welcome to RC Diane!
a little background info for those of us who don't know our history:
Over a career involving many dozens of battles, sieges, and skirmishes, Cromwell was beaten once: at Clonmel in May 1650, when he walked into a trap laid by Hugh O'Neill. The blunder cost him 1, 500 men. His masterpiece was Dunbar. There, in September 1650, he faced a well-equipped and trained Anglo-Scots force of 20, 000 under David Leslie. His own army of 16, 000 had been reduced by sickness and desertion to 11, 000 within a matter of weeks. Encamped with their back to the sea, it seemed that they were about to be rolled over by the Scots, who from their commanding position on Doon Hill controlled the road back to England. On the morning of 2 September Leslie confidently moved his army down the hill, preparatory to an attack on what he believed to be a demoralized English army.
But Cromwell had perceived a weakness in the Scots position. He saw how their left wing was crowded against the steep slope of Spott Burn Glen, thus unlikely to be able to deploy, and that the two wings of Leslie's army would not be able to support each other. He also saw a slight depression across the front of the enemy and under the cover of driving rain and darkness marched the bulk of his army along it, literally under Leslie's nose. As he launched the assault at daybreak, he shouted the words of the psalmist, ‘Now let God arise, and his enemies shall be scattered.’ Isolated from their comrades, the Scots right wing crumpled and the battle was over in barely an hour. Three thousand Scots were slaughtered and 10, 000 taken prisoner. Cromwell lost only twenty of his own men.
looking for further info
Diddy
