Siege of Taunton

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The Siege of Taunton occurred during the English Civil War. In 1645 Parliamentary forces commanded by Colonel Robert Blake were besieged in Taunton, the only Parliamentary enclave in the South West of the country. A relief column under Colonel Ralph Weldon made it to Taunton on May 11, but the combined forces were still besieged. The two generals held out until help arrived on June 14 after the troops could be spared from the Battle of Naseby.

Blake, who went on to become a heroic admiral, is famed for declaring that he had four pairs of boots and would eat three pairs before he would surrender.