Battle of Preston ( 1715 ) The Battle of Preston ( 9 – 14 November 1715 ) , also referred to as the Preston Fight , was fought during the Jacobite Rising of 1715 ( often referred to as the " First Jacobite Rising " , or " Rebellion " by supporters of the Hanoverian government ) . The Jacobites moved south into England with little opposition , and by the time they reached Preston in Lancashire had grown to about 4 , 000 in number . Their horse troops entered Preston on the night of 9 November 1715 , and as they approached two troops of dragoons and part of a militia regiment retreated to Wigan . General Charles Wills was ordered to halt their advance , and left Manchester on 11 November with six regiments , arriving on the 12th . The Jacobite leader Thomas Forster , a Northumberland squire , had intended to move on that day , but learning of Wills ' approach decided to stay and unfortunately withdrew troops from a strong defensive position at Ribble bridge , outside Preston . The Jacobites had barricaded the principal streets and Wills ordered an immediate attack which met with fire from the barricades and houses , resulting in the government attack being repulsed with heavy losses . Wills had houses set on fire with the aim of fires spreading along to the Jacobite positions , and the Jacobites tried to do the same to houses taken as government positions . At night Wills ' s order to light government held positions for identification helped Jacobite snipers , then overnight many Jacobites left the town . The legend of these actions is recounted in a well - known Lancashire ballad , " Lo ! The Bird is Fallen " . On the morning of Sunday 13 November more government forces arrived and , finding that the town was insufficiently invested , Wills stationed troops to prevent the besieged Jacobite army from escaping . The Jacobites had also suffered losses in the fighting as well as losing defectors overnight , and though the Highlanders ' full intention was to fight on and take the attack to the enemy , Forster agreed to his Colonel Oxburgh ' s offer to open negotiations with Wills for capitulation on favourable terms . This was done without informing the Highlanders , but Wills refused to treat with rebels . When the Highlanders learned of this that night they were infuriated and paraded the streets threatening any Jacobites who might even allude to a surrender , and killing or wounding several people . At 07 : 00 on Monday 14 November Forster offered unconditional surrender which was turned down unless it applied to the Highlanders , then returned with confirmation that the Scots noblemen would surrender on the same terms . When the government forces entered the town the Highlanders were drawn up under arms in the market - place ready to surrender . 1 , 468 Jacobites were taken prisoner , 463 of them English . George Seton , 5th Earl of Winton , William Gordon , 6th Viscount of Kenmure , William Maxwell , 5th Earl of Nithsdale and James Radclyffe , 3rd Earl of Derwentwater were among those captured and sentenced to be executed for treason under an act of attainder . Winton and Nithsdale escaped from the Tower of London . Another source states : " They were defeated at the Battle of Preston and many clansmen were transported to the Americas " . 17 Jacobites were killed and 25 wounded . Government casualties were close to 300 killed and wounded ( the best discussion of this is by the historian and military expert J . Baynes in his " The Jacobite Rising of 1715 " [ 1970 ] , pp . 126 – 127 ) . The battle of Preston is often claimed to have been the last fought on English soil , but this depends on the definition of battle for which there are different interpretations . Preston was a siege rather than a pitched battle , so the Battle of Sedgemoor fought in 1685 is also a contender for the title of the last battle , as is the skirmish at Clifton Moor near Penrith in Cumbria on 18 December 1745 during the ' Forty - Five ' Jacobite Rebellion . The fact is , however , that there was a great deal of savage fighting in streets all over the town during the Battle of Preston , far more than in most sieges . It was as much of a battle as , for example , the Battle of St Albans ( 1455 ) in the Wars of the Roses , which was also fought in the streets of the town but which is universally regarded as a battle not a siege , as is the Battle of Reading ( 1688 ) . The Battle of Bossenden Wood , fought on 31 May 1838 , is a much later contender .