and survivors gave differing accounts. A number of clerics, plus the government's leading lawyer, Archibald Johnston of Wariston, were present and they were enthusiastic for pressing the English hard. Royle, among others, has pointed out that the idea that Leslie was pressured into leaving the security of Doon Hill due to amateur advice from the Covenanter clerics is a myth. Leslie's experienced military lieutenants were unanimous that the Scots had the English at a disadvantage and that they should advance against them. On 2 September the Scots moved off the exposed ridge of Doon Hill. This took most of the day. The English army in turn advanced out of Dunbar and took up defensive positions along the steep north bank of the Brox Burn stream, which roughly paralleled the Doon Hill ridge. From Brand's Mill westward this burn formed a significant obstacle against attack for both sides. Both Leslie and Cromwell concentrated their cavalry on the seaward side of Brand's Mill, where the Brox Burn was more readily traversable. Leslie deployed much of his light artillery with his cavalry and attempted to also move his infantry to the east. The rough ground and the limited room to manoeuvre between the Brox Burn and the steep northern slope of Doon Hill hampered this and it was incomplete when halted by nightfall. Cromwell intended to launch a dawn assault against the Scots on 3 September, but the objective of the attack has been debated by historians. After the event Cromwell claimed that the Scots moving down off Doon Hill had presented him with the long-sought opportunity for an open battle which he was quick to seize. The historians Reid and Malcolm Wanklyn believe that Cromwell was attempting to break out and escape along the coast road to England. Reid cites the movement of the baggage train from Dunbar churchyard to Broxmouth House as one indication. This position, in the front line of the army, was, says Reid, "a most extraordinary place" for the baggage train, only explicable by its nearness to the road which would have enabled it to move off promptly if the way could be opened. The alternative view is that Cromwell always planned an all-out assault and a decisive battle; Peter Reese is a proponent, although he states that "the odds against the English ... were awesome". In the adverse weather conditions it took the English army all night