Second Civil War

Following the escape of the King from Hampton Court on the 11th November 1647, the conflict between the Royalists and the Roundheads broke out again.

Only this time several former Parliamentary supporters switched sides. In February 1648 Colonel John Poyer, the military governor of Pembroke, refused to obey Parliament's order to disband his troops until their arrears are paid. As a result the House of Commons passed an ordinance declaring Colonel Poyer and his troops at Pembroke to be traitors unless they submitted. Shortly after the Colonel declared for the King.

He was joined by two senior army officers in South Wales - Major General Rowland Laugharne and Colonel Rice Powell.

In May, Laugharne and 8,000 troops were defeated by a Parliamentarian army at St Fagans leaving the now pro Royalist commander and the remains of his army to escape back to Pembroke.

With the rebellion against Parliament spreading throughout Wales Cromwell himself was sent to the country with five regiments.

He occupied the town of Chepstow on 11th May, but Sir Nicholas Kemoys resolutely held the castle for the King. Leaving Colonel Ewer to conduct the siege, Cromwell marched on to join Colonel Horton at Tenby where he arrived on 15th May.

Tenby Castle was held by another discontented former Parliamentarian, Colonel Powell with 500 troops. Cromwell left Horton to besiege Tenby while he took his main force to the stronghold of Pembroke.

On 25 th May Colonel Ewer took Chepstow Castle by storm and Sir Nicholas Kemoys was killed in fierce fighting. Six days later Tenby surrendered to Colonel Horton and Powell was taken prisoner. At Pembroke, however, Cromwell became bogged down in a long siege.

The great medieval fortress was surrounded on three sides by water. Its landward side was defended by a deep ditch and its walls were up to 20 feet thick. An attempt to assault the edifice failed because the Parliamentarian siege ladders were too short to scale its immense walls.

Even when the great siege guns finally arrived in mid-June they had little effect on the castle walls and the siege dragged on for another month.

The defenders were running short of food when Cromwell was informed of a way to cut off the castle's water supply by cutting a conduit pipe. Poyer and Laugharne finally surrendered on 11 July.

Cromwell ordered the barbican and the fronts of all the towers to be blown up to prevent the castle ever again being used for military purposes.

The renegades Laugharne, Poyer and Powell were sent to London and condemned to be shot. It was decreed that the sentence would be carried out on only one of them, to be decided by drawing lots. Colonel Poyer drew the short straw.

After the fall of Pembroke there were few conflicts in the County.