The Battle of Gainsborough was a battle in the First English Civil War, fought on 28 July 1643. The strategically important town of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire was a Royalist base used for harassing the Parliamentarians who were generally dominant in Lincolnshire, but was taken by Parliamentarians in July 1643. An attempt to recapture Gainsborough by Charles Cavendish and the Royalists was foiled in a battle in which Colonel Oliver Cromwell distinguished himself as a cavalry leader. Prelude When the English Civil War was declared, Gainsborough in Lincolnshire lay in an area which supported Parliament, but the town itself had Royalist sympathies. The town was of strategic importance to both sides, sited as it was on a crossing of the River Trent and lying on important roads leading north and south. In March 1643, Sir John Henderson sent a raiding party from the Royalist base at Newark to capture Gainsborough for King Charles. The town was surrounded and quickly surrendered without any resistance. The town was put into the charge of the Earl of Kingston and was used as a base to harass the Parliamentarians in Lincolnshire. Royalist attacks at Louth and Market Rasen, together with the capture of gunpowder intended for Rotherham, provoked Parliament into action. Lord Willoughby of Parham launched a surprise night attack on Gainsborough on 16 July 1643 and captured the town. The Earl of Kingston was later killed by a round shot from his own men as he was being taken as a prisoner down the river to Hull. It seemed, however, that Willoughby's triumph might be short-lived. The Royalists immediately sent Charles Cavendish with a force to siege and retake Gainsborough. The Parliamentarians responded by sending relieving forces to Gainsborough from Nottingham under Sir John Meldrum and from Cambridgeshire under Colonel Oliver Cromwell. The two forces met on 27 July at North Scarle, ten miles south of Gainsborough, and were joined by a detachment from Lincoln. Battle The next day, 28 July 1643, the 1,200 strong Parliamentarian force marched north. At the village of Lea, just south of Gainsborough, the Parliamentarians met a Royalist advanced guard of 100 horse, part of Cavendish's army. After a short skirmish, the Royalists were driven back to Cavendish's main body of horse which was drawn up on top of Foxby Hill to the east of Gainsborough. The Parliamentarian troops pressed on, advanced up Foxby Hill, and came face-to-face with Cavendish's