User:Gog the Mild/Scottish prisoners from the Battle of Dunbar (1650)

The bulk of the Scottish army, some 10,000 men was captured; only about 4,000, mainly cavalry, escaped with Leslie. XXX The prisoners were taken to England, and 3,000 were imprisoned at Durham Cathedral; many died on the march South of them were eventually deported to become indentured workers on English possessions overseas. In September 2015 archaeologists announced that skeletons found in mass graves near Durham Cathedral were the remains of Scottish soldiers taken prisoner after the battle. The archaeological evidence appeared to show that the bodies had been tipped into a mass grave with no signs of ceremony.

In his post-battle report to the Speaker of the English Parliament, Cromwell described the victory as "...one of the most signal mercies God hath done for England and His people...". As a result of the destruction of the Scottish army, he was able to march unopposed to Edinburgh and quickly occupy it, although Edinburgh Castle held out until the end of December. The prisoners taken at Dunbar were force-marched south towards England to prevent any attempt to rescue them. The conditions on the march were so appalling that many died of starvation, illness or exhaustion. By 11 September, when the remnants arrived at Durham Cathedral where they were to be imprisoned, only 3,000 Scottish soldiers were still alive. If Sir Edward Walker's statement is correct, that 6,000 prisoners were taken and 5,000 of them were marched south, then 2,000 captives perished on the way to Durham. Of the estimated 5,000 Scottish soldiers that began the march southwards from Dunbar, over 3,500 died either on the march or during imprisonment in Durham Cathedral, more than the total number killed on the battlefield. In Arthur Heslerig's letter to Parliament on 2 October, he says that he received 3,000 prisoners at Durham and says that the prisoners had not been 'told' (counted) at Berwick. Of the 1,400 survivors, the majority were eventually transported as indentured labourers to English colonies in New England, Virginia and the Caribbean.

In September 2015, archaeologists from the University of Durham announced that after 18 months work they had concluded that skeletons found in mass graves near Durham Cathedral were the remains of Scottish soldiers taken prisoner after the battle. The bodies had first been discovered in 2013 during building work of a new café for the University's Palace Green Library, on the City's UNESCO World Heritage Site. The archaeological evidence appeared to show that the bodies had been tipped into a mass grave with no signs of ceremony.