BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN PART I

THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN

At the battle of Banockburn in 1314, the Templar’s were a strong part of Robert the Bruce’s army, The English were 38,000 strong and Robert the Bruce’s force was 9,000.  The Templar’s used a Technique called a decapitation assault that they learned from the Muslims during the crusades.  Instead of sending hundreds or thousands of soldiers into battle you send in { assassins} which is Arabic for hashish eaters.  To eliminate the leadership of the opposing force.  By eliminating the leadership of the opposing force usually they are fairly undisciplined and the force falls apart.

The Knights Templar encountered this technique frequently during the crusades.  Not only did they fight their enemy the Muslims but they learned from them also and not limited to battle technique, as we shall soon see.

Just to digress for a moment, this is also a underlying method of modern day special forces, and an excellent example is the recent operation by US Special Operations command, in this case Seal Team six.

Seal Team six and US Army Delta are specific. Their only function is Hostage Rescue, using stealth operations. You don't see them you feel them. They go in frequently posing as regular forces. They don't brag, they don't strut. They go in take care of business, and leave dead people in their wake.

When Delta commander Colonel Charlie Beckwith was briefing President Carter, when the green light for desert one was given. In response to the Presidents query, “ colonel can you avoid terminating the kidnappers by a non lethal shot to the leg or shoulder” Col. Beckwith responded “Mr. President just to be clear we will shoot any kidnappers present twice between the eyes and recover the hostages”.

When Seal Team Six, arrived on station in Pakistan to recover Bin Laden. They went in with the intention of killing any armed forces. They went in to kill Bin laden and any one who got in the way, to gather intelligence, and to depart.

They didn't make press releases, they didn't want any recognition, they didn't brag or strut. They just went in and took care of business, they eliminated the leadership of the opposition.

There are many different accounts of the battle of Bannockburn what is consistent is that Robert the Bruce had a highly untrained and unarmed, except for farm tools, axes and clubs.  And a force of about nine thousand men. The English had a force estimated between twenty thousand and thirty eight thousand depending on which account you read. It is said that the Templar’s had a small force but highly disciplined, trained and experienced.  This would be the force from the missing Templar fleet in addition to which there were at least two Irish contingents of Templar in the area for at least several years prior to the Battle of Bannockburn.

Each contingent of Templar is a bout one hundred and fifty Knights, and each knight had a support team of six to ten individuals. They would be the Calvary, there was a force of light artillery with light cannons, perhaps a sling shot apparatus, and then the foot soldiers most with spears, ax’s, and farm tools, but some also had long bows and cross bows, these warriors were also known as Infantry.  All of these elements make up a contingent which accounts for a bought 2500 men. In today’s army a contingent would be similar in size and organization to a Regiment under the command of a General Officer.

My thought on the battle of Bannockburn is that Robert the Bruce probably had the two Contingents of Templar’s and around one Thousand to three thousand untrained local militia to make up a force between six and nine thousand warriors.

 Edward came to Scotland in the high summer of 1314 with the preliminary aim of relieving Stirling Castle: the real purpose, of course, was to find and destroy the Scottish army in the field, and thus end the war. England, for once, was largely united in this ambition, although some of Edward's greatest magnates and former enemies, headed by his cousin, Thomas of Lancaster, did not attend in person, sending the minimum number of troops they were required to by feudal law.

Even so, the force that left Berwick-upon-Tweed on 17 June 1314 was impressive: it comprised between 2,000–3,000 horse (likely closer to 2,000) and 16,000 foot. The precise size relative to the Scottish forces is unclear but estimates range from as much as at least two or three times the size of the army Bruce had been able to gather, to as little as only 50% larger.

Edward was accompanied by many of the seasoned campaigners of the Scottish wars, headed by the Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, and veterans like Henry de Beaumont and Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron de Clifford. The most irreconcilable of Bruce's Scottish enemies also came: Ingram de Umfraville, a former Guardian of Scotland, and his kinsman the Earl of Angus, as well as others of the MacDougall’s, McCann and Sir John Comyn of Badenoch, the only son of the Red Comyn, who was born and raised in England and was now returning to Scotland to avenge his father's killing by Bruce at Greyfriars Kirk in Dumfries in 1306.