Battle of Preston 1648
Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).
Key facts
| Date (year) | 1648 | Wikidata P580 start time |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 17th century | derived |
| Period | Civil Wars | derived |
| Country | England | derived |
| War / conflict | Second English Civil War | Wikidata |
| Participants | Cavalier, Kingdom of Scotland, Roundhead | Wikidata |
About the battle
The battle of Preston was fought on 17 August 1648 during the Second English Civil War. A Parliamentarian army commanded by Lieutenant General Oliver Cromwell attacked a considerably larger force of Royalists under James Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton, near the Lancashire town of Preston; the Royalists were defeated with heavy losses.
The First English Civil War between Royalist supporters of Charles I and an alliance of Parliamentarian and Scottish forces ended in 1646 with Charles defeated and imprisoned. He continued to negotiate with several factions among his opponents and this sparked the Second English Civil War in 1648. It began with a series of mutinies and Royalist uprisings in England and Wales. Meanwhile, a political struggle in Scotland led to a faction which supported Charles, known as the Engagers, gaining power. The Scots raised an army which crossed into England at Carlisle on 8 July to support the uprisings. Combining with English Royalists they marched south along the west coast road some 24,000 strong. Much smaller Parliamentarian forces fell back in front of them.
Visiting the battlefield
Location
- Recorded location (Wikidata; may be approximate): 53.7528, -2.6794
Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Preston (1648) (revision 1370272276), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations removed. No text added.
Battle location from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby battlefields
- Battle of Preston 1715 · 1 km
- Battle of Wigan Lane 1651 · 21 km
- Battle of Clitheroe 1138 · 23 km
- Battle of Ormskirk 1644 · 25 km
- Bolton Massacre 1644 · 25 km
- Battle of Brunanburh 937 · 28 km
Other battles of the Second English Civil War
- Battle of Maidstone 1648
- Battle of St Fagans 1648
- Siege of Pembroke 1648
All battles of the Second English Civil War →
Browse more: battles in England · Civil Wars · 17th century battles