Civil War Siege, Assault and Massacre
During the Civil War Hopton Castle was one of the few castles to be held for the Parliament in the west. Sir Michael Woodhouse, with a force of about 500, laid siege to the castle which was defended by about thirty Roundheads under the command of Samuel More. More eventually agreed terms and surrendered.
There are varying versions of what happened next. According to More's account all those who surrendered, apart from himself, were killed and buried. Other accounts vary on how the siege ended. They state that after a three week siege, More delayed surrendering until the bailey had been taken and the entrance to the keep was on fire, at which point he surrendered at the discretion of Sir Michael Woodhouse, who under the laws of war as they were practised at that time, choose not to accept the surrender and ordered the killings.
The castle was still habitable in 1700 but fell into disrepair soon afterwards. Substantial remnants of the much altered keep remain.
Read more about this topic: Hopton Castle (structure)
Famous quotes containing the words civil war, civil, war, assault and/or massacre:
“We have heard all of our lives how, after the Civil War was over, the South went back to straighten itself out and make a living again. It was for many years a voiceless part of the government. The balance of power moved away from it—to the north and the east. The problems of the north and the east became the big problem of the country and nobody paid much attention to the economic unbalance the South had left as its only choice.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“To the cry of “follow Mormons and prairie dogs and find good land,” Civil War veterans flocked into Nebraska, joining a vast stampede of unemployed workers, tenant farmers, and European immigrants.”
—For the State of Nebraska, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Hate-hardened heart, O heart of iron,
iron is iron till it is rust.
There never was a war that was
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fight till I have conquered in myself what
causes war, but I would not believe it.”
—Marianne Moore (1887–1972)
“The treatment of the incident of the assault upon the sailors of the Baltimore is so conciliatory and friendly that I am of the opinion that there is a good prospect that the differences growing out of that serious affair can now be adjusted upon terms satisfactory to this Government by the usual methods and without special powers from Congress.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)
“The bourgeoisie of the whole world, which looks complacently upon the wholesale massacre after the battle, is convulsed by horror at the desecration of brick and mortar.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)