Waller, Sir William (1597–1668) English
Parliamentary commander
The son and one of three children of Sir Thomas Waller,
lieutenant of Dover Castle, William Waller was born at
Knole House, Groombridge, in Kent, England, on 3
December 1597 (some sources report the date as 1598).
He received his education at Magdalen Hall, Oxford
University, after which he traveled to the European
continent and entered military service in the Venetian
army. He saw action against the Austrians during the
campaigns of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48) and was
a member of Sir Horace Vere’s 1620 expedition to res-
cue Elizabeth of Bohemia from being captured. During
this latter mission, he became close friends with another
English military officer, Sir Ralph hoPton, who, like
Waller, would play a key role in the English Civil War.
In 1622, King James I of England knighted Waller for
his services.
Following his knighthood, the events of Waller’s life
are obscure until 1640, when he was elected as a member
of Parliament for Andover. He served in what was called
the Long Parliament, which had been called by Charles I
following his defeat in the Second Bishops’ War (1639–
40) and remained in session from 1640 until 1660. It was
during this Parliament that numerous grievances against
Charles I—long-standing criticisms and objections to
royal rule—came to a head amongst the Parliamentar-
ians. Waller became one of Parliament’s leaders against
Charles, and the break between the king and his subjects
led to civil war in 1642. Waller was named as a colonel
in the Parliamentary army when war broke out, and one
of his first moves was to march against the city of Ports-
mouth, capturing it in September 1642. He went on to
take Farnham, Winchester, and other towns, earning him
the nickname “William the Conqueror.”
Perhaps the most critical of the engagements Waller
fought in the last months of 1642 was at Edgehill (23
October), the first major battle of the conflict. Along
with Robert Devereux, the third earl of essex, Waller
commanded a force of some 14,000 infantry and cav-
alry against the Royalist forces directly commanded by
Charles I at Edgehill, northwest of the town of Banbury.
Charles’s troops initially successfully broke the Parlia-
mentary army’s lines but became trapped in trying to
pursue them, and both forces were forced to retire, al-
though historians give a “victory” to Charles because the
army of Waller and Essex withdrew. Nonetheless, the
battle showed Charles that Parliament’s troops were a
force to be reckoned with, and that it would be a long
war.
Parliament’s army was split into different divisions,
with one commanded by Waller. This division marched
toward the Welsh border, capturing the vital port of Bris-
tol in early 1643 and forcing the Welsh Royalists under
Lord Herbert to surrender when they were surrounded.
Waller captured the towns of Monmouth and Chepstow
but encountered Prince Maurice, the Royalist com-
mander, at Ripple Field (April 1643), where his forces
suffered a serious defeat and had to withdraw. Waller
again marched on various cities, but he was dogged by
his former comrade, Sir Ralph Hopton, fighting for the
Royalists. In a series of battles, Waller and Hopton met
head-on, culminating in the battles at Lansdown (5
July 1643), near Bath, and Roundway Down (13 July
1643), where Hopton defeated Waller’s forces; Waller
later wrote that the latter battle was his most “dismal de-
feat.” Despite the antagonism between the two, Waller
still considered Hopton his friend and sent him letters
detailing his own personal grief over the conflict divid-
ing them. “That great God,” Waller wrote in one mis-
sive, “who is the searcher of my heart knows with what a
sad sense I go upon this service, and with what a perfect
hatred I detest this war without an enemy; but I look
upon it as sent from God... in his good time send us
the blessing of peace[,] and in the meantime assist us to
receive it! We are both upon the stage and must act such
parts as are assigned us in this tragedy, let us do it in a
way of honour and without personal animosities.”
In October 1643, despite his losses, Waller was
named as commander of Parliament’s Southern Associa-
tion. At Alton (13 December 1643), he surprised a Roy-
alist force of 900 with an army of 3,000. The Royalist
commander, only identified as a Colonel Bolle, realized
he was surrounded and withdrew to a church, barricad-
ing his refuge with dead horses. The Roundhead infan-
try forces under Waller pulled down the church walls
with their pikes and hacked to death some 500 Roy-
alists inside, taking around 400 others prisoner. When
Charles got word that Bolle had been killed, he is said
to have stated, “I have lost one of the best command-
ers in this kingdom.” Waller lost only 100 men in the
slaughter. He laid siege to Basing House near Basing-
stoke but abandoned this when Hopton moved through
Hampshire toward London. Waller then took the town
and castle of Arundel (January 1644) and met Hopton
at Cheriton (29 March 1644), near Arlesford in Hamp-wAlleR, SiR williAm