Major-General Rowland Laugharne was born in West Wales in about 1610. He worked as a page to Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, who owned large estates in Carmarthenshire. Like many others Laugharne had gained some military experience in the Netherlands. He declared for Parliament in 1642, but it was only after King Charles' plans became increasingly based on Irish troops that Pembrokeshire gained in importance.

At the outbreak of the Civil War Pembroke was the only town in Wales that declared support for Parliament. Soon afterwards Laugharne was appointed Parliamentary commander of the town.

King Charles gave orders for Pembroke to be attacked. Richard Vaughan, the Earl of Carbery, Lieutenant-General of the King's army in South-West Wales decided to make sure that other towns in this region were secure before dealing with Pembroke. On land Laugharne found himself penned into Pembrokeshire by Charles Gerard, one of Prince Rupert's favourite cavalry commanders, who for a period held the rest of South Wales secure for the King.

The Earl of Carbery did not begin his assault on Pembroke until the beginning of 1644. However, before he could capture the town, Parliament reinforcements arrived by sea from England. The Earl of Carbery now decided that he was not strong enough to capture Pembroke, and withdrew his forces.

Laugharne took this opportunity to go on the offensive. His troops soon gained control of Tenby, & Carew Castle, and by the end of March 1644 he had captured the Pill at Milford Haven, giving Parliament a safe anchorage for their fleet.

In 1645, the King ordered Colonel Charles Gerard and 2,700 of his soldiers to leave Wales and go to help the Royalist campaign in England. With the Royalist forces weakened in South Wales, Laugharne decided to go on the offensive again.

Laugharne's sortie in the spring of 1645 was defeated by Gerard in a sharp fight at Newcastle Emlyn, but on 1st August 1645 Laugharne finally broke free of the Royalist strangle hold.

The battle of Colby Moor was notable for the co-operation between Laugharne and Admiral Batten's Parliamentary fleet, which placed a force of sailors at the rear of the Earl of Carbery's position, leading to his defeat. Laugharne's victory left him free to take Haverfordwest castle, and advance back into the heart of Wales. By the end of 1645 Laugharne had captured Carmarthen, and by the spring of 1646 he had entered Cardiff and placed Raglan under siege, forcing King Charles and Gerrard to flee their base at Raglan

After its successful victory over the Royalist forces in 1647, Parliament began to make plans to disband its army. This created a great deal of concern as many of the soldiers had not been paid for several months. Others were worried about the increase in taxes imposed by the Parliamentarian government. On 24th December, Parliament declared that all soldiers who had enlisted after 6th August, 1647 were to be dismissed without pay. Those that had joined at an earlier stage of the war were to receive only two months wages. Sir John Poyer, the Governor of Pembroke Castle, was furious when he heard the news and began making speeches to his soldiers, attacking Parliament's decision to disband the army. When Parliament discovered that Poyer was making hostile speeches they sent Colonel Fleming to replace him.

Poyer refused to give up the castle and instead sent a letter to Parliament demanding the payment of £1,000 in wage arrears for his men. Colonel Fleming offered £200, but this was rejected. Other soldiers based in South Wales, who had heard about Poyer's actions, began to head for Pembroke to give him their assistance. John Poyer's supporters included the two most senior army officers in South Wales, Major-General Rowland Laugharne and Colonel Rice Powell.

Parliament now realised that they had a major rebellion on their hands. The situation became even worse when news arrived that the King had made an agreement with the Scots. In return for the support of a Scottish army, the King agreed to accept the establishment of the Presbyerian religion in England.

On 10 April 1648, Colonel Poyer declared that he now supported the King. Encouraged by Poyer's declaration for the King, ex-Royalist soldiers began joining Poyer in Pembroke.

When Parliament heard about Poyer's actions in Pembroke they sent Colonel Thomas Horton with 3,000 troops to deal with the rebellion. Rowland Laugharne and nearly 8,000 Royalist rebels left Pembroke and engaged Horton's parliamentary army at St. Fagans in Glamorgan. Although outnumbered, Horton's experienced and well-disciplined army was able to defeat Laugharne's poorly armed soldiers. Over 200 of Laugharne's men were killed and another 3,000 were taken prisoner. Laugharne and what was left of his army, managed to escape back to Pembroke.

The rebellion now spread to other parts of Wales. In North Wales Richard Bulkeley and the people of Anglesey declared their support for the King and Sir John Owen attempted to take Denbigh Castle from the Parliament army. In the South of the country Colonel Rice Powell took control of Tenby and Sir Nicholas Kemeys and other local Royalists captured Chepstow Castle.

Realising that the rebellion had to be put down quickly, Parliament decided to send Oliver Cromwell and five regiments to Wales. Cromwell won back Chepstow Castle on 25th May and six days later Rice Powell was forced to surrender Tenby. Cromwell now marched on to Pembroke to deal with John Poyer and Rowland Laugharne. Pembroke castle, built on a great mass of limestone rock and nearly totally surrounded by the Pembroke River, was considered one of the strongest fortresses in Britain.

Oliver Cromwell did not have cannon large enough to break through walls that were in some places 20 foot thick. Nor did he have siege ladders that could deal with the 80 foot high walls of the great modified Norman fortress at Pembroke. Attempts at storming the castle failed, and Cromwell was forced to wait and starve the rebels into submission.

Cromwell wrote back to Parliament forecasting that Poyer and his men would be forced to surrender in about two weeks. However, he was initially unaware that the castle had its own excellent water supply. Eventually, a local man betrayed this secret to Cromwell and the besieging army was able to cut the exposed water duct on the outskirts of the town.

After a siege of eight weeks and completely without food and water, the rebel soldiers in the castle at Pembroke were forced to surrender. Cromwell dealt leniently with the ex-Royalist soldiers. His main anger was directed towards those who had previously been members of the Parliament army.

Laugharne, Poyer, and Rice-Powell were lead away and tried by court-martial in London. After being found guilty of treason they were sentenced to death. Thomas Fairfax, the leader of the armed forces, decided that only one should die. The three men refused to take part in the lottery to decide who would be executed. The military authorities chose a young child to draw the lots. The papers drawn for Laugharne and Powell read: "Life Given by God".

Poyer's paper was blank and he was shot in front of a large crowd at Covent Garden on 21 April, 1649.

Major-General Rowland Laugharne was imprisoned in the Tower of London but survived until the Restoration, and was released by Charles II in 1660.