Battle of Bossenden Wood

The Battle of Bossenden Wood (alternative spelling, Bosenden Wood) took place on May 31 1838 near Hernhill in Kent and has been called the last battle on English soil.

The battle was between a small army of labourers from the Hernhill, Dunkirk, Boughton area and a detachment of soldiers sent from Canterbury to arrest the marchers' unhinged leader, the self-styled Sir William Courtenay, who was actually John Nichols Thom, a Truro wine merchant with a history of mental illness. Eleven men died in this battle, nine of the rioters and two of those sent to apprehend them.

In early 1838, Courtenay began to preach to the labourers of the nearby area, claiming that he was the Messiah and, if they would join him, he would lead them to a land of paradise. The local peasantry responded well to these claims; as one farm labourer later explained:

"...he giv’ ‘em all the sacrament, and after that he anoints himself and all of ‘em with oil, and tells ‘em that then no bullet nor nothing could harm ‘em; - and Sir William, he sat upon the ground with his back against a tree like, and there was all the women crying and praying to him, - and they says to him, ‘Now do tell us if you be our blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.’ and says he, ‘I am he;’ – and then he shows ‘em the mark of the nails in his hands which was made when he was put on the cross."

Such behaviour naturally upset the local authorities and, fearing reprisals, Courtenay organised his followers into an armed band on 29 May and began to travel through Kent, seeking to raise popular support for his attempted uprising. Although the local people responded favourably, Courtenay was unable to attract more than forty men, mostly armed with cudgels.

This attracted a response from the authorities, who decided that Courtenay must be apprehended. At attempt on 30 May failed, when one of the party coming to arrest Courtenay was shot and stabbed to death. The magistrates of Kent responded by summoning military support.

The end of Courtenay's campaign came at Bossenden Wood, on the afternoon of 31 May. The 45th Foot surrounded Courtenay's position and the leader of the force, Lieutenant Henry Boswell Bennett approached Courtenay to ask him to surrender; Courtenay's response was to shoot him. This caused the soldiers to open fire on Courtenay's forces and, in a matter of minutes, the uprising had been crushed, with nine deaths, including Courtenay and Bennett, and a number of serious injuries, which were to prove fatal for a further three combatants. It was later said that had Tom actually had some success on the battlefield thousands would have joined his cause.

Rioters

The survivors of the riots (known as 'the Canterbury Rioters') were taken prisoner and committed for trial. [ [http://www.exclassics.com/newgate/ng623.htm Canterbury Rioters, Newgate Calendar] ]

*Thomas Mears alias Tyler (the cousin of the murdered constable),
*Alexander Foad
*William Nutting
*William Price.
*James Goodwin
*William Wills
*William Spratt
*John Spratt
*John Silk
*Edward Curling
*Samnuel Edwards
*Sarah Culver
*Thomas Myers alias Edward Wraight
*Charles Hills
*Thomas Ovenden
*William Coachworth (During the battle, Coachworth was hit in the neck by a ricocheting bullet, which ended up in his mouth. Coachworth and three others were charged with complicity to one of the murder of an Army officer (Lt. Bennett). Out of the fifteen accused, Coachman was one of seven discharged.) [ [http://www.beer-genealogy.freeuk.com/misc/bossenden_wood.htm Bossenden Wood at Beer-genealogy] ]
*Thomas Griggs
*William Foad
*Richard Foreman.

External links

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/daveforeman/foreman/index.html (Bossenden wood riots]

References

* Parry, [His Honour Judge] Edward Abbott "Vagabonds All" (New York: Charles Scribners' Sons, 1926), 264p., illus. See "Chapter IX: John Nichols Tom, the Zealot", p. 184-207.
* Rogers, P.G. "Battle in Bossenden Wood: The Strange Story of Sir William Courtenay" (London: Oxford University Press, Readers Union, 1962), 241p., illus.