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Battle of South Harting
Part of the First English Civil War
South Harting viewed from the south in 1782
Date Night of 23–24 November 1643 Location South Harting, West Sussex50°58′11″N 0°52′57″W / 50.9697°N 0.8824°W / 50.9697; -0.8824 Result Royalist victory
Belligerents
Royalists	Parliamentarians
Commanders and leaders
6 Unnamed officers	Colonel Richard Norton
Units involved
Detachment of the Earl of Crawford's Regiment of Horse	Colonel Richard Norton's Regiment of Horse
Strength
~ 120	~ 400
Casualties and losses
~ 6 killed 5–6 wounded	~ 6 killed "very many" wounded 2 captured

The Battle of South Harting was a skirmish that took place on 23 November 1643 in the village of South Harting, in West Sussex, during the First English Civil War between a Royalist detachment of the Earl of Crawford's Regiment of Horse who had quartered for the night in the village, and a Parliamentarian force consisting of Colonel Richard Norton and his own Regiment of Horse, who later that night came upon Crawford's men in the village by chance.

It is notable for the nature in which the Parliamentarians were defeated; that being some 400 Parliamentarian dragoons routed by a clever act of deception carried out by just 6 mounted officers together with a boy, and helped to boost morale in Royalist circles at the time.

Background

During the invasion of Sussex during Lord Ralph Hopton's Southern Campaign of 1643–1644, South Harting was a strategic location for the Royalists being at the foot of a crossing over the northern side of the South Downs which acted as the first line of communication between Royalist-controlled Oxford and Winchester, and Arundel — which Lord Hopton intended to take for the King. It was through South Harting from Petersfield, and then up the South Downs and past Sir William Ford's (Father of Sir Edward Ford) house and large estate at Uppark, and then back down the southern side of the South Downs through North Marden, that Lord Hopton's horse advanced towards Arundel via. His foot took a different route bypassing the South Downs via East Meon to attack Lord Lumley's house at Stansted, just outside of Chichester.

It was in the midst of a storm during the middle of the night of 23–24 November 1643 that 120 Royalist cavalry of the Earl of Crawford's Regiment of Horse entered the village of South Harting whilst headed in the direction of Arundel, having been detached from Basing House or Alton by Lord Hopton's chief cavalry officer Ludovic Lindsay, 16th Earl of Crawford, to reinforce Lord Hopton's invasion of Sussex. Due to their tiredness and hunger after having marched so far, combined with the fact it was now dark, cold, and raining, the Royalists decided to take up overnight quarter in the numerous houses in the village, with the six highest-ranking officers and a boy taking quarter in Harting Place (the house of Sir John Caryll, a local ardent Royalist) near the Parish Church of Saint Mary and Saint Gabriel.

Skirmish

Less than an hour after the Royalists had quartered in South Harting and settled down to sleep for the night, Colonel Richard Norton and all 6 troops of his regiment totalling some 400 Parliamentarian dragoons, approached the parish while unaware of the Royalists who were quartered in the various houses there. During Hopton's advance through Sussex, Colonel Norton's Regiment of Horse was employed as a fast and agile force used to harass Hopton's horse as they advanced on Arundel. Once in the village, the Parliamentarians soon became aware of the Royalist presence. Once realising his situation and the defencelessness of the sleeping Royalists, Colonel Norton immediately took advantage of the opportunity that had presented itself to him and his men to safely show proof of his, and his regiment's, valour. Colonel Norton had his men rank themselves into groups of ten where they were to then set about covering every doorway of every house in the village so that in theory no Royalist could escape. Norton then had his men shout "Horse! Horse!" in the street, and with the Royalists mistaking the calls as coming from their own officers, while simultaneously not knowing of the presence of Norton's regiment in the village, some ran out of the doorways of their houses only to be shot at or killed once presenting themselves within sight of Norton's dismounted dragoons. Most of the Royalists, realising what was happening and knowing that they could not get themselves or their horses onto the street without being shot at, fled through back alleys on foot to save themselves, thus leaving the Parliamentarians in control of the village. The Parliamentarians then went about the village shooting into all the houses and at all people.

The six officers and the boy who were sleeping in Harting Place were alerted by the gunfire and commotion outside and quickly realised that the village and their men had been surprised by the Parliamentarians. The six officers left the house with the boy and mounted their horses. Rushing along Tipper Lane, they cleverly positioned themselves between the South Downs and their enemy. The six officers and the boy charged towards Norton's 400 dragoons in a seemingly suicidal act, shouting the signal "Follow! Follow! Follow!" as if they were leading a much larger force. During the darkness of the night, gave the Parliamentarians the impression that more of Lord Hopton's horse, while on their way to Arundel, hearing the gunfire in the village, had been signalled back and were charging down the South Downs in an avalanche of overwhelming numbers which was soon to be on top of them. This ingenious act of deception was executed with such "fury and undaunted courage" that it struck complete panic amongst the Parliamentarians, so much so that they were routed and driven back through the village in disorder with some half a dozen being shot dead by the six officers in the process. Either realising what was happening or perhaps also falling for the deception as the Parliamentarians had, small groups of two to three Royalist soldiers who were still present in the village left their hiding places and came out to where the Parliamentarians were fleeing in disorder, attacking them as they went past. This chase of the Parliamentarians continued until the six officers, the boy, and the other Royalist soldiers who had come out of hiding, had forced them to flee over both hedge and ditch, killing as many of them as they had done of the Royalists; that being some half a dozen men, according to the Royalist chronicler reporting on the engagement in the Royalist propaganda newspaper Mercurius Aulicus, although the recorded number killed was possibly exaggerated at the time for reasons of morale and politics.

Aftermath

Immediate aftermath

2 of Norton's men were taken prisoner including the Trumpeter and "very many" were wounded. The Royalists suffered 5 or 6 wounded with the Earl of Crawford's own Cornet being described as more so than the rest but not dangerously so. The Royalists captured numerous of Norton's horses, all their arms they had left behind, and Captain Thomas Betsworth's suit of arms among other things. When the Parliamentarians had been informed of the lamentable nature of their defeat at South Harting — some 400 horse and dragoons being routed by six officers and a boy — one of Norton's men solemnly swore the following:

By God we deserve all to be chronicled for the veryest cowards that ever lived!

This incident naturally caused both amusement and delight amongst Royalist circles thus boosting morale, and dented the reputation of Colonel Richard Norton and his regiment at the time.

The South Harting parish register which would have been stored in the Parish Church of Saint Mary and Saint Gabriel records that on the following day: "There were three souldiers buryed Novemb 24 1643". Knowing the loyalty of the parish to the Royalist cause, it's possible that these "three souldiers" were Crawford's men who had been killed the previous night, although their specific allegiance is not stated.

Mercurius Aulicus

An eyewitness report of the skirmish was chronicled and published in the Royalist propagandist newsbook 'Mercurius Aulicus, Communicating the Intelligence and affaires of the Court, to the rest of the Kingdome', of Oxford, for the week of 10–16 December 1643:

This day I was certainly informed by an eyewitness of credit of one of the noblest pieces of cowardice that ever attended a bad cause and conscience. It happened on Thursday, the 23rd of November last, that in the dead of night about six score of the Earle of Craford's Regiment came into a village in Sussex called South Harting (a place sufficiently knowne by reason it is the constant seat of the noble Knight and brave housekeeper, Sir John Carell): They entered the village very farre spent with travell, want of sleepe and food, and extremely weather beaten with a rainie stormy night. These their sufferings and indispositions caused them presently to quarter themselves in the severall houses of the towne; onely six of the chiefe officers and one boy lay in the knight's house. Within lesse then an houre after (when all of them were now taking their rest) the famous Colonell Norton of Hampshire enters the village, not knowing (til he was in the towne) that any of the King's souldiers were there, but having notice thereof, and of the assurance (by taking them utterly unprovided for defence) that he might safely show a brave proofe of his valour, he caused his men to rank themselves ten and ten, and so to make good every door and house of the Towne that none might escape ; which being done the rebels cry "Horse, Horse!" in the street, which the King's souldiers mistaking to be the call of their owne commanders offered in diverse places to come forth, but were presently shot or killed, so that seeing no possibility of bringing forth themselves or their horses into the streete, almost all of them fled by backways on foote to save themselves, leaving the Rebells outragiously domineering in the Towne, shooting into all houses, and at all persons, and barbarously using such of the King's men as their valour enabled to make any opposition.

In this hurly-burly word was given to the sixe Officers in the Knight's house how the Towne and their souldiers were surprized by the Rebells. These six men with one boy presently tooke horse, rushing out by a back lane upon the 400 Rebels (for so have some of their owne company since protested to have been their number) and crying out, "Follow, Follow, Follow!" (as if they had already chased them), charged in upon them with so much fury and undaunted courage, that they routed them and presently drove them (killing and wounding them) quite through the towne, forcing them over hedge and ditch, killing as many as the Rebells had done of theirs (that is, some half-a-dozen), taking two Prisoners (one of which being the Trumpeter), wounding very many ; having but five or six of theirs and but one of these much wounded (the Earle of Craford's own Cornet), but not dangerously, and brought off all their own Armes and divers of the Rebells' Horse, with all Captaine Betsworth's sute of Armes, &c."

The Rebells having since been faithfully acquainted with the truth of their beating, and how that their 400 Horse and Dragooners were so lamentably beaten and chased away by only 6 men and a boy (but when they were in their chase and flight here and there 2 or 3 soldiers stept out of their places where they lay hid and lent some blows to their fellows), one of the Rebells swore solemnely in these true and remarkable words — " By heaven, we deserve all to be chronicled for the veryest cowards that ever lived !""

This account of the events — the only known written account describing in detail the events of this skirmish to survive to the present day — describes the Parliamentarian forces, referred to as rebels, as being cowardly and barbarous, parallel to the Royalists who are described as being valiant and courageous, and therefore has evidently been retold in a way which glorifies the Royalist cause, their men, and their abilities, and vilifies the Parliamentarians'. The Mercurius Aulicus is known to have been employed as a form of Royalist propaganda and so in combination with the language used in its account, it must be assumed that some parts are likely exaggerated for the sake of boosting the morale amongst its readers, and discrediting Parliament and Colonel Richard Norton and his regiment.

Second engagement at South Harting

The following month after this first encounter at South Harting, a second one took place on 29 December 1643 also involving Colonel Norton and his regiment. Lord Hopton had set out from Winchester with his army in an attempt to relieve the Siege of Arundel but abandoned this attempt after being met and outnumbered by Sir William Waller's army on North Marden Down around midday after Waller had been informed that Lord Hopton was marching on Arundel. Waller had decided to intercept Lord Hopton and draw him into battle, leaving a skeleton force behind to continue the siege at Arundel, and had marched with the main bulk of his men. After only a few musket volleys were fired, Lord Hopton decided against making battle with Waller's more numerous force on the South Downs, and withdrew back up the Downs where no doubt numerous rear-guard actions were fought to allow Lord Hopton's army to fall back in good order back to Winchester. 5 skeletons of Civil War soldiers were found just south of South Harting in 2 separate events in the 19th century where there are 3 mounds just opposite the main entrance to the Uppark estate of Sir William Ford, by workmen quarrying chalk to repair the roads. These mounds likely contain the bodies of some of the dead from this encounter being buried only a few feet deep, the sharp frost of the winter of 1643 probably preventing a deeper burial pit from being dug. Upon retreating through South Harting, some of Lord Hopton's men who were ironically men of Ludovic Lindsay's Regiment of Horse were intercepted coincidentally by Colonel Richard Norton's Regiment of Horse in a surprising twist of fate. Colonel Norton had been stalking Lord Hopton's army's advance, eager to put to rest the laugh about six officers and a boy, and captured numerous soldiers of Ludvic's regiment, numerous of their horse, and arms, during this second engagement in South Harting.

Oral tradition

As late as 1877 there was a local oral tradition that there had been a fight in the Culvers field in South Harting, which was adjacent to the Church on the east side of the main road running through the village. This oral tradition could have originated from the encounter that took place there on the night of 23–24 November 1643, but it may have also been referring to the later skirmish the following month on 29 December 1643 also involving Colonel Norton and Lindsay's horse. It is possible that this second engagement took place on the Culvers field and is the origin of the oral tradition instead, although which one is the cause of it is not certain and probably never will be.

Citations

1. ^ Bacon 1878, pp. 102–104
2. ^ Gordon 1877, pp. 72–84
3. ^ Thomas-Stanford 1910, pp. 69–71
4. ^ Hall & Barber 1985, p. 228 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFHall_&_Barber1985 (help)

References

• Bacon, George (1878). Sussex Archaeological Collections Relating to the History and Antiquities of the county, Volume 18. Lewis, East Sussex: Sussex Archaeological Society.
• Gordon, Henry Doddridge (1877). The History of Harting. London: W. Davy.
• Hall, Derek; Barber, Norman (1985). Norton's Horse: The History of a Hampshire Regiment During the First Civil War 1642-1646 (PDF). Hampshire: Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society.
• Thomas-Stanford, Charles (1910). Sussex in the great Civil War and the interregnum, 1642-1660. London: Chiswick Press.

• 1643 in England
• 17th century in Sussex
• Battles of the English Civil Wars
• Conflicts in 1643
• First English Civil War
• History of West Sussex
• Military history of Sussex