MARSTON MOOR, BATTLE OF

(July 2, 1644), the first major Royalist defeat in the English Civil War. In June 1644, King Charles I ordered a force under Prince Rupert of the Palatinate to relieve the Royalist garrison at York, then under siege by the Parliamentarians. Rupert outmanoeuvred the besiegers, relieved York, and pursued the Parliamentary forces seven miles west to Long Marston. There the parliamentary armies under Sir Thomas Fairfax (later 3rd Baron Fairfax of Cameron), and a Scottish Army under Alexander Leslie, the 1st earl of Leven, surprised Rupert with an early-evening attack. The left wing of the Parliamentary forces under Oliver Cromwell scattered Rupert's cavalry, then reformed and went to Fairfax's aid on the right, enveloping the Royalist centre. The Royalists suffered heavy losses3,000 to 4,000 killed, many prisoners taken, and most of their cannon captured. With the fall of York, the King lost control of the north, and Oliver Cromwell emerged as the leading Parliamentary general.