ABSTRACT
When Charles II landed at Dover in May 1660, two professional armies existed, both owing him allegiance: the New Model in England and the army of exiled royalists in Flanders and Dunkirk. Neither force was very healthy, being in arrears of pay, and although the New Model was still technically formidable it was broken in spirit and thoroughly demoralised. John Lambert had led this force north in an effort to halt Monck's victorious Scottish regiments but it had disintegrated through desertion before even coming into contact with them. At the Restoration it was Monck's troops quartered in and around London which represented the remains of the New Model, with the additional support of Lockhart's brigade in Dunkirk. If there was to be a military danger to Charles's return it was likely to come from across the Channel.
