Worcestershire in the English Civil War the Royalists towards London was that the Parliament troops evacuated Worcestershire. 1643. The King established his headquarters at Oxford, and was most anxious to win the highlands of the Cotswolds and the line of the river Severn. The Parliamentarians had two armies. Their plan was that the two armies, one of which was engaged before Reading under Essex, the other under William Waller had its headquarters at Bristol, should unite and take Oxford. Essex took Reading. Waller, operating from Gloucester, cleared the county, and by taking Hereford cut off communication with Wales. To make all safe in the Severn Valley,
Bristol in the English Civil War capture, the city became an important Royalist supply base, and center for communication, administration, and manufacture. The Royalists were dependent on foreign aid and the importation of weaponry. Ships laden with ordnance had to evade Parliamentarian patrols in order to offload their cargo at Bristol. A typical myth about Bristol during the civil war concerns it capture by Prince Rupert in July 1643. Traditionally it has been accepted that Bristol was attacked by a Royalist army of up to 20,000 men and that William Walker had irresponsibly reduced the garrison to 1,500 infantry and 300 mounted troops, insufficient to man