Death from the sky
The Battle of Homildon Hill on 14 September 1402 was a devastating demonstration of the power of the English longbow against a Scottish army. A large Scottish raiding force under Archibald, Earl of Douglas, was intercepted near Wooler in Northumberland by an English army commanded by Henry Percy (Hotspur) and the Earl of March — a Scottish exile fighting for England.
The Scots took up a strong defensive position on Homildon Hill, expecting the English to advance uphill into their spear schiltrons. Instead, the English archers formed up at long range and began pouring volleys of arrows into the massed Scottish ranks. The Scots had no effective response. They had few archers of their own, and their spearmen could not close the distance without being shot to pieces.
The Earl of Douglas, desperate to break the deadlock, ordered a charge downhill. It was cut apart before it reached the English lines. Douglas himself was wounded five times and lost an eye. He was captured, along with dozens of Scottish nobles. The Scottish army disintegrated, with thousands killed or captured in the rout that followed. It was one of the most lopsided defeats Scotland ever suffered.
Homildon Hill demonstrated a tactical problem that would plague Scottish armies for over a century: the longbow could destroy a Scottish army before it could close to fighting distance. The English had perfected the same devastating tactic at Dupplin Moor in 1332 and Halidon Hill in 1333. The Scots never developed an effective counter. The battle also had unexpected political consequences — Hotspur's refusal to hand his prisoners over to King Henry IV contributed to the Percy rebellion, and Douglas himself ended up fighting alongside Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury the following year.