Following the Battle of Marston Moor, the survivors of the Royalist army scattered amidst recriminations and political infighting. After many trials and tribulations, on 1 November 1644, the Northern Horse, commanded by Sir Marmaduke Langdale, arrived at Stow-on-the-Wold. Finally united with the king's army, they were reequipped and probably reorganized into two brigades, about 1500 men in total. The tactical unit was the squadron, theoretically about 200 men strong, each usually comprising the remains of multiple regiments. Desertion had been rife on the march south, so the Northern Horse had an unusually high number of officers, leading to command and control issues as well as disciplinary problems.
Anxious to return to the north to revive Royalist (and their own) fortunes, in February 1645 the men of the Northern Horse petitioned the king for leave to return home. This petition would come to shape the future of the Northern Horse as well as the course of Royalist strategy in the coming year. The king's army was outnumbered and could not launch a campaign in the spring without the presence of the cavalry of the Northern Horse. Yet such was their
