The New Model Army 1645
Thomas Fairfax and the Battle of Naseby
Nov 16, 2009 Joseph Allen McCullough
Thomas Fairfax was born in 1612 in Yorkshire, the son of Lord Ferdinando Fairfax. As a young man, Thomas picked up military experience fighting on the continent in the Dutch Wars of Independence. With the outbreak of the Civil War in England, Lord Ferdinando formed his own small army in support of Parliament, and Thomas was given command of the cavalry. Quickly gaining a reputation as a gifted military commander, ‘Fiery Tom’, as he became known, took his cavalry south and joined forces with Oliver Cromwell and the Eastern Association Army. Thomas Fairfax impressed Cromwell and the other officers in subsequent battles, until he was badly wounded in the shoulder during the siege of Helmsley Castle. Although many feared Thomas would die of his wound, he made a slow recovery. During his recuperation in the later half of 1644, the Parliamentarians suffered a string of military setbacks.
The New Model Army
In reviewing the situation, Parliament decided that many of its problems were due to the decentralized nature of their armed forces and the in-fighting between the various members of parliament in command of those forces. To remedy the situation, it passed two new resolutions. The first was the Self-Denying Ordinance, which prevented any member of parliament from also serving as a military commander in the field (although Oliver Cromwell was given special permission to continue in both positions). The second was the creation of a New Model Army. This army would bring together the three main parliamentary armies under one commander, and make it a professional, standing army.
Parliament eventually settled on Sir Thomas Fairfax to command this new force. Although Fairfax was initially reluctant, parliament persisted as he seemed the perfect candidate: a gifted military commander, untainted by the defeats of 1644, and, most importantly, without any apparent political aspirations of his own. Fairfax finally accepted command and set about organizing and training this new force.
The Battle of Naseby 14 June 1645
Although Fairfax commanded the New Model Army, he was still subject to the orders of Parliament. At the end of April 1645, they ordered Fairfax to take his army into the field. However, even as Fairfax marched out, Parliament debated whether the army should march to Taunton and relieve the royalist siege there, or if it should go to Oxford and attack the king. Eventually, it ordered Fairfax to split his forces. Reluctantly, Fairfax sent a force to relieve the siege, while he took the main body of the New Model Army to face the king.
Despite splitting his forces, the New Model Army still outnumbered the Royalist army that marched from Oxford. The two forces finally collided at Naseby on 14 June 1645. The Royalist army contained about 10,000 men, while Fairfax could call on between 14-17,000. The battle opened with cavalry charges on both wings of the battle lines. On one side, Cromwell smashed through his royalist opponents. On the other, Prince Rupert shattered his parliamentary foes. However, while Rupert charged off to try and sack the Parliamentary baggage train, Cromwell wheeled his cavalry around to attack the main Royalist infantry. Fairfax, seeing his opportunity, committed his infantry reserves to supporting Cromwell’s attack. When King Charles I tried to counter this move, confusion broke out among his own reserves and they retreated instead of attacking.
The attack by Cromwell and Fairfax proved decisive. The Royalist army was nearly destroyed during the battle, with only the King and a small number of soldiers escaping. Soon thereafter, Parliament turned complete control over the movements of the New Model Army to Fairfax. Within the year, Charles I surrendered.
Sources:
‘Fairfax’s New Model Army’ by Florene S. Memgalos in Military History Quarterly, Summer 2003, Vol. 15/4
The English Civil War by David Clark, Pocket Essentials, 2008
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