ice. The major difference with the New Model Army was that of motivation. They were trained between October 1643 and March 1644 with one specific purpose in mind, they were to break the previous tradition of parliamentary forces being content with merely avoiding defeat, this time they were fighting to win. They could not settle for any less than the complete distruction of the king and all he represented. The new troops also had a higher level of religious zeal, being intent on killing off the marauding catholics, represented by the king – particularly after his allegiances with the rebellious Irish. Sir Thomas Fairfax became the leader of the New Model Army infantry, and Cromwell the cavalry. Their first major success came at the Battle of Naseby in 1645 which delivered the decisive blow to the royalists. The King’s main armies were destroyed and this created an open path to the West where his other substantial forces would to be defeated at Langport. Charles had greatly underestimated the strength of the new army and had paid for it dearly. Whereas previously the parliamentary forces were happy just to fend off the king and his armies for another day, they had now succeeded in eliminating his defences through the use of the New Model Army, leaving the oppurtunity wide open for the King to be reached himself.To be able to truly evaluate just how important the New Model Army was, it is necessary to investigate other major reasons for parliamentary victory. Parliament’s control of London was crucial to their war effort. As was previously mentioned, a great deal of Parliament’s manpower came from local militias and trainbands. London provided a great deal of these, mainly due to its population doubling to 200,000 in the seventeenth century. London is also the capital of the country, containing the central government – as well as the primary source of banking and business in the country - which w...
