13/09/2022
On this day in history.....Battle of Stirling Bridge.
Generals of the Army of Scotland - Andrew de Moray and William Wallace
After the capitulation of the Scottish nobility and aristocracy to English forces at Irvine, young hotheads Andrew de Moray and William Wallace were the only effective Scottish commanders left in the field. Here, they are shown deploying their combined troops from their vantage point atop the Abbey Craig onto the flood plain surrounding Stirling Bridge on the morning of 11th September, 1297. Shortly, they would face and defeat a vastly superior English host and earn their place in History.
Following the English occupation of Scotland in 1296, bitter and hard fought rebellions flared up all over the land. To the North, Andrew de Moray led a particularly successful campaign against the authorities. To the south, William Wallace launched a savage attack against English authority. By the late summer of 1297, de Moray and Wallace had joined forces to make a particularly effective guerrilla army. Together, they rampaged through the country and brutally drove the English out of their strongholds.
Edward could only re-impose his authority on Scotland with a full-scale armed invasion. Sometime late in the summer of 1297, King Edward's lieutenant in Scotland, John de Warrenne, the earl of Surrey, mustered an army and marched north into central Scotland. Moray and Wallace responded by marching with their combined forces to Stirling to await his arrival.
Moray and Wallace deployed their small army to the north of the River Forth close to the old bridge under the shadow of Stirling Castle. Surrey's handling of the ensuing battle was extremely inept. Ignoring the advice of advisors who suggested he try a pincer attack utilising nearby fords, he sent the vanguard of his army across the narrow bridge under the Scots’ gaze, expecting them to be too intimidated to attack. Unfortunately for him, the Scots did attack, when the English army was only partially deployed. In the ensuing carnage of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, Surrey's army was massacred. The bulk of his army had remained unengaged on the southern bank and it soon began to flee the scene as it became clear that Surrey had been outmanoeuvred and outfought by de Moray and Wallace.
It is estimated that Surrey lost one hundred knights and five-thousand infantrymen in the slaughter. The Scottish army's casualties remain unrecorded apart from one significant loss: Andrew de Moray had been fatally wounded in the fight. Scotland had been robbed of a supremely skilled soldier, tactician, commander and potential leader of the realm.
The subsequent well deserved legend of Wallace has resulted in the achievements of Andrew de Moray disappearing into the mists of time. Although there are many statues to Wallace scattered across Scotland and the world, there is no similar monument to de Moray.
Thankfully a project entitled the Guardians of Scotland Trust are set to remedy this. A stunning statue is to be erected on the site of the battle and it is hoped that this will cement, at last, Andrew de Moray’s name in the Scottish consciousness.
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