Scottish Wars of Independence - the battle of falkirk

1. Scottish Wars of Independence
The
Battle of
Falkirk

2. In today’s class, I am learning to:
• Describe events at the Battle of Falkirk
The Battle of Falkirk

3. After victory at Stirling Bridge, William Wallace
wanted to secure Scotland’s independence. King
Edward led a huge army north to challenge Wallace.
The Battle of Falkirk

4. Wallace had taken various
actions to try and
strengthen Scotland.
He had written to other
European countries to
encourage trade with
Scotland. He had also led
attacks on locations across
the north of England,
including Newcastle.
The Battle of Falkirk

5. Wallace’s attacks caused
fury in England.
His army had a brutal
reputation and this led to
English support for actions
to remove him from power.
King Edward gathered a
huge army, then tried to
capture Wallace.
The Battle of Falkirk

6. The English army marched
north, taking control of
different land and castles.
However they could not
find Wallace. In addition
they were running out of
supplies, partly due to
Wallace’s scorched earth
plan of destroying crops as
his army moved.
The Battle of Falkirk

7. Wallace’s plan was to wait
until the English army went
to Edinburgh for supplies.
Wallace hoped to attack
small groups of English
soldiers, including their
rearguard. However by this
time word had reached
Edward that Wallace was
based near Falkirk.
The Battle of Falkirk

8. The English army that
arrived at Falkirk was very
different from that at
Stirling Bridge.
It was led by King Edward,
a very experienced military
leader. It was also larger –
up to 2000 cavalry and
12,000 soldiers (many with
longbows).
The Battle of Falkirk

9. The Scottish army was also
stronger than at Stirling
Bridge, but not as large as
Wallace had hoped.
There were around 6000
soldiers (organised into
piked schiltrons of 2000)
and also 600 knights on
horseback too. They had
some longbow archers too.
The Battle of Falkirk

10. Before the battle began,
the Scottish army was
positioned behind a large
boggy marsh.
Wallace hoped that this
would stop a full frontal
attack from the English,
because their cavalry
would not be able to easily
run on the ground.
The Battle of Falkirk

11. The English cavalry
attacked the Scots’ two
flanks, allowing them to
avoid the boggy area. The
English attack drove the
Scots cavalry from the
battlefield.
Scotland’s schiltrons were
now at the mercy of
English archer attacks.
The Battle of Falkirk

12. After the English archers
attacked, their foot
soldiers did the same. The
Scots were either killed or
tried to hide in the
Callendar Wood.
Wallace and his
commanders also fled,
burning Stirling before
hiding in the Tor Wood.
The Battle of Falkirk