Battle of Dunbar 1650

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he battle of Dunbar following and turbulent period for both the Scottish and English parliaments. The English parliament had seen an Independents faction within it rise to power and form what was known as the New Model Army. This was a force capable of being deployed through England but also Scotland and Ireland. It was made up of full time soldiers rather than part time militia. Scotland’s Presbyterian-dominated Scottish Parliament saw this as a threat. The Scottish parliament had signed an agreement with the English Parliament known as The Solemn League and Covenant which preserved the reformed religion in Scotland. A group amongst them however known a the Engagers, a faction of Scottish Covenanters who believed that the only way to secure peace with England was to secure a deal with King Charles I who had been imprisoned at Carisbrooke Castle by the English Parliament in 1647.

A force of Engagers invaded England in 1648 without the agreement of the Scottish Parliament. This lead to the Battle of Preston during which the New Model Army lead by Oliver Cromwell defeated the Scottish forces.

Despite this defeat on 23 June 1650, Charles II following the execution of his father the year before landed in Scotland at Garmouth in Moray. Charles II and was then proclaimed King of Scots.

The English Parliament saw this as a threat and ordered an invasion of Scotland.

The English forces was commanded by Oliver Cromwell. The Scottish forces, including members of the Grant Clan were commanded by Sir David Leslie. Leslie’s forces were made up mainly by new recruits who whilst armed were poorly trained and so he engaged the tactic of avoiding direct conflict with the English forces. He eventually decided to retreat to Edinburgh and employ a scorched earth tactic forcing the English forces to get their resupplies from England via the port at Dunbar. He then entrench his forces near Edinburgh.

By early September, the English army due to the lack of resource was forced to withdraw to their base at Dunbar. Leslie, believing that the English army was retreating, ordered his army to pursue them. The Scots forces where able to reached Dunbar first and Leslie positioned his troops on Doon Hill overlooking the town.

The Scottish forces led by Leslie were being funded by the Scottish Parliament and the Church of Scotland who put him under pressure to secure an early victory to avoid escalating costs. This caused Leslie to reposition his forces down from Doon Hill in order to set up and attack on Cromwells encampment.

Cromwell viewing this as an opportunity apparently stating “The Lord hath delivered them into our hands!”.

That night Cromwell repositions his own forces to take advantage of this change. The following morning he launched a surprise attack on the Scots position. The Scots taken by surprise were routed and forced to retreat. The English forces pursued them, Cromwell reporting back to the English Parliament that the chase and execution went on for eight miles.

After accepting the Solemn League and Covenant, Charles II was formally crowned King in Scotland on 1 January 1651.

The exact number is uncertain but it is estimated that 6,000 prisoners were taken. Of these 5,000 were made to march south the remaining too injured to move. They were taken to Durham and imprisoned in the Cathedral there. Of the 5,000 that left only 1,500 remain those having died during the march or whilst imprisoned, more than die at the actual battle. The majority of the survivors where either transported further into England as labourers or to the English colonies in New England, Massachusetts, Virginia and the Caribbean.

Prisoners taken to the English colonies where sold to plantation owners and various businesses as labourers. The standard price being twenty pounds per prisoner. This required them to work for five to eight years before their passage had been paid before being given their freedom. Many were granted with land from the towns in which they had served their sentence following release.

The ship which transported the prisoners to Boston Massachusetts was called the Unity and the area which they eventually settled, now South Berwick, Massachusetts was known at the Parish of Unity.

There are records of a Niven Agneau, known as “Nivin the Scot” gaining his freedom and then obtaining employment with a James Barry, another Scotsman of South Berwick, Massachusetts in 1676. When Agnew died he divided his property between a Peter Grant and John Taylor, two other Scotsmen. In the inventory of his estate is this item, “To a sword that Peter Grant did say he would give ten shillings for.”