Facts about the Battle of Bannockburn

2. LEARNING INTENTIONS
• Describe events at the Battle of Bannockburn
• Explain reasons why the Scots won the Battle of
Bannockburn

3. Having ended the Scottish Civil War, King Robert had been
gradually winning back control of castles across Scotland from
the English. The next castle to be won was Stirling.

4. The Scottish army laid siege to
Stirling Castle.
The castle’s governor, Sir
Philip Mowbray, had agreed
to hand control of the castle to
Bruce by Midsummer Day 1314
unless an English army was
sent north. Edward II thus
led an army north.

5. There is a significant historical
debate about the size of both
armies at Bannockburn.
It is certainly the case that the
English army was much larger
than the Scots’, however the
specific numbers are not
entirely clear.

6. Modern estimates suggest that
the English had around 2000
mounted knights and 15,000
footsoldiers.
Some of the English army was
made up of foreign
mercenaries as many English
barons had sent the minimum
number of men required, or paid
scutage (Shield Tax) instead.

7. Many of the English army (up
to 3000) were archers,
especially those forces provided
from Wales by Sir Roger
Mortimer.
Overall, the English army at
Bannockburn was smaller
than Edward II had hoped for,
although still bigger than
Bruce’s forces.

8. England’s army was split into
three sections (called Battles):
vanguard, mudguard, rearguard.
The army was organised by the
Constable of England (the
Earl of Hereford). King Edward
II took part simply as a knight,
not the commander, although
did cause confusion by
appointing conflicting leaders.

9. The Scottish army is believed
to have been around 5000
men in size (around one-third
the size of England’s). This was
a professional army and
likely the biggest that Scotland
could afford to have.
The Scots were divided into
three schiltrons of roughly
1500 men each.

10. Most of the Scottish army
fought on foot, often using the
pike. Farming tools were also
commonly used too.
The Scots had a small number
of archers (using short bows,
rather than longbows). There
were also a few hundred
knights on horseback who
may dismount to fight.

11. Bruce had chosen the battle site
so the Scots had trained on the
field for weeks beforehand, and
also set traps (such as pits).
Although Bruce was in overall
command, the schiltrons were
led by three men: Bruce himself
led one whilst Edward Bruce
and Thomas Randolph
commanded the others.

12. The fighting took place across
two days: 23-24 June 1314.
Bruce used a nearby wooded
hill to shelter his men and hide
their numbers.
They also dug pots (small
uneven holes) either as traps or
to force the English to take a
certain direction.

13. It is not clear if either side
planned to fight on the first
day. Bruce wanted to know
more about the size of the
English army.
The English army was
disorganised. A small force of
around 300 knights led by the
Earl of Hereford went to
scout the Scottish army.

14. The English scout force came
across Robert the Bruce.
One English knight, Henry de
Bohun, saw a chance to end the
battle it even started by killing
Bruce. de Bohun charged at the
unprepared Bruce who calmly sat
on his horse, evaded the attack
and crushed de Bohun’s skull
with his battleaxe.

15. Another English scout group,
led by Sir Robert Clifford,
also met a Scottish schiltron,
after avoiding the pots and thus
crossing soft marshland.
They tried to attack but were
forced by the schiltron’s pikes.
The English retreated, either
back to their camp or to
Stirling Castle.

16. Morale was very different in
both camps.
The Scots were celebrating
Bruce’s killing of de Bohun and
the repelling of Clifford’s forces.
The English were still tired from
their march and dismayed at the
two failures. Many had assumed
it would be an easy victory.

17. King Robert was unsure of his
plans for the following day.
However a Scottish knight,
Alexander de Seton,
defected from Edward’s army
to join the Scots.
When Bruce was told of the
English army’s poor morale
and organisation, he decided
to attack the next day.

18. Overnight, King Edward II
decided to move the
English camp, to allow for
an attack from a different
position the next day.
The decision to move the
camp meant the English
army were given little
rest, which further hurt
morale.

19. The following day the
Scottish army took up their
positions. Before the battle
they knelt in prayer before
the Bishop of Arbroath.
King Edward is said to have
believed that this was in fact
the Scots surrendering
and asking for his
forgiveness.

20. The English also prepared to
fight. However their new
position meant that they could
not use the archers for fear of
hitting their own men.
As the Scots’ schiltrons
advanced, the English knights
and army charged. However
the boggy ground made it
difficult for the horses.

21. The English could not break the
schiltrons but the Scots’
movement meant they were now
exposed to English archers.
Just as the firing started –
causing major casualties –
Bruce signalled for a Scottish
reserve force on Coxet Hill –
the sma’ folk - to attack the
English archers.

22. It was now clear that the Scots
were going to win. The English
army panicked and retreated.
Many English soldiers
drowned in the Bannockburn.
Edward escaped and sought
shelter in Stirling Castle but
was refused. He eventually
made it back to England, via
Dunbar Castle.

23. Many soldiers died on both
sides, but the English army
suffered most.
Contemporary accounts – the
Lanercost Chroncile and
the Scalacronia – speak of
thousands of footsoldiers
dying, along with many
mounted knights (very
unusual for the time).

24. The Scots’ victory can be put
down to Bruce’s skills.
• He chose the battle site, and
trained on it beforehand
• He forced the English to fight
on difficult ground
• He had a reserve force to
attack when needed (sma’ folk)

25. Edward II can also be blamed
for English defeat:
• English army had poor
leadership and was very
disorganised
• English attacked schiltrons
without the support of archers
• English morale was low, and
made by worse by the
overnight move