James Graham, marquis of Montrose, takes the marquis of Argyll by surprise at Inverlochy north of Fort William February 2 and routs his 3,000-man army (see 1644). Montrose has only 1,500 men, but they leave about 1,700 enemy killed or wounded and proceed to lay waste Moray and Aberdeenshire, elude an army led by William Bailie of Letham at Brechin, capture and pillage Dundee, escape into the Grampian hills, defeat one of Bailie's lieutenants at Auldearn near Nairn, and rout Bailie himself at Altford.

Sir Thomas Fairfax, now 33, is appointed commander in chief of a New Model Army in February and works to organize and train an effective fighting force as England's Civil War continues. Oliver Cromwell has taken steps to create a Parliamentary army whose commanding officers owe their appointments to abillty rather than social standing, he has outfitted them with red uniforms (red is the cheapest dye available), and by spring these first "redcoats" have polished their skills in weapon handling.

A Self-Denying Ordinance passed by the House of Lords in April discharges members of Parliament from any obligation to hold civil or military commands. William Fiennes, 1st viscount Saye and Sele, has been chiefly responsible for the measure's passage. Charles I sends his son and namesake to the west country, whence the youth escapes to France and rejoins his mother.

Parliamentary army lieutenant colonel John Lilburne resigns his commission in April rather than subscribe to the Solemn League and Covenant with Scotland, which commits Parliament to reform the Church of England along Presbyterian lines (see religion, 1640). Commissioned a captain in Cromwell's army when hostilities began 3 years ago, Lilburne was taken prisoner at Brentford in November 1642, nearly tried for treason, but exchanged for a Royalist prisoner. He criticizes Parliament and its army for not supporting the radical demands of the Leveller movement—transfer of sovereignty to the House of Commons, suffrage for all men whether or not they own property, complete equality before the law, decentralization of government to local communities, a redistribution of parliamentary seats, annual or biennial parliamentary sessions to give ordinary citizens representation, an end to conscription and impressment, reopening of enclosed land, and the like. Arrested and sent once again to prison, Lilburne will remain under confinement with few interruptions until August 1647 (see 1647).

Prince Rupert captures Leicester in May, but the Battle of Naseby in Northamptonshire June 14 ends in a decisive defeat of Charles I's English Cavaliers at the hands of Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads in a triumph for the English middle class and merchants, who are supported by many of the country's great noblemen in the continuing Civil War. Prince Rupert's 4,000 infantrymen and 5,000 cavalry are outnumbered by the Parliamentarians, whose New Model Army consists of 7,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. Some 6,000 of Charles's men are killed, wounded, or taken prisoner; the Roundheads suffer fewer than 1,000 casualties and capture all 13 Cavalier guns.

Sir Thomas Fairfax marches his New Model Army to the southwest and defeats the only remaining Royalist army in July at Langport, Somerset.

The marquis of Montrose marches south in July with 2,000 men, having augmented his numbers. Bailie and the marquis of Argyll follow but are defeated at Kilsyth August 15 and suffer terrible losses (their entire 6,000-man force is killed, wounded, or captured). Montrose's clansmen slip away home with their booty, however, and when Montrose enters the border country with 500 cavalry and 1,000 infantry he is taken by surprise in a dawn attack at Philiphaugh, near Selkirk, September 13 by 6,000 Covenanter troops, mostly cavalry, under the command of General David Leslie, 44, who cut Montrose's Royalist army to pieces (see 1646).

Prince Rupert surrenders Bristol to the Parliamentarians in September and is dismissed from his command.

Europe's Thirty Years' War nears its end. Swedish soldiers Lennart Torstensson, 42, and Count Hans Christoph Königsmark repulse an imperial army under General Matthias Gallas, now 61, in January and block efforts by the army to relieve the hard-pressed Danes. They pursue the enemy into Germany, and virtually annihilate Gallas's army at Magdeburg. Torstensson gains a victory over the imperialists at Jankau in Bohemia in March, conquers Moravia with support from the Transylvanian prince George Rákoczi, and advances on Vienna. Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne, 33, is defeated in Franconia but raises a French and Hessian army that invades Bavaria and defeats the Bavarians in the (second) Battle of Nördlingen (Allerheim) August 3. Commanded by the duc d'Enghien, now 24, the French and Hessians have 6,000 infantry, 11,000 cavalry, and 11 guns; the Imperialist/Bavarian army commanded by Field Marshal Baron Franz von Mercy has 5,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, and 23 guns; the duc d'Enghien prevails, but he loses 4,000 killed and wounded. Von Mercy is killed, 5,000 of his men are killed or wounded, and 15 of his guns are captured. Plague breaks out in the Swedish army of Count Torstensson as he lays siege to Brunn and he returns to Bohemia.

The Russian czar Mikhail I Romanov dies at Moscow July 12 at age 49, having founded the dynasty that will continue until 1917; he is succeeded by his son, 16, who will reign until 1676 as Aleksei Mikhailovich.