Following further fighting between 1648 and 1649, the Third English Civil War broke out in 1651. Royalist forces under the command of Charles II advanced as far as Worcester, where the army paused to reinforce the walls further and await reinforcements in relative safety. The Parliamentary forces under Oliver Cromwell attacked in early September; the ensuing battle of Worcester saw the Royalist forces pushed steadily back into the city. Fort Royal was successfully stormed by the Essex militia and its guns turned on the city itself. Cromwell's men began forcing their way into the city from west, south and east and by the evening the city had fallen. The collapse marked the end of the Third Civil War. In the aftermath the bastions and other fortifications were mostly destroyed by Parliament, although the medieval walls and gates were spared.