Editing Battle of Edgehill (section)

==Outcome==
By the following morning the King and his army returned to the Edge Hill escarpment and Essex's army returned to Kineton. It was a bitterly cold night with a hard frost. This was suggested by contemporary reports as the reason many of the wounded survived, since the cold allowed many wounds to congeal, saving the wounded from bleeding to death or succumbing to infection.

The following day, both armies partially 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 [[Courier|messenger]] was roughly handled and forced to return without delivering his message. Although Essex had been reinforced by some of his units which had fallen behind on the march, he withdrew during the evening and the majority of his army marched to Warwick Castle, abandoning seven guns on the battlefield.

In the early hours of Tuesday 25th, Prince Rupert led a strong detachment of horse and dragoons and launched a surprise attack upon what remained of the Parliamentarian baggage train at Kineton and killed many of the battle's wounded survivors discovered within the village.

Essex's decision to return northwards to Warwick allowed the King to continue southwards in the direction of London. Rupert urged this course, and was prepared to undertake it with his cavalry alone. With Essex's army still intact, the King chose to move more deliberately, with the whole army. After capturing Banbury on 27 October, he advanced via [[Oxford]], [[Battle of Aylesbury|Aylesbury]] and [[Reading, Berkshire|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 [[Battle of Turnham Green|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 Edge Hill. 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. Patrick Ruthven was elevated to the rank of Lord General of the King's Army, confirming his role as acting commander in the battle.{{sfn|Murdoch and Grosjean|2014|p=122}}

On the Parliamentarian side, Sir James Ramsay who had commanded the left wing horse which had been routed during the battle, was tried by court-martial at St. Albans on 5 November. The court reported that he had done all that it became a gallant man to do.

The last survivor of the battle, [[William Hiseland]], fought also at [[Battle of Malplaquet|Malplaquet]] sixty-seven years later.<ref>The final days of the old Scottish regiments.</ref>