July 22nd, 1298 - The Battle of Falkirk

Conflict: First War of Scottish Independence

Combatants: English vs. Scots

Location: Scotland

Outcome: English victory

At Falkirk, Edward I's invading army of some 25,000 Englishmen forced William Wallace's roughly equal army of Scots into battle. While the Scottish pikeman initially held off the enemy assaults, Welsh longbowmen decimated the Scottish ranks and they were then were broken in a cavalry charge. The Scottish army was destroyed; Wallace and a handful of survivors fled into the woods.

The Bishop of Durham's Charge at Falkirk by James Grant

Points of Interest:

• Wallace was captured in 1305 and executed.

• Although Scotland was invested by Edward I, Robert the Bruce continued to resist the English invasion.

Sir William Wallace by an unknown artist

Prince Edward (later Edward I) by an unknown artist

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sources:

Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).

Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.

Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.