Battle of Langport and four infantry regiments from their New Model Army, to relieve Taunton. They raised the siege on 11 May 1645, but were themselves besieged by Goring's returning army (although there was no longer any danger of the Royalists storming the town). On 14 June 1645, the main body of the New Model Army under Sir Thomas Fairfax, with Oliver Cromwell as Lieutenant General of Horse, won the decisive Battle of Naseby, destroying Charles's main army. After the Royalist garrison of Leicester surrendered four days later, the New Model Army was free to march to the relief of Taunton. The army
Battle of Inverkeithing under David Leslie. After his victory at the Battle of Dunbar, Oliver Cromwell went on to occupy large parts of southern Scotland. David Leslie, commanding the royalist forces, in recovering from the disaster at Dunbar, created a series of defensive redoubts in the centre of the country, effectively preventing the New Model Army from making any further progress in the campaign. Unable to push past Leslie, firmly entrenched at Stirling, Cromwell was quick to realise that Fife, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth, was now the key of the whole campaign. Once across the Forth the English