'A description of his Majestie's Army and of His Excellencies Sr. Thomas Fairfax; as they were drawn at the Battail of Nasbie June the 14th 1645'

Coloured engraving by J Sturt, publisher unknown, 1702 (c).

In December 1644, at the age of just 32, Sir Thomas Fairfax was appointed commander of the New Model Army. In less than six months, he forged the remains of three older Parliamentarian armies into a new battle-winning force. Its first test came in June 1645 at the Battle of Naseby, where years of battlefield experience and an instinctive sense of timing enabled Fairfax to smash the Royalist army in just two hours. Naseby was the key battle of the first English Civil War (1642-1646) and Fairfax's victory made a Parliamentarian triumph inevitable.