English Civil War earl of Essex would put himself in their way". Accordingly, the army left Shrewsbury on 12 October, gaining two days' start on the enemy, and moved south-east. This had the desired effect, as it forced Essex to move to intercept them. The first pitched battle of the war, fought at Edgehill on 23 October 1642, proved inconclusive, and both the Royalists and Parliamentarians claimed it as a victory. The second field action of the war, the stand-off at Turnham Green, saw Charles forced to withdraw to Oxford. This city would serve as his base for the remainder of the war.
Channel Islands in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms Channel Islands in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms Between 1642 and 1651 the Channel Islands were involved in an eleven-year-long, wide-scale armed conflict known as the English Civil War, between the Parliamentarians (nicknamed pejoratively as the Roundheads) and Royalists (nicknamed the Cavaliers) over, principally, the manner of England's government and the amount of power the monarch should be able to wield. For the most part, Jersey remained loyal to the Crown (even sheltering the future Charles II of England on two separate occasions in 1646 and 1649), whereas Guernsey, with the exception of Castle Cornet, was under Parliamentarian control.