Naseby, battle of, 1645. The battle in the first civil war that extinguished royalist hopes which, after the defeat at Marston Moor, had rested largely on Montrose's brilliant Scottish campaign. In May 1645 Prince Rupert captured Leicester, forcing the parliamentarians to raise the siege of Oxford. The armies met on 14 June 1645 at Naseby, 12 miles east of Rugby. After initial success, the royalists were heavily defeated by superior forces. Even more damaging than the casualties was the loss of Charles's private correspondence, published by Parliament to the world as proof of his duplicity. Though fighting continued for a further year, the king was never able to put another major army into the field. A large obelisk north of the village, erected in 1823, offers the gnomic advice that kings should not strain their prerogatives nor subjects rebel.

J. A. Cannon

Naseby, Battle of (June 14, 1645) Final battle of the first English Civil War. The Parliamentarian New Model Army, led by Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax defeated the Royalist troops commanded by Prince Rupert.

Naseby a major battle of the English Civil War, which took place in 1645 near the village of Naseby in Northamptonshire. The Royalist army of Prince Rupert and King Charles I was decisively defeated by the New Model Army under General Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell. Following this defeat Charles I's cause collapsed completely.