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When it appeared to King Charles I that no agreement with Parliament over the government of 
the Kingdom was possible, he left London on 2 March 1642 and headed for the North of 
England. Both Parliament and King realised that a battle was the only way to settle it, and 
prepared to raise forces. Parliament enacted a Militia Ordinance, which claimed the most power over the country's trained bands. 

 

Charles then attempted to seize the port of Kingston-upon-Hull where arms and equipment 
previously collected for the Bishops' Wars had been gathered. In the Siege, the Parliamentarians garrison defied the King's importance and drove his forces away from the city. In early August the King moved south, to Lincoln and Leicester, where he secured the contents of the local armouries. On 22 August, he took the a vital step by raising the royal standard in Nottingham, declaring war on Parliament. The Midlands were generally Parliamentarian in sympathy, and few people rallied to the king there, so having again secured the arms and equipment of the local trained bands, Charles moved to Chester and subsequently to Shrewsbury, where large numbers of recruits from Wales and the Welsh border were expected to join him. By this point, there was battles raging in almost every part of England, as local commanders attempted to seize the main cities, ports and castles for their respective loyalties.


Having learned of the King's actions in Nottingham, Parliament dispatched its own army 
northward under the Earl of Essex to confront the King. Essex marched first to Northampton,
where he gained almost 20,000 men! Knowing of the King's move westwards, Essex then 
marched north-westwards towards Worcester. On 23 September, in the first clash between the 
main Royalist and Parliamentarian armies, Royalist cavalry under Prince Rupert of the Rhine 
routed the cavalry of Essex's vanguard at the Battle of Powick Bridge. Nevertheless, lacking 
infantry, the Royalists abandoned Worcester.

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