Battle of Stirling Bridge
Channel: 宇宙のすべての知識 プリンシピア
Date: 2019-03-29

Battle of Stirling Bridge, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=44782 / CC BY SA 3.0

#1297_in_Scotland
#Battles_of_the_Wars_of_Scottish_Independence
#Battles_between_England_and_Scotland
#Conflicts_in_1297
#History_of_Stirling_(council_area)
#1297_in_England
#Inventory_of_Historic_Battlefields_in_Scotland
Battle of Stirling Bridge

The Battle of Stirling Bridge was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. On 11 September 1297, the forces of Andrew Moray and William Wallace defeated the combined English forces of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey, and Hugh de Cressingham near Stirling, on the River Forth.

The Earl of Surrey had won a victory over the aristocracy of Scotland at the Battle of Dunbar. However, by August 1297 Moray and Wallace controlled almost all of Scotland north of the Forth, except for Dundee. Surrey marched north with an army from Wicker to relieve Dundee. The town of Stirling was the key entry point to the north of Scotland.

The 6th Earl of Surrey arrived with his supporters at the narrow, wooden bridge over the River Forth near Stirling Castle and determined that he would be at a tactical disadvantage if he attempted to take his main force across there. So he delayed crossing for several days to allow for negotiations, and to reconnoiter the area. On 10 September Warenne gave orders to cross the river the next day. At dawn the English and Welsh infantry started to cross only to be recalled because Warenne had overslept. 

The Scots arrived first and camped on Abbey Craig, which dominated the soft flat ground north of the river. The English force of English, Welsh and Scots knights, bowmen and foot soldiers camped south of the river. Sir Richard Lundie, a Scots knight who joined the English after the Capitulation of Irvine, offered to outflank the enemy by leading a cavalry force over a ford two miles upstream, where sixty horsemen could cross at the same time. Hugh de Cressingham, King Edward's treasurer in Scotland, p...