1. The Battle of Freedom Fields

2. Learning Objectives: Learning Outcomes:
Knowledge:
To take control of the Royalist Army and decide on a battle plan to take control of Plymouth
Skills:
Team work
Oral Presentation
You will know the strengths and weaknesses of attacking Plymouth from different directions.
Use your knowledge to write a battle plan for taking control of Plymouth.
Present your battle plan clearly to the class

3. The Story
It is December 1643, and the Civil War is being fought throughout England. The town of Plymouth, immensely important because of its port and naval base, is staunchly supporting the Parliamentarians. It is of vital importance to the King that he gains control of Plymouth and so he has sent Prince Maurice and a Royalist army to capture the town.

4. The Story continued
But the people of Plymouth have defended their town successfully, ringing it with defences, which the Royalists have been unable to breach. The Royalists have surrounded the town and are trying to starve the people of Plymouth into submission: The Siege of Plymouth.

5. Your mission
You are a soldier in Prince Maurice’s army, and he has trusted you with the difficult task of finding out the best way to successfully attack the town; the Royalist army is becoming restless and Prince Maurice has promised them that they will spend Christmas Day in Plymouth.

6. MAPWORK
The first thing that you need to do is familiarise yourself with the area, and therefore you need to have a map of the town, its surrounding villages, and (most importantly) its defences.
ON YOUR MAP:
1. The Parliamentarian defences are marked as triangles on your outline map – colour these in RED.
2. Your Royalist positions are marked as circles – colour these YELLOW.
3. Next you need to find out details of the local villages. Referring to the detailed map, transfer the names onto your map, using the Seventeen Century spellings.

7. THE BATTLE OF ‘FREEDOM FIELDS’
Colour triangles red = PARLIAMENT
Plymouth

8. Important information about the area.
The Royalists control the countryside around Plymouth, and Cornwall supports the King, but the Navy and therefore control of the sea is in the hands of Parliament.
Defences are strongest to the North of the town – you would lose many men if you attacked here, but Plymouth could then be easily be taken.
Although the eastern and western approaches to Plymouth are not so well defended, there are many tidal creeks in these areas which it would be difficult to transport an army, horses and weapons across.
PUT THIS INFORMATION ON YOUR MAP

9. THE BATTLE OF ‘FREEDOM FIELDS’
Colour triangles red = PARLIAMENT
Royalists control the countryside
Dangerous tidal creeks but not well defended
Dangerous tidal creeks but not well defended
Plymouth
Royalists control Cornwall
Parliament controls the sea.

10. Advantages
Disadvantages
Continue to blockade the town
Storm the forts to the north of the town
Attack from the East
Attack from the West
Attack from the Sea
Another solution

11. Decision Time
Now complete your table to show the advantanges and disadvantages of each of the battle plans.
When you have completed this you can decide on the best possible plan.
You might also like to label your map to show how the battle plan will progress.
GOOD LUCK!