Battle of Cropredy Bridge The Battle of Cropredy Bridge was a battle of the English Civil War s , fought on 29 June 1644 between a Parliamentarian army under Sir William Waller and the Royalist army of King Charles . After a Parliamentarian attack on the Royalist rearguard was repulsed , Waller ' s army became demoralised and ineffective , allowing the King to retrieve the Royalists ' fortunes after other defeats during the earlier part of the year . Background . In the early part of 1644 , the Royalists suffered several setbacks . Two field armies were defeated at Nantwich and Cheriton , and a Scottish Covenanter army invaded the north of England , driving the Royalists there into York , where they were besieged . King Charles held a council of war in Oxford , his wartime capital , between 25 April and 5 May . It was agreed that while the King remained on the defensive in Oxford , protected by several outlying fortified towns , his nephew Prince Rupert of the Rhine ( the foremost Royalist field commander ) would proceed to retrieve the situation in the north . Campaign . After Rupert departed , the King ' s council changed this policy . To find reinforcements for the West Country where Rupert ' s brother Prince Maurice was besieging Lyme Regis , they ordered the fortress of Reading , in Berkshire , to be abandoned . This did indeed release 2 , 500 foot soldiers for service elsewhere , but it also allowed the Parliamentarian armies of the Earl of Essex and Sir William Waller to concentrate against Oxford . On 19 May , they began advancing from Reading . On 25 May , the Royalists abandoned Abingdon in the face of Essex ' s advance . Essex occupied the town and then crossed the Thames to capture bridges over the River Cherwell north of Oxford , while Waller passed south of Oxford to capture a crossing over the Thames to the west at Newbridge . Charles was in imminent danger of being surrounded and besieged in Oxford . As the city was short of provisions , he would soon be forced to surrender . On 3 June , Charles made a feint towards Abingdon to induce Waller to draw back , and then marched westward at night towards Worcester with a force mainly composed of cavalry . With Essex and Waller in pursuit , he was still in danger , but on 7 June , the two Parliamentarian generals ( who disliked each other ) conferred at Stow on the Wold , and agreed that Essex would march westward to relieve the siege of Lyme Regis , while Waller shadowed the King . This allowed the King to make another feint , which convinced Waller he was about to march northward , and then move back south by carrying his foot soldiers down the Avon in commandeered boats , so as to return to Oxford and collect reinforcements . Waller , having failed to intercept the King , went to Gloucester for provisions . On 24 June , he marched from Gloucester to Stow on the Wold , where he received intelligence that the King was marching eastward from Oxford into the Parliamentarian - held eastern counties , and soon received orders from the Parliamentarian Committee of Both Kingdoms to pursue him . By 27 June , Waller had reached Hanwell Castle on high ground to the west of the Cherwell , the King being just away in Edgecote . On 28 June , the King moved to Banbury . He was resolved to offer battle , but Waller held the advantageous position . Battle . On Saturday , 29 June , Charles ' s army began marching north along the east side of the River Cherwell . Waller ' s forces proceeded to shadow the king ' s movements on the other side of the river , the two armies little more than a mile apart and in sight of each other , but neither prepared to cross under the fire of enemy guns . As they approached Cropredy , Charles ordered a small detachment of dragoons to seize the bridge over the Cherwell there . At this point , he received a warning that 300 additional horsemen were approaching from the north to join Waller ' s army , and he ordered his army to hasten its march to cut off this detachment . The Royalist army became strung out . The vanguard and main body had crossed a stream at Hay ' s Bridge ( near the present - day village of Chipping Warden ) , leaving a rearguard of only two cavalry brigades under the Earl of Cleveland and the twenty - year old Earl of Northampton , with some infantry , south of Hay ' s Bridge . Waller , seeing his opportunity , sent Lieutenant General John Middleton across Cropredy Bridge with two regiments of horse ( those of Sir Arthur Haselrig and Colonel Jonas Vandruske ) and nine companies of foot to isolate the Royalist rearguard , while he himself led 1 , 000 men across Slat Mill Ford , a mile to the south of the bridge , to catch the Royalist rear in a pincer movement . The Royalist dragoons holding Cropredy Bridge were soon overpowered . As Middleton ' s force streamed towards Hay ' s Bridge , they themselves became strung out and vulnerable . At Hay ' s Bridge , Middleton ' s cavalry was checked by Royalist musketeers who had overturned a carriage to block the bridge , while the Earl of Cleveland charged the Parliamentarian foot and artillery behind them . Meanwhile , Northampton ' s brigade charged downhill against Waller ' s men , and forced them back across the Slat Mill Ford . The King was alerted that his rearguard was engaged , and ordered his army to turn about . He also sent his own Lifeguard of Horse under Lord Bernard Stewart back across Hay ' s Bridge to aid Cleveland . With their help , Cleveland made a second charge which forced Middleton back across Cropredy Bridge , abandoning eleven guns . ( Waller ' s Major General of Ordnance , Sir James Wemyss , was also captured ) . The bridge itself was held by two Parliamentarian regiments of foot , Colonel Ralph Weldon ' s Kentish Regiment and the Tower Hamlets regiment . The Royalists tried to recapture the bridge but were repulsed . Waller ' s remaining artillery continued to fire from their vantage point on Bourton Hill , forcing the Cavaliers to fall back from the river . Aftermath . By evening , the two armies still faced each other across the River Cherwell . Charles took opportunity in the lull to dispatch his Secretary of War , Sir Edward Walker , to parley with Waller with a message of grace and pardon , but the Parliamentarian replied that he had no power to treat . At length , after receiving further intelligence of additional Parliamentarians nearby , and as the king ' s train was low in food and supplies , the Royalists slipped away under the cover of night , taking the guns captured from Waller with them . While the Royalists had suffered few casualties , Waller had lost 700 men , many having deserted immediately after the battle . Waller ' s army shortly became demoralised , and immobilised by desertions and mutinies by men unwilling to serve far from their homes , chiefly those drawn from London . Charles could afford to ignore Waller and march into the West Country after Essex , forcing Essex ' s army to surrender at Lostwithiel . Music . The song Red and Gold by Ralph McTell ( written for Fairport Convention , whose annual music festival is held on the outskirts of Cropredy ) relates the story of the battle as told by a non combatant . Versions of the song by various artists exist .