infobox military conflict

| conflict = Battle of Reading

| partof = the [[Glorious Revolution]]

| image = Map of Redding by John Speed, 1611.jpg

| image_size = 300

| caption = A 1611 map of Reading, with [[Broad Street, Reading|Broad Street]] marked with an "N" on the map's upper left

| date = 9 December 1688

| place = [[Category:Reading, Berkshire]]

| coordinates = {{coord|51.4557|-0.9733|type:event_region:GB|display=title}}

| result = Williamite victory

| combatant1 = {{flagcountry|Dutch Republic}} <br /> [[File:UAWiki24 style purple star.svg|20px]] English [[Williamite]]s

| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Ireland|1542}}

| commander1 = {{flagicon|Dutch Republic}} [[William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland|Hans Bentinck]]

| commander2 = {{flagicon|Kingdom of Ireland|1542}} [[Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan|Patrick Sarsfield]]

| strength1 = 280

| strength2 = 600

| casualties1 = 2+ killed

| casualties2 = 6–50 killed

}}

The '''battle of Reading''' (also known as the '''battle of Broad Street''', '''Reading Skirmish''' or '''Reading Fight''') took place on 9 December 1688 in [[Reading, Berkshire]] during the [[Glorious Revolution]]. [[Dutch States Army]] dragoons, led by [[William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland|Hans Bentinck]] and supported by [[Williamite]] civilians, routed an [[Irish Army (1661–1801)|Irish Army]] detachment under [[Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan|Patrick Sarsfield]] from the town in one of only two substantial battles fought in England during the Glorious Revolution. The engagement was celebrated in Reading for many years afterwards.{{sfn|Childs|2003}}

The '''Battle of Reading''' in 1688 was the only substantial military action on mainland Britain during the [[Glorious Revolution]]. It was also known as the '''Reading Fight''' and was celebrated in [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], [[Berkshire]], for hundreds of years afterwards.

==Background==

In November [[1688]] [[William and Mary]] landed at the head of a [[Netherlands|Dutch]] army in attempt to wrest control of the country. After retreating from [[Salisbury]] [[James II of England|James II]]'s main force was stationed on [[Hounslow Heath]] while an advance guard of 600 were placed at Reading to stop the march of the Dutch towards [[London]]. These 600 troops were composed of [[Ireland|Irish]] [[Catholic]]s, who wild rumour asserted were planning to massacre the townsfolk.

On 5 November 1688,{{efn|name="date"|All dates in this article use the [[Julian calendar]], which was the preferred calendar of 1688 England; it was ten days behind the [[Gregorian calendar]] used in [[Continental Europe]] and in the modern-day United Kingdom.}} [[William III of England|William of Orange]], the ''[[stadtholder]]'' of the [[Dutch Republic]], landed in [[Torbay]], [[Devon]] at the head of a [[Williamite]] army to overthrow the unpopular [[James II of England]]. Five weeks later, on 7 December, William reached [[Hungerford]], where numerous English Williamites came to visit him, including several hundred cavalrymen under the command of Williamite noblemen from [[Northern England]].{{sfn|Childs|2003}}

On Sunday [[9 December]] [[James II of England|James II]] sent part of his army to Reading to stop the march of the protestant army. The people of Reading had already sent a messenger to William who was at [[Hungerford]], [[Berkshire]] to ask for help, and a relief force of about 250 Dutch troops was sent to the town. Warned in advance of the Royalist positions in the town they attacked from an unexpected direction, and got into the centre of Reading. Forcing the Irish troops back, the Dutch attack was supported by Reading men shooting from their windows. The Dutch soon forced the Irish troops to retreat in confusion leaving a number of their side slain, twenty to fifty depending on the account. There were few deaths on the Dutch side, one being a Catholic officer.

After retreating from [[Salisbury]], James' main army was stationed on [[Hounslow Heath]]. On 8 December, James sent [[George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax|Lord Halifax]], [[Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham|Lord Nottingham]] and [[Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin|Lord Godolphin]] to confer with William. Halifax presented James' proposals, which included agreeing that their points of dispute would be laid before the [[Parliament of England]], and while Parliament deliberated William's army would not come closer than 30 miles from [[London]]. Halifax then handed a personal letter from James to William, who conferred with his English advisors to discuss the proposals. Chaired by [[Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford|Lord Oxford]], after a long debate the advisors informed William he should reject James' proposals. William decided to negotiate and put forth several counter-proposals for Halifax to deliver to James.<ref name="Pihlens">{{harvnb|Pihlens}}</ref>

James was already convinced that only Irish troops could be relied on to defend him, but this defeat by an inferior force and the willingness of the people of Reading to support a Dutch invasion further signalled the insecurity of his position. Thus on Tuesday [[December 11]] [[James II of England|James II]] fled London in abortive attempt to escape.

== Battle ==

{{UK-hist-stub}}

[[File:William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland by Hyacinthe Rigaud.jpg|thumb|[[William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland|Hans Bentinck]], the commander of the Dutch troops in the battle]]

{{battle-stub}}

James had posted an advance guard of 600 [[Irish Army (1661–1801)|Irish Army]] troops under [[Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan|Patrick Sarsfield]] in [[Reading, Berkshire]] to stop the march of William's army towards London. As wild rumours, known as the [[Irish Fright]], asserted that Sarsfield's men were planning to massacre the residents of Reading, they sent word to William requesting help.{{sfn|Childs|2003}}

[[Category:1688]]

[[Category:Battles of England|Reading 1688]]

[[Category:Reading, Berkshire]]

[[Category:History of Berkshire]]

On 9 December, a relief force of 280 [[Dutch States Army]] dragoons under [[William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland|Hans Bentinck]] were sent to Reading. Warned of the Irish army's positions, the Dutch attacked them from an unexpected direction, making their way into the town centre via [[Broad Street, Reading|Broad Street]].{{sfn|Childs|2003}}{{sfn|Thorne|1847|p=148}} Local civilians supported the attackers by firing at Sarsfield's troops from their windows. The Irish retreated in confusion, leaving an unknown number of dead behind, with reports varying widely from six to fifty killed, depending on the account. Bentinck's dragoons suffered at least two men killed.{{sfn|Childs|2003}} Many of the battle's casualties were buried in the churchyard of [[St Giles' Church, Reading|St Giles' Church]].{{sfn|Ford|2001}}

[[no:Slaget ved Reading]]

The battle was described with blatant Williamite bias by English writer [[Daniel Defoe]] in his three-volume work ''[[A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain]]'', which was one of the battle's few contemporary accounts. Defoe, who had supported and possibly fought in the [[Monmouth Rebellion]] against James II, was a supporter of William's invasion. He described how a squadron of "Irish dragoons" was routed by the "irresistible fury" of a Dutch force who chased many of the fleeing Irishmen to nearby village of [[Twyford, Berkshire|Twyford]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/tourthroughtthew006736mbp |title=A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain |last=Defoe |first=Daniel | author-link=Daniel Defoe |publisher=Everyman's Library |year=1962 |___location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/tourthroughtthew006736mbp/page/n319 290]–298 |volume=1 |orig-year=1726}}</ref>

== Aftermath ==

James was already convinced that only Irish troops could be relied on to defend him, but their defeat by an inferior force and the willingness of the people of Reading to support Dutch invaders against his army underlined his insecurity. On 11 December, James fled London in an attempt to escape capture. He eventually escaped to France, where he met with his ally [[Louis XIV]] before landing in [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]], where most of the population supported him. James' last hopes of regaining his throne were dashed by his defeat in the [[Williamite War in Ireland]].{{citation needed|date=August 2010}}

In light of proposals he had received from James while in Hungerford, William decided not to immediately proceed to London, but to accept an invitation from the [[University of Oxford]]. On 11 December, William set off for [[Abingdon-on-Thames]], but on hearing of James's flight from England, he turned and headed down the [[Thames]] valley through [[Wallingford, Oxfordshire|Wallingford]] and [[Henley-on-Thames]]. He accepted the surrender of James' troops he met on the way, arriving at [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]] on 14 December 1688.<ref name="Pihlens" />{{sfn|Information Services}}

== Notes ==

{{Notelist}}

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

*{{citation |last=Childs |first=W.M. |chapter-url=http://www.berkshirehistory.com/articles/reading_broadst.html |chapter=The Story of the Town of Reading |year=2003 |orig-year=1905 |editor-last=Ford |editor-first=David Nash |title=The Battle of Broad Street |publisher=Nash Ford Publishing |access-date=3 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926092425/http://www.berkshirehistory.com/articles/reading_broadst.html |archive-date=26 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}

*{{citation |last=Ford |first=David Nash |year=2001 |chapter=Reading |title=History of Reading in the Royal County of Berkshire |publisher=Nash Ford Publishing |chapter-url=http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/reading.html |access-date=12 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122144845/http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/reading.html |archive-date=22 January 2011 |url-status=dead }}

*{{citation |last=Information Services |url=http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ManuscriptsandSpecialCollections/Learning/Conflict/Theme1/Itinerary.aspx|title=William of Orange's Itinerary |publisher=[[University of Nottingham]]|access-date=3 August 2010}}

*{{cite web|last=Pihlens |first=Hugh |url=http://www.hungerfordvirtualmuseum.co.uk/Events/William_of_Orange_at_The_Bear/william_of_orange_at_the_bear.html |title=William of Orange at the Bear |publisher=Hungerford Historical Association |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726165906/http://www.hungerfordvirtualmuseum.co.uk/Events/William_of_Orange_at_The_Bear/william_of_orange_at_the_bear.html |archive-date=26 July 2013 |df=dmy }}

*{{cite book|last=Thorne |first=James |year=1847 |title=Rambles by rivers: The Thames |volume= 1,2 |publisher=C. Cox}}

== Further reading ==

*{{cite book|first1=John Payne |last1=Collier |last2=Percy Society |title= Early English poetry, ballads, and popular literature of the Middle ages|volume=1|publisher=The Percy Society|year=1840|chapter=The Reading Skirmish |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c24JAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA2-PA14}}

[[Category:History17th ofcentury in Berkshire]]

[[Category:17th-century military history of the Kingdom of England]]

[[Category:1688 in England]]

[[Category:Battles ofinvolving England|Reading 1688]]

[[Category:Battles involving Ireland|Reading (1688)]]

[[Category:Battles involving the Dutch Republic|Reading (1688)]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1688|Reading 1688]]

[[Category:Glorious Revolution]]

[[Category:Military history of Reading, Berkshire|Battle of Reading 1688]]