See Battle of Preston (1648) for the battle of the Second English Civil War. The Battle of Preston (9–14 November 1715) was the final action of the Jacobite rising of 1715, an attempt to put James Francis Edward Stuart on the British throne in place of George I. After two days of street-fighting, the Jacobite commander Thomas Forster surrendered to government troops under General Charles Wills. It was arguably the last battle fought on English soil. Background The Jacobites moved south into England with little opposition, and by the time they reached Preston, Lancashire had grown to about 4,000 in number. Their cavalry entered Preston on the night of 9 November 1715, and as they approached two troops of dragoons and part of a militia regiment retreated to Wigan. General Charles Wills was ordered to halt their advance, and left Manchester on 11 November with six regiments, arriving on 12 November. The Jacobite leader was Thomas Forster, a Northumberland squire with minimal military experience, selected largely because he was a Protestant; learning of Wills's approach, he decided to stay and made the mistake of withdrawing troops from a strong defensive position at Ribble bridge, outside Preston. Battle The Jacobites had barricaded the principal streets of Preston, and Wills ordered an immediate attack, which met with fire from the barricades and from houses, resulting in the Hanoverian attack being repulsed with heavy losses. Wills then had houses set on fire, with the aim of fires spreading along to the Jacobite positions, and the Jacobites tried to do the same to houses taken as government positions. At night, Wills's order to light the government-held positions for identification helped the Jacobite snipers, but overnight many Jacobites left the town. The legend of these actions is recounted in a well-known Lancashire ballad, Lo! The Bird is Fallen. On 13 November, additional government forces arrived from Newcastle under George Carpenter, which Wills deployed to ensure the besieged Jacobites could not escape. Although casualties were relatively low, their position was hopeless, and Forster was advised by his subordinate Henry Oxburgh to open negotiations with Wills for surrender on terms. The Scots were not informed and on learning of this they paraded through the streets, threatening any Jacobites who might even allude to a surrender, killing or wounding several people. At 7:00 am on Monday 14 November, Forster offered an unconditional surrender, which Wills rejected unless it