In the second civil war he served under Cromwell in Scotland, and also took part in the siege of Pontefract. On Cromwell's second expedition into Scotland, Bright threw up his commission when the army arrived at Newcastle, in consequence of the refusal of a fortnight's leave. Cromwell suggested to the soldiery offering the regimental command to Colonel Monck. However Bright was a friend of Lilburne, and his men dismissed the Scots officer as a secret royalist. Bright was reinstated to general acclaim of his men. He was part of the New Model Army command that defeated Sir Marmaduke Langdale's command at Newcastle. And he assisted Cromwell's crushing rout of the Scots army at Battle of Preston, where the enemy army was outflanked.