Battle of Dunbar ( 1296 ) The Battle of Dunbar was the only significant field action in the campaign of 1296 . King Edward I of England had invaded Scotland in 1296 to punish King John Balliol for his refusal to support English military action in France . The battlefield is currently under research to be inventoried and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009 . Background . After the sack of Berwick - upon - Tweed , Edward rushed to complete the conquest of Scotland , remained in the town for a month , supervising the strengthening of its defences . On 5 April , he received a message from King John renouncing his homage , to which he remarked , more in contempt than anger , " O ' foolish knave ! What folly he commits . If he will not come to us we will go to him . " The next objective in the campaign was the Earl of March ' s castle at Dunbar , a few miles up the coast from Berwick . March was with the English , but his wife , Marjory Comyn , sister of the Earl of Buchan , did not share her husband ' s political loyalties and allowed her fellow Scots to occupy the castle . Edward sent one of his chief lieutenants , John de Warenne , 6th Earl of Surrey , John Balliol ' s own father - in - law , northwards with a strong force of knights to invest the stronghold . The defenders sent messages to King John , bivouacked with the main body of his army at nearby Haddington , asking for urgent assistance . In response the army , or a large part of it , advanced to the rescue of Dunbar . John , who was showing even less skill as a commander than he had as a king , did not accompany it . The campaign of 1296 was now to enter its final phase . Battle . There is little evidence to suggest that Dunbar was anything other than an action between two bodies of mounted men - at - arms ( armoured cavalry ) . Surrey ' s force seems to have comprised one formation ( out of four ) of the English cavalry ; the Scots force lead in part by Comyns probably represented the greater part of their cavalry element . The two forces came in sight of each other on 27 April . The Scots occupied a strong position on some high ground to the west . To meet them , Surrey ' s cavalry had to cross a gully intersected by the Spott Burn . As they did so their ranks broke up , and the Scots , deluded into thinking the English were leaving the field , abandoned their position in a disorderly downhill charge , only to find that Surrey ' s forces had reformed on Spottsmuir and were advancing in perfect order . The English routed the disorganised Scots in a single charge . The action was brief and probably not very bloody , since the only casualty of any note was a minor Lothian knight , Sir Patrick Graham , though about 100 Scottish lords , knights and men - at - arms were taken prisoner . According to one English source over ten thousand Scots died at the battle of Dunbar , however this is probably a confusion with the casualties incurred at the storming of Berwick . The survivors fled westwards to the safety of the Ettrick Forest . The following day King Edward appeared in person and Dunbar castle surrendered . Some important prisoners were taken : John Comyn , Earl of Buchan , and the earls of Atholl , Ross and Menteith , together with 130 knights and esquires . All were sent into captivity in England . Aftermath . The battle of Dunbar effectively ended the war of 1296 with the English winning . The remainder of the campaign was little more than a grand mopping - up operation . James , the hereditary High Steward of Scotland , surrendered the important fortress at Roxburgh without attempting a defence , and others were quick to follow his example . Only Edinburgh Castle held out for a week against Edward ' s siege engines . A Scottish garrison sent out to help King John , who had fled north to Forfar , were told to provide for their own safety . Edward himself , true to his word , advanced into central and northern Scotland in pursuit of King John . Stirling Castle , which guarded the vital passage across the River Forth was deserted save for a janitor who stayed behind to hand the keys to the English . John reached Perth on 21 June , where he received messages from Edward asking for peace . John Balliol , in surrendering , submitted himself to a protracted abasement . At Kincardine Castle on 2 July he confessed to rebellion and prayed for forgiveness . Five days later in the kirkyard of Stracathro he abandoned the treaty with the French . The final humiliation came at Montrose on 8 July . Dressed for the occasion John was ceremoniously stripped of the vestments of royalty . Antony Bek , the Bishop of Durham , ripped the red and gold arms of Scotland from his surcoat , thus bequeathing to history the nickname " Toom Tabard " ( empty coat ) by which John has been known to generations of Scottish schoolchildren . He and his son Edward were sent south into captivity . Soon after , the English king followed , carrying in his train the Stone of Scone and other relics of Scottish nationhood . Brown , C . , " Scottish Battlefields "