Battle of Bannockburn

The **Battle of Bannockburn**, fought on 23 and 24 June 1314, was an important Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence. A smaller Scottish army defeated a much larger and better armed English army.

## Background
When King Alexander III of Scotland died in 1286, his heir was his granddaughter Margaret, Maid of Norway. King Edward I of England arranged to have his son, Edward II of England, become her husband and share the crown of Scotland in 1289. But Margaret died on her way from Norway to Scotland in 1290. In July 1295 the Scottish Parliament met and took most of the power away from John Balliol and gave it to a group of men they elected called the "Council of Twelve." This group made an agreement with King Philip IV of France called the Auld Alliance. King Edward gathered his army at Newcastle and prepared to invade Scotland. John Balliol sent King Edward letters refusing to recognize Edward's right to rule Scotland. John Balliol was sent to prison in London, then later Edward allowed him to live in France. In 1296 Edward made every man in Scotland who owned land promise to be loyal to him. Scotland remained without a king of their own until 1306 when Robert the Bruce declared himself king of Scotland defying Edward I. Just before doing this Robert the Bruce had been involved in a dispute with John Comyn. The two met before the altar in Greyfriars Church in Dumfries in 1306 and in a fight John Comyn was killed. Accused of murdering Comyn, Bruce was excommunicated by the Pope. Edward sent his men after Bruce but was unable to capture Him. A series of border skirmishes and wars went on. In 1310 Edward again invaded Scotland but with little effect. Between 1310 and 1314 a large number of castles were captured from the occupying English soldiers by Bruce and his followers.

## Siege of Stirling Castle
In the Spring of 1313 Edward Bruce, brother of the Scottish King began a siege of Stirling Castle, which was held by Sir Philip Mowbray for the English king. By the middle of summer the Scots were still not able to defeat the castle. Edward Bruce made an agreement with the castle commander, Mowbray. It said that if the castle was not relieved by the English by 24 June the following year it would be surrendered to Bruce. Edward Bruce went to his brother to tell him the good news. But the Robert Bruce saw this as a mistake. It gave King Edward II of England a year to get ready an army to march into Scotland. Up to this point the king of Scotland had avoided pitched battles with the English army. The English king was now in danger of losing everything in Scotland. He began gathering the largest army a king of England had ever led. He had 2,500 heavy cavalry each followed by one or more mounted squires. By 22 June the army made an exhausting march to Falkirk, only 10 miles from Sterling Castle.

## Scottish preparations
. The Scottish schiltron or "hedgehog" formation was just the same. The Scots were trained to stand defensively and also to attack]] 

Bruce's army, like William Wallace's before him, was chiefly composed of infantry armed with 18-foot long pikes. It was divided into three main (infantry) battalions, and a fourth larger battalion commanded by the king himself serving as the reserve unit. The second battalion was commanded by Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray. The third was led by Edward Bruce, the king's brother. The fourth division was commanded by Sir James Douglas and his cousin Walter the Steward. The light cavalry of 500 strong was commanded by Robert Keith, Marischal of Scotland. Each infantry division formed into a Schiltron formation. Each man carried the pike upright and the outside ranks would lower theirs to form a lethal wall of sharp metal points. Bruce then moved his army just to the north to the New Park. This was more heavily wooded area where his movements could be concealed. The Bannock burn (or stream), which the English army had to cross on the way to Stirling was a natural obstacle. Parts of it were too deep for infantry or cavalry to cross. The area was also covered with marshy boggy ground difficult to ride over. Sir Thomas Gray called it "an evil, deep, wet marsh". Also, pits were dug as traps to break a cavalry charge. 
The only approach was over the old road from Falkirk to Sterling. This route was the only solid ground on which heavy cavalry could be moved. They were met by Sir Philip Mowbray, the English commander of Stirling Castle. An English knight Henry de Bohun was riding ahead of his companions when he caught sight of 
the Scottish king inspecting some of his lines. De Bohun lowered his lance and charged. Robert the Bruce was mounted on a small palfrey and armed  with a battle-axe He could have simply moved behind his men and let them repel the charging warhorse and rider. Looking around the king saw English cavalry moving around their left. He pointed out the cavalry and said to Thomas Randolph "a rose has fallen from your chaplet". Immediately Randolph rode to his men and moved the schildton onto the open ground in the path of the English knights. Sir Thomas Gray replied "I doubt that whatever you give them now, they will have all too soon." Sir Henry said to Thomas Gray, "if you are afraid then be off!" Sir Thomas replied "it is not from fear that I shall fly this day" and along with several other knights charged the Scottish schiltron. But the schiltron held and the English in frustration began throwing their weapons at the Scots. When Sir James Douglas, commanding the left schiltron saw his friend in trouble and begged Bruce to go to his rescue. But by the time he returned to his man Randolph was winning the day.  Half of the remaining English fled back to the English lines while half fled to Sterling Castle. After losing just one Yeoman, the Scots took off their helmets to rest from the heat of the day. He wished to no longer serve the king of England and offered to join the Bruce. They had to water all the warhorses, draft horses and oxen. By the time the move was finished it was nearly dawn. Morning found the English had not moved. The English mounted their horses in great confusion. They were so crowded men were being pushed into the Bannock burn behind them. Gloucester was still angry when the trumpets sounded the signal to assemble. They pushed forward into the confused English. Wounded horses without their knights were running back into the English lines. Edward's army was now so crowded they could hardly move. The Scots were pushing into them from the front. The back ranks were being pushed into the water and marshes.

Up to this point in the battle the English and Welsh longbowmen (archers) had not been used to their full advantage. They were moved to the right side of the English lines. From here they could fire arrows into the Scottish army with great effect. When the English saw another large force of Scots joining the battle they began falling back. He told the king he now had to surrender the castle and the king would be taken prisoner. But Mowbray gave Edward II a knight to guide the king and his party to safety. Sir James Douglas got permission from Robert the Bruce to pursue the English king. With a group of Keith's horsemen Douglas kept close behind Edward as he fled south.

Another large group of Edward's knights escaped to Bothwell Castle. A large number were taken prisoner and later ransomed. The English baggage train was left behind. It's silver, gold, and luxuries the noblemen brought with them was worth a fortune alone. Along with the ransoms paid for their prisoners this brought sudden wealth to Scotland.  But to the Scots the Battle of Bannockburn was a major victory. Before the battle Robert the Bruce was considered by many a usurper (pretender). He only had limited support in Scotland. After Bannockburn Robert the Bruce became a national hero. He had the support of most of Scotland. There were over 500 returned to England in exchange for ransom. And Scottish prisoners in England were returned in exchange. Robert the Bruce's wife, daughter and sister were returned. The border wars continued but from 1314 to 1328 the focus shifted to the north of England. The English learned their lesson from Bannockburn. The Scots apparently didn't. In the later Battle of Dupplin Moor and Halidon Hill the same tactics that brought victory at Bannockburn brought them defeat. William Mackenzie wrote: "Never did the arms of England suffer so complete a disaster; never did the arms of Scotland repeat so remarkable a performance."

## Notes
## References
## Other websites
*Battle of Bannockburn animated battle map  by Jonathan Webb
* The National Trust for Scotland Battle of Bannockburn
*A new start for Bannockburn Heritage Center