SIEGE AND SKIRMISH IN SUSSEX An evaluation of the military campaigns within the County of Sussex during the winter of 1643-1644 and their relevance in the historiography of the British Civil Wars.

The purpose of this work is to challenge the lack of contemporary discussion on Sussex during the British Civil Wars, and to explain why the Royalist invasion of 1643 and Arundel campaign of 1643-44 are both crucially important to any national narrative on the Civil Wars. To do that the two chapters of this dissertation will look at two different areas. The first chapter is focused upon showing the reader the nature of Sussex by 1643, its industries, infrastructure, the administrative and religious divisions that were embedded within the county, and how those divisions were highlighted through the struggle for Chichester in November-December 1642. In the second chapter the campaigns of 1643-44 will come under scrutiny. This analysis will focus on several areas. Firstly, the events of 1643 will be reviewed, from Waller’s initial successes to his defeats and the situation prior to November 1643. Secondly, it will examine the Royalist invasion and the Arundel campaign to create a timeline of events for the reader to understand how the conflict evolved. Thirdly, the chapter will look at the role and conduct of the soldiers and their commanders amidst the harsh privations of the battlefield and siege during a harsh winter. Fourthly, the Parliament’s response to the invasion will be discussed; whilst battles and sieges might be won by the generals and their soldiers, it is the resources that they’re given that can spell the difference between victory and defeat