After Essex's army was forced to surrender at Lostwithiel in Cornwall in September, the Royalists maintained a siege of Taunton, although the town was briefly relieved by Sir William Waller in late November.

[3] When determining strategy for 1645, King Charles I had despatched George, Lord Goring, the lieutenant general of horse (cavalry), to the West Country with orders to retake Taunton and other Parliamentarian outposts in the area.

On 4 July it reached Beaminster, where Fairfax learned that Goring had raised the siege and was retreating towards the Royalist stronghold at Bridgwater.

To cover the retreat of the baggage, Goring's army was spread over a front of 12 miles (19 km) along the north bank of the River Yeo, from Langport to Yeovil.

[9] He sent another Parliamentarian force (part of the army of the "Western Association" under Major General Edward Massie) to deal with an attempted diversion in the direction of Taunton by some of Goring's cavalry under George Porter, a notoriously unreliable officer.

[10] Porter's men had neglected to post proper sentries and outposts, and were taken by surprise by Massie and destroyed at Isle Abbots in the early hours of 9 July.

[15] Goring placed two light guns in position to fire down the lane, and disposed two raw regiments (those of colonels Wise and Slaughter)[13] of Welsh foot soldiers in the hedges.

While his artillery silenced Goring's two light guns, he sent 1500 "commanded" (detached) musketeers[17] under Colonel Thomas Rainsborough[14] through the marshes to clear the Welsh infantry from the hedges.

[16] The first division, under Major Christopher Bethel, galloped up the lane four abreast, deployed into a line and charged and broke two of the Royalist cavalry regiments.

After a heavy artillery bombardment, Sir Hugh Wyndham surrendered the remaining western part of the town on 23 July.

[20] These Parliamentarian successes isolated the remaining Royalists in the West Country from Charles's forces in Wales, Oxford and the Midlands.