The Third Civil War in .NET framework

Draw Quick Response Code in .NET framework The Third Civil War

The Scots, disgusted by the king s execution (see the preceding section), opened negotiations with his exiled son (who was to become Charles II), who agreed to abide by the Solemn League and Covenant (the section Setting the Civil War in swing earlier in this chapter has more on this) He was invited to Scotland and crowned King of Scotland on 1 January 1651

Cromwell, fully aware of what was going on, had already crossed the border in July 1650 and was marching on Edinburgh His opponent, the veteran David Leslie, manoeuvred cleverly and employed a scorched earth policy that forced the Roundheads to rely on the fleet for their supplies Disease, hunger, and exhaustion reduced Cromwell s strength by half, leaving him with just 11,000 men to face Leslie s 20,000 Cromwell withdrew through Musselburgh and then to Dunbar, where Leslie boxed him in against the coast Cromwell seriously considered embarking the army on his ships and was prepared to sacrifice his artillery, horses, and baggage if necessary Leslie believed that such an evacuation was inevitable At this point, the Elders of the Kirk, a group so grim that by comparison the English Puritans looked like a song-and-dance troupe, started nagging him On 2 September they persuaded Leslie to descend from the strong position he held on Doon Hill during the night to attack Cromwell s army the following morning In fairness, he would not have done so unless he thought he could win In the meantime, Cromwell had detected a weakness on the Scottish right and it was against this weakness that he directed a major attack at first light, while his artillery was concentrated against the enemy left Only a splutter of musketry met Cromwell s attack and he simply rolled up Leslie s line Cromwell s men killed some 3000 of the Scots and captured 10,000, together with all their guns Cromwell claimed that his own casualties amounted to just 30 killed, a figure that even the gullible may have found hard to digest Dissent arose among the Scots, but Cromwell was unable to take advantage of it as he was ill It was not until the middle of the next year that major hostilities resumed

Charles II crossed the border from Scotland with the intention of marching on London in the hope of gaining his throne, but attracted little support Cromwell followed him, and Charles turned to give battle at Worcester His army, which included 6000 Scots, consisted of 8000 infantry, 4000 cavalry, and some guns Cromwell produced 18,000 infantry, 9000 cavalry, and some guns The Parliamentary army began by attacking across the rivers Severn and Teme on bridges of boats built by its engineers Charles s army beat them back and opened an attack on the enemy centre He was making some progress when Cromwell returned and broke the Royalists cavalry, then drove their infantry into the city, where most of them surrendered Royalist losses amounted to 3000 killed and up to 7000 captured, along with all their artillery Few of the Scots succeeded in making it back to their own country Charles became a fugitive for six weeks before escaping to the continent Cromwell s casualties almost certainly came to more than the 300 he admitted to

Worcester was the last battle of the Civil Wars, although some Royalist strongholds held out until 1652 It was not, however, the last battle that the New Model Army fought

The Irish Campaign, 1649 1652

Fighting took place in Ireland between English Royalists, a Catholic Confederacy, the Anglo-Irish gentry, and the native Irish To restore order and establish the Commonwealth s authority, Cromwell crossed to Ireland in September 1649 Such was the climate that neither Royalists nor Catholics expected much in the way of mercy, and Royalist Catholics none at all Most had taken refuge in fortified towns, but their ancient walls offered little defence against Cromwell s New Model Army with its wide experience of siegecraft Drogheda fell in September 1649, Wexford in October 1649, and Clonmel in May 1650 At every captured fortress the defenders and many others were ruthlessly massacred After the fall of Clonmel, Cromwell returned to England, leaving his subordinates to carry on with the reign of terror The last Royalist stronghold in Galway surrendered in May 1652 In some parts of Ireland the very name of Cromwell is still hated