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Battle of Bannock Burn
When the patriot leader William Wallace was brutally executed in 1305 Robert the Bruce realised that Scotland would cease to be a nation if England continued to treat the land and its people so brutally. Scotland had suffered oppression from Edward I for 10 years. After destroying the Scots army at Falkirk in 1298 the country lay at Edwards mercy. Scotland was occupied by Edwards soldiers and garrisons were placed the length of the country.
Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scotland in 1306 at Scone Palace - but still had to recover his kingdom from the English. At the Battle of Methven Bruce was defeated and had to retreat into exile.The following year he returned from exile and won Battles at Glen Trool and Loudoun Hill - however Edward I dies while preparing to conquer Bruce and his army. Edward II invaded Scotland for the first time in 1310 - Bruce retaliated by invading Northern England the following year using guerilla warfare rather than a pitched battle with the formidable English Army. These techniques learnt during this period were to prove useful.
An agreement had been made by the English Governor of Stirling Castle with King Roberts brother that the castle would be surrendered to Bruce if the seige by the Scots had not been relieved before Midsummer day 1314
Edward II decided he must relieve the castle in time and force the Scots into battle - destroying them in one fell swoop.
The English army consisted of around 17,000 men made up as follows :
- Heavy cavalry, well equipped with chain mail and armour , a 12ft lance and a mace or battle axe as a close combat weapon.
- Archers carried a long bow, 24 arrows and a dagger as a personal weapon. They were enlisted from Wales, Ireland and mid and northern England.
- Foot soldiers carried a 12ft spear, a shield and a sword.
The Scottish forces consisted of only about 5,500 men. They were divided into 4 divisions of foot and his horsemen into a small body of around 500 light cavalry. Robert the Bruce himself commanded the 4th division which was the strongest of the four.On 17th June the English army marched to Edinburgh to collect supplies. On the 22nd they reached Falkirk and rested overnight. The next day they followed the Roman Road to Stirling - leaving Edward II 2 days to relieve the castle
Bruce had planned well - he had dug camouflaged pits and laid calthrops to maim the enemy cavalry. The Scots position had been well chosen - it covered Stirling Castle and forced Edward to attack either on wooded terrain or to risk going round the boggy carse At mid-day the English advanced towards the Scots position under the Earls of Gloucester and Hereford , while Clifford and de Beaumonts force turned off to cross the Bannock Burn.
Robert the Bruce was riding round his forward troops when the mounted patrols were seen after crossing the Bannock Burn. Sir Henry de Bohun recognised him from the gold coronet he was wearing and charged at the unarmoured Bruce with his lance. Bruce avoided this and killed de Buhun with a single blow to the head with his battle-axe. The English were driven back onto the main guard and back across the Bannock Burn.
In the meantime Clifford and de Beaumonts force were moving quickly along the edge of the carse. The Scots under Moray, were charged by the whole force - however the horses shied off in front of the ranks of spears. Clifford and de Beaumont surrounded Moray on all sides but were frustrated by the tight ‘hedgehog’ the Scots had formed with their spears. The frustrated knights hurled their maces and battle axes at the Scots to try and force an opening - and did not succeed. Moray counterattacked and drove the English from the field ending the fighting for that day.
The English under Edward decided to move nearer Stirling across the Bannock Burn so that he could relieve Stirling Castle the next day - this movement took place watched by Bruce and his men. The moral in the English camp was low and reports of this quickly came back to Bruce.
On the morning of the 24th June the Scots moved down onto the plain and within hundreds of yards of the English knelt down to pray. The English were ordered to charge Edward Bruce but his men formed a ‘hedgehog’ around him – Gloucester was killed on the spears. Both sides were so locked together that the archers were unable to fire – the English quickly broke up and the riderless horses ran back into their main body sending it into confusion. The other three Scottish divisions pushed forward – the English were trapped into a narrow frontage between the river and the boggy carse
A long fight followed with the Scottish spearmen slowly and steadily pressing forward. The English were able to deploy a body of archers on the left flank and their fire began to take effect. The Scots Islesmen rushed upon the English who began to give some ground - lines of Scottish spearmen drove them back against the back line who could not get into action because of the confused mass between them and the Scots.
Edward II was persuaded to retreat to Stirling Castle – when his standard was seen leaving the battlefield the whole English army began to waver. Watching this were Bruces ‘small folk’ – followers who had been held in reserve – they rushed down onto the plain to join in the battle. The English thought these were Scottish reserves and the whole English army disintegrated and fled being chased in every direction. Many of the English soldiers fled to the Forth and to destruction while others were forced back into the high tide at the Bannock Burn and drowned.
Edward was refused entry at Stirling Castle and was then pursued to Dunbar where he escaped by rowing boat to Berwick.
The English casualties were very heavy – nearly all the foot and archers were killed or captured .
King Robert had proved himself to be a skilled general – his personal courage and ambition was decisive in the struggle for Scottish Independence although it was to be a number of years before the Declaration of Arbroath and then the treaty of Northampton led to formal recognition by the English of Scottish Independence
Author Corinne Mills
Images by Richard Hayton
Tags: battlefields, scotland
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