The Battle of Bannockburn entered the annals of British history as one of the most important battles in the wars between England and Scotland in the 13th-16th centuries, which the latter fought for its independence. This battle debunked the myth of the invincibility of the knightly cavalry. And it was like this …
Background …
The English army, which accompanied its king Edward II on his military campaign north, was probably the strongest among those who participated in the wars between the British and the Scots. The number was indicated as 100,000, which, however, is highly doubtful. Dress-shoe-feed, provide such a mass of soldiers with weapons for Britain in the XIV century was an unbearable burden. The attack force of the army then was heavy cavalry. The army consisted of representatives of different strata of society: knights, squires and other, very wealthy citizens of Britain. The cavalrymen wore chain mail, covered with plate armor on top, and a surcoat with a coat of arms, so that it was easier to identify the knight in battle. The knight's main weapon was a twelve-foot wooden spear with an iron tip. In close combat, a sword, a club and a battle ax were used. The cavalry tactics were primitive: rush forward and, by inertia, smash or trample everything that gets in the way. Usually the cavalry were opposed by lightly armed and poorly trained infantrymen, so the knights rarely attacked each other. The skirmishes of the knights usually turned into single duels. It is easy to imagine the condition of the soldiers who found themselves in the path of heavy cavalry, rushing at full gallop. The tremors of the earth, the clatter of hundreds of horses' hooves, the clank of armor, the glittering of metal: who can have the courage to resist these heavyweights? Edward II had 2,000 such heavily armed cavalrymen.
Duel of the King of Scotland Bruce with the English knight Henry de Bone. Drawing of the 19th century.
About 17,000 archers, infantry and spearmen supported the cavalry. For spearmen, the main weapon was also a twelve-foot spear, and a short sword or dagger was used in additional weapons. To protect against arrows and blows from swords, they wore leather or quilted jackets, as well as chain mail mittens and corsets made of steel plates, tied with leather straps. A bascinet, a steel helmet, simple conical or wide-brimmed, was worn on the head. The exact ratio of archers to spearmen is unknown, but the latter appear to have been larger. The archer used a long bow of yew and carried a quiver with 24 arrows, each a yard long and with a metal tip. Archers came forward to fire, lining up, five or six paces apart. Most of Edward's archers came from Ireland, northern England and Wales.
View of the battle site from the British side. Summer 2012.
Edward's army, capable of winning any battle with heavy cavalry, had a weak command, managing its contingent at an extremely low level. The infantrymen had weak leadership, since the English nobility and knights did not go on foot and fought in the ranks of the knightly cavalry. Conversely, the Scottish nobility and their knights fought alongside their people on foot and thus could quickly influence the situation, as well as maintain discipline and morale. And this is an important factor in any battle. Another nuance directly indicated the king's weakness or lack of will on his part. Among all the knights of the English army, there were no important feudal lords. Only Gloucester, Hereford and Pembroke came with the king to the north. Everything was different under Father Edward. Scotland was grateful to God for the fact that the old man, "Scotland", passed away seven years ago. Scotland's worst enemy was 68, and died while leading a punitive expedition north to punish the Scots who poisoned his last years.
In the army of Edward, whoever was not: the British, the Welsh and the Irish, the knights of France and Germany, Holland and Burgundy. There were even the Scots, traditional enemies of the Bruce family, and also those who believed they could accomplish more in the service of Edward. It took the momentum of a great victory for the spirit of Scottish identity to emerge.
Bruce and his Scots
The Scots who opposed Edward were significantly different from the brilliant chivalry that filled the ranks of the British. The attacking British were not greeted with colorful silk banners or luxurious blankets on armored horses. The Scots were rude and unpretentious, seasoned with thousands of guerrilla-style skirmishes. Clashes took place all over Scotland, and the Scots did not need to wear magnificent clothing for battle. Here are the people who were with Wallace, and now, on this summer day in 1314, they came to Bruce themselves, and not just their sons. A significant part of them knew no other life than the life of a warrior, and they were ready to fight. From the moment Stirling Castle was called for help, Bruce used the time before the arrival of Edward's "proud army" to train his army in the techniques they could and should use during the inevitable battle. They became disciplined, well-trained warriors who showed themselves great when it came time to fight the valiant knights.
Such a monument was erected on the battlefield for King Bruce.
The chronicles of the time indicate the number of Bruce's warriors at 20,000, but this is unlikely. The ratio of Scots to English is most likely recorded correctly, and Edward must have been four times outnumbered. The core, the power of Bruce's army, were his spearmen, who, according to various sources, numbered from 4500 to 5000 people. The "support group" consisted of a small number of archers from Ettrick Forest, as well as nearly 500 light cavalrymen. But what is light cavalry compared to King Edward's heavy knightly cavalry?
Scottish spearmen fought with twelve-foot spears, with the usual metal tip. Special mittens, leather sleeveless jackets and chain mail shoulders - that's all the ammunition, the purpose of which was to protect the body of a warrior from enemy arrows.
One of the earliest descriptions of the battle in the Scottish Chronicle of 1440 by Walter Vowell. British Library.
In the course of the battle, the spearmen lined up in skiltrons (there was such a special way of building troops), which then instantly rebuilt into a maneuverable line during the offensive. If there was a need to defend itself, the skiltron instantly transformed into a "hedgehog", which was a group of warriors standing close to each other and putting their spears forward.
By the way, there was no better trained infantry than Bruce's in all of Europe at that time. Excellently trained, with iron discipline, agile - all these qualities were inherent in the army of Bruce. And only with the advent of the Spanish thirds two centuries later, the palm passed to them.
Bruce decides to distribute his spearmen into four main units. The first force was commanded by Renlolf, Earl of Moray. Sir Edward Bruce, brother of the king, led the second division. The third detachment came under the command of young Walter Stewart, High Seneschal. However, Sir James Douglas became the actual commander of the detachment, precisely because of Walter's young age. Well, the fourth remained under the command of Bruce himself. The cavalry went to Sir Robert Keith, and "on the farm", looking after the wagon train, was Sir John Eyrt.
Meanwhile, behind Coxet Hill, closer to the battlefield, ordinary people began to pull up: townspeople, artisans, workers and farmers, numbering about 2,000 people. Not having good weapons, and not being trained in military affairs, the volunteers went into the "militia" as a reserve, which could only be claimed if the course of the battle was favorable for the Scots.
BATTLE
The first day
Bruce's army arrived at Warke five days after the gathering. Bruce's position was very strong. He placed four detachments of spearmen on the right flank of his army, located north of Bannockburn and west of the Roman road. Further, to the east of the road, a detachment of Edward Bruce was stationed. Douglas's squad was stationed in the rear of Edward Bruce's squad. Near the temple of St. Ninian, the path connected with the Roman road and the people of Morey and Randolph stood here. On the right flank, Bruce's detachment was covered by forest and bushes. The Bannockburn River and its swampy banks protected Bruce and his brother's troops from the front. To reinforce this position, hundreds of holes, three feet deep and a foot wide, were dug and covered with branches by the king's orders just in front of the Scottish line. Metal hedgehogs and pits made the front line of Bruce's troops very dangerous for the advancing cavalry. Beneath the troops of Douglas and Randolph was soft, fertile soil that could not bear the heavy cavalry. King Edward had only two options - a frontal attack on the two troops standing across the Bannockburn River and an attempt to flank the Scots on unsuitable land for a subsequent attack on the Scottish spearmen located on a hill.
Battle map. The first day.
Edward II's faith in himself allowed him to do both. The vanguard of the British army moved directly to the two Scottish detachments standing across the Bannockburn River. At the same time, Edward sent about 700 cavalrymen under Clifford's command towards Stirling Castle. Most likely, Edward considered the Scots retreat inevitable and wanted to position Clifford between the Scots and the castle in order to turn the Scots retreat into complete flight. When the vanguard, under the command of the Earls of Hereford and Pembroke, moved forward, the Scottish riflemen suddenly retreated into the forest behind them. The English knights spurred their horses and attacked the retreating enemy. Earlier, Bruce left the ranks of his army to better see the enemy's advance. He was on a little pony, wearing a simple helmet with a gold crown on his head. His only weapon is a battle ax. When he rode out in front of his army, the English knight Henry de Bone, the son of the Earl of Hereford, recognized him. Spurring his war horse, de Bone lowered his spear and attacked Bruce. In full view, he fell upon the king. Horror gripped the Scots, who saw that their king was almost unarmed against such a powerful opponent one on one. But he personified all their hopes for freedom and through his efforts they came here that day. All the more unexpected was what happened: when Bone, dressed in armor, rushed to Bruce, the king staggered aside, rose high in his saddle and with his ax smashed Bone's helmet and skull to the chin. The blow was so strong that the handle of his battle ax flew to pieces. This caused the screams of the Scots of the line and the woe of the British. It was very symbolic: brute armored power versus art and courage.
The assassination of Bone became very popular in both Scotland and England. Drawing from the children's history book Scottish History by H. E. Marshall, published in 1906.
The Scots condemned their king for putting himself in danger, but he himself only complained about the loss of his good battle ax, and outwardly remained completely unperturbed. The British, determined to avenge their comrade so easily killed, quickly approached. But here a surprise awaited them in the form of hidden pits and metal hedgehogs, which their horses did not like very much. They stumbled, reared up in pain and threw off their riders. The British attack was drowned, and the men of Bruce and his brother moved on the disorganized cavalry with their spears lowered. The English trumpeters sounded the retreat and those knights who were able to cross Bannockburn joined the main forces of the English army.
That's how he cut his head open! Variations on this theme by different artists are simply uncountable!
At this time, Clifford, with his cavalry, crossed Bannockburn and galloped across the soft fields towards Stirling Castle. Bruce saw that the left flank of the Scots did not interfere with the British, and they passed. Bruce was angry with Randolph, who apparently did not notice the English cavalry and reproached him with the words: "The rose fell from your wreath." Then Randolph led his party to confront Clifford.
Clifford, seeing the approach of the Scots, ordered his cavalry to attack the impudent enemy. Finally, the long-awaited order to attack. Rattling armor, sparkling with the brilliance of steel, a horde of haughty knights who had not been washed for a long time in magnificent clothes began to ominously accelerate towards their death …
Randolph's Scots quickly and skillfully reorganized into a skiltron for defense. Calm and confident in their skills and experience, they stood and waited for the approach of the English cavalry. The first knights, faced with the rows of unshakable Scottish spears, were turned aside or were impaled by them. Not having the strength to break through the skiltron, the British circled around him, desperately trying to find a weak point. They did not succeed, and in despair the English knights threw their battle axes and clubs into the skiltron in order to punch the passage. Douglas persuaded Bruce to let him help Randolph. Bruce initially refused, but then relented, although by this moment the need for help had already disappeared, and the skiltron went ahead and drove the remaining English knights from the battlefield. Many of them were killed, including Clifford himself. Randolph's losses consisted of only one man, his triumph was complete. A fallen rose is placed back in the wreath.
This is how the soldiers were equipped for battle and fought at the Battle of Bannockburn, judging by this miniature from the Holkham Bible, 1327-1335. British museum.
The day passed through the middle, and later there were no clashes. The shock of the double rebuff of the heavy cavalry affected the morale of the British troops and commanders, and King Edward II called a council of war. The attack across the Bannockburn River on the Scots looked insane. Flanking after Clifford's failure is also questionable. The Council decided to give the army a rest after the long march from south to north and to remain in place. But the army needed water, and in huge quantities. Thousands of animals and a huge army were tormented by thirst. So Edward decided to move forward and camp somewhere near the confluence of the Bannockburn and Forth rivers. The terrain here was very rugged, dotted with a large number of all kinds of ravines and streams. Therefore, much more time was spent on the transition than planned. As a result, only a few hours of the night remained to rest, which the British were able to use for sleep.
Monument to Robert the Bruce at Stirling Castle.
Meanwhile, under the canopy of trees in New Park, by the light of bonfires, a council of commanders, led by Bruce, marched. Opinions were opposite: some believed that the battle against Edward would certainly be lost, since the forces were too unequal, and therefore it was necessary to retreat to the west and return to the tactics of guerrilla warfare, which had been very successful until that time. It is very possible that Bruce agreed with them, but it could be differently. His spearmen in skiltrons showed themselves excellently twice a day, and he himself defeated de Bone with an ease that seemed almost impossible.
Stirling Castle: a photographic postcard from the early 20th century.
Meanwhile, the Scottish knight Sir Alexander Seton, who served Edward II, decided to return to his compatriots and with the help of useful information soften the shame of his arrival. He assured Bruce that an attack the next day would bring victory to his army, since the British were demoralized. He swore on his life if his words didn't come true. The defector's words reinforced Bruce's decision to stay and settle the matter in the morning. The Scottish army learned that an offensive was imminent in the morning only late at night.
