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.

[2] 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 Parliamentarians responded by sending relieving forces to Gainsborough from Nottingham under Sir John Meldrum and from Cambridgeshire under Colonel Oliver Cromwell.

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.

After a period of fierce fighting, the Royalists began to fall back, eventually fleeing from the battlefield pursued by the Parliamentary cavalry.

Then climbing a hill, they were shocked to discover the army of Lord Newcastle consisting of about 30 regiments of foot and a great body of horse, who were marching on Gainsborough to retake it for the King.

In a disciplined manoeuvre, two rearguard parties of horse, one from Cromwell's regiment and another from Lincoln, stood firm and retired alternately in order to cover the main force.