Editing English Civil War (section)

=== 1642 battles ===
{{Main|First English Civil War, 1642}}
[[File:Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Cooper.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Oliver Cromwell]] rose to become<br/>[[Lord Protector]] in 1653]]
At the outset of the conflict, much of the country remained neutral, though the [[Royal Navy]] and most English cities favoured Parliament, while the King found marked support in rural communities. The war quickly spread and eventually involved every level of society. Many areas attempted to remain neutral. Some formed bands of [[Clubmen]] to protect their localities from the worst excesses of the armies of both sides,{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1970|pp=403–404}} but most found it impossible to withstand both King and Parliament.

On one side, the King and his supporters fought for what they saw as traditional government in church and state. On the other, most Parliamentarians initially took up arms to defend what they viewed as a traditional balance of government in church and state, and which they felt had been undermined by bad advice the King received from his advisers — such as [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham|George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham]] — and during his [[Personal Rule]] (the "Eleven Years' Tyranny"). The views of the members of Parliament ranged from unquestioning support of the King – at one point during the First Civil War, more members of the Commons and Lords gathered in the King's [[Oxford Parliament (1644)|Oxford Parliament]] than at [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]] — through to radicals who sought major reforms in [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|religious independence]] and redistribution of power at a national level.

After the debacle at Hull, Charles moved on to [[Nottingham]], raising the royal standard there on 22 August 1642.{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1970|p=111}} At the time, Charles had with him about 2,000 cavalry and a small number of Yorkshire infantrymen, and using the archaic system of a [[Commission of Array]],{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1970|p=96}} his supporters started to build a larger army around the standard. Charles moved in a westerly direction, first to [[Stafford]], then on to [[Shrewsbury]], as support for his cause seemed particularly strong in the [[River Severn|Severn]] valley area and in North Wales.{{Sfn|Royle|2006|pp=170, 183}} While passing through [[Wellington, Shropshire|Wellington]], he declared in what became known as the "[[Wellington Declaration]]" that he would uphold the "Protestant religion, the laws of England, and the liberty of Parliament".{{Sfn|Sherwood|1992|p=6}}

The Parliamentarians who opposed the King did not remain passive in this pre-war period. As in Hull, they took measures to secure strategic towns and cities by appointing to office men sympathetic to their cause. On 9 June they voted to raise an army of 10,000 volunteers and appointed [[Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex]] its commander three days later.{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1970|pp=108–109}} He received orders "to rescue His Majesty's person, and the persons of the Prince [of Wales] and the Duke of York [James II] out of the hands of those desperate persons who were about them."{{Sfn|Hibbert|1993|p=65}} The [[Lord Lieutenant|Lords Lieutenant]] whom Parliament appointed used the [[Militia Ordinance]] to order the militia to join Essex's army.{{Sfn|Royle|2006|pp=161, 165}}

[[File:Rupert of the Rhine.jpg|thumb|[[Prince Rupert of the Rhine]]]]
Two weeks after the King had raised his standard at Nottingham, Essex led his army north towards [[Northampton]],{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1970|p=113}} picking up support along the way (including a detachment of [[Huntingdonshire]] cavalry raised and commanded by Oliver Cromwell).{{Efn|Cromwell had already secured Cambridge and the supplies of college silver.{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1970|p=106}}}} By mid-September Essex's forces had grown to 21,000 infantry and 4,200 cavalry and [[dragoon]]s. On 14 September he moved his army to [[Coventry]] and then to the north of the [[Cotswolds]],{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1970|p=115}} a strategy that placed it between the Royalists and London. With the size of both armies now in the tens of thousands and only [[Worcestershire]] between them, it was inevitable that cavalry reconnaissance units would meet sooner or later. This happened in the first major skirmish of the Civil War, when a troop of about 1,000 Royalist cavalry under [[Prince Rupert]], a German nephew of the King and one of the outstanding cavalry commanders of the war,{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1970|p=148}} defeated a Parliamentary cavalry detachment under Colonel John Brown at the [[Battle of Powick Bridge]], which crossed the [[River Teme]] close to [[Worcester, England|Worcester]].{{Sfn|Royle|2006|pp=171–188}}

Rupert withdrew to Shrewsbury, where a council-of-war discussed two courses of action: whether to advance towards Essex's new position near Worcester, or march down the now open road towards London. The Council decided on the London route, but not to avoid a battle, for the Royalist generals wanted to fight Essex before he grew too strong, and the temper of both sides made it impossible to postpone the decision. In the [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Earl of Clarendon's]] words, "it was considered more counsellable to march towards London, it being morally sure that the earl of Essex would put himself in their way."{{Sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=404}} Hence, the army left Shrewsbury on 12 October, gaining two days' start on the enemy, and moved south-east. This had the desired effect of forcing Essex to move to intercept them.{{Sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=404}}

The first [[pitched battle]] of the war, at [[Battle of Edgehill|Edgehill]] on 23 October, proved inconclusive, both Royalists and Parliamentarians claiming victory.{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1970|pp=130–101}} The second field action, the stand-off at [[Turnham Green (Battle)|Turnham Green]], saw Charles forced to withdraw to [[Oxford]],{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1970|p=135}} which would serve as his base for the rest of the war.{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1970|pp=167–168, 506–507}}