This famous sentence is from a letter that Cromwell wrote to the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, in 1650 – before the Battle of Dunbar, in an attempt to avoid bloodshed.
This was during the Third English Civil War, when the Scots were attempting to have Charles II recognised as King following the execution of his father, Charles I.
The Battle of Dunbar has been described (in Encyclopaedia Britannica, quoted in Wikipedia) as "the most brilliant of all Oliver's victories. Before the sun was high in the heavens the Scottish army had ceased to exist."
© Haydn Thompson 2017