Battle of Nantwich The Battle of Nantwich was fought during the First English Civil War , between the Parliamentarians and Royalists , northwest of the town of Nantwich in Cheshire on 25 January 1644 . The Royalists under Lord Byron were besieging Nantwich , and Sir Thomas Fairfax led an army to relieve the town . As Fairfax approached , a sudden thaw caused the River Weaver to rise in spate , dividing Byron ' s cavalry from his infantry and artillery , who were overrun and destroyed by Fairfax . The Parliamentarian victory halted a run of Royalist successes in the area , and was a major setback to King Charles I ' s plan of campaign for the year . Campaign . In 1643 , King Charles had signed a " cessation " with the Irish Confederates . This allowed him to recall several English regiments which had been sent to Ireland after the Irish Rebellion of 1641 , to reinforce his armies . In November 1643 , several of these regiments were sent to Cheshire where a new field army was being raised , commanded at first by Lord Capell . Capell was replaced in December by Lord Byron , who had been a successful cavalry brigade commander in the King ' s main " Oxford Army " . Byron launched an offensive from the south with 5 , 000 men against the Parliamentarian garrisons in Cheshire , most of which were quickly captured . The troops recently returned from Ireland behaved with a degree of ruthlessness not previously displayed in the English Civil War . At Barthomley Church on 26 December , the Parliamentarian garrison surrendered after the Royalists lit a fire against the doors to smoke them out . At least twelve of the prisoners , mostly local militia , were executed in cold blood , with Byron ' s approval . On 27 December , Sir William Brereton , the Parliamentarian commander in Cheshire and Lancashire , attempted to concentrate his forces to confront Byron , but was defeated by a sudden Royalist attack at the Second Battle of Middlewich . He retreated with the remnants of his force to Manchester in Lancashire . Nantwich was the only town in Cheshire still held by the Parliamentarians . Its garrison numbered 2 , 000 men under Colonel George Booth , and were well supplied . Byron launched an attack against the town on 18 January 1644 , but was defeated with 500 casualties . Together with the casualties from earlier fighting in Cheshire , and sickness and desertions , Byron ' s forces were reduced to a total of about 3 , 500 men . He nevertheless maintained a siege of Nantwich . Parliamentarian moves . Sir Thomas Fairfax , together with his father Lord Fairfax , had been besieged in Hull in the second half of 1643 . As Sir Thomas ' s cavalry were of little use in a siege , they were ferried across the Humber to reinforce Parliamentarian cavalry from the Eastern Association of counties , commanded by Oliver Cromwell . Together , they had won several victories , culminating in the Battle of Winceby , which secured most of Lincolnshire for Parliament . In response to Brereton ' s urgent appeal for reinforcements , the Committee of Both Kingdoms ( the Parliamentarian body responsible for the conduct of the war ) ordered Sir Thomas Fairfax to proceed to Manchester . On 29 December 1643 , Sir Thomas set out to cross the Pennines in harsh winter weather , with 1 , 800 cavalry . On arriving at Manchester , he found the infantry of the Parliamentarian garrison to be so ragged that he was supposed to have burst into tears . Nevertheless , he set out from Manchester on 21 January 1644 to relieve Nantwich . He was accompanied by Brereton , and their force eventually numbered 1 , 800 cavalry , 500 dragoon s , 2 , 500 infantry and a few hundred poorly - equipped " cudgellers " . Battle . At the time , Nantwich was little more than a large village which lay astride the River Weaver , which normally was a stream wide . The Parliamentarians held the Chester Road bridge in the town , but the Royalists could use a bridge across the river at Beam Bridge , about to the north . Byron ' s headquarters were at Acton , about to the west of Nantwich . His regiments were quartered in a circle around the town sheltering where they could in countryside covered in snow . On 24 January , Fairfax ' s force scattered a small Royalist force which attempted to bar the road to Nantwich at Delamere Forest . Byron decided to maintain the siege , but the next day there was a sudden thaw which caused the Weaver to rise in spate . Byron ordered his infantry and artillery to move to the west bank of the Weaver around Acton , where the ground was drier , but the bridge at Beam Bridge ( and a ferry to its north ) were then swept away by the floodwater while Byron himself and his 1 , 800 cavalry were still on the east bank . He was forced to make a march of via another bridge at Minshull Vernon to support his infantry at Acton . As Fairfax approached Acton , Colonel Richard Gibson ( deputising for Byron ' s Sergeant - Major General Sir Michael Erneley , who was ill ) , deployed four regiments of infantry ( his own and those of Sir Michael Erneley , Colonel Henry Warren and Sir Robert Byron , younger brother of Lord Byron ) to face Fairfax . Erneley ' s , Warren ' s and Gibson ' s regiments had recently returned from Ireland . Most of the Royalist artillery was massed in Acton churchyard , on the left of Gibson ' s line . Sir Fulk Hunke ' s locally - raised infantry regiment protected the rear against Booth ' s garrison in Nantwich . Despite the heavy rain and the numerous ditches and hedges which broke up the ground in front of Gibson ' s position , Fairfax ' s force attacked at about 2 pm . Fairfax was informed that Byron was approaching his left rear from the direction of Minshull Vernon , but he deployed only two regiments of infantry and his own troop of cavalry to face them , while his main body pushed forward against Gibson . Although Gibson ' s men repulsed the first Parliamentarian attack , the Parliamentarian cavalry commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax ' s brother William outflanked the Royalist right wing and forced it to retreat . In the Royalist centre , Colonel Henry Warren ' s " Irish " regiment broke , and Erneley ' s own regiment retreated . Behind Gibson ' s position , Colonel George Booth led a sortie from Nantwich by 600 musketeers which overcame Hunke ' s regiment and reached Acton churchyard , overrunning the Royalist artillery and wagon park . By 4 : 30 pm , only Gibson ' s and Sir Robert Byron ' s regiments were still fighting on the flanks of Gibson ' s position . As the Parliamentarians broke through the Royalist centre , these two regiments were overwhelmed . Many Royalist soldiers defected to the Parliamentarians , the remainder surrendered or fled . About 1 , 500 were taken prisoner . Many of the officers took refuge in Acton Church , and were also taken prisoner after surrendering on terms . Lord Byron retreated to Chester with the Royalist cavalry , which had been unable to break through Fairfax ' s flanking detachment . Aftermath . The defeat at Nantwich thwarted King Charles ' s plan to create a field army in the Northwest based on regiments returned from Ireland . The Parliamentarians mistakenly thought that the " Irish " regiments were Catholics , who they loathed , and also feared their professionalism , but in fact the Royalist general Sir Ralph Hopton wrote of some " Irish " units which joined his army in the South of England at about the same time : . . . bold , hardy men , and excellently well officer ' d , but the common - men verie mutenous and shrewdly infected with the rebellious humour of England being brought over meerly by the vertue and loyalty of theire officers and large promesses , which there was then but smale meanes to performe . One Royalist officer taken prisoner at Nantwich was Colonel George Monck ( in command of Michael Warren ' s regiment ) , who later changed sides and was to play a prominent part in the Commonwealth of England and the Restoration . Re - enactments . There is an annual re - enactment of the battle by The Sealed Knot on 25 January . The commemorative day of the battle is celebrated by the local people as " Holly Holy Day " .