What Happened During The Second Battle Of Newbury?

In the previous battle, the combined armies of Parliament performed a tactical defeat on the Royalists, though they failed to gain any strategic advantage.

On 26th October 1644, Sir William Waller camped overnight far to the north. His army advanced on October 27, and attacked at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The troops at Speen (a village to the west, at the time held by Prince Maurice with a detachment from the Royalist forces from the west country) were not warned of the attack.

Maurice's forces were caught unprepared, and although the Royalists repelled the first attack, the Parliamentarians rallied and stormed the village, capturing several of the cannons. Some of these cannons were ones that the Royalists had originally captured from the Parliamentarians.

King Charles, realising that he was outnumbered, retreated north and left his wounded, along with most of his guns and baggage, in Donnington Castle.

After the battle, the Parliamentarians pursued Charles unenthusiastically. A hasty attack on Donnington Castle was easily defeated, and Charles was reinforced by Prince Rupert and other forces. Charles was able to relieve Donnington Castle again on November 9th.

Victory was gained by Parliament the next year, after the formation of the New Model Army, a result of the dissatisfaction of the Parliamentarians over the failure to capture Charles.