First English Civil War First English Civil War (1642–1646), the Second English Civil War (1648–1649), and the Third English Civil War (1649–1651). For the most part, accounts summarise the two sides that fought the English Civil Wars as the Royalist Cavaliers of Charles I of England versus the Parliamentarian Roundheads. However, as with many civil wars, loyalties shifted for various reasons, and both sides changed significantly during the conflicts. During this time, the Irish Confederate Wars (another civil war) continued in Ireland, starting with the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and ending with the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. Its incidents had little or no direct
British soldiers in the eighteenth century to captain and six years before becoming a major, improving the quality of the officers through the experience gained. During the 18th century the weapon of choice was the Brown Bess musket which had been used by the army since the 1730s. The pike had been replaced by the use of the musket in the early 18th century. There were many different patterns of musket fired during the 18th century, but the weapon normally favoured a flintlock mechanism which was more reliable than the preceding matchlock system used during the English Civil War in the 17th century. Bayonets were used