Battle of Dunbar 1650
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Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary.
Key facts
| Date (year) | 1650 | Wikidata P585 point in time |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 17th century | derived |
| Period | Civil Wars | derived |
| Country | Scotland | derived |
| War / conflict | Wars of the Three Kingdoms | Wikidata |
| Participants | Commonwealth of England, Kingdom of Scotland | Wikidata |
| Local authority | East Lothian | HES |
| Registered area | 1598.7 ha | HES |
| HES inventory reference | BTL7 | HES |
| Designated | 2011-03-21 | HES |
| Last amended | 2012-12-14 | HES |
About the battle
The Battle of Dunbar was fought between the English New Model Army, under Oliver Cromwell, and a Scottish army commanded by David Leslie on 3 September 1650 near Dunbar, Scotland. The battle resulted in a decisive victory for the English. It was the first major battle of the 1650 invasion of Scotland.
After Charles I's execution in 1649, the English Rump Parliament established a republican Commonwealth in England. When their erstwhile ally, Scotland, recognised his son Charles II as king of all of Britain on 1 May 1650 and began recruiting an army to support him, the English dispatched the New Model Army, under the command of Cromwell. The army crossed into Scotland on 22 July, with a force of over 16,000 men. The Scots withdrew to Edinburgh, stripping the land of provisions. Cromwell attempted to draw the Scots out into a set piece battle, but they resisted, and Cromwell was unable to break through their defensive line. At the end of August, with his army weakened through disease and lack of food, Cromwell withdrew to the port of Dunbar. The Scottish army followed and took up an unassailable position on Doon Hill, overlooking the town.
Visiting the battlefield
The battle has traditionally been known as the Battle of Dunbar after the closest parish to the area where the fighting took place, but at least one contemporary source refers to it as the Battle of Broxmouth, after another nearby settlement. The locations which saw action have been designated by Historic Environment Scotland in its Inventory of Historic Battlefields as a battlefield of national importance.
Location
- Local authority: East Lothian
- Approximate centre of registered area: 55.9825, -2.4918
- Registered area: 1598.7 hectares
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Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Dunbar (1650) (revision 1375910502), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Battlefield today”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations removed. No text added.
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