Battle of Camp Hill

At the start of the Civil War the area that would become known as the Black Country in North-West Worcestershire and Birmingham was one of the few places in England that could produce the various military stores of which King Charles I was in dire need. As he had failed to secure the arsenals of Portsmouth and Hull, he did not possess any supply of swords, pikes, guns, shot; all these Worcestershire could and did provide. Shot came from Stourbridge and from Dudley cannon. The numerous small forges which then existed on every brook in the north of the County turned out successive supplies of sword blades and pike heads. It is said that among the many causes of anger Charles had against Birmingham was that one of the best sword makers of the day, a man named Robert Porter, who lived and made his blades in Worcestershire but sold them in Birmingham, refused at any price to supply swords for "that man of blood", or any of his adherents. However, the Royalists had among their adherents Colonel Dud Dudley, who had invented a means of smelting iron by the use of coal, and who claimed he could turn out "all sorts of bar iron fit for making of muskets, carbines, and iron for great bolts", both more cheaply, more speedily and more excellent than could be done in any other way. His method was now employed on the King's behalf. Clarendon adds that Birmingham was then: Rupert's mission was, therefore, threefold. Punish Birmingham, garrison Lichfield, and clear the country as far as possible. To do this he was given a force of 1200 horse and dragoons and 600 or 700 foot. Here the further approach to Birmingham was barred by some of the slight earthworks which had been thrown up. The men of Birmingham possessed a very inadequate force to defend these works. In the town a small company of foot soldiers under Captain Richard Greaves was stationed. The Lichfield garrison had sent in a troop of horse, but their united strength barely exceeded 200 men. Rupert did not believe that his large body would be opposed by so inferior a force. He therefore sent his Quarter-Master forward to take up his lodgings, and to ==Battle==

It was about three in the afternoon that Rupert, to his surprise, found that "the sturdy sons of freedom", as the local historians Hutton and Guest called them, were determined to fight. This determination was opposed to the opinion of the Parliamentarians—not only of the military, but also of the civilians—the ministers of Birmingham, and the leading men of the town; but the "middle and inferior sort" of people, especially those that bore arms, insisted on resisting, so at last they all resolved to fight. Finding such was their case, Rupert gave the order to attack their defences at once. The defences were only a bank of earth, behind which the handful of musketeers was placed. As the Royalists advanced they received so heavy a fire that on reaching the works they could not stand up against it and had to retire. A second attempt met with a similar repulse. Greaves, having carried out his object, which was by his charge to give time for his foot to get away, and to prevent them being pursued, did not press his success further. He had himself in his charge received no less than five wounds. Reforming his men he faced about, and drew off towards Lichfield. He had saved his soldiers, but he left the unfortunate townsmen to the tender mercies of Rupert's troopers. and on hearing this the enraged troopers obliged him by cutting him down. Parliamentary supporters alleged he had long been a lunatic, held "Jewish opinions", and had been held in Bedlam and other prisons, some said for sixteen and others twenty-two years, and had only recently been released. On him were found a number of "idle and foolish papers", which the Parliament said proved him mad, the Royalists said proved him immoral. Like some other foolish people he kept a diary, and entered in it a number of matters that might well have been left out. "28th March. A comfortable kiss from Mrs. E., with some moistness. A cynamon kiss from a noted woman. A kiss from a girl of 14 years old". The historian John Willis-Bund states that nothing could show better the feelings of both parties, and it may or may not have been in accordance with the laws of war to have cut down a preacher making disloyal speeches, but to kill in cold blood a man who had in his pocket a journal with doubtful entries was a disgrace even to those wild times. ==Aftermath==

Rupert did not stay long in Birmingham. On Easter Tuesday, 4 April he marched from Birmingham to Walsall; on the Wednesday he reached Cannock. There he halted until Saturday, 8 April when he marched on to Lichfield and laid siege to the town. ==Battlefield today==

Urban development has claimed the site of the battlefield and no physical trace of the battle remains to this day. The site of the Birmingham earthworks is now a roadway. Prince Rupert's headquarters on the afternoon of the battle, the "Old Ship" public-house according to local tradition, survived into the nineteenth century and has been preserved only by photographs. ==Commentary==

John Willis-Bund states that the battle of Camp Hill was remarkable from the fact that an armed mob—they were nothing more—twice repulsed assaults of the best troops in the Royalist army, who attacked them in overwhelming numbers. That less than 300 men should keep some 1,800 at bay, even for a short time, was an act that deserved to be recorded; that they, an untrained mob, should have checked the dreaded Royalist cavalry, was a still greater achievement. The Parliamentarians were delighted, and they had reason to be. Captain Greaves, probably a local man, a member of the family that lived at King's Norton, who commanded the Parliament troops, might well be proud of his men's achievement. Bund also states that nothing that had taken place in the war produced more controversy than the way in which Rupert treated Birmingham, and that it was certainly harsh, but by the laws of war as understood on the Continent, in the school in which Rupert had been brought up, there was nothing illegal or improper in it. If the owners of a house allowed firing from that house on the soldiers of the other side, the soldiers fired on were justified in destroying that house. Burning has always been one of the recognised means of destruction. Bund says that if Birmingham had been a Continental town nothing would ever have been heard of it; but because the Continental laws of war were applied to an English town the outcry was terrible. Trevor Royal writing in 2004 draws the same conclusions as Bund, and says "By laying waste to the town and setting fire to many of its houses, Rupert's force provided parliament with a propaganda coup ... Charles rebuked Rupert for his men's behaviour — the prince had in fact done his best to curb his men ... but the damage was done: Birmingham had paid the price for supporting parliament and being seen to profit from it". ==Contemporary reports==

Clarendon's account in his History of the Civil War, written during and after the Civil War and published after the Restoration, show that there were strong feeling on the affair. Clarendon says that Rupert Clarendon then justifies the death of the clergyman: Clarendon adds that if it had not been for the death of the Earl of Denbigh he should not "have mentioned an action of so little moment as this of Birmingham". He deplores it, because The death of the Earl of Denbigh had a greater significance than many other earls because the Earl's son and successor (Basil Fielding) was a strong Parliamentarian, and the death of the Earl meant the transfer of the family influence, which was considerable, from the King to the Parliament The organs of the Parliament extolled the Birmingham bravery and the Royalist cruelty—their wanton cruelty—in burning houses. The Royalist organs rejoiced at the just judgment which had befallen the disloyal town, and the punishment it had pleased the Lord to inflict on the inhabitants for their rebellious views. Three accounts of the fight were published. The second, date 14 April 1643, is a Royalist pamphlet: It defends Rupert from the load of abuse showered on him for the excesses his men showed during and after the battle. John Bund stated that the titles of these tracts show clearly what the grievances of the Parliament were against Rupert. His defeat of the men of Birmingham was resented, but still more so was his application of the rules of war to unfortified towns. For long after the Parliamentarians never ceased to speak in the strongest terms of the Birmingham Butcheries. ==Notes==