[3] In order to end this, Charles I appointed Lord Byron commander of Royalist forces in Cheshire and Lancashire, while in November he was reinforced by troops transferred from Ireland who had been fighting in the Irish Confederate Wars.

Joined by 1,500 men under Colonel Alexander Rigby, Brereton deployed his forces along Booth Lane, placing his infantry in the hedges and the ditches lining the street, cannon in the middle and cavalry on either side.

[7] When battle commenced on 26 December, it initially resulted in an hour of fierce hand-to-hand fighting but despite their numerical superiority the Royalists failed to break the Parliamentarian defences.

Byron then ordered his cavalry to attack, supported by his infantry under Colonel Richard Gibson, forcing their opponents to fall back and seek refuge in houses and the church,[7] leaving 200 dead and many wounded.

[7][10] However, the town was held by a well-equipped garrison of 1,500 which repulsed the Royalists with considerable loss; by now, Brereton had been reinforced by Parliamentarian troops from Yorkshire under Sir Thomas Fairfax and on 25 January their combined forces defeated Byron outside Nantwich who retreated into Chester where he remained for much of the next two years.