Atlas of Battles

battle, notable, early modern

Battle of Preston

Battle of Preston was a battle fought on 17 August 1648 at Preston, in what is now United Kingdom; it lasted 2 days. It was part of Second English Civil War. The recorded result: Parliamentarian victory. Recorded strength: 24,000, not all of whom were engaged against 11,100, of whom 9,000 were engaged.

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Battle of Preston 1648
Battle of Preston 1648. Jlorenz1, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought17 August 1648lasted 2 days
WherePreston, United Kingdom53.753N, 2.679W
OutcomeParliamentarian victory
Belligerents18px Scotland; English RoyalistsagainstEnglish Parliamentarians
Casualties and losses1,000 killed; 4,000 capturedandFewer than 100 killed; Several hundred wounded
Part ofSecond English Civil War

Where it sits in Second English Civil War

Siege of Pembroke, 1648Battle of St Fagans, 1648Battle of Maidstone, 1648Siege of Colchester, 1648Battle of Preston, 1648Battle of Winwick, 164816481648Battle of Preston, 1648
6 placed engagements of Second English Civil War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date17 August 1648
to 19 August 1648
PlacePreston, United Kingdom
53.753N, 2.679W
KindBattle, early modern
Strength24,000, not all of whom were engaged11,100, of whom 9,000 were engaged
Casualties and losses1,000 killed; 4,000 capturedFewer than 100 killed; Several hundred wounded
Commanders
Battle of PrestonBattle of PrestonBattle of PrestonSiege of Lathom HouseBattle of Wigan LaneSiege of Lathom HouseBattle of ClitheroeSiege of Lathom HouseBattle of Wigan LaneSiege of Lathom HouseBattle of ClitheroeNottinghamMiddlesbroughStokeBlackpoolYorkScarboroughDouglasSheffield100 km53.753N, 2.679W
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1648

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: ENG PARL ARMYDefender: SCOT ROY ARMY
Strength9,00021,000
Casualties300 (3.3%)5,000 (23.8%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1093
Outcomeattacker won
Duration2 days
Front width1 km0.6 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 26), 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.

Battle of Preston 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 Q510943, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Preston (1648), revision 1370272276, 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. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.