The Battle of Newburn, fought 382 years ago on Aug 28, 1640

[Lallans]

Here's a battle and Scottish victory I don't think I'd ever heard of. All those religious wars, what did they come to? I mean outside of Northern Ireland, where they continued up to the current peace accords.

On this day in 1640, a Scottish army and an English army faced each other across Newburn Ford on the River Tyne, just outside of the English city of Newcastle. The Scots were Covenanters, about 20,000 strong and under the command of Alexander Leslie, Lord General of the Army of the Covenant. The English, numbering about 5,000 and protected behind fortifications, were commanded by Edward Lord Conway. The two armies had been quietly and warily watching each other all morning, when at about 1:00 p.m. a Scottish officer rode to the river to water his horse. As the horse was drinking, an English sentry, acting without orders, took aim and shot the Scotsman down. Enraged, Leslie ordered his cavalry to charge across the ford. As the 300 or so troopers splashed into the river, the English opened fire with their artillery, driving them back. The Covenanters answered with cannons of their own and for about three hours an artillery duel raged along the river.

It soon became evident to the English that the Scots were getting the better of them. Eventually, as their fortifications were being destroyed by the Scottish guns, the English began to retreat. At about 4 p.m. Leslie ordered a general advance, and ten thousand Scotsmen swarmed across the river. The English cavalry fought bravely, but could neither prevent their own army’s retreat, nor hold back the Scots. It became a rout. The English fled and Covenanters marched into Newcastle. It was the first Scottish victory on English soil since the Battle of Otterburn in 1388.

The Battle of Newburn, fought 382 years ago today, was the only significant battle of what is called “the Second Bishops War,” with each side suffering about 300-400 casualties. It was not a war between England and Scotland, per se, but rather an uprising of ardent Scottish Presbyterians, incensed by King Charles I’s attempt to impose religious uniformity throughout his realm. When the King tried to impose a new Book of Common Prayer on the Church of Scotland (called by Scots “the Kirk") Scots revolted, joining in a national Covenant to oppose changes in worship and church governance. Charles sent an army northward to suppress the rebellious Scots and Leslie led a Covenanter army southward to meet it.

After winning the battle at Newburn Ford, the Covenanters occupied Northumberland and Durham County until the Treaty of London was signed in August 1641, withdrawing the attempt to put bishops over the Scottish Kirk and agreeing that no Scot could be punished for having signed the Covenant. Likewise, the Covenanters withdrew their demand that all three kingdoms (England, Ireland, and Scotland) become Presbyterian. The Covenanter disputes would drag on for decades, into and beyond the English Civil War, ultimately costing many lives.

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