Victory At The Battle Of Bannockburn

Question 1

The English Army

Answer 1

• size of Edward II’s host should number around 2000 mounted knights or men at arms and around 15,000 foot soldiers
• The maximum numbers expected to arrive by orders of the King totalled more than 21,000, however, in 1310 campaign, Edward II received only about half of the numbers demanded from feudal levies
• The remainder of the English foot troops were made up of archers
• Rodger Mortimer is reported to have raised 3000 Welshmen for the campaign and most historians have assumed that all Welshmen were proficient with the longbow

Question 2

Leadership of English Army

Answer 2

• army split into three massive formations; the vanguard, the Midgard and the rearguard
• each section was allotted an equal number of archers, footmen and mounted troops by the hereditary Constable of England
• Edward II took no actual part in commanding of his army, instead wanting to take part as a common knight
• By the second day of the battle orders had been horribly confused, the chain of command was often unclear and the leaders bickered endlessly amongst themselves unable to come up with an effective battle plan

Question 3

The Scottish Forces

Answer 3

• Robert Bruce marshalled his troops into three large schiltron formations of about 1500 .
• Historian Barbour believes Bruces forcers were roughly about 5000 men in total
• Bruces army was effectively a professional force funded on more or less a full-time basis so it is therefore unlikely that Scotland could have afforded an army larger than this
• The majority of Scottish troops fought on foot, wearing mismatched and scavenged armour and wielding the Scottish pike
• Pikes were about 9-10 feet long and had a sharp blade at the top
• Pikemen were often drafted from the local population to create the ‘common army of Scotland’
• archers were effectively used between the schiltron formations in order to provide more protection from cavalry flanking manoeuvres
• there were a few hundred horsemen in the Scots army to protect the highly vulnerable flanks of the schiltron

Question 4

Quality and Morale of Scots

Answer 4

• the Scots had months to prepare for the encounter
• This was a well trained and professional army full of confidence

Question 5

Leadership of Scots

Answer 5

• Two divisions were given over to Bruces trusted lieutenants, his brother Edward and Thomas Randolph
• Bruce himself commanded the third division
• the cry of the day was forward

Question 6

Day 1 - 23rd June 1314

Answer 6

• Using the wooded hill of the Kings Park to shelter his men and hide their numbers from English Scouts, bruce ordered the high dry ground to be dug up with a series of small uneven holes or ‘pots’
• The English forces approached Stirling in some disarray with Edward unsure wether or not to engage the Scots on the day
• Hereford (English) force of around 300 knights and men-at-arms mode quickly along the road, crossing the Bannockburn and moving towards the Kings Park, they then saw Robert Bruce
• Henry de Bohun lowered his lance and charged across the field, Bruce had his horse side step de Bohun and Bruce brought his battle axe down onto Bohuns head almost splitting it in two
• Herefords forces were then intercepted by Scottish pikemen
• Hereford had no choice but to turn and flee
• The English forces took the news of defeat badly and morale began to suffer

Question 7

Day 2 - 24th June 1314

Answer 7

• disciplined formations of Scottish pikemen began to move down onto the cause and form upon in schiltron formations
• The Earl of Gloucester had managed to form the cavalry into a long line in front of the rest of the army, they could only charge the scooters before the lost the chance
• The Earl of Gloucester signalled the charade and was one of the first to hurl headlong at the advancing pikes, he died
• The English began to pour a steady rate of arrows into King Roberts schiltorn causing immense casualities
• However Sir Keith rode his 500 light horses into the formations of archers and rode them down
• A new Scottish force made an appearance the ‘Small Folk’, they made make shift banners and picked up anything that could be used as a weapon and charged into battle

Question 8

Reasons for the Scots Win

Answer 8

• Edward II had a limited grasp of tactics and interference in the chain of command meant that there was no real plan for the battle
• Failure to learn from the actions of the 23rd, it should have been obvious that the Scottish Pikemen were more than able to hold off the massed charges of the cavalry of England
• King Robert seized initiative and forced the English to fight on the unfavourable ground
• The Scottish commanders knew the plan and the cry of the day was ‘push forward’ and not to allow the English horse any room to manoeuvre
• The use of the ‘Small Folk’ at the right time
• Sir Keith destroying the English archers with his horses