Editing Battle of Worcester

{{short description|1651 final battle of the English Civil War}}
{{use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{use British English|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Worcester
| partof            = the [[Anglo-Scottish war (1650–1652)]]
| image             = Battle of Worcester.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = ''Battle of Worcester'', print by [[James Caldwall]] {{Circa|1760|1770}}{{sfn|British Museum staff}}
| date              = 3 September 1651
| place             = [[Worcester, England]]
| coordinates       = {{coord|52|11|19|N|2|13|15|W|type:event_region:GB|display=title}}
| map_type          = England
| map_size          =
| map_caption       = Worcester within England
| map_label         = Worcester
| result            = Parliamentarian victory
| combatant1        = [[Commonwealth of England|Parliamentarians]]
| combatant2        = [[Cavalier|Royalists]]<hr>[[Kingdom of Scotland]]
| commander1        = [[Oliver Cromwell]] <br> [[Charles Fleetwood]] <br> [[John Lambert (general)|John Lambert]] <br> [[Major Mercer of the Worcestershire horse|Major Mercer]]
| commander2        = [[Charles II of Scotland|Charles II]] <br> [[James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby|Earl of Derby]] <br> [[Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury|Earl of Shrewsbury]] <br> [[Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Cleveland|Earl of Cleveland]] <br> [[Edward Massey]] <br> [[David Leslie, 1st Lord Newark|Lord Newark]]
| strength1         = 28,000
| strength2         = 16,000
| casualties1       = 700 killed{{sfn|Cone|2003|}}
| casualties2       = 3,000 killed <br> 10,000 captured
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Anglo-Scottish war (1650–1652)}} <br> {{Campaignbox Scottish Civil War}}
}}

The '''Battle of Worcester''' took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of [[Worcester, England]] and was the last major battle of the 1642 to 1651 [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]]. A [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] army of around 28,000 under [[Oliver Cromwell]] defeated a largely Scottish [[Cavalier|Royalist]] force of 16,000 led by [[Charles II of England|Charles II of England and Scotland]].{{sfn|Cone|2003|}}{{sfn|Fraser|2012|p=24}}

The Royalists took up defensive positions in and around the city of Worcester. The area of the battle was bisected by the [[River Severn]], with the [[River Teme]] forming an additional obstacle to the south-west of Worcester. Cromwell divided his army into two main sections, divided by the Severn, in order to attack from both the east and south-west. There was fierce fighting at river crossing points and two dangerous sorties by the Royalists against the eastern Parliamentary force were beaten back. Following the storming of a major [[redoubt]] to the east of the city, the Parliamentarians entered Worcester and organised Royalist resistance collapsed. Charles II was able to escape capture.

==Background==
===Invasion of England===
The King was aided by Scottish allies and was attempting to regain the throne that had been lost when his father [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] was [[regicide|executed]]. The commander of the Scots, [[David Leslie, Lord Newark|David Leslie]], supported the plan of fighting in [[Scotland]], where royal support was strongest. Charles, however, insisted on making war in [[Commonwealth of England|England]]. He calculated that Cromwell's campaign north of the [[River Forth]] would allow the main Scottish Royalist army which was south of the Forth to steal the march on the Roundhead [[New Model Army]] in a race to London.  He hoped to rally not merely the old faithful Royalists, but also the overwhelming numerical strength of the English [[Presbyterian]]s to his standard. He calculated that his alliance with the Scottish Presbyterian [[Covenanter]]s and his signing of the [[Solemn League and Covenant]] would encourage English Presbyterians to support him against the English Independent faction which had grown in power over the last few years. The Royalist army was kept well in hand, no excesses were allowed, and in a week the Royalists covered 150 miles in marked contrast to the [[James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton|Duke of Hamilton's]] ill-fated expedition of 1648. On 8 August the troops were given a well-earned rest between [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]] and [[Kendal]].{{sfn|Atkinson|1911|p=420}}

However the Royalists were mistaken in supposing that the enemy was unaware. Everything had been foreseen both by Cromwell and by the [[English Council of State|Council of State]] in [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]]. The latter had called out the greater part of the militia on 7 August. Lieutenant-General [[Charles Fleetwood]] began to draw together the midland contingents at [[Banbury]]. The London trained-bands turned out for field service no fewer than 14,000 strong. Every suspected Royalist was closely watched, and the magazines of arms in the country-houses of the gentry were for the most part removed into the strong places. On his part Cromwell had quietly made his preparations. [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] passed into his hands on 2 August and he brought back his army to [[Leith]] by 5 August. Thence he dispatched Lieutenant-General [[John Lambert (General)|John Lambert]] with a cavalry corps to harass the invaders. Major-General [[Thomas Harrison (soldier)|Thomas Harrison]] was already at [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] picking the best of the county mounted-troops to add to his own regulars. On 9 August, Charles was at Kendal, Lambert hovering in his rear, and Harrison marching swiftly to bar his way at the [[Mersey]]. [[Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron|Thomas Fairfax]] emerged for a moment from his retirement to organize the [[Yorkshire]] levies, and the best of these as well as of the [[Lancashire]], [[Cheshire]] and [[Staffordshire]] militias were directed upon [[Warrington]], which Harrison reached on 15 August, a few hours in front of Charles's advanced guard. Lambert too, slipping round the left flank of the enemy, joined Harrison, and the English fell back (16 August), slowly and without letting themselves be drawn into a fight, along the London road.{{sfn|Atkinson|1911|p=420}}

===Worcester campaign===
[[File:Oliver Cromwell by Robert Walker.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''[[Portrait of Oliver Cromwell]]'' by [[Robert Walker (painter)|Robert Walker]], 1649]]
Cromwell meanwhile, leaving [[George Monck]] with the least efficient regiments to carry on the war in Scotland, had reached the [[river Tyne]] in seven days, and thence, marching 20 miles a day in extreme heat with the country people carrying their arms and equipment, the regulars entered [[Ferrybridge]] on 19 August, at which date Lambert, Harrison and the north-western militia were about [[Congleton]]. It seemed probable that a great battle would take place between [[Lichfield]] and [[Coventry]] on or just after 25 August and that Cromwell, Harrison, Lambert and Fleetwood would all take part in it but the scene and the date of the denouement were changed by the Royalists' movements. Shortly after leaving Warrington the young king had resolved to abandon the direct march on London and to make for the [[Severn]] valley, where his father had found the most constant and the most numerous adherents in the [[First English Civil War|first war]], and which had been the centre of gravity of the English Royalist movement of 1648.{{sfn|Atkinson|1911|p=420}}

Sir [[Edward Massey]], formerly the Parliamentary governor of [[Gloucester]], was now with Charles, and it was hoped that he would induce his fellow Presbyterians to take arms. The military quality of the Welsh border Royalists was well proved, that of the [[Gloucestershire]] Presbyterians not less so, and, in basing himself on Gloucester and Worcester as his father had done on Oxford, Charles II hoped, naturally, to deal with the Independent faction minority of the English people more effectually than Charles I had earlier dealt with the majority of the people of England who had supported the Parliamentary cause. However the pure Royalism which now ruled in the invading army could not alter the fact that it was a foreign, Scottish, army, and it was not merely an Independent faction but all England that united against it.{{sfn|Atkinson|1911|p=420}}

Charles arrived at Worcester on 22 August and spent five days in resting the troops, preparing for further operations, and gathering and arming the few recruits who came in. The delay was to prove fatal; it was a necessity of the case foreseen and accepted when the march to Worcester had been decided upon, and had the other course, that of marching on London via Lichfield, been taken the battle would have been fought three days earlier with the same result.{{sfn|Atkinson|1911|p=420}}  Worcester itself had no particular claim to being loyal to the King. Throughout the First Civil War it had taken the pragmatic position of declaring loyalty to whichever side had been in occupation. The epithet 'Faithful City' arose out of a cynical (and unsuccessful) claim at the [[Stuart Restoration|Restoration]] for compensation from the new king.{{sfn|Atkin|2004}}

[[File:Charles II (de Champaigne).jpg|thumb|upright|Charles II of England, circa 1653]]
Cromwell, the lord general, had during his march south thrown out successively two flying columns under Colonel [[Robert Lilburne]] to deal with the Lancashire Royalists under the [[James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby|Earl of Derby]]. Lilburne entirely routed a Lancashire detachment of the enemy on their way to join the main Royalist army at the [[Battle of Wigan Lane]] on 25 August and as affairs turned out Cromwell merely shifted the area of his concentration two marches to the south-west, to [[Evesham, Worcestershire|Evesham]]. Early on 28 August, Lambert's brigade made a surprise crossing of the Severn at [[Upton-upon-Severn|Upton]], 6 miles below Worcester. In the [[battle of Upton|action which followed]] Massey was severely wounded and he and his men were forced to retreat northwards along the west bank of the Severn towards the river [[Teme]] and Worcester. Fleetwood followed Lambert with reinforcements and orders to advance north towards the Teme. This western envelopment severed the Royalists' lines of communications to Wales and the western counties of England. The Royalists were now only 16,000 strong with no hope of significant reinforcements and disheartened by the apathy with which they had been received in districts formerly all their own. Cromwell, for the only time in his military career, had a two-to-one numerical superiority.{{sfn|Atkinson|1911|p=420}}{{sfn|Willis-Bund|1905|pp=233, 234}}

On 30 August Cromwell delayed the start of the battle to give time for two [[pontoon bridge]]s to be constructed, one over the Severn and the other over the Teme, close to their confluence. The delay allowed Cromwell to launch his attack on 3 September, one year to the day since his victory at the [[Battle of Dunbar (1650)|Battle of Dunbar]].{{sfn|Royle|2006|p=600}}

==Battle==
[[File:The Civil War in Worcestershire, 1642-1646, and the Scotch invasion of 1651 (1905) (14760307124).jpg|thumb|Plan of Worcester, with 1651 fortifications added.]]
[[File:Oliver Cromwell Battle of Worcester.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|right|Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester, 17th century painting, artist unknown]]
Cromwell took his measures deliberately. Lilburne from Lancashire and [[Major Mercer of the Worcestershire horse|Major Mercer]] with the Worcestershire horse were to secure [[Bewdley Bridge]], {{convert | 12 | mi }} north of Worcester and on the enemy's line of retreat.{{sfn|Worcestershire}} Fleetwood was to force his way across the [[river Teme|Teme]] and attack [[St John's, Worcester|St John's]], the western suburb of Worcester. While Lambert commanded the eastern flank of the army which would advance and encircle the eastern walls of Worcester, Cromwell would lead the attack on the southern ramparts of the city.{{sfn|Atkinson|1911|p=421}}

The assault started on the morning of 3 September and initially the initiative lay with the Parliamentarians.  Fleetwood forced the passage of the Teme over the pontoon bridges against Royalists under the command of Major General Montgomery. Colonel [[Richard Deane (regicide)|Richard Deane's]] initial attempts to cross the Powick Bridge (where [[Prince Rupert of the Rhine]] had won the [[Battle of Powick Bridge]], his first victory, in 1642) failed against stubborn resistance by the Royalists (many of whom were Scottish Highlanders{{sfn|Willis-Bund|1905|p=240}}) commanded by Colonel Keith. By force of arms and numbers, the Royalist army was pushed backward by the New Model Army with Cromwell on the eastern bank of the Severn and Fleetwood on the western sweeping in a semicircle {{convert | 4 | mi | 0 | spell=in}} long up toward Worcester.{{sfn|BBC staff|2003|loc=dawn attack}}{{sfn|Atkinson|1911|p=421}}

The Royalists contested every hedgerow around Powick meadows. This stubborn resistance on the west bank of the Severn north of the Teme was becoming a serious problem for the Parliamentarians, so Cromwell led Parliamentary reinforcements from the eastern side of the town over the Severn pontoon bridge to aid Fleetwood. Charles II, from his vantage point on top of [[Worcester cathedral|Worcester Cathedral's]] tower, realised that an opportunity existed to attack the now-exposed eastern flank of the Parliamentary army. As the defenders on the Western side of the city retreated in good order into the city (although during this manoeuvre Keith was captured and Montgomery was badly wounded), Charles ordered two [[sortie]]s to attack the Parliamentary forces east of the city. The north-eastern sortie through St Martin's Gate was commanded by the [[William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton|Duke of Hamilton]] and attacked the Parliamentary lines at Perry Wood. The south-eastern one through Sidbury Gate was led by Charles II and attacked [[Red Hill, Worcester|Red Hill]]. The Royalist cavalry under the command of David Leslie that was gathered on Pitchcroft meadow on the northern side of the city did not receive orders to aid the sorties and Leslie chose not to do so under his own initiative. Cromwell seeing the difficulty that his east flank was under rushed back over the Severn pontoon bridge with three brigades of troops to reinforce the flank.{{sfn|BBC staff|2003|loc=Cromwell intervenes}}{{sfn|BBC staff|2003|loc=Charles intervenes}}

Although they were pushed back, the Parliamentarians under Lambert were too numerous and experienced to be defeated by such a move. For an hour, the Parliamentarians retreated before the unexpected attack. However, following their reinforcement by Cromwell's three brigades, they reversed the situation and drove the Royalists back toward the city.{{sfn|BBC staff|2003|loc=Charles intervenes}} The Royalist retreat turned into a rout in which Parliamentarian and Royalist forces intermingled and skirmished up to and into the city.  The Royalist position became untenable when the Essex militia stormed and captured [[Fort Royal Hill|Fort Royal]], (a [[redoubt]] on a small hill to the south-east of Worcester overlooking the Sidbury gate), turning the Royalist guns to fire on Worcester.{{sfn|Willis-Bund|1905|p=245}}{{sfn|BBC staff|2003|loc=Cromwell intervenes (2)}}

Once in the city, Charles II removed his armour and found a fresh mount; he attempted to rally his troops but it was to no avail. A desperate Royalist cavalry charge down Sidbury Street and High Street, led by the [[Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Cleveland|Earl of Cleveland]] and [[William Careless|Major Careless]] amongst others, allowed King Charles to escape the city by St Martin's Gate.{{sfn|Grammont|1846|p=490}}  This cavalry force was composed of the few Midland English Royalists who had rallied to Charles II, and largely consisted of [[Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury|Lord Talbot]]'s troop of horse.{{sfn|Atkin|2004|pp=141–145}}

The defences of the city were stormed from three different directions as darkness came on, regulars and militia fighting with equal gallantry. Most of the few thousands of the Royalists who escaped during the night were easily captured by Lilburne and Mercer, or by the militia which watched every road in Yorkshire and Lancashire. Even the country people brought in scores of prisoners, for the Royalist officers and men alike, stunned by the suddenness of the disaster, offered no resistance.{{sfn|BBC staff|2003|loc=Cromwell intervenes (2)}}{{sfn|Atkinson|1911|p=421}}

==Aftermath==
[[File:Millais Royalist.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Painting, [[oil on canvas]], ''[[The Proscribed Royalist, 1651]]'' by [[John Everett Millais]] from 1853, depicting a fleeing Royalist after the Battle of Worcester being hidden within the trunk of a tree by a young Puritan woman]]
About 3,000 men were killed during the battle and a further 10,000 were taken prisoner at Worcester or soon afterwards. The Earl of Derby was executed, while the other English prisoners were conscripted into the New Model Army and sent to Ireland. Around 8,000 Scottish prisoners were deported to [[New England]], [[Bermuda]], and the [[West Indies]] to work for landowners as [[indentured labour]]ers, or else to work on [[the Fens#Draining the Fens|fen drainage]].{{sfn|Royle|2006|p=602}}  Around 1,200 "Scotch prisoners" were taken to London; many died from disease and starvation at [[Tothill Fields]] and other makeshift prison camps.{{sfn|Atkin|1998|pp=126–28}}  Parliamentary casualties numbered in the low hundreds.{{sfn|Royle|2006|p=602}}

[[File:Sidbury Gate Plaque.jpg|thumb|right|Plaque near the site of the Sidbury Gate, [[Worcester, England|Worcester]], inscribed with part of Cromwell's post-victory despatch: "IT IS FOR AUGHT I KNOW A CROWNING MERCY".{{sfn|Bent|1887}}]]
The [[escape of Charles II]] included various incidents, including one of his hiding from a Parliamentarian patrol in an [[Royal Oak (tree)|oak tree]] in the grounds of [[Boscobel House]].{{sfn|Fuller|}} He reached the south coast of England, and at [[Shoreham-by-Sea|Shoreham]] found transport to take him to safety in France.{{sfn|Fraser|1979|pp=98–128}} In announcing the Worcester victory of the day earlier, Cromwell's 4 September despatch to [[William Lenthall]], the Speaker of the House of Commons, has become famous: "The dimensions of this mercy are above my thoughts. It is, for aught I know, a crowning mercy".{{sfn|Bent|1887}}{{sfn|Hanbury|1844|pp=409–410}} Hence, Cromwell thought the victory was the greatest of all the favours, or mercies, given to him by God. The expression "crowning mercy" is frequently linked to the battle as it heralded the end of the English Civil War by completely destroying the last major Royalist army.{{sfn|Foster|1840|p=304}}{{sfn|Atkinson|1911|p=421}}

The Parliamentary militia were sent home within a week. Cromwell, who had ridiculed "such stuff" six months ago, knew them better now. "Your new raised forces", he wrote to the [[Rump Parliament]], "did perform singular good service, for which they deserve a very high estimation and acknowledgement".{{sfn|Atkinson|1911|p=421}} The New England preacher [[Hugh Peters]] gave the militia a rousing farewell sermon "when their wives and children should ask them where they had been and what news, they should say they had been at Worcester, where England's sorrows began, and where they were happily ended", referring to the first clash of the Royalist and Parliamentarian Armies at the Battle of Powick Bridge on 23 September 1642, almost exactly nine years before.{{sfn|Atkin|1998|p=120}} Prior to the battle King Charles II contracted the Worcester Clothiers Company to outfit his army with uniforms but was unable to pay the £453.3s bill. In June 2008 [[Charles, Prince of Wales]] paid off the 357-year-old debt (less the interest, which would have amounted to around £47,500.){{sfn|BBC staff|2008}}

==Battle analysis==
Cromwell's plan of battle divided his army into three parts, each part having a specific target: Colonel Robert Lilburne from Lancashire and Major Mercer with the Worcestershire horse were to secure Bewdley Bridge on the enemy's line of retreat. Lambert and Fleetwood were to force their way across the Teme and attack St John's, the western suburb of Worcester. Cromwell himself and the main army were to attack the town itself.<ref name=EB-GR-CrowningMercy>{{harvnb|Atkinson|1911|loc=59. The Crowning Mercy}}</ref>

This plan was executed, and was the prototype of the [[Battle of Sedan]].<ref name=EB-GR-CrowningMercy/>{{efn|According to C.F. Atkinson, the author of the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition]] article on the Civil War, and German critic, [[Fritz Hoenig]]. The same point had been made by the British military historian Sir [[John William Fortescue]].{{sfn|Fortescue|1899|page=[https://archive.org/stream/historyofbritisharm01fort#page/247/mode/1up 247]}}}} Worcester resembled Sedan in much more than outward form. Both were fought by "nations in arms", by citizen soldiers who had their hearts in the struggle, and could be trusted not only to fight their hardest but to march their best. Only with such troops would a general dare to place a deep river between the two halves of his army or to send away detachments beforehand to reap the fruits of victory, in certain anticipation of winning the victory with the remainder. The result was, in brief, one of those rare victories in which a pursuit is superfluous.<ref name=EB-GR-CrowningMercy/>

==Legacy==
In early April 1786, [[John Adams]] and [[Thomas Jefferson]] visited Fort Royal Hill at the battlefield at Worcester. John Adams wrote that he was "deeply moved" but disappointed at the locals' lack of knowledge of the battle, and gave the townspeople an "impromptu lecture",

{{blockquote|The people in the neighborhood appeared so ignorant and careless at Worcester that I was provoked and asked "And do Englishmen so soon forget the ground where liberty was fought for? Tell your neighbors and your children that this is holy ground, much holier than that on which your churches stand. All England should come in pilgrimage to this hill, once a year".{{sfn|Adams|Adams|1851|p=394}}}}

==See also==
* [[Siege of Worcester]]
* [[Third English Civil War]]
* [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]]
* ''[[The Proscribed Royalist, 1651]]'' (painting)

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Citations==
{{reflist|24em}}

==References==
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book|last1=Adams |first1=John |last2=Adams |first2=Charles Francis |year= 1851 |title=The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: Autobiography, continued. Diary. Essays and controversial papers of the Revolution |volume=3 |publisher=Little, Brown}}
* {{cite book|last=Atkin |first=Malcolm |year=1998 |title= Cromwell's Crowning Mercy The battle of Worcester 1651|publisher=Sutton Publishing|isbn=9780750918886|ol=478350M}}
* {{Cite book|title = Worcestershire Under Arms: an English county during the Civil Wars|last = Atkin|first = Malcolm|publisher = Pen and Sword|year = 2004|isbn = 1-84415-072-0|location = Barnsley}}
* {{cite web|author=BBC staff  |date=9 June 2008  |title=Prince will finally pay off debt | website = [[BBC News Online]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/7444179.stm |access-date=29 October 2010}}
* {{cite web|author=BBC staff |date=December 2003 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/features/battle_worcester/timeline.shtml  |title=Battle of Worcester – timeline|website=[[BBC]]}}
* {{cite web |author=British Museum staff |title=Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester, 1651 Etching and engraving on chine collé |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_Y-4-98 |publisher=British Museum |access-date=21 May 2023 |quote=Production date 1760-1770 (ca) (ca)}}
* {{cite book|first=S.A.|last=Bent|year=1887|title=Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men: Oliver Cromwell|url=https://www.bartleby.com/344/127.html |via=Bartleby.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427143023/https://www.bartleby.com/344/127.html |archive-date=27 April 2015|access-date=20 April 2015|location=Boston|publisher=Ticknor and Co.}}
* {{cite web |title=Scottish Regiments at the Battle of Worcester |last=Cone |first=Wm. |year=2003 |website=Electric Scotland |url=http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/worcester.htm |access-date=29 July 2015}}
* {{cite book|last=Fortescue |first=John William |author-link=John William Fortescue |title=A history of the British Army |volume=1 |year=1899 |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofbritisharm01fort}}
* {{cite book|last=Foster |first=John |year=1840 |title=The statesmen of the commonwealth of England: with a treatise on the popular progress in English history|volume=4|publisher=Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans}}
* {{cite book|last=Fraser |first=Antonia |author-link=Antonia Fraser |year=1979 |title=King Charles II |location=London |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |isbn=0-297-77571-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Fraser |first1=Sarah |title=The Last Highlander: Scotland's Most Notorious Clan Chief, Rebel & Double Agent |publisher=HarperCollins UK |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Br3ifE0dTwcC&pg=PT24 |isbn=9780007302642}}
* {{cite web |last=Fuller |first=Isaac | title=Set – Charles II's escape after the Battle of Worcester |website=National Portrait Gallery |url=http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/set/96/Charles+II's+escape+after+the+Battle+of+Worcester |access-date=1 September 2015}}
* {{cite book|last=Hanbury |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Hanbury |year=1844 |title=Historical memorials relating to the Independents or Congregationalists |volume=3 |publisher=Congregational Union of England and Wales}}
* {{cite book|last=Grammont |first=Count |year=1846 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M8kMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA464 |title=Memoirs of the Court of Charles the Second and the Boscobel Narratives|editor=Sir Walter Scott |publisher=Henry G Bohn}}
* {{cite book|last=Royle |first=Trevor |year=2006 |orig-year=2004  |title=Civil War: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1638–1660|publisher=Abacus |isbn=978-0-349-11564-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Willis-Bund |first=John William |author-link=John William Willis-Bund |year=1905 |title=The Civil War in Worcestershire 1642–1646 and the Scotch invasion of 1651|publisher=Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Company}}
* {{cite web |title=Worcestershire |url=http://worcestershire.whub.org.uk/home/wccindex/wcc-tourism-index/wcc-tourism-travel-journey-time.htm |website=Worcestershire County Council |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070402024137/http://worcestershire.whub.org.uk/home/wccindex/wcc-tourism-index/wcc-tourism-travel-journey-time.htm |archive-date=2 April 2007 |ref={{sfnref|Worcestershire}}}}
{{refend}}

===Attribution===
* {{EB1911 |last=Atkinson |first=Charles Francis |wstitle=Great Rebellion#The Third Scottish Invasion of England |display=Great Rebellion |volume=12 |pages=420–421}} See section 57, ''The Third Scottish Invasion of England''.

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.battleofworcestersociety.org.uk/ |title=Battle of Worcester Society Tribute Page |website=www.battleofworcestersociety.org.uk |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-date=20 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020135131/http://battleofworcestersociety.org.uk/ |url-status=dead }} Battle of Worcester Society
* {{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/features/battle_worcester/pictures.shtml |title=BBC – Hereford and Worcester Features – Battle of Worcester pictures |website=www.bbc.co.uk |access-date=2 September 2017 }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Cary |editor-first=Henry |year=1842 |title=Great Britain History Civil War, 1642–1649 Sources |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cfluchiZ5mgC&pg=PA353 |chapter=Battle of Worcester |pages=353–360 |ref=none }} Edited copies of primary sources from the [[Bodleian Library]].
* {{cite web |author=Historic Environment and Archaeology Service |url=http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cms/archaeology.aspx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121225081343/http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cms/archaeology.aspx |url-status=dead |title=The Battle of Worcester |date=25 December 2012 |archive-date=25 December 2012 |website=Worcestershire County Counci |ref=nonel }}
* {{cite book |last=Hoenig |first=Fritz August |date=1889 |title=Oliver Cromwell |volume=3 |location=Leipzig |publisher=K. R. Vogelsberg |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007968724 |oclc=679863787 |ref=none }}
* {{cite web |first=Andrew |last=Kelsall |date=7 May 2006 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajk/143638228/in/set-72057594136553996/ |title=Fort Royal Hill, where liberty was fought for (modern picture of the earth works) |website=Flickr.com |ref=none }}
* {{cite web |url=http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=112690444709232853764.0004645f7bcbebb98c4ee |title=Map of the Battle of Worcester 1651 |website=Google Maps |access-date=2 September 2017 }}
* {{cite web |last=Plant |first=David |date=20 August 2008 |title=The Battle of Worcester, 1651 |website=BCW Project |url=http://bcw-project.org/military/third-civil-war/worcester |access-date=2 September 2017 |ref=none }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Stace |editor-first=Machell |year=1810 |title=Cromwelliana. A chronological detail of events in which Oliver Cromwell was engaged; from the year 1642 to his death 1658: with a continuation of other transactions, to the restoration |publisher=Printed by [[George Smeeton]] for Machell Stace |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VnpEAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA112 112]–[https://books.google.com/books?id=VnpEAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA116 116] |ref=none}} Edited copies of primary source
{{refend}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Worcester, Battle Of}}
[[Category:Anglo-Scottish war (1650–1652)]]
[[Category:Oliver Cromwell]]
[[Category:Charles II of England]]
[[Category:Military history of Worcestershire]]
[[Category:History of Worcester, England]]
[[Category:Battles of the English Civil Wars]]
[[Category:1651 in England]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1651]]
[[Category:Registered historic battlefields in England]]
[[Category:17th century in Worcestershire]]
[[Category:Scottish invasions of England]]