User:Geni/hmm

The Siege of Portsmouth was the siege of a Royalist garrison in Portsmouth by a parliamentarian force conducted in the early part of the of the English civil war. The siege resulted in Portsmouth falling to Parliament after a little under a month of conflict.

Build-up
In the lead up to the war Portsmouth was viewed as highly valuable by both Both Parliament and the King. Its fortifications were strong enough that after it was captured by parliament and properly garrisoned it was suggested by some it would take as many as 40,000 men to seize it. Its governor at the time was George Goring who managed to convince both sides of his loyalty and as a result revived funds from both the king and parliament. In 1641 Goring began to work on the work on the town's defences. By November parliament had received reports that the work was focused on the landward side and this along with other claims that brought into question his loyalty to parliament into resulted in Goring reviving a summons to parliament to explain himself. During his defence Goring was not only able to convince the house of the innocence of his actions but received it's applause and further monetary payments.

Opening skirmishes
Goring declared for the king on 2 August. Parliament managed to implement a sea blockade on 8 August under Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick. On land the parliamentary forces were able to assemble on the top of Portsdown Hill on 10 August. Goring's preparations for a siege were far from comprehensive. Not only was his work on improving the defenses incomplete but the towns stores held supplies for as little as two days. Between the 10th and 12th of August the Portsmouth garrison raided the farms of Portsea Island for food with both grain and livestock being sized and either taken within the city walls or in the case of some of the livestock being left to graze beneath the city's guns. The parliamentary forces responded by landing a force with two cannon at the South east of the Island and ferrying women, children, cattle and sheep across langstone harbour to Hayling Island. At this point Goring's forces peaked at about 500 men.

Fall of Ports bridge
The royalist defences on the bridge were attacked by 20 parliamentarians on the evening of 12 of August. The defenders numbering just eight put up little resistance. One was captured while the other seven managed to escape. The parliamentarians also managed to capture the small fort the north of the bridge.

The Siege
With the parliamentary forces now on Portsea Island a few sallies by parliamentary forces resulted in indecisive skirmishes which resulted in a handful of casualties for both sides along with a similar number of prisoners some of which were exchanged. Desertion was soon a problem for the Royalist force and by August 15 the Royalist garrison numbered just 200 of which it was thought half would desert if given a chance. By comparison the parliamentarian besiegers numbered some 740 men in total. During this phase of the conflict a number of parleys took place but aside from prisoner exchanges nothing was achieved as a result.

The conflict was not entirely limited to battles ashore. On the night of the 15 August parliamentary forces under Captain Browne Bushell captured the Henrietta Marie in a cutting out operation.

Meanwhile the parliamentary forces began to prepare a firing position in Gosport under the direction of John Meldrum. The royalist forces attempted to bombard the position but their shots had little effect. The first two cannons fired on Portsmouth from the works on 20 August. This resulted in further bombardment from Portsmouth's guns again to little effect. The cannon on the rest of the works opened fire on 2 September.

Fall of southsea Castle
By the start of September the royalist garrison of southsea castle consisted of only a dozen men. On the night of the 4 of September a parliamentary force of 400 infantry equipped with ladders and backed by cavalry set out to attack the castle. Although the force was spotted and fired on by the guns of Portsmouth were able to make to the seaward side of the castle. At the same time a small party approached the main gate called on the castle to surrender. Captain Challoner was at the time somewhat inebriated and asked them to come back in the morning. Somewhere around this time the guns of Portsmouth once more opened fire on the assaulting force and the Parliamentarians responded by scaling the walls and capturing the castle without further opposition. A significant Parliamentarian garrison was then installed in the castle to keep it from being recaptured.

Surrender
With the fall of Southsea Castle the Royalists suffered further desertions with their forces falling to just 50-60 men many of whom lacked training. Negotiations over surrender started at 10 O'Clock on the morning of 4 September. A final agreement was reached by 7 O'Clock in the evening. Under the terms of the agreement the garrison was granted safe passage and all prisoners were released with the exception of parliamentary deserters. Goring chose to go via sea to Holland. The royalists were in part able to obtain such favourable terms due to the threat of detonating Portsmouth's gunpowder reserves including 1200 barrels stored in the Square Tower.