Softback. Brown cover with red title and figures on ramparts image.

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At the height of the English Civil War, having failed in his siege of Lathom House, Roundhead Colonel Alexander Rigby marched his forces into Bolton early on the morning of Tuesday 28 May 1644, narrowly beating the advance guard of Prince Rupert’s forces to the town. Colonel Tillier, commander of the advance guard, summoned up the Prince’s full army, and Bolton swiftly became the scene of one of the bloodiest massacres of the conflict. Massacre: The Storming of Bolton chronicles, in rich detail, the events leading up to the storming of Bolton and the catastrophic consequences for a number of its combatants. Setting the scene, author David Casserly describes the beginning of the Civil War and the struggle for dominance and support within the Lancashire hundreds, before recording the derivative effects of the Bolton Massacre on the remainder of the conflict. James Stanley, Earl of Derby, as the leading royalist in the county, swiftly becomes the main protagonist and Casserly expertly highlights how his incompetence and military ineptitude contributed to the ultimate fall of Lancashire to the Parliamentarian forces. The loyalty, tactics and decisions of Royalist and Roundhead alike are soundly challenged by Casserly, with the ultimate price paid by a number of men recorded with fitting dignity or disdain, depending on the circumstance. Massacre: The Storming of Bolton is a comprehensive account of the part Lancashire and its main protagonists played in a period that tore England apart.

Author: David Casserly was born and brought up in Bolton where he still lives. His first book “Massacre, The Storming of Bolton” published in 2011, came after a lifelong fascination with the subject and in learning the facts behind the story. He is a guest speaker for Blackpool and Fylde College on their history degree programme and works for Lancashire Museum Service as an Arms and Armour specialist on events. He is a qualified instructor under the British Federation of Historical Swordplay, a member of Acadamie Gloriana, an English Martial Arts Group, and is a Fellow of the Anglo-Zulu War Historical Society.

Lancashire and Bolton

The Storming of Bolton, sometimes referred to as the “Bolton massacre”, was an event in the First English Civil War which happened on 28 May 1644. The strongly Parliamentarian town was stormed and captured by Royalist forces under Prince Rupert. It was alleged that up to 1,600 of Bolton’s defenders and inhabitants were slaughtered during and after the fighting. The “massacre at Bolton” became a staple of Parliamentarian propaganda.