Battle of Pinkie

Battle of Pinkie Cleugh

River Esk and Inveresk Church at Musselburgh

Date	10 September 1547
Location	Musselburgh, Lothian, Scotland
Result	Decisive English victory

Belligerents

Kingdom of Scotland

Kingdom of England

Commanders and leaders

Earl of Arran
Earl of Angus

Duke of Somerset

Strength

22,000–36,000

16,800+
30 warships

Casualties and losses

6,000–15,000 killed
2,000 prisoners

200–600 killed

The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scottish and English armies, it was part of the conflict known as the Rough Wooing, and is considered to be the first modern battle in the British Isles. It was a catastrophic defeat for Scotland, where it became known as Black Saturday.

In the last years of his reign, King Henry VIII of England tried to secure an alliance with Scotland by the marriage of the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, to his young son, the future Edward VI. When diplomacy failed, and Scotland was on the point of an alliance with France, he launched a war against Scotland that became known as the Rough Wooing. The war also had a religious aspect; the Scots refused to have Reformation imposed on them by England. During the battle, the Scots taunted the English soldiers as loons (persons of no consequence), tykes and heretics. A thousand monks from various orders formed part of the Earl of Angus's division.

When Henry died in 1547, Edward Seymour, maternal uncle of Edward VI, became Lord Protector and Duke of Somerset, with (initially) unchallenged power. He continued the policy of forcible alliance with Scotland by the marriage of Mary to Edward, and of imposing an Anglican Reformation on the Scottish Church. Early in September 1547, he led a well-equipped army into Scotland, supported by a large fleet. The Earl of Arran, Scottish Regent at the time, was forewarned by letters from Adam Otterburn, his representative in London, who had observed English war preparations.

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