to reposition in preparation for the planned pre-dawn assault. At about 10:00 pm on 2 September English dragoons probed the Scottish positions. The whole Scottish army stood-to and the English withdrew slightly, maintaining patrols to try to ensure that the Scots were unaware of the manoeuvres going on behind them. The Scottish soldier John Nicholl described "a drakie nycht full of wind and weit" (a dark night full of wind and wet) and many Scottish soldiers attempted to shelter in the corn stooks. Their officers scattered across the countryside in search of sounder shelter, their cavalry went foraging and unsaddled most of their horses and Major General James Holborne ordered that the musketeers should extinguish their slow match except for two men per company. By around 4:00 am the English troops had reached positions approximately where Cromwell intended them to be; none of them had made the mistake in the dark of going too far and alerting the Scots to their manoeuvres. John Lambert's brigade of three cavalry regiments was positioned abreast of the road; Robert Lilburne's brigade of a further three cavalry regiments was positioned behind it. Thomas Pride's infantry brigade of three infantry regiments was to the north west of the cavalry, ready to cross the Brox Burn further downstream at Broxmouth. George Monck, with a slightly smaller force than Pride, was south of the cavalry, in position to cross the Brox Burn upstream of the road ford at Brand's Mill. Behind all of these, held in reserve, was Cromwell's own Lord General's Regiment, reinforced by two companies of dragoons. A little upstream of Brand's Mill the English field artillery had set up on a prominent spur where it had a good field of fire into the centre of the Scottish army. To the south west of this concentration Robert Overton's three infantry regiments faced the three infantry brigades of the Scottish centre and left. Four companies of dragoons were dispersed in strong pickets along the north bank of the Brox Burn in front of Overton's brigade and extending to its right (west). The Scots were in a conventional line abreast with nearly all of their cavalry concentrated on their right (east) flank. On the extreme left was a force of about 500 cavalry commanded by William Stewart. Next was the Scottish infantry organised in five brigades. These were, from their left (west): 2,000 men under James Holborne;