SCOTLAND HISTORY

Battle of Aldearn - 1645
In August 1644, at the height of the First English Civil War, John Graham, the Marquis of Montrose, raised the standard of Royalist rebellion in Scotland. In a single year he won a string of remarkable victories with his army of Irish mercenaries and Highland clansmen. His victory at Auldearn, the centrepiece of his campaign, was won only after a day-long struggle and heavy casualties on both sides. This book details the remarkable sequence of victories at Tippermuir, Aberdeen, Inverlochy, Auldearn and Kilsyth that left Montrose briefly in the ascendant in Scotland. However, his decisive defeat and surrender at Philiphaugh finally crushed the Royalist cause in Scotland.

Suggested Reading: Auldearn 1645: The Marquis of Montrose's Scottish Campaign by Stuart Reid

Battle of Bannockburn - 1314
An English army, led by Edward II, marching to relieve Stirling Castle, were met by King Robert the Bruce at Bannock Burn, near Stirling. The over-confident English army was soundly defeated, losing 3/4,000 men, Scottish casualties were light. King Edward II escaped back to England.

The Battle of Bannockburn has had a major impact on the Scottish psyche, to the point where it forms the basis of the unofficial national anthem "Flower of Scotland". After all, a Scottish guerrilla army of 5,000 foot and a small force of cavalry defeated an English army of 15,000 foot and 2,500 cavalry.

Suggested Reading: Battle of Bannockburn 1314 by Aryeh S. Nusbacher

Battle of Carberry Hill - 1567
A confrontation between Mary Queen of Scots and an army of lords, led by James Douglas, Earl of Morton. The lords wanted to arrest Lord Bothwell, Mary's husband, because they believed that Bothwell had been involved in the murder of Mary's second husband, Lord Darnley. After long negotiations (there was no actual fighting) Mary agreed but Bothwell fled to Orkney. A few days later, Mary was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle.

This was a turning point in Mary's life as it lead to her trial and finally her execution.

Suggested Reading: Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart by John Guy

Battle of Culloden - 1746
The Battle of Culloden (April 16, 1746), was the last military clash ever to be fought on mainland Britain, between the forces of the Jacobites, who supported the claim of Charles Edward Stuart (aka "Bonnie Prince Charlie") to the throne; and the British army which supported the Hanoverian sovereign, King George II. Culloden brought the 1745 Jacobite Rising to a close. In fact, the rebellion was small but it had enormous psychological impact upon the Highland Scots, and severe civil penalties thereafter (e.g., it became a criminal offence to wear tartan). Thus, Culloden was a decisive defeat for the Jacobite cause, and Bonnie Prince Charlie left Britain and went to Rome, never to attempt to take the throne again.

Suggested Reading: Culloden: 1746 by Stuart Reid

Battle of Dunbar - 1650
The Battle of Dunbar (3 September 1650) was a battle of the Third English Civil War. The Parliamentary forces under Oliver Cromwell defeated Charles Stuart's Scottish army commanded by David Leslie.

As Cromwell led his army over the border at Berwick in July 1650, the Scottish general - David Leslie - decided that his best strategy was to avoid a direct conflict with the enemy. Although his army comprised some 23,000 soldiers and so greatly outnumbered the English army of only 16,000 men, most of the Scots soldiers were poorly trained and inexperienced. Leslie chose, therefore, to shelter his troops behind impregnable fortifications around Edinburgh and refused to be drawn out to meet the English in battle. Furthermore, between Edinburgh and the border, Leslie adopted a scorched earth policy thus forcing Cromwell to obtain all of his supplies from England, most arriving by sea through the port at Dunbar.

Whether in a genuine attempt to avoid prolonging the conflict or whether because of the difficult circumstances he found himself in, Cromwell sought to persuade the Scots to accept the English point of view. Claiming that it was the king that was his enemy rather than the Scottish people, he wrote to his opponents on 3 August famously stating: I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken. This plea, however, was unsuccessful.

Suggested Reading: Dunbar 1650: Cromwell's most famous victory by Stuart Reid

Battle of Dunnichen - 685
It has been argued that if the King Bruide of the Picts had not defeated an invasion by Ecgfrith, King of Northumbria on May 20, 685, Scotland as a separate nation would not have come into being. The Northumbrians had already advanced as far as Lothian, south of the river Forth and defeated the Gododdin and had subjugated the southern lands of the Picts. The Picts had suffered a serious defeat on the plain of "Manau" (near Grangemouth) and 12 years later a huge force of Northumbrians adavnced into the land of the Picts. But using local knowledge of the area around Dunnichen (known as Nechtansmere to the later southern historians), the Picts won an overwhelming victory, bringing to an end the northern advance of the Northumbrians.

Suggested Reading: Pictish Warrior AD 297-841 by Paul Wagner

Battle of Falkirk - 1298
Wallace's victory at Stirling Bridge in September 1297 was short lived. KIng Edward marched north and met Wallace's army at Falkirk in July, 1298. The English (and Welsh) bowmen depleted the Scottish ranks, many of whom were untrained conscripts. Wallace was to continue the fight but in a guerilla a war and was betreayed and captured in 1305.

Battle of Stirling Bridge - 1297
William Wallace fought a guerilla war for a number of years against the English who were effectively in occupation with the English king's puppet, John Balliol on the throne. The Earl of Surrey led an punitive force to confront Wallace and they met at Stirling Bridge. The overconfident English army advanced across a narrow bridge across the Forth. At the right moment, Wallace ordered the attack and the English foot soldiers were swept into the river.

Suggested Reading: Stirling Bridge and Falkirk 1297-98: William Wallace's rebellion by Peter Armstrong

Battle of Flodden - 1513
Once again the "Auld Alliance" between Scotland and France came into play and King James IV responded to a request from Louis XII of France who was being attacked by King Henry VIII of England. Despite treaties which had been signed between Scotland and England in 1502, James IV advanced into England with an army said to number 30,000. After some early successes, a number of castles fell to the Scottish cannon. But an English army, led by the earl of Surrey, met the Scots on Flodden Field in Northumberland. After a bloody battle, in which King James and the flower of Scottish nobility fell, the English commander estimated that 10,000 Scottish soldiers had been killed.

Suggested Reading: Flodden: A Scottish Tragedy by Peter Reese

Battle of Harlaw - 1411
When Donald, Lord of the Isles, marched with possibly as many as 10,000 clansmen eastwards from his stronghold, sacking Inverness and headed for Aberdeen. Alexander, earl of Mar gathered together a force of volunteers and marched with his smaller force to meet the invaders. Despite numerous charges by the clansmen, they were unable to break through the earl of Mar's lines and eventually withdrew, back to Inverness and the west. Casualties at "Bloody Harlaw" were high on both sides.

Suggested Reading: Clan Macdonald's Greatest Defeat: The Battle of Harlaw 1411 by John Sadler

Battle of Mons Graupius - AD84
The precise place where the Caledonian leader, Calgacus, met the Roman advance led by Agricola is not known but it was probably in north-east Scotland in what is now Aberdeenshire. There were said to be 30,000 Caledonii who were defeated by the disciplined Roman legions in the only known set piece battle in the north. 1,300 years later, a transcription error led to the name becoming "Grampian" which is the name now given to the Cairngorm mountains, east and south of the river Spey.

Suggested Reading: Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius Ad 84 by Brother James E. Fraser

Battle of Otterburn - 1388
A successful foray by James, second earl Douglas, into northern England, swept as far as Durham and then fell back destroying and pillaging as it went. Henry Percy, better known as "Hotspur" assembled an army and set off in pursuit. Douglas was leading a force of around 3,000 men and Hotspur had twice that number. The two forces met south of Otterburn late in the evening of 19 August. The battle continued into the night - the darkness meant that the English bowmen were ineffective. By morning, the wounded Hotspur had been captured and 1,000 English had been killed. However, Douglas himself, leading a charge into the enemy, was fatally wounded.

Suggested Reading: Otterburn 1388: Bloody border conflict by Peter Armstrong