Following Parliament's victory in the1st & 2nd Civil Wars, Charles I had been executed in January 1649 and a Commonwealth declared in England. In June 1650 King Charles II prepared an invasion of England from Scotland. In July, the English Parliament launched a pre-emptive invasion of Scotland.
A largely veteran New Model Army force of 10,000 foot & 5,000 cavalry was under the command of Oliver Cromwell. Around 25,000 Scottish troops were raised under the experienced general David Leslie. However, his army was weakened by anti-Presbyterian purges carried out by the hardline Scottish Kirk.
Leslie fought a defensive campaign about Edinburgh, denying Cromwell a pitched battle. Though the New Model was supplied by sea via the port of Dunbar, weather, sickness & supply problems drained its strength. As the army retired to Dunbar, Leslie cut off Cromwell's possible retreat back to England.
Thinking his enemy fatally weakened – Leslie finally offered battle. Penned in with their backs to the sea, the New Model Army was outnumbered by 2:1 but, rather than evacuate or abandon his men, on dawn on September 3, shouting biblical quotations, Cromwell attacked.
The Scots were surprised but at first repulsed the English advance. Cromwell arrived with reserves, and his veteran infantry advanced across a narrow bridge at push of pike. As his cavalry broke, Leslie’s army was rolled up, driven onto broken ground, and penned in between a hill and a ravine.
The battle was over in an hour—fewer than 100 English died yet the Scots lost 3,000 killed & about 6,000 were taken prisoner. Prisoners were then force-marched to Durham, and those that survived were locked up in the cathedral where even more died. The remainder were sent into indentured servitude.
While Cromwell saw such a stunning victory as proof of God's favour, Dunbar did much to seal his rise to political power. Exactly a year later, Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester dealt the final blow to any hope of Charles II gaining his crown militarily.
Brilliant thread! The facts, with captivating true drama
Could you explain the last line? Would the Scottish army have been larger without the purges?
This gave me some context as to what the purges were about, but no clearer on precisely how that could and would affect an army. Were the purges carried out against the army as well as the church? www.rpcscotland.org/history/the-...
It's complex, but in short: the Scottish Covenanters allied with Parliament during the 1st civil war but later allied with the King in the 'Engagement'. By the time of Dunbar, the Scottish church insisted anyone who had taken the Engagement be removed from the army en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_...
This purge included anyone not considered committed or "godly" enough (which was virtually anyone who had previously fought), which removed many experienced officers and meant that the bulk of the Scottish army was composed of raw recruits with little training or experience.
Amazing - thank you SO much for taking the time to reply! That all makes so much more sense now. I'm sure military historians have ensured that lesson was learned and no one ever made such a foolish mistake agai.... *puts finger to ear* Oh. Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. Oh well, never mind!
Some good wiki rabbit holes there - thanks again!