Capture of Wakefield

Capture of Wakefield
Part of the First English Civil War
A Miraculous Victory obtained by the Right Honorable Ferdinando Lord Fairfax at Wakefield; pamphlet published in London on 27 May 1643
Date 21 May 1643 Location Wakefield, Yorkshire 53°40′59″N 01°29′49″W / 53.68306°N 1.49694°W / 53.68306; -1.49694 Result Parliamentarian victory
Belligerents
Royalists	Parliamentarians
Commanders and leaders
George Goring  (POW)	Sir Thomas Fairfax
Strength
c. 3,000	c. 1,500
Wakefield class=notpageimage| Wakefield within West Yorkshire

The capture of Wakefield occurred during the First English Civil War when a Parliamentarian force attacked the Royalist garrison of Wakefield, Yorkshire. The Parliamentarians were outnumbered, having around 1,500 men under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax, compared to the 3,000 led by George Goring in Wakefield. Despite being outnumbered, Parliamentarians successfully stormed the town, taking roughly 1,400 prisoners.

Around 800 Parliamentarians had been taken prisoner after being defeated at Seacroft Moor, and Fairfax plotted the capture of Wakefield to take prisoners of his own to exchange for his men. He marched his force from Leeds and split it in two to attack from different directions. After around two hours of fighting early in the morning of 21 May, 1643, Fairfax broke through into Wakefield. Goring, who had been in bed suffering from either illness or a hangover, rose and led a counterattack in his nightshirt, but to no avail and the town was captured. Fairfax gained the prisoners he needed and much ammunition. According to his own account, the Parliamentarians lost no more than seven men.