In 1297, the Scots were in rebellion against King Edward I of England. William Wallace led the rebellion and marched an army of 6,000 to besiege Dundee. When he learned an English army led by John de Warrene (Earl of Surrey) approached, Wallace lifted the siege and marched to meet him. The River Forth separated the armies. Surrey had 9,000 men made up of infantry and knights wearing chain mail (some of the wealthier had plate armor). He was inexperienced and intimidated by the fearsome Wallace. He sent two friars to urge Wallace to submit without a battle. Wallace sneered at the request and stated that he came to fight and “was ready to meet the English beard to beard.” Surrey was not going to be able to avoid battle because most of his knights were enraged by Wallace’s cheek. One of the knights suggested they cross by a ford, but Surrey decided that they would take the direct approach by crossing by way of a narrow wooden bridge where his army was camped. In the early morning of Sept. 11, the English began crossing, but it took a while to get a sizable number across. Meanwhile, Wallace waited on a hill. When he determined that enough English had crossed for his army to handle, he ordered an assault (around 11 AM) by his infantry down the hill. They were armed with spears. The English knights met the advance, but could not break through and were pelted with arrows. They retreated to their infantry. The spearmen pressed on, with Wallace joining with his cavalry. Another force of Scots cut the English off from the bridge. The English panicked and many fled to the river and drowned in crossing. Some managed to cut their way to the bridge which became crowded with retreaters and reinforcements being sent by Surrey from the other side. The bridge collapsed. To make matters worse, some Scots crossed at the ford and hit the English on the flank on their side of the river. It was a disaster. It is estimated that the English lost 100 knights and 5,000 infantry. This the battle that Mel Gibson infamously reenacted in “Braveheart” sans a bridge. The cinematic battle had little resemblance to the actual battle.
https://www.britishbattles.com/scottish-war-of-independence/battle-of-stirling-bridge
0 Comments