Battle of Muster Green

Battle of Muster Green[1]
Part of the First English Civil War
Muster Green (the site of the battle) in 2007
Date First week of December 1642[2] Location Muster Green, Haywards Heath, West Sussex 50°59′59″N 0°06′33″W / 50.9998°N 0.1092°W / 50.9998; -0.1092 Result Parliamentarian victory Royalist army routed Lewes spared from a Royalist assault Royalist advance through Sussex driven back
Belligerents
Royalists	Parliamentarians
Commanders and leaders
Edward Ford Earl of Thanet	Herbert Morley
Strength
~ 1,000 foot 100 dragoons[3]	~ 250 foot and horse[4]
Casualties and losses
200 killed, wounded, or captured	Unknown[a]

Muster Green

Chichester

Lewes

Cuckfield

Wiston House

class=notpageimage|

Battle site (in yellow) in relation to Chichester, Wiston House, Cuckfield, and Lewes, within Sussex

The Battle of Muster Green (also known as the Battle of Haywards Heath) was a minor battle of major significance that took place during the first week of December 1642 on and around the then much larger Muster Green in Haywards Heath during the first year of the First English Civil War. A Royalist army under Colonel Edward Ford, High Sheriff of Sussex, marching from Chichester to seize Lewes for the King encountered a smaller but more disciplined Parliamentarian army under Colonel Herbert Morley waiting for them on Muster Green.

After Royalist musketeers fired "some" volleys, Morley's cavalry broke through the Royalist's advanced guard and, with the Parliamentarian infantry charging simultaneously, fought hand-to-hand; at least an hour of fighting ensued in which 200 Royalists were killed, wounded, or captured, resulting in the surviving Royalist forces' routing and the Parliamentarians emerging victorious, saving Lewes from a Royalist assault, and pushing back Ford's 1642 Royalist invasion of Sussex. The battle site of the Battle of Muster Green became and remained the furthest any large Royalist force advanced through Sussex during the English Civil Wars.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).