| The
Siege of Reading
The army marched to Wargrave and then split, some going to Wokingham
and some towards Sonning Common. Everyone thought that the Sonning Common
troop were off to Oxford when they suddenly changed direction and arrived
in Caversham. This meant that the main supply route for the King was
cut. The second part of the army went through Wokingham and surprised
Arthur Aston as they circled around Reading coming in from the Newbury
side of town. By Sunday 15th April the army under the Earl of Essex
was to the north and west of the town.
The governor, Arthur Aston was asked to surrender. He did not. Slowly
the Parliamentary troops came nearer to the town. By Tuesday 18th April
the town was completely surrounded, as the troops from Aylesbury under
Lord Grey arrived on the south and east of the town. By Friday they
were within pistol shot of the defences and were constantly shooting
into the town from the high ground around.
By Monday 24th April the garrison in the town was running out of both
food and ammunition. On the Tuesday the garrison thought that their
position was hopeless. Aston had been hit on the head by a piece of
tile dislodged by a cannon ball, and his second in command, Richard
Fielding had taken over. Fielding started trying to arrange a cease-fire
so that he could leave the town with his troops. He arranged a truce
with Lord Essex.
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