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Siege of Dundee

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Siege of Dundee
Part of Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Date23 August to 1 September 1651
Location
Dundee, Scotland
Result English victory
Belligerents
Scotland Commonwealth
Commanders and leaders
Robert Lumsden † George Monck
Strength
~5,000 4,600–7,000
Casualties and losses
100–1,000 killed, including some civilians
200–500 captured		 ~20 killed
~20 injured[1]

The siege of Dundee took place from 23 August to 1 September 1651 after an English force under George Monck confronted the town of Dundee in Scotland and its garrison commanded by the town's governor, Robert Lumsden. An English army under Oliver Cromwell had invaded Scotland on the orders of the republican Commonwealth the previous year and defeated the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar. In July 1651 the Scots were defeated again, at the Battle of Inverkeithing, and their capital, Perth, captured. In desperation the Scots, commanded by David Leslie and King Charles II, invaded England with what remained of their army. Cromwell followed with most of the English force, leaving Monck with 5,000 men to mop up the remaining resistance in Scotland.

Monck marched on Stirling, which surrendered, then counter marched towards Dundee. He arrived on 23 August and demanded its surrender. Lumsden refused, but when bad weather prevented the English artillery from bombarding the town Monck struck at other centres of resistance. On 28 August a regiment of English cavalry surprised 5,000 Scots at Alyth, 15 miles (24 km) north of Dundee, scattering them and taking prisoner the surviving Scottish military and political leaders. On 30 August the town of St Andrews surrendered. Also on 30 August the weather cleared and Monck again summoned the governor to surrender the town and was again refused. Infuriated at having to risk his men's lives with an assault when the war was all but over, Monck gave permission for the town to be sacked once it was captured. On 1 September, after a three-day artillery bombardment, the English stormed the town, captured it and sacked it for 24 hours. Between 100 and 1,000 Scots were killed, including many women and children, and a large amount of loot was seized.

Shortly after the capture of Dundee, Aberdeen surrendered to a party of Monck's cavalry, effectively ending resistance in Scotland. Two days after Dundee fell Cromwell inflicted a crushing defeat on Leslie and Charles at the Battle of Worcester, ending the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The defeated Scottish government was dissolved and the Kingdom of Scotland was absorbed into the Commonwealth. In 1660 a new English parliament accepted Charles's claim to the throne and he was crowned King of England on 23 April 1661, twelve years after being crowned by the Scots. This completed the Stuart Restoration.

Background[]

In 1639, and again in 1640, Charles I, who was king of both Scotland and England in a personal union, went to war with his Scottish subjects in the Bishops' Wars. These had arisen from the Scots' refusal to accept Charles's attempts to reform the Scottish Kirk to bring it into line with English religious practices.[2] Charles was not successful and after years of rising tensions, in part caused by Charles's defeat in the Bishops' Wars and his need to fund them, the relationship between Charles and his English Parliament also broke down in armed conflict, starting the First English Civil War in 1642.[3][4]

A contemporary English view of the Scots imposing conditions on Charles II in return for their support

In England, Charles's supporters, the Royalists, were opposed by the combined forces of the Parliamentarians and the Scots. The latter, in 1643, had formed an alliance bound by the Solemn League and Covenant, in which the English Parliament agreed to reform the English church along similar lines to the Scottish Kirk in return for the Scots' military assistance.[5] After four years of war, the Royalists were defeated and Charles surrendered to the Scots.[6] After several months of fruitless negotiations, the Scots handed Charles over to the English parliamentary forces in exchange for a financial settlement and left England on 3 February 1647.[7]

Exasperated by Charles's intransigence and the prolonged bloodshed, the New Model Army purged the English Parliament. They established the Rump Parliament, which had Charles tried for treason against the English people. Charles was executed on 30 January 1649, and the republican Commonwealth was created.[8][9] The Scottish Parliament, which had not been consulted prior to the King's execution, declared his son, also Charles, King of Britain.[10][11] Charles II was initially reluctant to accept the declaration, but after an English campaign in Ireland crushed his Royalist supporters there, he felt compelled to accept the Scottish terms. The Scottish Parliament set about rapidly recruiting an army to support the new king, under the command of the experienced general, David Leslie.[12][13]

English invasion of Scotland[]

Scotland was actively rearming and the leaders of the English Commonwealth felt threatened.[14] Oliver Cromwell was appointed commander-in-chief of the New Model Army and led it across the Tweed into Scotland on 22 July 1650, so starting the Third English Civil War.[15] Cromwell manoeuvred around Edinburgh, attempting to bring the Scots to battle, but he was not able to draw Leslie out.[16] On 31 August Cromwell withdrew to Dunbar.[17][18][19] Believing the English army was in a hopeless situation and under pressure to finish it off rapidly,[20][21] Leslie moved his into a position to attack Dunbar.[22][17] On the night of 2/3 September Cromwell manoeuvred his army so as to be able to launch a concentrated pre-dawn attack against the Scottish right wing.[23][24] The battle was in the balance until Cromwell personally led his cavalry reserve in a flank attack on the two Scottish infantry brigades which had managed to come to grips with the English and rolled up the Scottish line.[25][26] Leslie executed a fighting withdrawal, but some 6,000 Scots, from his army of 12,000, were taken prisoner, and approximately 1,500 killed or wounded.[27][28]

Leslie sought to rally what remained of his army, and build a new defensive line at Stirling. This was a narrow choke point which blocked access to north-east Scotland, the major source of supplies and recruits for the Scots. There he was joined by the bulk of the government, clergy, and Edinburgh's mercantile elite.[29] On 1 January 1651 Charles was formally crowned at Scone. After six months of manoeuvring an English force of 1,600 men under Colonel Robert Overton succeeded in crossing the Firth of Forth and established a beachhead near Inverkeithing on 17 July.[30] On 20 July the Scots, more than 4,000 strong and commanded by Major-general James Holborne advanced against the English, now reinforced to approximately 4,000 men and commanded by Major-general John Lambert.[31] In the Battle of Inverkeithing the Scottish cavalry were routed and when the previously unengaged Scottish infantry attempted to retreat they suffered many losses in the running battle that ensued.[32]

Prelude[]

After the battle, Lambert marched 6 miles (10 km) east and occupied the deep-water port of Burntisland[33] and Cromwell shipped most of the English army there.[34] Realising this left open the way into England for the Scots, Cromwell issued contingency orders as to what measures to take if this were to occur.[34][31] He then ignored the Scottish army at Stirling and on 31 July marched on the seat of the Scottish government at Perth, which he besieged. Perth surrendered after two days, cutting off the Scottish army from reinforcements, provisions and materiel.[33][35] In desperation Charles and Leslie decided that their only chance was to invade England in the hope that the populace would rise to support the King and so took their army south. Cromwell and Lambert followed, shadowing the Scottish army, while leaving General George Monck with 6,000 of the least experienced men to mop up what Scottish resistance remained.[36]

Monck marched on Stirling, arriving on 6 August, and the town surrendered. After being subjected to plunging fire from the English artillery, Stirling Castle followed suit on 14 August. Monck detached 1,400 men under Colonel John Okey to subdue western Scotland and marched back through Perth towards Dundee, one of the last three significant Scottish fortifications holding out; the others were Aberdeen and St Andrews.[37][38]

Siege and assault[]

East Port, Dundee

Dundee was a walled town, but its defences were outdated, the most recent being from the 16th century. The town had been easily captured by a Royalist force under James Graham, Marquess of Montrose, in 1645.[39] Nevertheless, the town's walled status and its garrison of at least 500 men meant many Scots deposited money and valuables there, to keep them safe from the English. The town was crowded with Scots who had fled from the English, some from as far away as Edinburgh. Monck drew up his army outside the town on 23 August and demanded its surrender. The town's governor, Robert Lumsden, believing the town walls and the local militia strong enough to withstand the English, refused.[40][41][42]

When the Scottish Parliament was not sitting, authority in Scotland was exerted by the Committee of Estates. With the capture of Perth by Cromwell this body, dominated by militant Covenanters, endeavoured to assemble a fresh army in Angus. On 28 August a regiment of English cavalry commanded by Colonel Matthew Alured surprised 5,000 Scots at Alyth, 15 miles (24 km) north of Dundee, scattered them and took prisoner all of the members of the Committee of Estates.[37][43] On 30 August St Andrews also surrendered.[44]

Poor weather conditions delayed the start of the English artillery bombardment of Dundee. On 30 August the weather cleared and Monck again summoned the governor to surrender the town and was again refused. Infuriated at having to risk his men's lives with an assault when the war was all but over, Monck gave permission for the town to be sacked once it was captured.[40] Three days after their artillery opened fire, the English stormed the west and east ports (gates) on the morning of 1 September.[40] By noon they had broken into the town and proceeded to thoroughly sack it; several hundred civilians, including women and children, were killed,[45][46] as was Lumsden.[47] Monck admitted to 500 Scots killed; modern estimates range from 100 to as high as 1,000. Some 200 prisoners were taken. Monck allowed the army 24 hours to pillage and as well as the loss of life a large amount of booty was taken. Some individual soldiers seized small fortunes.[43][37] As the town had refused an offer to surrender peacefully and consequently been taken by assault these actions were not breaches of the rules of war at the time, although they were considered unusually fierce.[48] Subsequently, the usual strict military discipline of the New Model Army was reimposed.[37] Dundee took over a century to recover economically from the sack.[49]

Aftermath[]

Shortly after the capture of Dundee, Aberdeen, whose council saw no benefit in resisting an inevitable and costly defeat, surrendered to a party of Monck's cavalry.[50] A few isolated strongholds, including the Bass Rock, Dumbarton Castle and Dunnottar Castle near Stonehaven, held out into 1652, but the English forces were able to advance as far north as Orkney without significant opposition.[51][52] Meanwhile the Scots under Charles and Leslie had penetrated into England as far as Worcester. There the stronger English army, which was better trained, better equipped and better supplied, cut the Scots' line of retreat.[53] On 3 September, two days after the storming of Dundee, the English attacked from the south and decisively defeated the Scots.[54][55] Charles was one of the few to escape capture.[56]

The Battle of Worcester marked the end of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.[57] The defeated Scottish government was dissolved, and the English parliament absorbed the kingdom of Scotland into the Commonwealth.[58] Military rule was imposed, with 10,000 English troops garrisoned across the country to quell the threat of local uprisings.[59][60] Negotiations between commissioners of the English parliament and the deputies of Scotland's shires and burghs began to formalise the incorporation of Scottish legal and political structures into the new British state.[61] By 1653 two Scottish representatives were invited to take seats in the English Barebone's Parliament.[58] In 1660 Monck, who was now governor of Scotland, marched south with his army, entered London and called new parliamentary elections. These resulted in the Convention Parliament which on 8 May 1660 declared that Charles II had reigned as the lawful monarch since the execution of Charles I.[62] Charles returned from exile and was crowned King of England on 23 April 1661, twelve years after being crowned by the Scots at Scone, completing the Restoration.[63]

Citations and sources[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ "Diary of Proceedings of Forces under Lt.-General Monck after parting from the Army August 4, 1651". Scotland and the Commonwealth. Scottish History Society. Retrieved 18 December 2021 – via Friends of Dundee City Archives.
  2. ^ Kenyon & Ohlmeyer 2002, pp. 15–16.
  3. ^ Rodger 2004, pp. 413–415.
  4. ^ Woolrych 2002, pp. 229–230.
  5. ^ Woolrych 2002, p. 271.
  6. ^ Woolrych 2002, pp. 329–330.
  7. ^ Woolrych 2002, pp. 340–349.
  8. ^ Woolrych 2002, pp. 430–433.
  9. ^ Gentles 2002, p. 154.
  10. ^ Dow 1979, p. 7.
  11. ^ Kenyon & Ohlmeyer 2002, p. 32.
  12. ^ Ohlmeyer 2002, pp. 98–102.
  13. ^ Furgol 2002, p. 65.
  14. ^ Woolrych 2002, p. 482.
  15. ^ Dow 1979, p. 8.
  16. ^ Woolrych 2002, pp. 484–485.
  17. ^ a b Brooks 2005, p. 514.
  18. ^ Reese 2006, p. 68.
  19. ^ Edwards 2002, p. 258.
  20. ^ Royle 2005, p. 579.
  21. ^ Reid 2008, p. 57.
  22. ^ Wanklyn 2019, p. 138.
  23. ^ Brooks 2005, p. 516.
  24. ^ Royle 2005, p. 581.
  25. ^ Reese 2006, pp. 96–97.
  26. ^ Reid 2008, pp. 74–75.
  27. ^ Brooks 2005, p. 515.
  28. ^ Reid 2008, pp. 39, 75–77.
  29. ^ Woolrych 2002, p. 487.
  30. ^ Reid 2008, pp. 82, 84–85.
  31. ^ a b Woolrych 2002, p. 494.
  32. ^ Reid 2008, p. 89.
  33. ^ a b Wanklyn 2019, p. 140.
  34. ^ a b Reese 2006, p. 116.
  35. ^ Reid 2008, p. 91.
  36. ^ Woolrych 2002, pp. 494–496.
  37. ^ a b c d Reese 2006, p. 119.
  38. ^ Royle 2005, pp. 639–640.
  39. ^ Hutton & Reeves 2002, p. 221.
  40. ^ a b c Woolrych 2002, pp. 494–497.
  41. ^ Stewart 2017, p. 187, n. 23.
  42. ^ Firth 1885–1900, p. 150.
  43. ^ a b Royle 2005, p. 640.
  44. ^ Royle 2005, p. 639.
  45. ^ Stewart 2017, p. 176.
  46. ^ Stewart 2020, p. 46.
  47. ^ Hannay 1911, p. 676.
  48. ^ Royle 2005, pp. 609–610.
  49. ^ Jones 1948, p. 19.
  50. ^ Woolrych 2002, p. 499.
  51. ^ Atkin 2004, p. 147.
  52. ^ Furgol 2002, p. 70.
  53. ^ Royle 2005, pp. 629–631.
  54. ^ Royle 2005, p. 633.
  55. ^ Coward 2003, p. 249.
  56. ^ Woolrych 2002, pp. 498–499.
  57. ^ Kenyon & Ohlmeyer 2002, p. 40.
  58. ^ a b MacKenzie 2009, p. 159.
  59. ^ Dow 1979, p. 23.
  60. ^ Wheeler 2002, p. 244.
  61. ^ Dow 1979, p. 35.
  62. ^ Keeble 2002, p. 48.
  63. ^ Lodge 1969, p. 6.

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