Staffordshire was not immune from the Civil War, which broke out in England in August, 1642. The county saw both Parliamentary and Royalist garrisons taken and re-taken several times over. It was the strategic importance of Stafford, initially a Royalist garrison, which prompted Sir John Gell, the commander of the Parliamentary forces in Derbyshire, and Sir William Brereton, the Cheshire commander, to plan an attack on the town in 1643. The meeting place was agreed as Hopton Heath, two and a half miles east of Stafford. They were intercepted by Royalist troops under the command of the Earl of Northampton. The result was a victory to the Royalists. The Battle of Hopton Heath was Staffordshire’s only Civil War battle.