Charles heads south to defeat at Worcester

On 31st July, Charles headed south with part of Leslie’s army leaving a garrison behind at Stirling. Most of Charles’s England-bound army consisted of cavalry, and the accompanying infantry were mounted on horseback; they expected to be able to stay far ahead of any pursuit.

Charles headed south through Lanark, Moffat and Dumfries. There were a few skirmishes along the way, and he gained some supporters from Montgomery’s Western Association, but also lost men along the way. The psychology was now reversed. Charles would be leading an invading Scot’s army into England. Many of the Scottish soldiers had only wanted to defend Scotland from Cromwell’s invasion and they gradually drifted away as the army headed south. By the time they reached Carlisle on 6th August, the army was down to about 12,000 from the 20,000 that had been at Stirling.

Harrison had also made good time heading south: by August 5th he was in Newcastle – parallel to Charles’s army. As Militia Commander of the North of England, he sent out letters to his area commanders to warn of the invading army, and order food and animals out of their path – just as Leslie had done when Cromwell first invaded Scotland.

Meantime, Lambert left Edinburgh with his cavalry and headed south west, to follow the Scot’s army. He reached Penrith on 9th August. Charles had stayed there for an overnight rest on the 8th – he was now only one day ahead of his pursuers.

Cromwell meantime took the bulk of his seasoned infantry south in careful measured stages, conserving their strength and morale. He wanted these battle-hardened troops to be able to finally destroy the Scot’s army. On August 13th he gave his men a day’s rest on the outskirts of Newcastle. On the same day Harrison crossed the Pennines and met up with Lambert. They had about 7,000 men in total – not enough for an overwhelming victory. Any defeat might trigger a Royalist rally, so they continued to track Charles’s progress south.

Charles continued to head south gaining a little support in some districts while being rejected in others. He eventually reached Worcester on August 22nd and was allowed into the city.

On three sides, Worcester was defended by city walls, and on the fourth by the River Severn. Leslie’s men had destroyed the bridges over the Severn so they were in a very strongly defended position, but were surrounded by hostile forces and had no supply route into the city.

Charles and his men were psychologically depressed by the bad news of Monck’s advances in Scotland. Physically they were worn down as Cromwell began an artillery bombardment of Worcester.

Once again Cromewell launched a water-borne attack. Collecting all the boats he could find along the river he built pontoon bridges over the Severn invaded the city and defeated the Charles’s forces. Cromwell had won his decisive victory, in the last battle of the war, on 3rd September 1651.