The Third Civil War

1650 - 1651

On the death of Charles I, his son Charles II was proclaimed King in Edinburgh. As Fairfax had resigned from his post as Commander-in-Chief over the trial of Charles I, Parliament placed Cromwell in command of its forces, he massed the Parliamentarian army at Berwick and at the end of July crossed the border into Scotland. The Scots managed to trap Cromwell's forces against the sea at Dunbar and on 3 September, 1650, Cromwell launched a counterattack defeating the Scots. He then placed an army of occupation into Scottish towns and castles and reduced Scotland to a state of subservience to the English Parliament.

The main Scottish army regrouped, re-equipped and invaded England on 6 August, 1651. They occupied Worcester on 22 August, 1651, an army of Royalist sympathisers led by the Earl of Derby moved to intercept Cromwell's pursuit of the Scots and they met at Wigan on 25 August, 1651, resulting in a defeat for the Royalists. Cromwell attacked Worcester on 3 September, 1651, the result was a disaster for the King and he fled in fear of his life at one point hiding in an oak tree to evade pursuit.

Charles II fled to France and stayed there until after the death of Cromwell when Parliament invited him to return. He was acknowledged King in England on 25 May, 1660