Post by dreamwalker on May 31, 2005 23:09:48 GMT 10
23 & 24 June 1314
Bannockburn was the decisive victory for Robert the Bruce.
Robert the Bruce fought a bloody guerrilla war against the English for 18 years after Scotland was occupied by Edward I, "Hammer of the Scots". By the time Edward I died, the Bruce had regained most of the lowlands of Scotland. In 1314, Bruce besieged the only castle south of the Forth under English control - Stirling.
Sir Philip Mowbray, the English commander of Stirling Castle, agreed to surrender to the Scots if his force was not relieved at the end of June. Edward II, new King of England, decided to send a large force - perhaps 25,000 men - to relieve the garrison and deliver a crushing blow to the Scots' rebellion.
Robert the Bruce's army was outnumbered 3-1, with some accounts having the English force so large that it stretched for 20 miles. However, the Scots stole the tactical advantage from the superior English army.
The chief advantage of the English army was its heavy cavalry. As these knights smashed through infantry the weight and momentum of their charge crushed the enemy’s front lines and spread panic. Without the protection of their formations the now disorganised infantry were easy pickings for the knights who had the advantage of striking down on their enemies from height and who could see the tide of battle from horseback.
But the knights needed space and solid ground to charge, so the Bruce cunningly positioned his soldiers on a hill between two woods that protected his flanks. The knights relied on a frontal assault, but the only direct route to the Scottish infantry was over marsh land between two burns that lead to the River Forth. The English knights were trapped on dangerous ground with their retreat cut off by the water.
The Bruce had another weapon to steal the thunder from the English cavalry’s charge. To counter the armoured horse, the Scots developed a new infantry formation called the schiltron – a cluster of soldiers armed with extra long spears rammed into the earth. When the knights charged they would be confronted by a wall of spears that could not be swept aside and would be impaled on the Scottish pikes by their own momentum.
The first skirmish of the battle took place on 23 June 1314 when a contingent of English knights was sent by Edward II to relieve the garrison at Stirling Castle. The Scots spotted their deployment and sent a company of schiltrons to block their route. When the English came upon them they charged but were broken under the Scottish pikes. As the knights fled the Scots spearmen did something unheard of and counter-attacked. For the first time in medieval warfare infantry had stood against an assault of heavy cavalry and won.
The English knew they had conceded the tactical advantage by confronting the Scots on their own terms. To make their assault over the marsh they took doors and thatch from the roofs of nearby homes and formed bridges over the marsh.
The following day the English knights charged the bulk of the Scots force, but they were disorganised by having to cross the narrow bridges and were beaten back. The English dispatched their archers to break-up the Scots infantry but the arrows peppered the retreating English knights as well the Scots. The dominance of the Scots' schiltrons was assured when the English archers were swept from the field by mounted infantry.
As the English cavalry was pressed back into the marsh, the order for the English infantry to advance was given. But the knights could only flee over the same makeshift bridges that their infantry were advancing on. The infantry could not retreat except through the marsh while the weight of their rear pushed them forward into their own cavalry. In the clash between the two forces the English infantry was crushed underneath the heavy horse or drowned in the marsh.
The Scots now advanced without the English archers to impede them. With victory in sight, the Bruce had one final trick up his sleeve. He had positioned camp followers and townsfolk in the woods disguised as soldiers and as news of the battle spread they arrived in numbers to view the victory. The English, believing they were about to be flanked by a second Scottish army, fled the field in blind panic. Their king only narrowly escaped capture.
Some other accounts claim the "townsfolk" were in fact a contingent of the near mythic Knights Templar, an order of dedicated religious warriors from the Continent. While this appears fanciful it is not entirely incredible. The Knights Templar had a base in Scotland, at Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh, after being excommunicated by the Pope. Also there are questions as to how the Bruce, a homeless king with minimal resources, managed to fund a prolonged campaign against England. Those who support the involvement of the Knights Templar, whose order had become vastly rich from the Holy lands, believe they provided Bruce with funds so they could secure a Scottish home.
Regardless of the identity of the "second army", the English were crushed at Bannockburn. They had arrived certain of ending the Scottish uprising once and for all with a massive army and using forces never before defeated on the field of battle. Instead of breaking the Scots, they were themselves broken and their heavy cavalry was no longer unbeatable. The Scots had taken Stirling Castle, the gateway to the Highlands, and instead of fighting on two fronts could now focus on the final English force on Scottish soil in the Borders. Bannockburn was a battle against such overwhelming odds that its victory made Bruce a military legend. Without it, one could argue, there would be no Scottish nation.