Colonal Blake, as he then was in 1645, was 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 was one of Oliver Cromwell's most important commanders during the Commonwealth period of English history, and the most famous British Admiral until eclipsed by Horatio Nelson.