After the battle, Lambert marched east and captured the deep-water port of Burntisland. Cromwell shipped most of the English army there, assembling 13,000 to 14,000 men by 26 July. He then ignored the Scottish army at Stirling and on 31 July marched on the seat of the Scottish government at Perth, which he besieged. Perth surrendered after two days, cutting off the Scottish army from reinforcements, provisions and materiel. Cromwell deliberately left the route south open, reckoning that if the Scots abandoned their defensive positions, then once in the open they could be destroyed. Charles and Leslie, seeing no hope of victory if they stayed to face Cromwell, marched south on 31 July in a desperate bid to raise Royalist support in England. By this time they had only around 12,000 men, who were very short of firearms. Cromwell and Lambert followed, shadowing the Scottish army while leaving Monck with 5,000 men in Scotland to mop up what resistance remained.