Victory At The Battle Of Stirling Bridge Flashcards
Victory at the Battle of Stirling - The English Army
By 11 September 1297 the English army had advanced to Stirling and set up a camp in the shadow of the great castle.
The army brought to Stirling by Cressingham and the Earl of Surrey was fairly modest for an army of the time.
Two leaders; John De Warenne (Earl of Surrey) and Hugh De Cressingham (Treasurer)
English troops over 1000 Calvary (soldiers on horseback) and 50,000 foot soldiers, possibly exaggerated.
Hugh Cressingham wrote to the king and claimed to have 300 Calvary and 10,000 foot soldiers.
Two Scottish Earls in their army; Earl of Lennox and the Steward.
English well equipped with trained longbow men.
The English Chronicler, Walter of Guisborough, claimed over 1000 Calvary ad 50,000 foot soldiers were assembled for the battle.
Perhaps a more realistic figure according to historian McFee might be around 6000 foot soldiers.
The English army stood on the bridge was both smaller and less organised than Edwards forces at Dunbar.
Hugh Cressingham was able to administrate but had very little military experience.
Victory at the Battle of Stirling - The Scottish Army
- two leaders; William Wallace (less experienced) and Andrew Murray (more experience)
- Their force was made up of troops from the north east and Selkirk forest.
- Pikemen fought in close formation.
- Mostly farmers and tenants in their army.
- They were armed with pikes between 12 and 15 feet long.
- They had few archers but they were from Ettrick forrest.
- Stationed on hill called AbbeyCraig
- Chroniclers state Scots outnumbered 10:1
- Scots had littler training/experience
- Scots used homemade weapons: Axes, knives, 12 foot long spears.
- At Stirling, the schiltrons were mobile and used their pikes effectively while charging.
Victory of Stirling Bridge - The Battlefield
- Wallace and his men held the high ground on the north side of the river by the Abbey Craig.
- From this vantage point he and Murray had a clear, unobstructed view of the English army camped on the Carse of Stirling.
- The main obstacle for the English troops was of course the bridge itself.
- The bridge was built of wooden timbers set atop stone foundations, it was capable of allowing only three mounted knights to cross in line at the same time.
- There was a ford a few miles away which offered an alternative crossing and Richard Lundie, one of the knights in the English force, suggested using this route as sixty men could cross at once.
- Cressingham dislikes this plan, believing that it would take too long to cross and would allow Wallace and Murray the opportunity to escape.
Victory at Stirling Bridge - How the battle unfolded
- The two Scottish nobles summoned by Edward left the english camp after a small fight broke out.
- The Earl of Surrey had gone to bed early, tired and ill, when the English army began crossing the bridge slowly the next morning it took them a considerable amount of time to get men and horses over the bridge and form up in an order for battle.
- Earl of Surrey had still not got out of bed, the aides of his called the army back across the bridge to await his presence, when Surrey appeared he ordered the troops to cross the bridge for a second time.
- When Lennox and the Steward made an appearance the Earl thought they brought news of a surrender so he ordered the troops back cross the bridge, the Scots in fact were not surrendering.
Victory at Stirling Bridge - How the battle unfolded Scots attack
- It was now made very obvious to Wallace and Murray how Surrey would advance using the bridge and how his men would form up once they crossed.
- The English troops were called to cross the bridge a third time, wasting no time Wallace and Murray formed their troops into their schiltron formations with their best weapons and armour at the front, then they marched towards the English Vanguard.
- As the Scots got nearer they lowered their pikes, gave a great battle cry and charged into the waiting English soldiers, the English vanguard found itself outnumbered and outmanoeuvred so they were driven back towards the bend in the river Forth.
- Now trapped, the remainder of the English vanguard was systematically butchered on the end of the Scots’ pikes, Hugh Cressingham was pulled from his horse and, according to one English Chronicler, flayed alive, his skin later used to make leather souvenirs for the Scots.
Victory at Stirling Bridge - How the battle unfolded - surrender
- Surrey and the other commanders could only watch in horror from the opposite bank as the vanguard was destroyed.
- Only about 300 lightly-armoured Welsh archers managed to escape by swimming across the river.
- The fighting spirit of Surrey had been broken, Surrey was promised backup but they never came, he held out for only a few weeks before surrendering to Wallace, providing him with many valuable prisoners for ransom.
- Unfortunately, Andrew Murray was wounded in battle, he had been named guardian after the battle but he died in November.
Victory at Stirling Bridge - Why were the Scots successful?
-Thus his insistence not to use the ford was an error of judgement.
- The choice of battlefield was likewise poor as the English had no chance to use their superior cavalry forces to outflank (surprise attack) the Scot’s, nor did they have time it make use of their archers.
- On the other hand, Wallace and Murray acted like professional generals, they surveyed the land and chose the best possible place to have their battle, their timing was superb.
- In the short term it allowed Wallace and Murray to become Guardians of Scotland and to claim leadership of the Scottish army.
- It seems the nobles were willing to allow them this level of authority as long as they kept winning.
- For the English Stirling bridge became a stain on their honour and important english noblemen who were on the verge of open revolt against King Edward were now fully back in his camp, at least for the time being.
Wallace and Murray as Guardians of Scotland
- In effect due to the death of Murray, Wallace was the sole guardian of Scotland for a period of time.
- Wallace had control of the common army, the men had followed him and Murray into battle whereas the nobles had either not turned out or had surrendered at Irvine.
- Wallace looked like he had no intention of making a bid for the throne himself then the powerful families of Scotland were happy to allow him to take all the risks.
- Wallace wrote a letter to German trading communities emphasising that Scotland was now open for business.
- Another letter shows Wallace granting protection to monastic houses that recognised his authority in Scotland.
