Battle of Reading (1688)

On Wednesday 5 November 1688,[lower-alpha 1] William III, then the Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, and Overijssel provinces of the Dutch Republic, landed in Devon at the head of a Dutch army in an attempt to wrest control of the country.[1] Five weeks later, on 7 December, the Prince of Orange and a strong body of troops had reached Hungerford. While there, English supporters came into the town, including several hundred cavalry headed by northern lords.

After retreating from Salisbury, King James II's main force was stationed on Hounslow Heath. On Saturday 8 December, James sent Lord Halifax, Lord Nottingham, and Lord Godolphin to confer with William. Halifax presented James' proposals: that the points of dispute would be laid before Parliament; and that while Parliament deliberated, William's army would not come nearer than 30 miles from London. Halifax then handed a letter from James to William. William asked his English advisers to discuss the proposals. They met under the chairmanship of Lord Oxford and, after a long debate, advised rejection. William decided to negotiate and put counter proposals in writing for Halifax to deliver to James.[2]

James had posted an advance guard of 600 Irish Catholics under Patrick Sarsfield in Reading to stop the march of the Dutch towards London. As wild rumours – known as the Irish Fright – asserted they were planning to massacre the townsfolk,[1] the inhabitants asked William for help. On Sunday 9 December, a relief force of 280 Dutch troops was sent. Warned of the Jacobite positions, they attacked from an unexpected direction, and got into the centre of Reading, where Broad Street gives rise to one of the alternate names for this encounter.[1][3] They were supported by Reading men shooting from windows. The Dutch soon forced the Irish troops to retreat in confusion leaving twelve to fifty dead, depending on the account. There were few Dutch deaths, one being a Catholic officer.[1] Many of the dead were buried in the churchyard of St Giles' Church.[4]

The battle is described in detail by Daniel Defoe in his A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain. Defoe, who had supported, and possibly fought for, the Duke of Monmouth in his earlier rebellion against James II was welcoming of the Dutch invasion. He describes how a squadron of "Irish dragoons" was routed by the "irresistible fury" of a Dutch force who chased many of the fleeing soldiers to nearby Twyford.[5]

James was already convinced that only Irish troops could be relied on to defend him, but this defeat by an inferior force and the willingness of the people of Reading to support a Dutch invasion further signalled the insecurity of his position. Thus on Tuesday 11 December James fled London in an abortive attempt to escape. He eventually escaped to France, where he found the support of Louis XIV, and then Ireland, where most of the population supported him. His last hopes of regaining the throne were dashed with his defeat in the Williamite War in Ireland.

In light of proposals he had received from James while in Hungerford, William had decided not to immediately proceed to London, but to accept an invitation from the University of Oxford and on 11 December, William set off for Abingdon. On hearing of James's flight, he turned and headed down the Thames valley through Wallingford and Henley, accepting the submission of the Jacobite troops he met on the way,[2] arriving at Windsor on 14 December 1688.[6]

• Childs, W.M. (2003) [1905], "The Story of the Town of Reading", in Ford, David Nash (ed.), The Battle of Broad Street, Nash Ford Publishing, retrieved 3 August 2010
• Ford, David Nash (2001), "Reading", History of Reading in the Royal County of Berkshire, Nash Ford Publishing
• Information Services, "William of Orange's Itinerary", William of Orange's Itinerary, University of Nottingham, retrieved 3 August 2010
• Pihlens, Hugh. "William of Orange at the Bear". Hungerford Historical Association. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Thorne, James (1847). Rambles by rivers: The Thames. 1, 2. C. Cox.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Collier, John Payne; Percy Society (1840). "The Reading Skirmish". Early English poetry, ballads, and popular literature of the Middle ages. 1. The Percy Society.