Battle of Bannockburn--Part 2 of 6

Advance to Bannockburn

In 1313, most of Scotland was under Robert de Bruce.  His men had worked diligently and had been rewarded with the capture of most of the English-held castles.  Only four castles were still held by the English, including Stirling Castle.  The commander of Stirling Castle made a bargain with Edward Bruce, Robert’s brother: if the English army did not arrive within 8 miles of the castle by Midsummer’s Eve (June 24, 1314), then he would surrender to Bruce.  The loss of Stirling would be a terrible blow to the English, so Edward II (Edward I had died in 1307; his son had been crowned) had to act.

The English gathered a huge army—100,000 men according to historian G. A. Henty—and crossed the Border.  Experienced generals directed the English army.  Against this, Bruce called up all loyal Scots.  Their numbers amounted to 30,000. 1  Edward outnumbered Bruce by over 3 to 1.

De Bruce’s army was divided into 4 divisions plus cavalry.  The leftmost was under Walter the Steward (with Sir James Douglas), the center was commanded by Randolph, Lord Moray, and the right by Edward Bruce.  Robert de Bruce commanded the 4^th division, which was kept in reserve.  The cavalry was under Sir James Keith.

The Bannock Burn (burn means river) came together with the River Forth, making a C.  A road led across the Bannock Burn to Stirling Castle.  Edward’s army would use the road to get to Stirling, but Bruce’s army was arranged along the road in a column.

On their flanks, the Scots dug deep holes, planted sharp stakes inside them and covered them with turf.  When the English cavalry thundered down on the Scots, the turf would collapse and the knights would fall in the holes.

Holes were not their only protection.  The 4 divisions were arranged in a special position called a Schiltron.  A Schiltron was a square of pikemen four deep all around.  Two soldiers knelt with their pikes on an angle while the other two stood with their pikes horizontally.  This made a hedge of spears to keep cavalry away.

Before the battle began, Robert de Bruce told his soldiers that whoever was afraid was free to leave (as Deuteronomy 20:8 commands).  A few did, but most stayed with the army that was fighting for their king and liberty.

Battle of Bannockburn--Part 1 of 6

The Battle of Bannockburn

The Scots are proud of their history and heritage.  And no time in their long history is more celebrated than the era of William Wallace, Robert de Bruce, and the Battle of Bannockburn.  But what exactly did these men do?  And why was Bannockburn important?

The Usurper

In 1286, King Alexander III of Scotland rode home from an all-night feast.  In the darkness, he mistakenly rode off a cliff and was killed.  The crown of Scotland would have gone to his granddaughter Margaret, but she died on her voyage to Scotland.  Now the throne was vacant, and many competitors appeared to claim it.  Robert de Bruce and John Baliol (among others) were both related to the late King of Scotland.  But who would decide between the claimants?  The Scots asked Edward I, King of England, to choose, because his son was supposed to marry Margaret.  Edward I chose Baliol, because he had heard that Baliol would follow Edward’s will.  Baliol was crowned, but argued when Edward demanded that Scottish subjects be tried in English courts.  He was deposed and imprisoned in the Tower of London as Edward I declared himself King of Scotland.

Many of the Scots, including Robert de Bruce, submitted to the English dominion (especially when Edward rewarded them with land and gold), but some did not.  Sir Malcolm Wallace fought them, and when he was killed, his son William Wallace continued the fight.  Wallace inflicted a stinging defeat on the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, killing 5,000 English footsoldiers.

The Scottish resistance was becoming formidable, and Edward I marched into Scotland with an English army.  He crushed Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk in 1297 and forced him into hiding.  In 1305, Wallace was betrayed and sent to England, where he was tried and executed.  But before he died, Robert de Bruce joined Wallace in the fight for Scottish independence.

Cowardice and Courage by G. A. Henty

"There is nothing so bad as cowardice; it is the father of all faults.  A coward is certain to be a liar, for he will not hesitate to tell any falsehood to shelter him from the consequences of a fault.  In your case, you see, cowardice has made you a thief; and in some cases it might drive a man to commit a murder."--from When London Burned by G. A. Henty, pg. 95

Jean-Chretien and his Chasseurs

Jean-Chretien de Fischer entered the French army in 1737.  In 1741, he became a valet to a French officer during the Sieges of Prague.  Fischer took care of his master's horse, taking it outside the city and across the river to graze.  Many other servants and horses followed Fischer.  But one day, wild Hungarian hussars swept down on them all, to carry away the horses.  Fischer and his fellow-servants beat them off.  General Saxe heard of this and put all the servants under Fischer's command, creating an Independent Company for him.  These Chasseurs de Fischer served in Alsace, at Lauffeldt and Bergen-op-Zoom.  After the Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle, Fischer was the only light corps commander to have his corps not disbanded.  In the Seven Years' War, Fischer's Chasseurs would go on to further glory in Hanover, Sandershausen, Krefeld, Bergen, Minden, Kloster Kamp, Lutterberg and Warburg.

Jean-Chretien de Fischer was an organizer of men.  In addition to raising the Chasseurs de Fischer, he raised a unit of light troops sent to India, and the Volontaires-Etrangers.  He died in 1762.  His story is an excellent example of Matthew 25:21:

"His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."

Celtic Christianity

"Although the 'Breastplate of St Patrick' has been popular as a hymn ever since its translation into English in the nineteenth century, the earliest version known belongs to a time three centuries after Patrick's death.  What we can find in it--or in the hymn 'Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart'--is the atmosphere of this obscure period.  Here was a faith deeply personal but also securely orthodox, accepting battle against the magic of paganism, creating a Celtic Christianity full of confidence in its Lord and in itself."--from pp. 32-33, Christian England: Its Story to the Reformation by David L. Edwards

A Ballad of the French Fleet

Last time I wrote about how God confounded the Duc d'Anville's expedition to reconquer Acadia and burn Boston.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem about this fleet, which ascribes the glory of the victory to God.

A Ballad of the French Fleet

A fleet with flags arrayed

Sailed from the port of Brest

And the Admiral's ship displayed

The signal: "Steer southwest."

For this Admiral D'Anville

Had sworn by cross and crown
To ravage with fire and steel
Our helpless Boston town.

There were rumors in the street,
In the houses there was fear
Of the coming of the fleet,
And the danger hovering near.
And while from mouth to mouth
Spread the tidings of dismay,
I stood in the Old South,
Saying humbly: "Let us pray!"

"O  Lord! we would not advise;
But if in thy Providence
A tempest should arise
To drive the French Fleet hence,
And scatter it far and wide,
Or sink it in the sea,
We should be satisfied,
And thine the glory be."

This was the prayer I made,
For my soul was all on flame,
And even as I prayed
The answering tempest came;
It came with a mighty power,
Shaking the windows and walls,
And tolling the bell in the tower,
As it tolls in funerals.

The lightning suddenly
Unsheathed its flaming sword,
And I cried: "Stand still, and see
The salvation of the Lord!"
The heavens were black with cloud,

The sea was white with hail,

And ever more fierce and loud

Blew the October gale.

The fleet it overtook,

And the broad sails in the van

Like the tents of Cushan shook,

Or the curtains of Midian.

Don on the reeling decks

Crashed the o'erwhelming seas;

Ah, never were there wrecks

So pitiful as these!

Like a potter's vessel broke

The great ships of the line;
They were carried away as a smoke,

Or sank like lead in the rine.

O Lord! before thy path

They vanished and ceased to be,

When thou didst walk in wrath
With thine horses through the sea!

Duc d'Anville Expedition

The novel Guns of Thunder is set during the 1745 Siege of Louisbourg.

In 1744, the colonies of France and Great Britain were drawn into the War of the Austrian Succession.  New France repelled an attack at Canso.  In 1745, New England mounted an ambitious expedition.  4,000 colonists besieged the mighty French fortress of Louisbourg.  After 49 days, Louisbourg fell, and the British and their colonies rejoiced.

The news of the capture of Louisbourg shocked the French.  They assembled 11,000 soldiers on board a fleet of 64 ships--the largest expedition to the New World unti the American War of Independence.  The Duc d'Anville commanded the expedition to reconquer Acadia (Nova Scotia) and "consign Boston to flames."

The Duc d'Anville and the French flotilla

Alarmed, the New Englanders fasted and prayed, and God intervened.  Storms battered the French ships, while disease wiped out many soldiers.  When the expedition landed, the Duc d'Anville fell sick and died.  Finally, the remnants of the expedition returned to France.  New England had stood still and seen the salvation of the Lord.