This was defeated at Worcester on 3 September 1651 and Charles was forced back into exile. Despite this, Charles himself then invaded England at the head of another army. In a move designed to stop any possible Scottish invasion of England, Cromwell marched north in response.Īt first out-manoeuvred by the Scots, Cromwell then destroyed a Scottish army at the Battle of Dunbar on 3 September 1650. In 1650, the exiled Charles II landed in Scotland and was crowned at Scone the following year. Third Civil War and Protectorate, 1650-58 To those with the field armies, however, the war meant frequent marches, cold, hunger, tiredness and disease.
A large number never left their own counties. Many soldiers were employed on garrison duty in towns, and saw little fighting. They were more useful for sieges than on the open battlefield. They varied in calibre and their rate of fire was slow. They were armed with muskets and swords.Īrtillery pieces were fairly clumsy and difficult to move. In practice, few were so lavishly equipped.ĭragoons were mounted infantry, who dismounted to fight. Ideally a cavalry trooper would possess a sword, a pair of pistols, helmet, buff coat, back and breastplate, and a steel gauntlet to cover his bridle hand. Pikemen were needed to protect the musketeers from cavalry - no horse would charge onto the closely-packed points of their pikes.Ĭalled the 'Horse', cavalry were also formed into regiments, but sometimes operated in independent troops. Muskets were wildly inaccurate, but lethal at close range. About two-thirds of a regiment was armed with a matchlock musket, the rest with a sixteen-foot, steel-tipped pike. Known as the 'Foot', infantry were usually organised in regiments.
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