[2] In the spring of 1643, the Marquess of Ormond, commander of King Charles' forces in Ireland was feeling pressure to take aggressive action against the Confederates in the province of Leinster.

On 2 March, Ormond left Dublin with an army of 3,700 and began an advance to the port town of New Ross on the River Barrow.

In addition to tracking the movement of the Royalists and attempting to slow them down, Preston began assembling his militias into a single fighting force capable of standing up to Ormond.

Throughout this portion of Leinster, the Confederates maintained numerous strongholds and garrisons as all the English had fled shortly after the beginning of the Irish Rebellion in 1641.

[2][3][5] With Confederate reinforcements arriving at New Ross by means of the river, the Irish turned the flow of the battle by advancing out of the town to capture the Royalist artillery that had been battering the north wall and then securing the breach.

[2][3][6] Had this been the end of the campaign, it would have been a total failure for Ormond and the Royalists as valuable resources had been depleted and New Ross remained a Confederate stronghold.

A few kilometers north of New Ross as the Royalists neared the small village of Ballinvegga they observed that they had unintentionally marched toward a place where Preston's Confederate Army had gathered.

Preston was not content with allowing Ormond to slink home and had remained in the field hoping to intercept and confront the Royalist army.

[3][8] After the battle, it was said of the terrible damage caused by the artillery "what goodlie men and horses lay there all torn and their guttes lying on the ground - armes cast away and strewed over the fields.