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Battle of Dunbar, Scotland
By August Cromwell had backtracked to Dunbar. As the Scots followed, Conventing ministers dismissed from among them any who did not meet their godly standards. Least Satisfactory were the professional soldiers, most of whom were told to leave, and leslie's force dropped by 5000. leaving what was decribed by an appalled officer as "an army of clerks and ministers sons". Even so, by September Cromwell's men were pushed up against the sea at Dunbar with no sighns of supplies, and with their premium position on Doune Hill above, the Scots had only to wait for the already weak enemy surrender. Patience was not among the fervent ministers' vertues. Ignoring Leslie and knowing nothing of military tactics, they sent his twenty thousand men down the hill. It was the consummate military blunder. Three thousand were killed and ten thousand captured. Edinburgh Castle belonged to Cromwel by
December.
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