June 23–24, 1314 · Near Stirling Castle Theater
June 23–24, 1314
Marching to relieve besieged Stirling Castle, Edward II's great army — perhaps 20,000 strong — met Bruce on boggy ground between the Bannock Burn and the Forth. On the first day Bruce split an English knight's skull with an axe in single combat; on the second his schiltrons advanced onto the constricted field, pinned the English against the streams, and, as a Scottish 'small folk' contingent appeared over a hill, broke them into a rout in which thousands drowned and died.
Commanders