The battle of Marston Moor, which took place in the evening of the 2nd July, has been called the bloodiest battle of the English Civil War.
Parliament deployed its 27,000 strong army in a good defensive position and waited for Rupert and Newcastle to march out from York with a force some 9,000 below the strength of Parliaments army. In just a couple of hours the the fate of York and control of the North was decided, the royalist Northern army was effectively destroyed, and Rupert and the royalist cavalry lost their reputation as an invincible force. But perhaps most important, the victory was that of the forces under Oliver Cromwell, making his name as great commander. The Royalist army had lost over 4,000 men, with some 1,500 taken prisoners, all of their artillery was captured and a number of standards were taken. Parliament did much better, claiming to lose only around 300 men.
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