Battle Report: Bannockburn, tactics and terrain
The relationship between Scotland and England since the 1280’s had been tense to say the least. Edward I had earned the name ‘Hammer of the Scots’ for being really nice to the Scottish nobility ( just kidding, he was absolutely awful to them, causing the Scottish War of Independence) and by the early 14th century, his feckless son, Edward II was king of England and hoped to build on the ‘successes’ of his father.
Prelude to war
in 1307, Scotland breathed a sigh of relief as their old enemy, Edward I was dead. Dying of dysentery on the way north to Scotland, Edward left England in the hands of his less than able son, a man not known for his military might or, his political savvy.
Portrait in Westminster Abbey, thought to be of Edward I SOURCE: Public domain
Regardless of Edward’s apparent inabilities as a battlefield commander, he continued, in vein, to put pressure on Robert I, King of Scots. King Robert knew that meeting an English army in the field would likely end in disaster because, even though many Scottish lords had begun to flock to Robert’s cause, England was still by far the more powerful kingdom with vast amounts of men and resources. Several unsuccessful campaigns into Scotland were carried out by Edward in 1309 and 1310, with the Scots taking a leaf out of the welsh playbook, resorting to guerrilla tactics to harass Edward’s forces. By 1314, only two major strongholds were under English control, the imposing castle at Stirling, and the fortification at Bothwell, putting Robert and his armies a mere stones throw away from the major trade centre of Berwick. Robert took advantage of the English king’s fractured court, caused by Edward’s relationship with Piers Gaveston, and began to attack towns and cities on the English border, solidifying his position as the undisputed ruler of Scotland, prompting Edward to react.
Robert I ('The Bruce') by Edward Harding, published by Isaac Herbert, after Unknown artiststipple engraving, published 1797 SOURCE: National Portrait Gallery
The march to Berwick and the siege of Stirling Castle
By spring of 1314, Robert I had almost full control over southern Scotland, and looked to wipe the English lords who had claimed land in the lowlands off the map. Robert had his brother Edward (who we will refer to him as Edward Bruce from now on to avoid confusion with Edward II of England) lay siege the Stirling Castle, forcing the governor of Stirling, Philip Mowbray to sue for peace. As was the chivalric custom, Edward gave the English garrison until the 24th June to be relieved before handing over the caste, this allowed Edward II to mobilise an army of some 20,000 men to crush the upstart Scots once and for all.
Edward Bruce’s noble decision to allow the English garrison time before giving up the castle, would potentially force the Scottish army around the fortress to have to retreat, lacking the sheer numbers to beat back Edward II and his horde of Englishmen. Robert I marched down towards Berwick, near to where he knew Edward would have to come before marching on to Stirling.
Bruce knew that his mere 7,000 men would be no match for the full might of the English army, packed to the brim with men-at-arms and mounted knights roughly accounting for 30% of the army, a truly professional force. With the massive threat posed by the highly professional and dangerous English army, Robert knew that he needed to buy his brother some time in order to get the surrender from Stirling castle. Refusing again to meet the massive army in the field, Robert carried out scorched earth tactics on the retreat to Stirling, destroying anything that could help keep Edward II’s army supplied. Edward’s army was was already suffering from moral issues, due to the uncomfortable relationship between Edward and his leading nobles, the men he relied on for both man power and the money to fund such an audacious campaign.
The Battle of Bannockburn: Day 1
King Robert I was an excellent tactician, he had already showed his military abilities at the battle of Loudoun Hill (1307), where he was all to beat back a much larger English force led by Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. As mentioned before, the Scottish army was outnumbered and in many respects, out matched by the cavalry based English force, forcing the Scots to consider how and most importantly, where the inevitable battle would take place.
By the morning of 23rd June, Robert had arrived near the village of Bannock, a small hamlet on the edge off the Bannock Burn stream, surrounded by woods and hills. the village was just a few short miles away from Stirling and would be where the Scottish army would make their last stand. Robert positioned his men on the edge of the forest in the rear, to protect his flanks from cavalry and ordered his men dig trenches filled with traps to confuse and funnel the expected cavalry charge. The Scottish army were organised into four main battles (the word ‘battle’ originally meant formation) of tightly packed Schiltrons, the Scottish equivalent of a phalanx, thousands of pikes bristling out facing the oncoming enemy.
A modern image of the Bannock Burn stream running through the fields at the bottom of the woods where Robert I waited for the English SOURCE Google maps, getmapping plc (2020)
As was expected, the English army approached in all pomp and chivalric spender, led by its fearsome heavy cavalry. Seeing the large force, Robert ordered his men to retreat into the woods before again ordering them to turn and face the oncoming cavalry that was by now, charging head on into the Scottish lines. Led by the Earl of Hereford, the cavalry smashed head first into the Scottish lines with disastrous consequences. The traps set by the Scottish forces had successfully funnelled the English onto the waiting spears, with men and horse Impaled on the wall of pikes unable to be relieved due to the traps and trenches now behind them. The Earl of Gloucester, Gilbert de Claire, was sent around the flank to try and hit the Schiltrons on the side but Edward Bruce was able to move his men into position on his brothers left side, Covering the attack from the Earl, forcing the English to retreat back to their original positions at the Burn.
The English army didn’t take many losses on the first day but, the lack of progress made by the cavalry, acted as a serious moral hit for Edward and the English forces. Edward and his swollen army began to set up camp spread out around bannock itself, ready to take the fight to the Scots the next day.
An interpretation of the battle of Bannockburn from the first day SOURCE: Public domain
The Battle of Bannockburn: Day 2
Early the next morning, going against all military logic, Robert ordered his schiltrons to advance towards the English, still waking from their uneasy nights sleep. Literally catching the English napping, Robert was able to position himself in front of the english who soon matched his formation.
With men and horse quickly being gathered from all over the Bannock Burn, Edward and his advisors decided to use the heavy cavalry to once again, smash through the Scottish lines, taking the day in the most chivalric way possible. As the Scottish lines approached slowly, crossing the fields between their old position in the woods towards where the majority of the English had camped, no one in the English camp could decide who should lead such a noble and honourable charge but, eventually the Earl of Gloucester took it upon himself to lead his contingent straight into the right flank of the Scottish spearmen. Gloucester and his knights smashed straight into the schiltrons virtually destroying the Earl and his men on impact, as mass spears almost always beat mass cavalry.
The rest of the English army were still being organised into proper formation when the Scottish archers started to fire at the English and Welsh longbowmen, keeping them pinned down and unable to fire at the Scottish infantry which was now pushing back the English cavalry and infantry that had followed Gloucester. The Scottish advantages were used superbly by King Robert and he was able to use great timing and English arrogance against them, but the day was not over yet. More and more English Knights and men-at-arms joined the melee where for hours, the two armies slogged it out against one and other until both sides were thoroughly exhausted. At the critical moment of the battle, Robert moved up his reserve Schiltrons that were still camped in the woods, using them to prop up the completely mentally and physically depleted army that for hours, had been pushing the mighty English further and further back. By this point, the outcome was all but confirmed and the number one objective of the English, was the get the King to safety. Edward II took flight with several hundred knights, leaving the rest of his army to ether flee themselves or die on the battle field to the Scots.
Aftermath
In total, the Scottish lost between 500 and 1000 of there original 7,000 that had started the previous day but the English lost over 5,000 men, with many important knights and nobles falling in the doomed cavalry attacks, capping of a complete disaster of a campaign into Scotland. Edward quickly ran of with his tail between his legs back to London allowing the Scots to continue their harrowing of the north of England unchecked. The battle of Bannockburn would go down in history as one of England’s greatest defeats but also one of Scotland’s greatest victories, going on to dominate retellings of the story of Edward II, the lacklustre king who was more interested in chasing members of the court than dealing with his problems. Bannockburn would serve as a pivotal moment in the relationship between England and Scotland, virtually finalising the independence of Scotland furthering the already tense relationship between the two kingdoms.
A peace treaty was eventually signed in 1328 that saw an end to the first Scottish war of independence, a war that had been raging since 1296, but it would not mark the end of Anglo-Scottish conflicts. The relationship would stay prickly at best for the next three centuries, eventually coming to an when James VI of Scotland became king of both England and Scotland in 1603.
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