The Anglo-Scottish War was the final conflict in the British Wars of the Three Kingdoms. When the Royalists were defeated in 1648, after the First and Second English Civil Wars, the English government ordered the execution of their king, Charles I, who was also, separately, the king of Scotland, then an independent nation. The Parliament of Scotland declared his son, Charles II (depicted), to be King of Britain. Seeing this as a threat, an English army under Oliver Cromwell invaded Scotland on 22 July 1650. After a month of manoeuvring Cromwell heavily defeated the Scots at Dunbar. In July 1651 the English crossed the Firth of Forth and defeated the Scots at Inverkeithing, cutting their army off from supply and reinforcements. In desperation Charles II invaded England in August. Cromwell pursued, brought the badly outnumbered Scots to battle on 3 September 1651 and completely defeated them, ending the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and resulting in Scotland's absorption into the English Commonwealth. (Full article...)