[4] After the Parliamentarian victory at Marston Moor, Alexander Leslie who commanded the Covenanters began a campaign in the north to capture Royalist garrisons and urban centers.

By 15 August, Leslie's Covenanter army had reached the important port city of Newcastle and resumed a siege that had ended unsuccessfully the previously February.

[5][6] After the surrender of Newcastle on 27 October 1644, Leslie took 4,000 of his Covenanters, composed of both infantry and cavalry, to Carlisle and began the siege of the walled city and fortress.

[7] This initial encirclement of Carlisle was not particularly confining to the Royalists as it left a substantial amount of grazing ground for cattle and horses outside the walls of the city.

During that time the primary action between the two opposing forces were skirmishes that took place when the Royalist would sally outside the city walls to procure cattle and provisions.