The
First Battle of Newbury was a battle of the
First English Civil War that was fought on 20 September 1643 between a Royalist army, under the personal command of
King Charles, and a Parliamentarian force led by the
Earl of Essex. Following a year of Royalist successes in which they took
Banbury,
Oxford and
Reading without conflict before storming
Bristol, the Parliamentarians were left without an effective army in the field. When Charles
laid siege to Gloucester, Parliament was forced to muster a force under Essex with which to beat Charles's forces off. After a long march, Essex surprised the Royalists and forced them away from Gloucester before beginning a retreat to London. Charles rallied his forces and pursued Essex, overtaking the Parliamentarian army at Newbury and forcing them to march past the Royalist force to continue their retreat.