Battle of Bannockburn Part III

  Cheered on by this heroic encounter, Bruce's division rushed forward to engage the main enemy force. For the English, so says the author of the Vita Edward Secundi (Life of Edward II), this was the beginning of their troubles.

  After some fierce fighting, in which the Earl of Gloucester was knocked off his horse, the knights of the vanguard were forced to retreat to the Tor Wood.

  The Scots, eager to pursue, were held back by the command of the king.  In the meantime, another English cavalry force under Robert Clifford and Henry de Beaumont skirted the Scottish position to the east.

 They rode towards Stirling, advancing as far as St. Ninians. Bruce spotted the maneuver and ordered Randolph's Schiltron to intercept.

Randolph's action was a foretaste of the main contest the following day: unsupported by archers, the horsemen were unable to make any impression on the Scottish spear men.

 This is exactly what happened in the opening stages of Falkirk. The difference now was that the Schiltrons had learnt mobility and how to keep formation at the same time.

   The English squadron was broken, some seeking refuge in the nearby castle, others fleeing back to the army. The captives included Sir Thomas Gray, whose son and namesake later based his account of the Battle of Bannockburn in his book, the Scalacronica,  based on his father's memories.

  Bruce's preparations had made the direct approach to Stirling too hazardous. Edward made the worst decision of all: he ordered the army to cross the Bannockburn to the east of the New Park.

  Not long after daybreak on 24 June, the Scots spear men began to move towards the English. Edward was surprised to see Robert's Army emerge from the cover of the woods. As Bruce's army drew nearer, they paused and knelt in prayer.

  Edward is supposed to have said in surprise "They pray for mercy!" "For mercy, yes !" one of his attendants replied, "But from God, not you. These men will conquer or die."

   The English Earl of Gloucester, asked the king to hurry up, but the king accused him of cowardice. Angered, the earl mounted his horse and led the vanguard on a charge against the leading Scottish spear men, commanded by Edward Bruce.

  The Earl, who according to some accounts had not bothered to don his surcoat, was killed in the forest of Scottish spears, along with some of the other knights.

   The very size and strength of the great army was beginning to work against the English King, as his army could not move quickly and lost a lot of time in getting into position.

  Bruce then committed his whole Scottish Army to an inexorable bloody push into the disorganized English mass, fighting side by side, across a single front.

  Edward's army was now so tightly packed that if a man fell, he risked being immediately crushed underfoot or suffocated. The English and Welsh long bowmen failed to get a clear shot in fear they might hit their own men.

  After some time they moved to the flank of Douglas's division and began shooting into its perimeter. However King Robert the Bruce, who oversaw this Scottish division, Instructed Knight Templar Sir Robert Keith with his complement of 500 mounted Knight Templar's to charge the force's of King Edward.

  The returning fleeing archers then caused the infantry itself to begin to flee. Later the English began to escape back across the Bannockburn. With the English formations beginning to break, a great shout went up from the Scots, "Lay on! Lay on! Lay on! They fail!" This cry was heard by Bruce's camp followers, who promptly gathered weapons and banners and charged forward.

   To the English army, close to exhaustion, this appeared to be a fresh reserve and they lost all hope. The English forces north of the Bannockburn broke into flight. Some tried to cross the River Forth where most drowned in the attempt.

  Others tried to get back across the Bannockburn, but as they ran, “tumbling one over the other” down the steep, slippery banks, a deadly crush ensued so that “men could pass dryshod upon the drowned bodies”.

 Edward fled with his personal bodyguard, ending the remaining order in the army; panic spread and defeat turned into a rout. He arrived eventually at Dunbar Castle, from here he took a ship to England.

   From the carnage of Bannockburn, the rest of the army tried to escape to the safety of the English border, ninety miles to the south. Many were killed by the pursuing Scottish Army or by the inhabitants of the countryside that they passed through. 

  Historian Peter Reese says that, "only one sizable group of men—all foot soldiers—made good their escape to England." These were a force of Welsh spear men who were kept together by their commander, Sir Maurice de Berkeley, and the majority of them reached Carlisle.

  Weighing up the available evidence, Reese concludes;  "it seems doubtful if even a third of the foot soldiers returned to England."Out of 16,000 infantrymen, this would give a total of about 11,000 killed. 

  The English chronicler Thomas Walsingham gave the number of English men-at-arms who were killed as 700, while 500 more men-at-arms were spared for ransom. The Scottish losses appear to have been comparatively light, with only two knights among those killed.