The Battle of Preston was the decisive battle of the Second English Civil War, fought on 17-19 August 1648 in Preston, Lancashire, England between an allied Scottish-English Royalist army and the English Parliamentarian army of Oliver Cromwell. Advancing through Lancashire, the Scottish forces were surprised by Parliamentarian forces that overran their road guards and secured Preston. The Parliamentarians then began a pursuit of the disorganized Scottish army.
Background[]
On 26 December 1647, the imprisoned King Charles I concluded a secret "Engagement" with a delegation of moderate Scots, promising to accept Presbyterianism in England for three years in exchange for a Scottish army restoring him to the throne. Those among the Covenanters who supported the deal became known as the "Engagers", and, while the Church of Scotland would declare the Engagement a breach of God's law on 5 May 1648, the Engagers gained a majority in the Scottish Parliament and sent the Duke of Hamilton to lead an invasion of Northern England on 8 July 1648 to support the King.
The Scots crossed the English border as the Parliamentarians suppressed isolated Royalist uprisings in England and Wales: Oliver Cromwell put down a Royalist mutiny at Pembroke, Thomas Fairfax defeated a Kentish rebellion at the Battle of Maidstone and besieged its remnants in Colchester, and Colonel Edward Rossiter besieged Pontefract and Scarborough in Yorkshire. The Scots were not only disadvantaged by the quelling of the Royalist uprisings in England, but also by quarrels among their leaders and by their lack of experienced troops, as most of their army consisted of raw levies due to the refusal of many Covenanter veterans to fight for the King. In August, the Scots opted to march into Lancashire to join forces with John Byron's Cheshire Royalists rather than march to relieve Pontefract.
Battle[]
Cromwell's Parliamentarian army of 9,000 troops, including New Model Army soldiers and the militias of Yorkshire, County Durham, Northumberland, and Lancashire, met the Scottish and Royalist army at Preston. After four hours of fighting, the Scots and Royalists were driven back to the River Ribble, and Cromwell ruthlessly pursued the Scots to Warrington, where they surrendered on 25 August. While there were a few more attempts to raise the Royalist standard in Wales and elsewhere, the Battle of Preston put an end to Royalist hopes of winning the Second Civil War. Those among the prisoners who had voluntarily taken up arms were sent to the New World or the Republic of Venice as forced labor.