Battle of Edgehill The Battle of Edgehill ( or Edge Hill ) was the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War . It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday , 23 October 1642 . All attempts at constitutional compromise between King Charles and Parliament broke down early in 1642 . Both King and Parliament raised large armies to gain their way by force of arms . In October , at his temporary base near Shrewsbury , King Charles decided to march on London in order to force a decisive confrontation with Parliament ' s main army , commanded by the Earl of Essex . Late on 22 October , both armies unexpectedly found the enemy to be close by . The next day , the Royalist army descended from Edge Hill to force battle . After the Parliamentary artillery opened a cannonade , the Royalists attacked . Both armies consisted mostly of inexperienced and sometimes ill - equipped troops . Many men from both sides fled or fell out to loot enemy baggage , and neither army was able to gain a decisive advantage . After the battle , King Charles resumed his march on London , but was not strong enough to overcome the defending militia before Essex ' s army could reinforce them . The inconclusive result of the Battle of Edgehill prevented either faction gaining a quick victory in the war , which eventually lasted four years . Background . When it appeared to King Charles I that no agreement with Parliament over the government of the Kingdom was possible , he left London on 2 March 1642 and headed for the North of England . Both Parliament and King realized that armed conflict was inevitable , and prepared to raise forces . Parliament enacted a Militia Ordinance , by which it claimed authority over the country ' s trained bands , while from his temporary capital of York , Charles rejected Parliament ' s Nineteen Propositions and issued Commissions of Array , directing the Lord Lieutenant of each county to raise forces for the King . Charles then attempted to seize the port of Kingston - upon - Hull where arms and equipment previously collected for the Bishops ' Wars had been gathered . In the Siege of Hull , the Parliamentarian garrison defied the King ' s authority and drove his forces away from the city . In early August the King moved south , to Lincoln and Leicester , where he secured the contents of the local armouries . On 22 August , he took the decisive step by raising the royal standard in Nottingham , effectively declaring war on Parliament . The Midlands were generally Parliamentarian in sympathy , and few people rallied to the king there , so having again secured the arms and equipment of the local trained bands , Charles moved to Chester and subsequently to Shrewsbury , where large numbers of recruits from Wales and the Welsh border were expected to join him . ( By this point , there was conflict in almost every part of England , as local commanders attempted to seize the main cities , ports and castles for their respective factions ) . Having learned of the King ' s actions in Nottingham , Parliament dispatched its own army northward under the Earl of Essex , to confront the King Charles . Essex marched first to Northampton , where he mustered almost 20 , 000 men . Learning of the King ' s move westwards , Essex then marched north - westwards towards Worcester . On 23 September , in the first clash between the main Royalist and Parliamentarian armies , Royalist cavalry under Prince Rupert of the Rhine routed the cavalry of Essex ' s vanguard at the Battle of Powick Bridge . Nevertheless , lacking infantry , the Royalists abandoned Worcester . Prelude . By early October , the King ' s army was almost complete at Shrewsbury . He held a council of war , at which two courses of action were considered . The first was to attack Essex ' s army at Worcester , which had the drawback that the close country around the city would put the superior Royalist cavalry at a disadvantage . The second course , which was adopted , was to advance towards London . The intention was not to avoid battle with Essex , but to force one at an advantage . In the Earl of Clarendon ' s words : " " it was considered more counsellable to march towards London , it being morally sure that Essex would put himself in their way . " " Accordingly , the army left Shrewsbury on 12 October , gaining two days start on the enemy , and moved southeast . Essex followed , but neither army had much information on the location of their enemy . By 22 October , the Royalist army was quartered in the villages around Edgcote , and was threatening the Parliamentarian post at Banbury . The garrison of Banbury sent messengers pleading for help to the Parliamentarian garrison at Warwick Castle . Essex , who had just reached there , ordered an immediate march to Kineton to bring relief to Banbury , even though his army had straggled and not all his troops were present . That evening , there were clashes between outposts and quartermasters ' parties in Kineton and the villages nearby , and the Royalists had their first inkling that Essex ' s army was close by . The King issued orders for his army to muster for battle on top of the escarpment of Edgehill the following day . Essex originally intended marching straight to the relief of Banbury , but at about 8 a . m . on 23 October , his outposts reported that the Cavaliers were massed on Edgehill , from Kineton . Essex deployed his army about halfway between Kineton and the Royalist army , where hedges formed a natural position . The opposing forces . There were some significant differences between the opposing armies , which were to be important to the course of the battle and its outcome . Although both were composed of very raw soldiers , they both had several experienced officers who had previously fought in the Dutch or Swedish armies during the Thirty Years ' War . ( Several of these had been recruited to lead English forces which were intended to be sent to Ireland following the Irish Rebellion of 1641 . Both King and Parliament had bid highly for the services of these officers . ) The Royalist cavalry was superior to Parliament ' s cavalry at this stage of the war . Oliver Cromwell , who arrived too late in the day to take part in the battle , later wrote disparagingly to John Hampden , " " Your troopers are most of them old decayed servingmen and tapsters ; and their " [ the Royalists ] " troopers are gentlemen ' s sons , younger sons and persons of quality . . . " " Not only were the Parliamentarian cavalry not so naturally accustomed to mounted action , but they were drilled in the Dutch tactic of firing pistols and carbines from the saddle , whereas under Rupert , the Royalist cavalry would charge sword in hand , relying on shock and weight . The Parliamentarian foot soldiers however , were better equipped than their Royalist counterparts . The Royalist pikemen were said to lack armour , and the musketeers lacked swords , making the Royalist infantry more vulnerable in hand - to - hand combat . Several hundred of them lacked any sort of weapon apart from clubs or improvised polearms . The Royalist and Parliamentarian artillery trains were roughly equally matched . Although Essex had more guns overall , many of them had lagged behind on the march . Deployments . Royalists . The Royalist right wing of cavalry and dragoons was led by Prince Rupert , with Sir John Byron in support . The King ' s own Lifeguard of Horse insisted on joining Rupert ' s front line , leaving the King with no cavalry reserve under his own command . The Centre consisted of five " tertias " of infantry . There was a last - minute change of command when the Colonel - General , Lord Lindsey , was overruled when he wished to deploy them in " Dutch " formation , simple phalanxes eight ranks deep . Affronted , he resigned his command and took his place at the head of his own regiment of foot . Instead , he was replaced by Lord Forth , who drew up the infantry in chequerboard " Swedish " formation , which was potentially more effective but also more difficult to control , particularly with inexperienced soldiers . The centre was led in battle by Sergeant Major General Jacob Astley . The left wing consisted of horse under Sir Henry Wilmot , with Lord Digby , the King ' s Secretary of State , in support and Colonel Arthur Aston ' s dragoons on his flank . Parliamentarians . The Parliamentarian left wing consisted of a loosely organised cavalry brigade of twenty unregimented troops under Sir James Ramsay , supported by 600 musketeers and several cannon , deployed behind a hedge . In the centre , the infantry brigade of Sir John Meldrum was drawn up on the left of the front line and Colonel Charles Essex ' s brigade on the right . Sir Thomas Ballard ' s infantry brigade was deployed behind Meldrum and the cavalry regiments under Sir William Balfour and Sir Philip Stapleton behind Charles Essex . The presence of these two regiments was to be important in the coming battle . A regiment of infantry under Colonel William Fairfax linked the centre to the right wing . The right wing consisted of the regiment of cavalry under Lord Feilding , posted on some rising ground , with two regiments of dragoons in support . The Battle . As Essex showed no signs of wishing to attack , the Royalists began to descend the slope of Edgehill some time after midday . Even when they had completed this manoeuvre at about two o ' clock , the battle did not begin until the sight of the King with his large entourage riding from regiment to regiment to encourage his soldiers , apparently goaded the Parliamentarians into opening fire . The King ' s party withdrew out of range and an artillery duel took place . The Royalist guns were comparatively ineffective as most of them were deployed some way up the slope , and from this height most of their shot plunged harmlessly into the earth . While the bombardment continued however , the Royalist dragoons advanced on each flank and drove back the Parliamentarian dragoons and musketeers covering their wings of horse . At last , Rupert gave the order to attack . As his charge gathered momentum , a troop of Parliamentarian horse under Faithfull Fortescue abruptly defected . The rest of Ramsay ' s brigade gave an ineffectual volley of pistol fire from the saddle before turning to flee . Rupert ' s and Byron ' s troopers rapidly overran the enemy guns and musketeers on this flank and galloped jubilantly in pursuit of Ramsay ' s men . Wilmot charged about the same time on the other flank . Feilding ' s outnumbered regiment quickly gave way , and Wilmot and Digby also chased them to Kineton where the Royalist horse fell out to loot the Parliamentarian baggage . Sir Charles Lucas and Lord Grandison rallied about 200 men , but when they tried to charge the Parliamentarian rear , they were distracted by fugitives from Charles Essex ' s routed brigade . The Royalist infantry also advanced in the centre . Many of the Parliamentarian foot had already run away as their cavalry disappeared , and others fled as the infantry came to close quarters . The brigades of Sir Thomas Ballard and Sir John Meldrum nevertheless stood their ground . The Parliamentarian cavalry regiments of Stapleton and Balfour emerged through gaps in the line of Parliamentarian foot soldiers , and charged the Royalist infantry . With no Royalist cavalry to oppose them , they put many units to flight . The King had left himself without any proper reserve . As his centre gave way , he ordered one of his officers to conduct his sons Charles and James to safety while he himself tried to rally his infantry . Some of Balfour ' s men charged so far into the Royalist position that they menaced the princes ' escort and briefly overran the Royalist artillery before withdrawing . In the front ranks , Lord Lindsey was killed , and Sir Edmund Verney died defending the Royal Standard , which was captured by Parliamentarian Ensign Arthur Young . By this time , some of the Royalist horse had rallied and were returning from Kineton . Captain John Smith recovered the Royal Standard which was being taken to the Parliamentarian rear as a trophy . Smith was later knighted a banneret by a grateful Charles . As the Royalist cavalry reformed on the flanks , and as evening drew on , Essex ordered his men to break off the battle . Outcome . Both sides held their positions during the night , which was very cold . This has been suggested as the reason why many of the wounded survived , as the cold allowed many wounds to congeal , saving the wounded from bleeding to death or succumbing to infection . The following day , both armies formed up again , but neither was willing to resume the battle . Charles sent a herald to Essex with a message of pardon if he would agree to the King ' s terms , but the messenger was roughly handled and forced to return without delivering his message . Although Essex had been reinforced by some of his units which had lagged behind on the march , he withdrew on 25 October to Warwick Castle , abandoning seven guns on the battlefield . This allowed the King to move directly on London . Rupert urged this course , and was prepared to undertake it with his cavalry alone . With Essex ' s army still intact , Charles chose to move more deliberately , with the whole army . After capturing Banbury on 27 October , Charles advanced via Oxford , Aylesbury and Reading . Essex meanwhile had moved directly to London . Reinforced by the London Trained Bands and many citizen volunteers , his army proved to be too strong for the King to contemplate another battle when the Royalists advanced to Turnham Green . The King withdrew to Oxford , which he made his capital for the rest of the war . With both sides almost evenly matched , it would drag on ruinously for years . It is generally acknowledged that the Royalist cavalry ' s lack of discipline prevented a clear Royalist victory at Edgehill . Not for the last time in the war , they would gallop after fleeing enemy and then break ranks to plunder , rather than rally to attack the enemy infantry . Byron ' s and Digby ' s men in particular , were not involved in the first clashes and should have been kept in hand rather than allowed to gallop off the battlefield . The last survivor of the battle , William Hiseland , fought also at Malplaquet sixty - seven years later . Battlefield interpretations . While the location of Edgehill ' s battlefield has long been considered secure , the exact positions for the armies ' initial deployment lines have regularly been debated , with several diagrammatical variations published by studies since the late 19th century . Typically , the wide battle arrays for both armies have been conjectured to run parallel to the Edgehill escarpment , running in a south westerly direction , either approximately covering the distance of the previously unenclosed open fields - between Radway and Kineton - starting from the Banbury road ( B4086 ) to the north and reaching south west of Radway , or sometimes ranging as far south as the Sun Rising Hill road ( A422 ) . In 2003 a significant alternative deployment interpretation was published featuring deployments running in a north to south orientation , halfway between Radway and Kineton . From around this same period the Battlefields Trust also began to produce materials illustrating a battlefield interpretation attributed to Foard / Pannett showing near north to south deployment patterns in printed leaflets and within their own information panels at the site . A reorientation of the battlefield . In 2004 - 7 at Edgehill the Battlefields Trust , with grant aid from the local Heritage Initiative , conducted the first full battlefield systematic archaeological survey in the UK . The study of Edgehill ' s bullet scatters also represented the most extensive systematic archaeological investigation of a 17th - century battlefield undertaken in England . Directed by battle archaeologist Glenn Foard , the project involved modern battlefield archaeological methodologies , including a broad base survey to establish an overall pattern of finds which was used in conjunction with other data - sets provided by historic terrain research , revaluation of historic documents and experimental ballistics firing . 3250 artifacts , including 1096 lead bullets , were eventually recovered from the battlefield . Glenn Foard published a revelatory reorientation and new interpretation of the battlefield , based largely on the battle archaeology , in the 2009 edition of the German annual ' Schlachtfeldarchäeologie : Battlefield Archaeology ' . The conjectural reorientation of the initial battle lines by 90 degrees from most previous interpretations - which had been based upon scholarly conjecture alone - places the Parliamentarian army facing north eastwards . Determining the direction and spread of case shot ( or hailshot ) , which was fired from artillery , proved pivotal in establishing the battlefield ' s orientation and the starting positions of the Parliamentarian lines . Uniquely this interpretation shows the initial deployments to run in a south easterly direction commencing from north of the Banbury road , with the Parliamentarian battle line reaching the Red road area and southern most corner of the modern MOD base ( which now occupies much of the central battlefield ) . The initial Royalist positions are positioned parallel , to the north east , and west of Langdon Lane .