W S Douglas

Cromwell's Scotch Campaigns, 1650-51 W S Douglas

Regarded by many as Cromwell's military masterpiece, his campaign in Scotland in 1650-51, came perilously close to disaster, but was turned around by his famous victory against the odds at Dunbar on September 3rd 1650 - a year to the day before his last great triumph at Worcester. The Scots were Parliament's allies in the English Civil War, but the two sides fell out over the victorious Cromwell's refusal to install a Scots-style Presbyterian system as England's national Church, and after the execution of Charles I in 1649, the Scots swung their support behind his son Charles II. Cromwell invaded Scotland, but found his small army, decimated by disease and wildly outnumbered, pinned with their backs to the sea at the town of Dunbar. He spotted and exploited the weak point in David Leslie's Scottish host, and achieved victory with a daring uphill attack. ButDunbar did not end the campaign - which continued for another year. This book, published in 1899 is the first full and exhaustive history of the campaign which concluded with the battle of Inverkeithing. A must for all Cromwellian enthusiasts and anyone keen on Scots military history.