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The Real William Wallace
- Published 9 February 2009
- Scotland History
THE BATTLE OF STIRLING BRIDGE
In the Hollywood movie "Braveheart" the battle at Stirling is depicted on a flat green field. In fact this is not the case. William Wallace must have known he could never win a battle against the greatly superior English army in a face-to-face conflict on open ground. The key to winning battles in these circumstances is knowing how to use the land and other natural features to one's advantage. At the time of the battle the wooden bridge at Stirling was not only a critical crossing point but also only wide enough for three or perhaps four horsemen abreast. The Earl of Surrey, in command of the English forces, had turned up at Stirling with 10,000 infantry soldiers and just over 3000 cavalry - the tanks of their day. In an open charge there was little that would stop these heavily armed horsemen.
The English cavalry began to cross the bridge and the Scottish army, led by Wallace and Murray, waited until about half of them had crossed the bridge. The Scottish army then thrust forward with huge vigour, killing many of the cavalry that had already crossed and causing a "horse traffic jam" on the bridge, with some cavalry stopping and others still trying to get onto the bridge from the English side. The sheer amount of horsemen on the bridge caused it to collapse and a large number of English cavalrymen drowned in the river below.
In the writings of Blind Harry he claims the collapse was planned with Scottish soldiers hidden down in the river. However this is almost certainly not true and exactly the kind of enhancement Blind Harry would have no doubt enjoyed adding to his tale. Nevertheless, the English army was routed and the Scots won an incredible victory against all odds. Andrew Murray was mortally wounded although it is not known for certain if he died at the battle scene or some time later from his wounds. After the battle William Wallace was knighted and pronounced Guardian Of Scotland. To demonstrate how sketchy official records are from that time, it is not known who knighted him, although in all probability it was Robert The Bruce.
In the Hollywood movie "Braveheart" the battle at Stirling is depicted on a flat green field. In fact this is not the case. William Wallace must have known he could never win a battle against the greatly superior English army in a face-to-face conflict on open ground. The key to winning battles in these circumstances is knowing how to use the land and other natural features to one's advantage. At the time of the battle the wooden bridge at Stirling was not only a critical crossing point but also only wide enough for three or perhaps four horsemen abreast. The Earl of Surrey, in command of the English forces, had turned up at Stirling with 10,000 infantry soldiers and just over 3000 cavalry - the tanks of their day. In an open charge there was little that would stop these heavily armed horsemen.
The English cavalry began to cross the bridge and the Scottish army, led by Wallace and Murray, waited until about half of them had crossed the bridge. The Scottish army then thrust forward with huge vigour, killing many of the cavalry that had already crossed and causing a "horse traffic jam" on the bridge, with some cavalry stopping and others still trying to get onto the bridge from the English side. The sheer amount of horsemen on the bridge caused it to collapse and a large number of English cavalrymen drowned in the river below. In the writings of Blind Harry he claims the collapse was planned with Scottish soldiers hidden down in the river. However this is almost certainly not true and exactly the kind of enhancement Blind Harry would have no doubt enjoyed adding to his tale. Nevertheless, the English army was routed and the Scots won an incredible victory against all odds. Andrew Murray was mortally wounded although it is not known for certain if he died at the battle scene or some time later from his wounds. After the battle William Wallace was knighted and pronounced Guardian Of Scotland. To demonstrate how sketchy official records are from that time, it is not known who knighted him, although in all probability it was Robert The Bruce.