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Founding of the New Model Army

When
1644–1645
Where
England
Episodes
2

The New Model Army was established by Parliament in 1645 to address financial and command deficiencies. The Ordinance became law on 17 February 1645, appointing Sir Thomas Fairfax as Captain General and Philip Skippon as Major General of the Foot.

Episodes

  1. December 1644 to 3 April 1645 · EnglandSelf-Denying Ordinance

    Sir Henry Vane introduced the Self-denying Ordinance, requiring military commissioners to resign from Parliament.

  2. 17 February 1645 · EnglandOrdinance Enactment

    The New Model Army Ordinance became law, appointing Fairfax and Skippon to key command roles.

Background and detail

Legislation and Appointment. The New Model Army Ordinance became law on 17 February 1645. Sir Thomas Fairfax was appointed Captain General and Philip Skippon Major General of the Foot. The Self-denying Ordinance, introduced in December 1644, required military commissioners to resign from Parliament, taking effect in April 1645.

Naming and Identity. Contemporaries referred to the force as the 'New Modelled Army' or 'Parliaments Army'. Records from February 1646 confirm the idiom 'new-modelled' was standard, rather than the later 'New Model Army' phrasing. The army differed from regional forces by being liable for service anywhere.

People involved

Sources

  1. New Model Army Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-24

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.