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The battle of Bannockburn
Robert the Bruce is one of the great heroes of Scottish history.When Robert the Bruce was king of Scotland, the English king Edward II wanted to rule the whole country. However, Robert the Bruce helped the Scots to resist and to form a large army which attacked Stirling castle. King Edward’s army came to help the soldiers in the castle, and the two armies met at the small town of Bannockburn on June 24, 1314.
At that time the strongest part of the English army was bowmen. These bowmen, with their long bows had won many victories for the English in France. The Scots did not have many bowmen, as most of their army were armed with long spears. So when the English archers attacked they could not defend themselves or fight back. Most of the 4,000 Scots who died at Bannockburn died in this part of the battle. However, Robert the Bruce was ready for this, and he called for his cavalry, (his soldiers on horseback). The horses were too quick for the bowmen, and the Scots knights chased them from the battlefield.
The English knights now advanced. But Robert the Bruce had ordered the Scots to put sharp sticks in front of their soldiers, and to dig holes in the ground for the English cavalry to fall into. The first line of English knights was defeated, and the second line of English knights came into the battle. They were discouraged by what happened to the first line and they did not fight very well.
At this time many people in the area knew that a great battle was being fought, and when they heard that the Scots army was winning, they came to watch the battle. The English soldiers saw them appear on the top of a nearby hill, and they thought that they were another Scottish army arriving. The English were terrified that they would be caught between two Scots armies and they ran away. Now the Scots cavalry returned to the battle and the horsemen killed many English soldiers as they ran away.
After this defeat, the English army tried many more times to conquer Scotland, but they never really succeeded. Each time they were defeated by the high Scottish mountains, the bravery of the Scots soldiers, and because they had also to fight wars in other countries, such as France and Holland. Finally in 1707 Scotland joined with England as an equal partner to form the United Kingdom.
