The eve of Scotland's greatest victory
On 23 June 1314, the first day of the Battle of Bannockburn, Robert the Bruce's Scottish army took up a carefully chosen defensive position in the wooded ground south of Stirling Castle. A massive English army under Edward II — perhaps twenty thousand strong, including several thousand heavy cavalry — was marching to relieve the castle, which had been under Scottish siege. Bruce had around seven thousand men, mostly infantry armed with long spears formed into dense formations called schiltrons.
The opening encounter became one of the most famous single combats in Scottish history. Sir Henry de Bohun, an English knight, spotted Bruce riding ahead of his lines on a grey pony, wearing a gold coronet over his helmet. De Bohun couched his lance and charged. Bruce waited, then at the last instant swerved aside and brought his battle-axe down on de Bohun's head, splitting his helmet and skull in a single blow. The axe shaft shattered with the force. When his commanders rebuked him for risking his life in single combat, Bruce is said to have complained only about the broken axe.
The first day's fighting confirmed Bruce's tactical judgment. His position was strong — the boggy ground along the Bannock Burn and the dense woodland of the New Park neutralised the English advantage in cavalry. When English cavalry attempted to push through the woods, they were thrown back by Scottish spearmen. A separate English force that tried to reach Stirling Castle by crossing the marshy ground of the Carse was caught and routed by Scottish cavalry under Sir Robert Keith. By nightfall, the English army was in disarray, crammed into the low ground between the Bannock Burn and the Forth.
That night, a Scottish knight named Sir Alexander Seton deserted the English camp and told Bruce that English morale was shattered. Bruce made the decision that would change Scottish history: instead of holding his defensive position, he would attack at dawn. It was an audacious gamble — schiltrons were defensive formations, and no one had ever successfully used them in an offensive charge against armoured cavalry. What followed the next morning was the most complete Scottish victory in the Wars of Independence.