Cromwell's decisive victory at Dunbar opened Scotland to English conquest and set the course for the final defeat of Charles II's Royalist cause.
Key Facts
- Date
- 3 September 1650
- English force size
- Over 16,000 men
- Scottish force size
- 12,500 or fewer
- Scots killed
- 300–500
- Scots taken prisoner
- At least 6,000
- Scots wounded
- Approximately 1,000
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following Charles I's execution in 1649, Scotland recognised his son Charles II as king and began raising an army on his behalf. England's Rump Parliament responded by dispatching the New Model Army under Cromwell into Scotland in July 1650. Disease, food shortages, and Scottish defensive discipline forced Cromwell to withdraw to Dunbar, where the Scottish army surrounded him on Doon Hill.
Before dawn on 3 September 1650, Cromwell launched a surprise assault on the Scottish army, which had advanced from Doon Hill but was poorly prepared and weakened by religious purges. English cavalry outflanked the Scots after inconclusive initial fighting; the Scottish cavalry broke and routed, and the infantry suffered heavy casualties in a fighting retreat. Between 300 and 500 Scots were killed and at least 6,000 captured.
The Scottish government retreated to Stirling, and the English seized Edinburgh and the port of Leith. English forces subsequently crossed the Firth of Forth, defeated the Scots at Inverkeithing, and compelled Leslie and Charles II to march south into England. That campaign ended at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, exactly one year later, where Cromwell crushed the Scottish army and ended the war.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Oliver Cromwell.
Side B
1 belligerent
David Leslie.