text: oliver cromwell anyone? how does cromwell fit into the british civil war? i'm not having trouble finding information about him, but i'm not understanding the info i've found. any info would help greatly! thanks! although cromwell had no military training, his experience as a large landowner gave him a good knowledge of horses. cromwell became convinced that if he could produce a well-disciplined army he could defeat prince rupert and his cavaliers  cromwell trained his cavalry to keep together after a charge. in this way his men could repeatedly charge the cavaliers. cromwell's new cavalry took part in its first major battle at marston moor in yorkshire in july 1644. the king's soldiers were heavily defeated in the battle. cromwell's soldiers became known as the ironsides because of the way they cut through the cavaliers on the battlefield.  the parliamentary forces were also able to capture the royalist baggage train that contained his complete stock of guns and ammunition.   the battle of naseby was the turning point in the war. after naseby, charles was never able to raise another army strong enough to defeat the parliamentary army in a major battle.