The
First Day: June 23, 1314
The governor of Stirling suggested that
the English bypass the Scots, rather than attacking head-on. This sounded like a good idea, so a division
of English knights under Sir Robert Clifford crossed the river higher up. Randolph and de Bruce were watching the
battlefield when they noticed the division moving to Stirling.
Randolph’s division was at the tail of
the column, so if the English passed it, they could enter Stirling Castle
without any more hindrance. After a
rebuke from Bruce, Randolph flew to join his schiltron, which had barred the
knights from coming any closer to the castle.
It was a hard fight. The English
knights tried to break through the spears, but could not. The Scots stood their ground, and the English
were beginning to break. Sir James
Douglas appeared with reinforcements, and the English fled, crossing the
Bannock Burn back to their own lines.
Edward’s army moved close to the river, halting
instead of crossing. But two divisions
mistakenly crossed the river. At the
same time, Robert de Bruce was riding in front of his men to encourage
them. An English knight, Sir Henry de
Bohun, saw the Scottish king. Putting
spurs to his horse, de Bohun galloped to kill the Scottish king with his
lance. Bruce’s horse was not a
war-horse, and he only held a battle-axe.
Robert de Bruce stood his ground, even though he could have escaped
behind Scottish lines. De Bohun
thundered toward him. He came closer and
closer as the two armies breathlessly watched the single combat. Just as de Bohun was almost ready to spear
the King, Bruce dodged and brought his axe down on the English knight’s
helmet. De Bohun fell from his saddle,
dead, and Robert de Bruce rode back to safety as his army cheered.
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