Battle of Newburn 1640

 Battle of Newburn - Wikipedia

Somerset Trained Bands Newburn 1640

Somerset was ordered to send 2000 men overland to Newcastle upon Tyne for the Second Bishops' War of 1640. However, substitution was rife and many of those sent on this unpopular service would have been untrained replacements and conscripts. Like many other contingents, the Somerset men were disorderly, complaining about pay, food and conditions. As his regiment passed through Warwickshire, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Lunsford and his officers admitted that they had killed some of their men in self-defence. Sir John Beaumont's regiment, conscripted in Somerset, Bristol, and Wiltshire, marauded through Derbyshire, attacking the property of unpopular landowners, and were accused of being 'West Country clownes'.^[18]

The Somerset Trained Bands played a significant role in the Battle of Newburn in 1640. During this battle, approximately 800 Somerset musketeers under Colonel Thomas Lunsford manned two makeshift sconces defending the southern bank and ford crossing against a superior Scottish army. The Somerset contingent was part of the main English force of around 15,000, which took position along the River Tyne to block the Scots' advance. The battle was a significant engagement in the Second Bishops' War, and the Somerset Trained Bands contributed to the overall defense of England against the invading Scottish Covenanters.