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Battle Of SedgemoorThe Battle of Sedgemoor was fought on 6 July 1685. and took place near Bridgwater in Somerset between the troops of the rebel James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and James II of England in an attempt to seize the English throne, the "Monmouth Rebellion". James II had succeeded to the throne on the death of his brother Charles II on 2 February 1685; James Scott was Charles' illegitimate son. After landing from the Netherlands at Lyme Regis in Dorset, the Duke eventually led his untrained and ill-equipped troops on a night-time attack on the King's position on the site of Bussex Farm outside the village of Westonzoyland. Unfortunately the element of surprise was lost when a musket was accidentally discharged, and the Battle of Sedgemoor resulted in defeat for the Duke by the Royal army under John Churchill (later Duke of Marlborough) and the Earl of Feversham. Monmouth escaped the battlefield, but was captured near Ringwood Hampshire. He was taken to the Tower of London in London where he was, after several blows of the axe, finally beheaded. The king sent the infamous Judge Jeffreys to round up the Duke's supporters throughout the south west and try them in the Bloody Assizes. About 1,300 people were found guilty, many being transported abroad, while some were executed by drawing and quartering. James II was overthrown in a coup d'tat three years later, in the Glorious Revolution. The battle of Sedgemoor is often referred to as the last battle fought on English soil, but this is incorrect: the Battle of Preston in Lancashire was fought on 14 November 1715, during the First Jacobite Rebellion, and the Second Jacobite Rebellion saw a minor engagement at Clifton Moor near Penrith in Cumbria on 18 December 1745. Sedgemoor
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