The Parliamentarian leaders before York thought that Rupert ought to have been stopped at Stockport.[141] There were two ways by which the royalists might have entered Lancashire, either at Stockport or at Warrington; probably the passage of the river Mersey at Warrington was too strongly guarded for Rupert to attempt it, for he must have preferred that way if he could have chosen. Not only was it the most direct way to Lathom but it passed through country which was much better affected to the King's cause than East Lancashire. But no doubt the resistance offered at Stockport was very feeble. Rupert had certainly not more than 10,000 men, and there should have been almost an equal number available to oppose him. For the Lancashire leaders had refused in April to send 2,000 men out of the county for the relief of the Earl of Denbigh on account of the necessities of their own county.[142] Lathom House, they said, was still unsubdued; the Earl of Derby threatened invasion from Wirrall, and the Westmoreland royalists from the north. It is true that some troops which had marched into Yorkshire had been kept there to assist in the siege of York; but the two Committees of Lancashire and Cheshire ought to have had far more than 3,000 men at Stockport to oppose the royalist advance. Perhaps one reason for their failure was the acute differences which had broken out among the Lancashire leaders. Complaints were made against Colonel Dodding, Colonel Holland and others, and there was even insubordination shown to Sir Thomas Fairfax. There seems to have been no ground for the suspicions of Dodding. He had suffered considerably for the Parliamentarian cause, and he continued to serve it faithfully. As regards Holland the complaints were probably justified; he had always been a rather lukewarm supporter of his party.[143]
As soon as Rupert had entered Lancashire his forces were considerably increased, the local royalists flocking to him in large numbers. The Earl of Derby joined him with all the forces he could raise. The royalists had now to decide whether they would attack Manchester or march straight for Lathom. On the day after Rupert's victory at Stockport, Manchester was secured by Sir John Meldrum with one Scotch regiment and one of Fairfax's consisting of Lancashire men.[144] Apparently Meldrum had intended to arrive in time to prevent the royalists' advance from Cheshire, but he was too late. Rupert, however, had not much time to waste in sieges, and it was evident that Manchester could not be taken except after a long investment. Rosworm describes an attempt which was made by the royalists to induce him to betray the town by promise of a large sum of money and advancement under Prince Rupert. The intermediary was Peter Heywood. There may be some truth in the account, but Heywood's plot to betray Manchester seems to have been made about a month before this time, and Rosworm's narrative is here very inaccurate. For instance he places Rupert's advance after the siege of Liverpool in August, in which he himself was engaged.[145] Whether or not the royalists attempted to gain Manchester by treachery, they certainly made no approach on the town but keeping to the west they moved by way of Barlow Moor and Trafford Park about three miles distant from Manchester. Rupert's objective was now Bolton, the second Puritan stronghold of the county.