A sudden panic instantly spread from the right
to the left of their line; at the approach of the English they threw down
their arms and ran. Cromwell's regiment halted to sing the 117th Psalm; but
the pursuit was continued for more than eight miles; the dead bodies of
three thousand Scots strewed their native soil; and ten thousand prisoners,
with the artillery, ammunition, and baggage, became the reward of the
conquerors.[1]
Cromwell now thought no more of his retreat. He marched back to the
capital; the hope of resistance was abandoned; Edinburgh and Leith opened
their gates, and the whole country to the Forth submitted
[Footnote 1: Carte's Letters, i. 381. Whitelock, 470, 471. Ludlow, i. 283.
Balfour, iv. 97. Several proceedings, No. 50. Parl. Hist. xix. 343-352,
478. Cromwelliana, 89. Of the prisoners, five thousand one hundred,
something more than one-half, being wounded, were dismissed to their homes,
the other half were driven "like turkies" into England. Of these, one
thousand six hundred died of a pestilential disease, and five hundred were
actually sick on Oct 31.--Whitelock, 471. Old Parl. Hist. xix. 417.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1650. Sept. 3.]
to the will of the English general. Still the presumption of the six
ministers who formed the committee of the kirk was not humbled.
Pages:
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439