1643 1644 1645 1646 The Second Siege of Bristol of the First English Civil War lasted from 23 August 1645 until 10 September 1645, when the Royalist commander Prince Rupert surrendered the city that he had captured from the Parliamentarians on 26 July 1643.

[2] After reducing Bridgwater, Fairfax and the New Model Army turned back to clear away the Dorsetshire Clubmen and besiege Sherborne Castle.

[2] Despite these efforts, Bristol was in an extremely precarious position, with plague rife and concerns that the citizens may mutiny against the Royalists.

[4][2] Military issues also abounded: there had been no time to clear the surrounding countryside of cover,[4] the outer walls were extremely hard to defend — being over 4 miles in length and less than 5 ft high in places — and men were deserting daily.

[2] On 22 August the first units of the New Model Army arrived [2] under harassment by Royalist patrols (one of which managed to capture John Okey).

[5] Fairfax was careful to ensure that his army paid in ready cash for all goods consumed, and this, along with a growing antagonism towards the Royalists led to approximately 2000 of the local clubmen joining the camp.

Fairfax attempted to draw attention to the faction opposing Rupert within Charles’ court (led by George Digby).

[3] King Charles, was stunned by the suddenness of the catastrophic loss of Bristol, and dismissed Rupert from all his offices and ordered him to leave England.

Others argue that he believed Rupert was to stage a coup, a belief stoked by his enemies at court — namely, Digby — who even went as far as to suggest he had been bribed to surrender.

[4] The fall of Bristol meant that Chester was the only important seaport remaining to connect the English Royalists with Ireland.

The resources to continue the fight collapsed in the south of England but the king managed to hold onto some fortified town for another 9 months before surrendering to the Scots.

[citation needed] Upon hearing of the surrender, the House of Commons voted to reinstate Nathaniel Fiennes to his seat.

[5] Oliver Cromwell once again (as after Naseby) wrote to the Commons arguing in support of the Independent faction on the grounds that his men had fought and died for the cause of religious liberty.