From this time it was seen that the sword could alone decide the quarrel between the king and the Parliament. Charles made an unsuccessful attempt (January 4, 1642) to seize six of the most refractory members, for the purpose of striking terror into the rest. This served to widen still further the breach. In the earlier part of 1642, the two parties severally employed themselves in preparing for war. Yet, even now, the king granted some additional concessions to his opponents. It was at last, upon a demand of the Parliament for the command of the army――a privilege always before, and since, resting with the crown――that he finally broke off all amicable intercourse. He now retired with his family to York. The Parliament found its chief support in the mercantile classes of London and of the eastern coast of England, which was then more devoted to trade than the west, and in the Puritan party generally, who were allied intimately with the Presbyterians of Scotland, if not rapidly becoming assimilated with them. Charles on the other hand looked for aid to the nobility and gentry, who were able to bring a considerable number of dependents into the field. The Parliamentary party was by the other styled _Roundheads_, in consequence of their wearing short hair; while the friends of the Parliament bestowed upon their opponents the epithet of _Malignants_. The Royalists were also, in the field, termed Cavaliers, from so many of them being horsemen. On the 25th of August 1642 the king erected his standard at Nottingham, and soon found himself at the head of an army of about ten thousand men. The Parliament had superior forces, and a better supply of arms; but both parties were very ignorant of the art of war. The king commanded his own army in person, while the Parliamentary forces were put under the charge of the Earl of Essex. The first battle took place, October 23, at Edgehill, in Warwickshire, where the king had rather the advantage, though at the expense of a great number of men. He gained some further triumphs before the end of the campaign, but still could not muster so large an army as the Parliament. During the winter, the parties opened a negotiation at Oxford; but the demands of the Parliament being still deemed too great by the king, it came to no successful issue.