Chewton Mendip 1643

 My local ECW battle. Wiki says

On 12 June 1643 the village was the site of a skirmish in the English Civil War, between Royalist forces led by Robert Dormer, 1st Earl of Carnarvon and the parliamentary forces under William Waller including the cavalry unit of Sir Arthur Haselrig known as Haselrig's lobsters.^[6]

Battlefield Trust posted this

SKIRMISH AT CHEWTON MENDIP

12 June 1643

Following their victory at Stratton on 16 May, Sir Ralph Hopton's Cornish Army advanced into Devon and Somerset. At Chard, on 4 June, he joined with a force sent from Oxford under Prince Maurice and the Marquess of Hertford. The royalists then set about clearing Somerset of parliamentarian troops, capturing Dunster Castle on 6 June.

With the situation in the western counties deteriorating, Sir William Waller was ordered to abandon the siege of Worcester and move southwards to assist his hard pressed colleagues. Arriving in Bath on 7 June, Waller was able to send some of his men to help the local commanders. It was this force that collided with Prince Maurice at Chewton Mendip.

The royalist army had been advancing towards Bath. First they cleared Glastonbury and then Wells of parliamentarian troops. As they were pursuing the parliamentarians from Wells, they arrived at Chewton Mendip just as other troops were coming into the village under Colonel Langrish. The Earl of Caernarvon launched an attack and routed the parliamentarians. Unfortunately, during the pursuit, Caernarvon was attacked by the troops coming from Bath and was driven back through the village in disorder. Prince Maurice then brought up some of his men in support and prepared to cover the retreat.

The battlefield was shrouded in thick fog making visibility difficult. The parliamentarians took position in a hedged field astride the road to Bath with their Dragoons in front and the cavalry behind them. As usual, Maurice launched a spirited attack which crashed through the Dragoons and through part of Waller's regiment. The fighting was fierce and Prince Maurice was unhorsed and captured.

However, once the fog lifted, that part of Waller's regiment that was not engaged charged the flank of Maurice's men. They were in turn attacked by the Earl of Caernarvon who had brought his men back onto the field. Maurice was rescued and both sides, after some bitter hand-to-hand fighting, withdrew. The royalists then advanced on Bath leading to the Battle of Lansdown on 5 July.