Siege of Dundee
Who Fought
Scottish garrison numbered 500 or more defenders; exact English besieging strength not specified in sources
History & Significance
The siege of Dundee, 23 August to 1 September 1651, took place during the 1650 to 1652 Anglo-Scottish war. After a two-day artillery bombardment, a Covenanter garrison under Robert Lumsden surrendered to Commonwealth of England forces commanded by George Monck.
Shortly afterwards, Aberdeen also surrendered, effectively ending resistance in Scotland, while Oliver Cromwell's victory at Worcester concluded the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The Covenanter government was dissolved and Scotland absorbed into the Commonwealth, where it remained until the 1660 Stuart Restoration.
Attempts by Charles I to impose religious reforms on the Church of Scotland culminated in the 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars. His defeat led to the establishment of a Covenanter government in Scotland, and forced Charles to recall the Parliament of England in November 1640. The breakdown of this relationship resulted in the outbreak of the First English Civil War in August 1642.
In England, the Royalists faced a Parliamentarian-Scottish alliance, bound by the 1643 Solemn League and Covenant. In 1646, Charles surrendered to the Scots, hoping they would give him better terms than his English opponents. After several months of fruitless negotiations, the Scots handed him over to Parliament in exchange for a financial settlement, and their troops returned home on 3 February 1647.
Exasperated by Charles's intransigence and renewed outbreak of fighting in the 1648 Second English Civil War, leaders of the New Model Army decided to have the king tried for treason. To achieve this, Pride's Purge in December 1648 removed those MPs who opposed it. The so-called Rump Parliament then approved the Execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649, establishing the republican Commonwealth.
The Covenanter government had not been consulted prior to Charles' execution, and immediately proclaimed his son Charles II, King of Britain. Initially reluctant to accept Scottish support, after his Irish backers had been defeated in the 1649 to 1651 Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Charles accepted their terms. These included an undertaking to restore him to the English throne, and the Scots began recruiting an army to achieve this, led by the experienced David Leslie.
The Commonwealth reacted to news of Scottish preparations by ordering Oliver Cromwell to lead a pre-emptive strike. On 22 July 1650, elements of the New Model Army crossed the Tweed into Scotland, starting the Anglo-Scottish war (1650–1652). Cromwell manoeuvred around Edinburgh, attempting to bring the Scots to battle, but Leslie refused to be drawn out, and on 31 August the English withdrew to Dunbar.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Dundee lies on Arbuthnott-Garvock Group, bedrock that formed in the Pragian. The rock here is sandstone with subordinate conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone.
- Monck admitted to 500 Scots killed; modern estimates range from 100 to as high as 1,000, including civilians; around 200 prisoners taken
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- Siege of Dundee · Wikipedia