East Staffordshire's strategic importance was heightened by its position at the boundary of Royalist and Parliamentarian garrisons in the region.. Burton had come to Roundhead attention in early 1643 after the establishment of a garrison at nearby Derby by the county committee leader, Sir John Gell. In February, Gell placed a garrison across the county border at Burton, consisting of an infantry company under Dutch Major Johannes Molanus, but withdrew it less than a month later to assist in an attack on Newark.
