Prisoners from the Battles of Dunbar (1650) and Worcester (1651)
In 1650-1651 the Third Civil War of the Wars of the Three
Kingdoms was fought largely on Scottish soil when Cromwell's New
Model Army (NMA) invaded Scotland. The Scottish Covenanters'
army was heavily defeated by Cromwell at the Battle of Dunbar (3rd Sept
1650), and some 5000 prisoners were marched south of the border
by the NMA to Durham. During the infamous death march some
escaped, some were shot as a warning to the rest, some
were set to work around Newcastle and many died of famine fever
at Morpeth after eating cabbage raw from the fields. Just 3000
survived to be ordered into their temporary prison of Durham
Cathedral, where the dying from infection and fever continued.
The order was given to transport 900 of the healthiest prisoners
to the American colonies of Virginia and New England to be sold
into indentured labour.
It is not clear how many of these
were in the end transported, but on 7th November 1650, about 150
Scottish prisoners of Dunbar were transported aboard the Unity.
After landing in Charlestown, New England, the ones who survived
the voyage were sold for £20-£30 each as indentured servants, 60
of them to the Saugus Ironworks in Massachusetts. Up to 300 more
may have been sent to Virginia too, although shipping records
have not survived.
A year to the day from Dunbar, the
Royalist army under Charles II went down to its final defeat at
Worcester, and again
several thousand Scottish soldiers supporting Charles found
themselves prisoners of war in England. Again, many were ordered
for transportation – and on 8th November 1651, the John and
Sarah took sail with around 300 Scottish prisoners on board. 272
of them survived to reach Charlestown, where they suffered the
fate of the Unity prisoners a year earlier. The names of these
272 prisoners have survived(1) – in time, many of those who
survived their indentured labour would settle in the colonies
and have descendants today.
Notes:
1. As far as I can tell, no members of the
Douglas family were on the John and Sarah. It would be
interesting to know what happened to the Douglas prisoners.
See also:
• The 'Unity',
the ship used to transport the Dunbar prisoners to America.
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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