13 November

The Battle of Turnham Green occurred on this day in 1642 near the village of Turnham Green, at the end of the first campaigning season of the First English Civil War.

The battle resulted in a standoff between the forces of King Charles I and the much larger Parliamentarian army under the command of the Earl of Essex. In blocking the Royalist army’s way to London, however, the Parliamentarians gained an important strategic victory as the standoff forced Charles and his army to retreat to Oxford for secure winter quarters.