The First Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War which was fought in Berkshire on 20 September 1643.
Background[]
Following his lifting of King Charles I's siege of Gloucester in September 1643, the Parliamentarian general Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex began a retreat to London. Charles rallied his forces and pursued the Parliamentary army, overtaking it at Newbury in Berkshire. Essex launched a surprise attack on the Royalist lines at dawn, capturing the high ground and disadvantaging the Royalists, but the Royalists counterattacked and slowed Essex's retreat. Essex rallied his infantry and launched a counterattack of his own, but Essex's reinforcements were defeated and forced to retreat, dividing Essex's forces. The London Trained Bands prevented the Royalists from exploiting this gap in the Parliamentarian army, and, by nightfall, both armies were exhausted, and the Royalists - low on ammunition - were forced to allow Essex to continue his retreat to London unhindered. Newbury marked the high point of the Royalist advance during the war.