Atlas of Battles

battle, notable, early modern

Battle of Dunbar

Battle of Dunbar was a battle fought on 3 September 1650 at Dunbar, in what is now United Kingdom. It was part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which ran from 1638 to 1651. The recorded result: English victory.

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Battle of Dunbar
Andrew Carrick Gow, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought3 September 1650
WhereDunbar, United Kingdom55.984N, 2.484W
OutcomeEnglish victory
BelligerentsScotlandagainstEngland
Battlefield todayBattle of Dunbar Ii battlefieldHistoric Environment Scotland entry BTL7, 1,599 ha
Part ofWars of the Three Kingdoms1638 to 1651

Where it sits in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms

Battle of Tippermuir, 1644Battle of Aberdeen, 1644Battle of Inverlochy, 1645Battle of Auldearn, 1645Battle of Alford, 1645Battle of Kilsyth, 1645Battle of Philiphaugh, 1645Battle of Annan Moor, 1645Battle of Lagganmore, 1646Battle of Aberdeen, 1646Battle of Rhunahaorine Moss, 1647Battle of Mauchline Muir, 1648Battle of Stirling, 1648Siege of Dublin, 1649Battle of Carbisdale, 1650Battle of Dunbar, 1650Battle of Inverkeithing, 1651Battle of Worcester, 1651Battle of Dalnaspidal, 1654Battle of the Severn, 165516441655Battle of Dunbar, 1650
20 placed engagements of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date3 September 1650
PlaceDunbar, United Kingdom
55.984N, 2.484W
KindBattle, early modern
Strength8,000–9,500 infantry; 2,000–3,000 cavalry; 32 guns; Total: 10,000–12,5007,500 infantry; 3,500 cavalry; 22 guns; Total: 11,000
Casualties and losses300–500 killed; 1,000 wounded; 6,000 captured; See "Casualties" for further details20–40 killed
Commanders
Battle of DunbarBattle of DunbarBattle of DunbarBattle of Dunbar5 km55.984N, 2.484W
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. The dashed outline is the registered battlefield area (Historic Environment Scotland). Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1650

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: ENG PARL ARMYDefender: SCOT ROY ARMY
Strength11,00022,000
Casualties30 (0.3%)13,000 (59.1%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1094
Outcomeattacker won
Duration1 day
Front width1.8 km2.7 km
Attacker advanced0.8 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 27), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Historic Environment Scotland registers this as the Battle of Dunbar Ii battlefield (entry BTL7), 1,599 hectares, under the Open Government Licence.

Battle of Dunbar is one of 1,470 engagements of the 17th century in the atlas and one of 695 in present-day United Kingdom.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q2605977, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Dunbar (1650), revision 1375910502, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Battlefield boundary and area from Historic Environment Scotland (Open Government Licence). Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.