Battle of Falkirk 1298

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Battle of Falkirk 1298
In the spring of 1298 Edward...

• Arrived back in England from France (March)
• Moved his headquarters to York
• Summoned a massive army to assemble at Roxburgh
  on 25 June

Roxburgh
York
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• Edwards Army
• Consisted of
• 2000 cavalry
• 12,000 infantry (10,000 of which were Irish or
  Welsh)
• Edward joined his army in early July
• Scorched Earth Policy
• As the English marched north the Scots burnt and
  destroyed the countryside
• Why?
• To stop them finding any food or shelter

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Problems for Edward....

• English army was running out of supplies and near
  starvation
• He issued them with wine to boost morale
• Welsh troops got drunk, fought with English
  soldiers and several were killed
• The Welsh threatened to join the Scots
• Then the supply ships arrived and the Welsh
  rejoined the army

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The Night before the Battle

• The Scots were only 13 miles away at Falkirk
• The English slept in full armour
• Edward slept on the ground like his men
• During the night his horse trod on him breaking a
  rib, but this would not stop him leading his
  troops into battle

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Wallaces Plan

• Wallace knew the force of the English cavalry
• His plan was to deliberately avoid making contact
  with the enemy
• His plan involved
• drawing the English on
• stretching out their supply lines to cause hunger
  and internal strife
• He very nearly succeeded

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The Scots army

• 6000 footsoldiers equipped with long spears
• Small body of archers
• 500 to 600 knights provided by the nobles

• Many in the Scottish army demanded that they
  stand and fight
• Wallace, whose authority rested on the support
  of the army had
• to give way

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The Scots Position
Scots Army
Callander Wood
Scots knights
Slamman hill
Archers
4 Schiltrons with 1000-2000 men in each
Wooden stakes tied with rope
Marshland
Knights
Longbows and crossbows
Edwards Army
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Wallace turned to his men
I have brought you to the ring, hop if you can
As soon as Edwards army sighted the Scots the
English cavalry plunged into the attack
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English knights divided into 2 halves and went
round either side of the marshland to attack
the Scots from the sides
Scots Army
Edwards Army
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Most of the Scot archers were killed.
Scots Army
Edwards Army
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The Scots knights saw this and fled
Scots Army
Edwards Army
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English knights charged at the schiltrons but
could not break through, many horses were killed
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Edward brought in his Welsh longbowmen and
foreign crossbowmen to fire at the schiltrons
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Scottish soldiers fell in their hundreds.
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Edward then ordered his knights to attack the
schiltrons again. This time the schiltrons broke
and the Scots scattered
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• Hundreds of Scots were killed
• Wallace fled the battle with a core of followers
  into the surrounding woodland