The Battle of Stirling Bridge, 1297: Wallace’s Triumph

Background

After Edward I’s conquest of 1296, risings broke out across Scotland — William Wallace in the south-west, Andrew de Moray in the north. Their forces converged at Stirling, the gateway between north and south, where the Forth had to be crossed.

The battle

The English had to cross by a narrow wooden bridge, barely two horsemen wide. Wallace and Moray waited until a large part of the English army — including the treasurer Cressingham — had crossed and was hemmed against a loop of the river, then seized the bridge-end, cutting them off. Trapped on boggy ground, the English vanguard was slaughtered; Cressingham was killed. Surrey, still on the south bank, had the bridge destroyed and retreated.

Outcome & significance

Wallace’s greatest victory, and proof that infantry could destroy a feudal army on the right ground. It cleared the English from most of Scotland and made Wallace Guardian of Scotland.

The battlefield today

The Victorian National Wallace Monument (1869) crowns Abbey Craig above the field. The medieval bridge is gone; the surviving stone Old Stirling Bridge stands a little downstream, and the original’s piers have been traced in the river.

The clans & people involved

• Clan Murray — Andrew de Moray, co-commander, of the de Moravia stock.
• Clan Stewart — James the Steward was in the Scottish camp.
• William Wallace — joint commander and, after, Guardian of Scotland.

Sources

• Battle of Stirling Bridge — Wikipedia; Britannica; National Library of Scotland.