But the tide now turned against the royalists. Byron laid siege to Nantwich which under the circumstances was a place of very great importance. Clarendon says "it cannot be denied the reducing of that place at that time would have been of unspeakable importance to the King's affairs, there being between that and Carlisle no one town of moment (Manchester only excepted) against the King; and those two populous counties of Cheshire and Lancashire (if they had been united against the Parliament) would have been a strong bulwark against the Scots."[122] Realising its importance the garrison held out resolutely, and Sir Thomas Fairfax was sent in haste from Yorkshire to raise the siege. While he was on his way a royalist force under Sir Richard Willis, coming from Shrewsbury with ammunition, were defeated by a much smaller number of Parliamentarians; and several attacks on Nantwich were beaten off. Sir Thomas Fairfax left Manchester on January 21 with 2,500 foot and 28 troops of horse. His first encounter with the royalists was near Delamere where he took 30 prisoners; and about six miles further on another force appeared which was, however, dispersed after half an hour's fighting. Having reached Acton Church, a mile from Nantwich, Fairfax found a large detachment of the royalists drawn up; and he at once attacked these before they could be reinforced. The royalist troops had besieged Nantwich on both sides of the river, and a flood had separated their forces. Byron, however, came up before the issue was decided, and Colonel Holland's and Colonel Booth's regiments were faced about to meet the attack. The fight lasted for two hours, and Assheton was particularly praised for his part in it. The Parliamentarian cavalry were once hard pressed, but being nearest to the town they were assisted by a sortie of the garrison, and at length both divisions of the royalists were driven into Acton Church and obliged to surrender. A large number were taken prisoners, including their Major-General, four Colonels, many other officers and 1,500 common soldiers. Colonel Monck was one of those captured. More than half of the prisoners took service in the Parliamentary army. (January 25, 1644.) The battle of Nantwich had a decisive effect not only on the war in Cheshire but to some extent on Lancashire also. If the town had been taken all Cheshire would have been over-run by the Irish troops, and there is no reason why they should not have carried out their plan for an invasion of Lancashire. But the victory won by Fairfax and the Lancashire troops restored at one blow the Parliamentarian cause in Cheshire.[123] In Lancashire the way was now open for the siege of the last royalist strongholds. Only two places still held out to the King, Lathom House and Greenhalgh Castle, and of these the former was much the more important.