POWELL
,
RICE
(
fl.
1641-1665
),
colonel in the Parliamentary army
;
a native of
south Pembrokeshire
. He served as an
officer in the army
sent to
Ireland
to suppress the insurrection of
1641
. On the outbreak of the
Civil War
in
Aug. 1642
, he returned to
Pembrokeshire
. From a reference to the arrears of pay due to him for the
Irish
service it appears that he was
the son of
Lewis
Powell
and that his sister
Lucy
was the wife of
Richard
Cuney
of
Welston
, near
Pembroke
.
Powell
joined
John
Poyer
(q.v.)
and
Rowland
Laugharne
(q.v.)
and took part with them in the defence of
Pembroke
and the offensive actions in the county and beyond.
Laugharne
appointed him
governor
of
Cardigan castle
when it was captured on
29 Dec. 1644
and he successfully defended it in the following month against a
Royalist
assault directed by
Sir
Charles
Gerard
. In
April 1646
he became
governor
of
Tenby
. Early in
1648
, during
Laugharne
's absence in
London
, he was in
command of the forces in west Wales
when
Parliament
gave the order for the disbanding of supernumeraries. Some companies obeyed, but the resistance of
John
Poyer
at
Pembroke
encouraged others to refuse. After some initial hesitation,
Powell
decided to support
Poyer
's action and on
10 April
they jointly issued a declaration in favour of the
king
. They had been in touch with
prince
Charles
at
S. Germains
and had been promised
Royalist
assistance.
Powell
gathered his forces at
Carmarthen
where
colonel
Fleming
, the
commissioner for disbanding
, and
colonel
Thomas
Horton
attempted to bring him to action in the last week of
April 1648
.
Fleming
won an advantage in a skirmish, but in pressing home his attack found himself outnumbered. He retreated to a church, probably
Llangathen
, and was there
shot
.
Horton
withdrew to
Brecon
for fresh supplies and ammunition. There he learnt that
Powell
had seized
Swansea
and
Neath
and had entered the
Vale of Glamorgan
, where the
Royalists
were rising to support him. To prevent an advance on
Cardiff
,
Horton
made a forced march down the
Taff valley
to intercept him. In the subsequent fight at
S. Fagans
(
11 May 1648
), where
Laugharne
arrived to take over the command,
Horton
won a decisive victory. Escaping to
Pembrokeshire
,
Powell
held out against
Horton
at
Tenby
until
31 May
, when he surrendered unconditionally. He was tried by court martial and condemned to death. On
7 May 1649
he was pardoned. After the
Restoration
he appealed, in
1665
, to
Charles
II
for help to meet debts he had contracted in the Royalist cause, with what success is not recorded.
Bibliography:
-
J. R. Phillips
,
Memoirs of the Civil War in Wales and the
Marches, 1642–1649
, 1874
,
1874
;
-
A. L. Leach
,
History of the Civil War (1642-49) in
Pembrokeshire and on its borders
, London, 1937
,
1937
;
-
J. F. Rees
,
Studies in Welsh History collected papers,
lectures and reviews
, Cardiff, 1947
,
1947.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Sir James Frederick Rees, Ll.D., (1883-1967), Tenby
/ Cardiff
