Second English Civil War

Wales /ˈweɪlz/ is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the... Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km . Wales has over 1,200 km of coastline, including its offshore islands; the largest, Anglesey , is also the largest island in the Irish Sea. Wales is largely mountainous, with its highest peaks in the north and central areas, especially in Snowdonia , which contains Snowdon , its highest summit. During the Iron Age and early medieval period, Wales was inhabited by the Celtic Britons. A distinct Welsh national identity emerged in the centuries after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales is regarded as one of the modern Celtic nations today. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was recognised as King of Wales in 1057. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd's death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of England's conquest of Wales. The castles and town walls erected to ensure its permanence are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
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The Battle of St. Fagans was a pitched battle in the Second English Civil War in 1648. A detachment from the New Model Army defeated an army of... former Parliamentarian soldiers who had rebelled and were now fighting against Parliament. In April 1648, Parliamentarian troops in Wales, who had not been paid for a long time and feared that they were about to be disbanded without their arrears of pay, staged a Royalist rebellion under the command of Colonel John Poyer, the Governor of Pembroke Castle. He was joined by Major-General Rowland Laugharne, his district commander, and Colonel Rice Powell. Colonel Thomas Horton with a detachment of just under 3,000 well-disciplined troops from the New Model Army, was sent by Sir Thomas Fairfax to secure south Wales for Parliament and to crush the rebellion. He had one and a half regiments of Horse , most of Colonel Okey's regiment of Dragoons and most of a regiment of Foot . Horton at first advanced westwards through Wales towards Carmarthen, but then had to march hastily to Brecon to forestall an uprising there. From Brecon, he then marched south to Cardiff, occupying the city before the Royalists could do so.
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The Battle of Maidstone was fought in the Second English Civil War and was a victory for the attacking parliamentarian troops over the defending... Royalist forces. In May 1648, a significant part of the Royalist uprising gathered in Kent and Essex. The Kentish Royalists assembled outside Maidstone at Penenden Heath with over 10,000 men raised for the Earl of Norwich. The force then dispersed to hold various towns for the King including Gravesend, Rochester, Dover and Maidstone. Together with the rebellion in South Wales, this gathering constituted one of the main uprisings that marked the Second Civil War. The New Model Army had already been split in two and the larger part sent under Cromwell to deal with the rebellion in South Wales, leaving Sir Thomas Fairfax with a force of only 6000 men. Fairfax marched on Maidstone with 4000 veteran parliamentary troops to recapture it from the defending 2000 strong Royalist force within the town. Most of the Royalists were not soldiers, being described as 'cavaliers, citizens, seamen and watermen'. The battle took place on 1 June.
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The siege of Colchester occurred in the summer of 1648 when the English Civil War reignited in several areas of Britain. Colchester found itself in... the thick of the unrest when a Royalist army on its way through East Anglia to raise support for the King, was attacked by Lord-General Thomas Fairfax at the head of a Parliamentary force. The initial Parliamentary attack forced the Royalist army to retreat behind the town's walls but was unable to bring about victory, so settled down to a siege. Despite the horrors of the siege, the Royalists resisted for eleven weeks and only surrendered following the defeat of the Royalist army in the North of England at the Battle of Preston . On 21 May 1648 the county of Kent rose in revolt against Parliament. Lord-General Fairfax led Parliamentary forces to Maidstone and on 1 June recaptured the town. Remnants of the Royalist forces commanded by the Earl of Norwich fled the county to join the revolt in Essex. On 4 June the Essex County Parliamentary committee in Chelmsford was taken prisoner by a riotous crowd. Colonel Henry Farre and some of the Essex Trained Bands declared themselves in support of the King.
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The Siege of Pembroke took place in 1648 during the Second English Civil War. In April 1648, Parliamentarian troops in Wales, who had not been paid... for a long time, staged a Royalist rebellion under the command of the Colonel John Poyer, the Parliamentarian Governor of Pembroke Castle. He was joined by Major-General Rowland Laugharne, his district commander, and Colonel Rice Powell. After the failure of his pre-emptive strike against the small Parliamentarian army of Colonel Thomas Horton at the Battle of St. Fagans, Laugharne retreated with what was left of his army to join Colonel Poyer at Pembroke. Colonel Horton marched his 3,000 well disciplined troops, about half of which were dragoons, west to Tenby and laid siege to Tenby Castle which was held by about 500 Royalists under the command of Colonel Rice Powell. Oliver Cromwell with another Parliamentarian army consisting of three regiments of foot and two of horse had reached Gloucester on the day that the Royalist army was routed at the Battle of St. Fagans and proceeded to cross the south Welsh border shortly afterwards.
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