English Defeated Scots at Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, Near Edinburgh

The English defeat the Scots at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, fought near Edinburgh on 10 September 1547. The battle was the largest conflict of the war known as the Rough Wooing, sparked by English demands that the 10-year-old King Edward VI of England be married to the 5-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, in a bid to unite the crowns under English influence.

The battle was a catastrophic defeat for the Scots, with an estimated 15,000 Scottish casualties including both killed and captured. It marked the first modern battle fought on British soil, involving combined infantry, cavalry, artillery, and naval support.

Despite the English military success, the political goal failed: Mary was eventually smuggled to France and betrothed to the Dauphin, later King Francis II, reinforcing the Franco-Scottish alliance and frustrating English ambitions.