Defeated at Dunbar, then starved in prison
THE Battle of Dunbar was a devastating defeat for the Scots at the hands of Oliver Cromwell’s invaders.
Cromwell’s New Model Army had retreated to the border town exhausted after failing to seize Edinburgh. They ended up fighting a Scots force led by General David Leslie, who earlier in the Civil War had fought with Cromwell against the Royalists.
By September 3, 1650, the Scots had switched sides and were fighting to get Charles II on the throne. Cromwell’s army was out- numbered but won a decisive victory in only an hour of brutal close combat.
The Scottish soldiers – raw and poorly armed, many in their teens – and were no match for veteran English troops armed with swords and muskets.
Up to 3,000 Scots died with 5,000 captured. Less than a third of these would survive the march south and subsequent imprisonment in Durham Cathedral.
Most were sent abroad to fight or transported to the colonies in the Americas as labourers or servants.