Battle of Cheriton

In summer 1643, a Royalist army led by Lord Hopton invaded Hampshire and Sussex, whose Wealden iron industry was Parliament's main source of armaments. Despite initial success, by early January 1644 a series of defeats led Charles I to order a retreat into Wiltshire. When Hopton argued for remaining in Hampshire, Charles sent him a detachment from the Royalist field army in Oxford led by the Earl of Forth. By the end of February, Sir William Waller's "Army of the Southern Association" based in Arundel had been increased to over 8,000. Parliament ordered him to slip past Hopton and retake South West England, lost to the Royalists after defeat at Roundway Down the previous summer. When one of…