Battle of Pinkie Cleugh The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh , on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh , Scotland on 10 September 1547 , was part of the conflict known as the Rough Wooing . It was the last pitched battle between Scottish and English armies , and is seen as the first modern battle in the British Isles . It was a catastrophic defeat for Scotland , and became known there as Black Saturday . Background . In the last years of his reign , King Henry VIII of England tried to secure an alliance with Scotland by the marriage of the infant Mary , Queen of Scots , to his young son , the future Edward VI . When diplomacy failed , he launched a war against Scotland that became known as the Rough Wooing . The war also had a religious aspect ; the Scots refused to have Reformation imposed on them by England . During the battle , the Scots taunted the English soldiers as " loons ( persons of no consequence ) , tykes and heretics " . A thousand monks from various orders formed part of the Earl of Angus ' s division . Many died in the battle . Reformation came to Scotland twelve years later . When Henry died in 1547 , Edward Seymour , maternal uncle of Edward VI , became Lord Protector and Duke of Somerset , with ( initially ) unchallenged power . He continued the policy of forcible alliance with Scotland by the marriage of Mary to Edward , and of imposing an Anglican Reformation on the Scottish Church . Early in September 1547 , he led a well - equipped army into Scotland , supported by a large fleet . The Earl of Arran , Scottish Regent at the time , was forewarned by letters from Adam Otterburn , his representative in London , who had observed English war preparations . The Campaign . Somerset ' s army was partly composed of the traditional county levies , summoned by Commissions of Array and armed with longbow and bill as they had been at the Battle of Flodden , thirty years before . However , Somerset also had several hundred German mercenary arquebus iers , a large and well - appointed artillery train , and 6 , 000 cavalry , including a contingent of Italian mounted arquebusiers under Don Pedro de Gamboa . The cavalry were commanded by Lord Grey of Wilton , as High Marshal of the Army , and the infantry by the Earl of Warwick , Lord Dacre of Gillesland , and Somerset himself . William Patten , an officer of the English army , recorded its numbers as 16 , 800 fighting men and 1 , 400 " pioneers " . Somerset advanced along the east coast of Scotland to maintain contact with his fleet and thereby keep in supply . Scottish Border Reivers harassed his troops but could impose no major check to their advance . Far to the west , a diversionary invasion of 5000 men was led by Thomas Wharton and the dissident Earl of Lennox on 8 September 1547 . They took Castlemilk in Annandale and burnt Annan after a bitter struggle to capture its fortified church . To oppose the English south of Edinburgh , the Earl of Arran had levied a large army , consisting mainly of pikemen with contingents of Highland archers . Arran also had large numbers of guns , but these were apparently not as mobile or as well - served as Somerset ' s . His cavalry consisted of only 2 , 000 lightly equipped riders under the Earl of Home , most of whom were potentially unreliable Borderers . His infantry and pikemen were commanded by the Earl of Angus , the Earl of Huntly and Arran himself . According to Huntly , the Scottish army numbered 22 , 000 or 23 , 000 men , while an English source claimed that it comprised 36 , 000 . Arran occupied the slopes on the west bank of the River Esk to bar Somerset ' s progress . The Firth of Forth was on his left flank , and a large bog protected his right . Some fortifications were constructed in which cannon and arquebuses were mounted . Some guns pointed out into the Forth to keep English warships at a distance . Prelude . On 9 September part of Somerset ' s army occupied Falside Hill ( then known as Fawside , and currently as Fa ' side , as in Fa ' side Castle ) , east of Arran ' s main position . In an outdated chivalric gesture , the Earl of Home led 1 , 500 horsemen close to the English encampment and challenged an equal number of English cavalry to fight . With Somerset ' s reluctant approval , Lord Grey accepted the challenge and engaged the Scots with 1 , 000 heavily armoured men - at - arms and 500 lighter demi - lancer s . The Scottish horsemen were badly cut up and were pursued west for . This action cost Arran most of his cavalry . Later during the day , Somerset sent a detachment with guns to occupy the Inveresk Slopes , which overlooked the Scottish position . During the night , Somerset received two more anachronistic challenges from Arran . One request was for Somerset and Arran to settle the dispute by single combat . Another was for 20 champions from each side to decide the matter . Somerset rejected both proposals . The battle . On the morning of Saturday , 10 September , Somerset advanced his army to close up with the detachment at Inveresk . He found that Arran had moved his army across the Esk by the ' Roman bridge ' , and was advancing rapidly to meet him . Arran knew himself to be outmatched in artillery and therefore tried to force close combat before the English artillery could deploy . Arran ' s left wing came under fire from English ships offshore . ( Their advance meant that the guns on their former position could no longer protect them . ) They were thrown into disorder , and were pushed into Arran ' s own division in the centre . On the other flank , Somerset threw in his cavalry to delay the Scots ' advance . The Scottish pikemen drove them off and inflicted heavy casualties on the English horsemen . Lord Grey himself was wounded by a pike thrust through the throat and into his mouth . However , the Scottish army was now stalled and under heavy fire on three sides from ships ' cannon , artillery , arquebusiers and archers , to which they could not reply . When they broke , the English cavalry rejoined the battle following a vanguard of 300 experienced soldiers under the command of Sir John Luttrell . Many of the retreating Scots were slaughtered or drowned as they tried to swim the fast - flowing Esk or cross the bogs . The English eye - witness William Patten described the slaughter inflicted on the Scots , Soon after this notable strewing of their footmen ' s weapons , began a pitiful sight of the dead corpses lying dispersed abroad , some their legs off , some but houghed , and left lying half - dead , some thrust quite through the body , others the arms cut off , diverse their necks half asunder , many their heads cloven , of sundry the brains pasht out , some others again their heads quite off , with other many kinds of killing . After that and further in chase , all for the most part killed either in the head or in the neck , for our horsemen could not well reach the lower with their swords . And thus with blood and slaughter of the enemy , this chase was continued five miles in length westward from the place of their standing , which was in the fallow fields of Inveresk until Edinburgh Park and well nigh to the gates of the town itself and unto Leith , and in breadth nigh 4 miles , from the Firth sands up toward Dalkeith southward . In all which space , the dead bodies lay as thick as a man may note cattle grazing in a full replenished pasture . The river ran all red with blood , so that in the same chase were counted , as well by some of our men that somewhat diligently did mark it as by some of them taken prisoners , that very much did lament it , to have been slain about 14 thousand . In all this compass of ground what with weapons , arms , hands , legs , heads , blood and dead bodies , their flight might have been easily tracked to every of their three refuges . And for the smallness of our number and the shortness of the time ( which was scant five hours , from one to well nigh six ) the mortality was so great , as it was thought , the like aforetime not to have been seen . The Imperial ambassador ' s accounts of the battle . The Imperial ambassador François van der Delft went to the court of Edward VI at Oatlands Palace to hear the news of the battle from William Paget . Van der Delft wrote to the Queen Dowager , Mary of Hungary , with his version on 19 September 1547 . He had heard of the cavalry skirmish the day before the battle . Next day , when the English army encountered the Scottish formation , the Scots advance horsemen dismounted and crossed their lances , which were like pikes , and stood in close formation . Van der Delft heard that the Earl of Warwick then attempted to attack the Scots from behind using smoky fires as a diversion . When they engaged the Scottish rearguard the Scots took flight , apparently following those who already had an understanding with the Protector Somerset . The rest of the Scots army then attempted to flee the field . Van der Delft wrote another shorter description for Prince Philip on 21 October 1547 . In this account he lays emphasis on the Scots attempting to change position . He said the Scots crossed the brook in order to occupy two hills which flanked both armies . The Scottish army , " without any need whatever were seized with panic and began to fly . " Another letter with derivative news of the battle was sent by John Hooper in Switzerland to the Reformer Henry Bullinger . Hooper mentions that Scots had to abandon their artillery due to the archers commanded by the Earl of Warwick , and when the Scots changed position the sun was in their eyes . He was told there were 15 , 000 Scottish casualties and 2 , 000 prisoners . There were 17 , 000 English in the field and 30 , 000 Scots . Hooper ' s letter is not dated but he includes the false early report that Mary of Guise surrendered in person to Somerset after the battle . Aftermath . Although they had suffered a resounding defeat , the Scottish government refused to come to terms . The infant Queen Mary was smuggled out of the country to France to be betrothed to the young dauphin Francis . Somerset occupied several Scottish strongholds and large parts of the Lowlands and Borders , but without peace these garrisons became a useless drain on the Treasury of England . Analysis . Although the Scots blamed traitors within their own ranks for the defeat , it may be fair to say that a Renaissance army defeated a Mediaeval army . Henry VIII had taken steps towards creating standing naval and land forces which formed the nucleus of the fleet and army that gave Somerset the victory . However , the military historian Gervase Phillips has defended Scottish tactics , pointing out that Arran moved from his position by the Esk as a rational response to English manouevres by sea and land . In his 1877 account of the battle , Major Sadleir Stoney commented that ' every tyro knows that changing front in presence of an enemy is a perilous operation . ' Early commentators such as John Knox had focused on the move as the cause of the defeat and attributed the order to the influence of local landowners George Durie , Abbot of Dunfermline , and Hugh Rig of Carberry . Marcus Merriman sees the initial Scottish field encampment as the most sophisticated ever erected in Scotland , let down by their cavalry numbers . Phillips maintains the defeat may be considered due to a crisis of morale after the English cavalry charge , and notes William Patten ' s praise of the Earl of Angus ' s pikemen . Merriman regards Somerset ' s failure to press on and capture Edinburgh and Leith as a loss of ' a magnificent opportunity ' and ' a massive blunder ' which cost him the war . In 1548 , the Scottish Master of Artillery , Lord Methven , gave his opinion that the battle was lost due to growing support in Scotland for English policy , and the mis - order and great haste of the Scottish army on the day . The longbow continued to play a key role in England ' s battles and Pinkie was no exception . Though the combination of bill and longbow which England used was old , it could still hold its own against the pike and arquebus tactics used in Continental armies at this stage in the development of firearms . The battle - site today . The battle site is now part of East Lothian . The battle took place most probably in the cultivated ground 0 . 5 mile southeast of Inveresk church , just to the south of the main east - coast railway line . There are two vantage points for viewing the ground . Fa ' side Castle above the village of Wallyford was just behind the English position , and with the aid of binoculars a visitor can get a good view of the battle area , though the Scottish position is now obscured by buildings . The best impression of their position is obtained from the golf course west of the river Esk and just off the B6415 road . The Scottish centre occupied ground a few yards west of the clubhouse . The Inveresk eminence , an important tactical feature at the time of the battle , is now built over , but from it a visitor can get down to the Esk and walk for some way along the bank . This walk gives a further idea of a part of the Scottish position , but the town of Musselburgh now completely covers the left of their line . The battlefield has been inventoried and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009 . The Scottish artillery . Warned of the approach of the English army , the Scottish artillery was made ready at Edinburgh Castle . Extra gunners were recruited and 140 " pioneers " , i . e . workmen , were employed by Duncan Dundas to move the guns . On 2 September carts were hired to take the guns and the Scottish tents and pavilions towards Musselburgh . There were horses , and oxen were supplied by the Laird of Elphinstone . John Drummond of Milnab , master carpenter of the Scottish ordnance , led the wagon train . There was a newly painted banner , and ahead a boy played on the " swesche " , a drum used to alert people . William Patten described the English officers of the Ordnance after the battle retrieving 30 of the Scottish guns , which were left lying in sundry places , on Sunday 11 September . They found ; one brass culverin ; 3 brass sakers ; 9 smaller brass pieces ; and 17 other iron guns mounted on carriages . Some of these guns appear in the English royal inventory of 1547 – 8 , at the Tower of London where sixteen Scottish brass guns were recorded . They were ; a demi - cannon ; 2 culverins ; 3 sakers ; 9 falconets ; and a robinet . The fitted account of the English Treasurer General of the Army . Ralph Sadler was treasurer for Somerset ' s expedition in Scotland from 1 August to 20 November 1547 . The expense of the journey northwards cost £7468 - 12s - 10d , and the return was £6065 - 14s - 4d . Soldier ' s wages were £26 , 299 - 7s - 1d . For his own expenses , Sadler had £211 - 14s - 8d with £258 - 14s - 9d for his equipment and auditors expenses . A number of special rewards were given to spies , Scottish guides , and others who gave good service , and to the Captain of the Spanish mercenaries . The Scottish herald at the battlefield was given 100 shillings . When Sadler ' s account was audited in December 1547 , Sadler was found to owe Edward VI £546 - 13s - 11d which he duly returned . Casualties . David H . Caldwell has written , " English estimates put the slaughter as high as 15 , 000 Scots killed and 2 , 000 taken but the Earl of Huntly ' s figure of 6 , 000 dead is probably nearer the truth . " Of the Scottish prisoners , few were nobles or gentlemen . It was claimed that most were dressed much the same as common soldiers and therefore were not recognised as being worth ransoming . Caldwell says of the English casualties , " Officially it was given out that losses were only 200 though the rumour about the English court , fed by private letters from those in the army , indicated that 500 or 600 was more likely . " William Patten names a number of high - ranking casualties . The Englishmen he names were horsemen forced onto Scottish pikes in a ploughed field to the east of the English position , after they had crossed a slough towards the Scottish position on Falside Brae . The names of a number of other Scottish casualties are known from legal records or the Scottish chronicles , and include ;