The Battle of Chippenham was a January 878 battle between a Viking army led by Guthrum and an Anglo-Saxon army led by Alfred the Great. The Vikings forced Alfred to flee Chippenham and managed temporarily to gain control over most of Wessex. The battle was part of a coordinated strike on Wessex led by Guthrum and Ubba, breaking an earlier truce between the two sides. Alfred, spending the winter at Chippenham, was without his army and was forced to flee to Athelney.