In August 1649, royalists in Ireland declared for Charles II and the third English civil war began. Cromwell suppressed the Irish uprising in just nine months and returned to England in triumph. The action then moved to Scotland, where, in the latter part of 1650, Cromwell defeated a Scottish royalist army and occupied the Lowlands. Despite this, on 1 January 1651, Charles II was crowned king at Scone.
The new king's final throw of the dice was to invade England with Scottish troops and try to raise a new royalist army. He entered Worcester on 23 August 1651, where he rested his troops and began to fortify the city against an expected attack. Outside, Cromwell divided his army in two and began to besiege the city.
Charles watched from the top of the cathedral tower as Cromwell failed to cross the Severn from the south or to attack by boat. The Parliamentarian commander then constructed a pontoon bridge and pushed back the royalist army, which then fled. Charles started a counterattack that thrust Cromwell back across his own bridge, but after three hours of fighting, the royalists were forced back into Worcester.
The numerical superiority and better discipline of the New Model Army now swung the battle decisively in the Parliamentarians' favour. The city was surrounded and Charles fled. He eventually reached France, where he began nine years of exile.
Many of the royalist Scottish soldiers who survived the battle were transported to America.
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 Battle of Worcester, 1651
www.scotwars.com/html/battle_of_worceste
r.htm
Offers a good overview, plus a day-by-day account of events prior to the battle.
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The Battle of Worcester 1651 by Malcolm Atkin (Leo Cooper, 2004)
This guide sets out the movements of the opposing armies of Cromwell and Charles II as they approached Worcester and gives a detailed account of the combat that followed. It also describes of the fate of the 10,000 Scottish prisoners and retraces the route of Charles II as he made his dramatic escape.
Get this book
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The Escape of Charles II: After the Battle of Worcester by Richard Ollard (Constable & Robinson, 2002)
This new edition of Richard Ollard's classic book vividly reconstructs the six weeks during which the king was on the run.
Get this book
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 The Commandery
Sidbury
Worcester WR1 2HU
Tel: 01905 361 821
Fax: 01905 361 822
Website: www.worcestercitymuseums.org.uk/
comm/commcur.htm
The Commandery site in Worcester has been occupied by a Saxon chapel, a medieval hospital and, in 1651, headquarters of Charles II's army. The museum there has an exhibition on the battle and the civil wars.
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