ABSTRACT
Between 1641 and 1660, whilst internal struggles and dramatic constitutional changes were reshaping England, military campaigns were also raging in both Ireland and Scotland. Rebellion had erupted in Ireland in 1641 and was not effectively suppressed until the Settlement Act of 1653, whilst Cromwell's Scottish invasion of 1650 resulted in the establishment of a permanent English garrison north of the border that lasted until 1660. In 1656 the financial cost of the war was calculated by a commission appointed by Cromwell to examine the accounts of all those responsible for the administration and handling of public money during the Irish campaign. Sir Henry Percival had uncovered widespread abuses within the military supply and financial system, some of which involved the hospitals. The three military hospitals that had been established at Cork, Derry and Dublin during Essex's campaigns of 1598-1603 had survived the intervening years, despite draconian troop reductions, solely as a result of charity.
