New Model Army

The New Model Army was a newly-formed "professional" English army led by trained generals in an era when most armies were led by aristocrats with little or no military training. It formed from the existing Roundhead forces on February 15, 1645 to fight in the English Civil War, after Oliver Cromwell passed the Self-denying Ordinance to remove the former leadership of the Roundhead forces. It was led by Thomas Fairfax and won important victories at Marston Moor, Naseby and Preston.

Douglas Haig re-introduced the term for his units of the British Expeditionary Force. This army was soon decimated at the Somme, and the term became something of a joke.

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See also: New Model Army (band)[?]