ABSTRACT
On 12th July, the king and his council of war at last received a definitive report from Rupert himself on the outcome of the battle of Marston Moor. At the time the field army was at Coberley, near Cheltenham. Its aim was to steal a few days’ march on Sir William Waller and with luck to fight the Earl of Essex before he could catch up. If this proved impracticable, they were confident of defeating Waller himself in battle with the support of reinforcements from the Bristol garrison. The document itself does not survive, but something of its contents can be inferred from letters written during July by Digby to Rupert and to Lord Goring, and by Sir Edward Nicholas to the Marquis of Ormonde.
