In 1314, Edward II marched his men to a creek called Bannock, north of Falkirk. Waiting in the woods for him was Robert the Bruce and his army. Edward's army consisted of 500 knights accompanied by 2,000 mounted retainers; 3,000 Welsh archers; 15,000 foot-soldiers armed with spears, pole-axes, daggers and shields. The Scots were about a quarter of that number: 5,000 spearmen; a phalanx of Gaelic clans led by their chieftans; a few archers and 500 or so lightly-clad horsemen.
The Scots had been trained hard since their defeat at Falkirk. They knew how to wield their 12-foot spears, how to stand tight in formation, how to resist the temtation to plunge into battle. They prepared the ground around the little burn. They dug pits and covered them with brush. Forest paths were barricaded. The women and children were sent away and they waited for the English to appear.
The English knights were the first to advance. Hoping to awe the Scots with their bright armor and pennants, they found some of the Scots scouting the field. Among them was Robert the Bruce. One of the knights, Sir Humphrey de Bohun, recognized him and tried to kill him.
Bruce had no love for de Bohun. The English king had handed over Bruce lands to the de Bohun family. Robert spurred his horse and rode to meet his enemy. de Bohun's charge was deflected and Robert brought his axe down on the knight's helmet hard enough to split the man's skull and break the axe shaft. The Scots came pouring down onto the field and the English backed off.
Another group of knights confronted a schiltron of Scottish spearmen. One knight was killed immediately, another captured when his horse was impaled on the spikes. The English backed off and circled, but the summer heat sent them back to their camp.
The English had been panicked so badly that the king had to send messengers around to boost morale. On the other side of the field, English deserters told the Scots that they had been successful.
The next day the Scots took the offensive. Their schiltrons came down the hill, attacking the knights on horseback. The knights were sure they could break the Scots and tried to break the formations. But they couldn't.
Now the fighting was personal, hand to hand. The lightly-dressed Scots leapt around the armored knights, hammering at them. The English were driven back toward the bank. Robert was concerned about the archers and led his 500 horsemen around to cut them down.
Scots reserves pressed against the men in front of them. English knights trampled each other to get away. The Scottish women and children joined in, their banners making the English think that another Scottish army had arrived.
Among the English dead were the Earl of Gloucester, Sir Humphrey de
Bohun, thirty-four barons and some two hundred knights. Another hundred
knights or so had been captured to be ransomed. Robert Bruce was king of
Scotland.
Robert
Burns on Bannockburn
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