Crossing the border unopposed on the 22nd July, Cromwell was met with a deserted countryside, stripped of all sources of food between the river Tweed and Edinburgh. Behind this scorched land, his foe, Leslie, had entrenched his army in a line of fortifications. The Scots, in their own backyard, subjected the English to guerrilla attacks at every opportunity, hitting without warning before melting back into the heather. Unable to draw the Scots into open battle, English morale began to sag.

Having sent Lambert ahead with 1,400 cavalry to secure Musselborough, Cromwell’s forces finally drew up on the outskirts of Leith on the 29th. He then proceeded to bombard the town with the support of four men-of-war but the attack was prevented from being driven home by heavy rain. After standing in battle order all night, and having eaten nothing but bread and water for the past six days, they withdrew to Musselburgh.

The Scots followed and overpowered the small English rearguard of 200 from the 11th Horse. A counter attack by the 1st horse drove them back before the Scots attacked again. The Scots were eventually driven off after a fierce battle when Whalley, commanding the rest of the 11th horse and Lambert leading the 13th joined the fray. During the battle, Lambert was wounded three times and briefly captured before being rescued by elements of the 1st horse.

Having eventually regained Musselburgh, the English were again harassed, this time by a force of 800 cavalry commanded by Major General Montgomery that raided the town at around 3 o’clock in the morning. After initially driving in the English pickets, they were beaten off with heavy losses. Englishmen serving in the Scots army aided the surprise of the attack, their voices being mistaken for a returning patrol.

With Musselburgh considered too exposed, Cromwell fell back on Dunbar to re-supply. There he began a psychological war in order to win the hearts and minds of the Scottish people, branding their alliance with Charles II as “a covenant made with Death and Hell.”

On hearing that the Scots were running short of food in their positions, Cromwell left Dunbar with the aim of outflanking the Scots and cutting their lines of communication with Stirling. By the 13th, he had taken Braid Hill, due south of Edinburgh. He then wasted two days communicating with Leslie before returning to Dunbar to re-supply.

He was back at Braid Hill by the 18th, only to discover that in the meantime, the wily Leslie had occupied Corsorphine Hill, placed a strong detachment in a house called Redhall and had deployed his main army for battle blocking the way to Stirling. Storming Redhall on the 26th, it was taken but the position on Corstorphine was considered too strong to assault. Edging to the west, to advance on Leslie’s western flank, they were matched by the Scots meeting at Gogar. Both armies deployed for battle but the Scots had formed their lines behind a bog making an English attack impossible. After a brief artillery skirmish, the English once more withdrew exhausted to Dunbar.

On this occasion, the Scots closely shadowed them, and only a severe thunderstorm prevented a severe mauling. The campaign had taken its toll on the English army. Leslie’s two allies, disease and hunger, together with the cold and wet of the late Scottish summer had played their part well. Of the 16,000 English who had begun the campaign, only 11,000 were considered fit for duty and of these, all were exhausted and hungry. Cromwell, having been well and truly out generalled, turned his thoughts from victory towards how to get home. September 1st saw the Scot army, twice the size of that of the English, made up of 6,000 cavalry and 16,000 infantry, draw up on Doon Hill overlooking Dunbar. That evening detachments were placed blocking the road to Berwick, known as the Cockburnspath, as the English worked frantically to fortify the town against the coming attack. With the only road to England blocked, Cromwell had two options, fight with his back to the sea against overwhelming odds or attempt to escape by sea.

As those too sick to fight were loaded onto ships, Leslie took this to mean the English were preparing to evacuate. This firm belief is confirmed by a conversation with a captured English veteran who was led before him. “How will you fight, when you have shipped off half your men, and all your great guns?” The veteran replied that if Leslie attacked, he would “find both men and great guns too!” Assuming that the English would evacuate their infantry by sea and let the cavalry attempt to break out along the Cockburnspath, Leslie positioned forces to block the way.

September 2nd dawned dark and stormy. The wind had been so severe the previous night that the English had been unable to pitch their tents, forcing them to sleep in the open. Exposed atop Doon Hill, the Scots had it even worse as the wind blew in unhindered from the North Sea. While impregnable to attack, the Scot position was out of artillery range of the English and difficult to re-supply. If they were to attack, they would have to move.

Cromwell was in a quandary. He knew that the Scottish position was impregnable, that he could not safely evacuate by land or sea and as time passed, his men grew weaker. “Our lying here daily consumeth our men, who fall sick beyond imagination.” If a solution was to be found, it must come soon.

In the end, it was the Scots who provided the answer. Leslie was content to sit and wait while the English grew weaker and so gain victory without firing a shot. The Kirk ministers attached to his army, however, saw themselves as far superior at military strategy than the man who had used his allies, hunger and disease to bring the English to their knees, and ordered that they attack. To do so, they would have to reform at the base of Doon Hill in preparation for crossing Spott Burn.

Leslie’s plan was one of envelopment. His infantry was placed at the center with cavalry on either flank, two thirds on the right blocking the road to England and one-third to the left. The infantry was to engage the English center while the cavalry would move around the flanks to surround the English. While a sound plan, its flaw was that it assumed that Cromwell would be content to sit and wait for the attack. Moreover, the movements were made in daylight allowing Cromwell full view of what was planned.

Cromwell couldn’t believe his luck. Watching the Scottish preparations with Lambert and Monck from Broxmouth House, he quickly formulated a daring plan. While the Scottish position was ideal from which to launch an attack, it was poorly suited to meeting one. Their line was a great arch, close to two miles in length with little room to maneuver between Doon Hill and Spott Burn. If the English attacked on a flank, the Scots would not be able to reform in time to meet the threat.

As the Scottish artillery rumbled down the hill to take up position, Cromwell called his council of war. A number of English officers pressed that they should evacuate the infantry by sea and let the cavalry break out along the Cockburnspath to England. While the baggage and artillery would be abandoned and losses would be high, at least some would escape. As it was, it was too late to embark the infantry and there were too few ships. Cromwell laid out the plan.

Before the Scots army lay Spott Burn, steep sided and swollen by rain. While fordable, it presented a formidable obstacle. The Scot left, wedged between it and Doon Hill had no room to move and assist the rest of the army if needed. The English artillery could pin them down while the rest of the army attacked the Scottish right. As the stream approached the ocean, its banks grew flatter and there was room for troops to maneuver. This was where Cromwell saw the Scots as most vulnerable. Lt. General Fleetwood and Lambert commanding six regiments of horse and Colonel Monck, commanding three and a half regiments of foot were to attack this flank. The remainder of the infantry was formed into two brigades under Colonels Pride and Overton. Pride’s regiment and two regiments of horse commanded by Cromwell himself were to be held in reserve while Overton’s regiment and the dragoons were kept in place to support the artillery. By concentrating the attack on the flank, the whole Scottish army, unable to maneuver, could be rolled up. Lambert spoke warmly of the plan and it was enthusiastically adopted. The officers asked that Lambert be given the honor of leading the assault to which Cromwell agreed.
The Battle
Knowing that Leslie didn’t expect to be attacked, Cromwell moved his army during the night to allow a surprise attack at dawn. With the noise of their movements screened by wind and hail, Cromwell rode from regiment to regiment, carefully positioning each. So great was his concentration that biting his lip until blood ran down his chin, he didn’t seem to notice. Twice during the night, the alarm was raised in the Scot camp but they were ordered to stand down. As dawn approached, everything was ready but Lambert was nowhere to be found. Busy positioning the artillery, he eventually gained his position at around five to six o’clock as the Scots began to rise.

Despite standing in battle order throughout the night, many Scottish officers, political appointees unused to the rigors of a military campaign, had retired behind the lines to stay in tents and nearby farmhouses. Their soldiers, left without any officers, set about finding whatever shelter was to be had from the weather. Many covered themselves with corn storks to keep off the rain while horses were allowed to forage. At around two o’clock, the order was given allowing the musketeers to extinguish their matches and stand down.

With a mighty cry of “The Lord of Hosts,” the English cavalry fell on the Scottish right wing. Although taken completely by surprise, the Scots outnumbered the English by around 4,000-5,000 to 2,700. As they crashed into the sleeping camp, the Scots scrambled to gain their positions, fighting desperately. Lambert’s cavalry ploughed on until halted by a fierce downhill charge by Colonel Strachan’s cavalry, many of whom carried lances.

Monck moved his infantry up on Lambert’s right and attacked the Scot’s infantry. A desperate battle ensued as both sides traded musket fire and moved in for “the push of the pike.” The Scots, fighting downhill, had the advantage halting the attack which then seesawed with charges and countercharges.

Map of the battle commissioned by the English Parliament Cromwell, unlike his adversary Leslie, had maintained the ability to maneuver his forces. Seeing that committing his reserves could swing the battle, he moved his regiment of horse and Pride’s infantry between Broxmouth House and the sea to come up on the extreme right of the Scottish line. Moving Monck’s forces to the left to gain a clear run at the Scot infantry, he burst through the gap between Lambert and Monck followed by Pride’s infantry. As Lambert and Monck rallied their forces once more, Cromwell swung into the flanks of the Scottish cavalry. At this point, the sun burst through the clouds and Cromwell exclaimed, “Now let God arise, and His enemies shall be scattered!” Faced by the entire English army on its front and flank, the Scottish right collapsed, its survivors fleeing down the Cockburnspath.

The ungainly Scot line, with no room to maneuver, was met by an English onslaught on its unprotected flank. Many Scots simply panicked and fled or surrendered where they stood as the English cavalry swept from one end of the line to the other. The Scot cavalry on their left flank fled the battle they had never even joined. Two regiments of foot bravely stood their ground until overwhelmed and were cut to pieces. By seven o’clock, as the sun burned away the last of the morning mist, Leslie’s army had ceased to exist.

Cromwell leading his men in Psalm 117 before pursuing the routed Scot army
Amid the cries of the wounded, Cromwell was overcome with laughter, described by a puritan minister as “drunken with the Spirit and filled with holy laughter.” The English cavalry, singing Psalm 117, quickly reformed before riding down the fleeing Scots, pursuing for up to eight miles.

The Scots were right in expecting a crushing victory that day but the outcome was far different from what they had envisaged. Their army was decimated. Within a single morning, they had suffered over 3,000 dead, 10,000 taken prisoner and lost over 200 regimental colours. Many of the casualties occurred as the English cavalry rode down those fleeing the battle. English losses, on the other hand, were extraordinarily light; Cromwell claiming only 30 were killed, all of whom were lost in the initial attack.

While Dunbar was commemorated as a glorious victory, the fate of the Scottish prisoners was one of the less glorious episodes in English military history. Of the 10,000 captured, half were released immediately due to their wounds or sickness. Not wanting the others to join up with Leslie and rearm, the rest were marched 118 miles south to Durham with the aim of sending them to the American colonies as labour. Given little food or medical help, and prisoners who tried to escape offered no quarter, only 3,000 staggered into Durham on the 10th of September. Once there, the food intended for the prisoners was stolen and sold by their guards so that two months later, only 1,400 were still alive. Of these, 900 were sent to the colonies and 500 indentured to fight in the French army.

While Leslie’s guerrilla and scorched earth tactics had certainly been successful in bringing the English to their knees, they were overcome by Cromwell’s careful planning of the campaign. By organizing for his army to be supplied by sea, the need for foraging parties was eliminated. As a result, the army could be kept concentrated, ready for battle instead of split to look for supplies; these small parties being easy pickings for the Scots.

The superior quality of the English troops and their officers also contributed. Highly trained and disciplined, by the standards of the day, they were able to overcome the setbacks of the campaign to rally and overcome a much larger and confident foe.

The English victory at Dunbar is a classic example of two military doctrines, those of surprise and the concentration of force. Through careful planning and discipline, Cromwell moved his forces during the night to be able to burst upon the Scots at sunrise. The first the Scots knew of an impending attack was when the English were storming their camp! Without surprise, it is unlikely that the attack would have succeeded.

By concentrating the attack on the Scottish right, where there was room to maneuver, Cromwell was able to engage his whole army against a small portion of the Scots. At the decisive moment, he was then able to throw in his reserves to swing the battle. The Scottish line, by comparison, was long and unwieldy, unable to meet a flank attack and bring it’s greater numbers to bear.

While the Scots army was devastated, Dunbar did not mark the end of the campaign. No longer possessing the numbers necessary to defend his fortifications, Leslie fell back to the easily defended Stirling with 4000 survivors of the battle. Here he quickly set about strengthening its defenses, rearming the survivors and raising fresh troops.

No longer defended, Leith and Edinburgh quickly fell although Edinburgh castle held out until late December. The war was to continue for another year until exactly 12 months later, on 3rd September 1651, Charles II and his Scots army was surrounded and destroyed by Cromwell at Worchester as they made a daring dash to take London.