Battle of Bovey Heath

The battle of Bovey Heath took place on 9 January 1646 at Bovey Tracey and Bovey Heath (about 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Exeter in Devon, England) during the First English Civil War. A Parliamentarian cavalry detachment under the command of Oliver Cromwell surprised and routed the Lord Wentworth's Royalist camp.

Battle of Bovey Heath
Part of the First English Civil War
Date9 January 1646
Location
Bovey Heath, near Bovey Tracey
50°34′32″N 3°40′00″W
Result Parliamentarian victory
Belligerents
Royalists Parliamentarians
Commanders and leaders
Lord Wentworth Oliver Cromwell
Bovey Heath
Location within Devon

After a series of losses for the Royalists in the southwest of England, they had retreated to Exeter and beyond. The Parliamentarian New Model Army besieged Exeter, and when a Royalist army was raised to try to relieve the city, the Parliamentarian commander, Sir Thomas Fairfax launched a preemptive strike. He first sent Cromwell to attack the cavalry lodged at Bovey Heath, where they were able to rout the Royalists who were not prepared for an attack. Wentworth and most of his leading commanders were able to escape, but Wentworth was stripped of command of the Royalist army in the West, which passed to the Lord Hopton.

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