| Related sites for http://www.nwlink.com/~scotlass/falkirk.htm |
| Yolande\'s_Angel_Site Information on angels and angel pictures. | | The_Ute_Mountain_Ute_tribe Official site has information on the tribe's history, legends, childrens stories, government and future plans. | | Paradigm_From_California A description of the helpful progression of all life and humanity and the currently needed societal and educational mathematics and social formula for its successful continuation. | | Bah,_Humbug! Dealing with scrooges and negative feelings about the holiday. | | Holidays_and_Celebrations__Thanksgiving Links for Thanksgiving in Canada, the United States, and around the world for students and teachers. | | Maver_Family Bringing together family members worldwide. Includes records, family trees and a message board. | | Gay_and_Lesbian_Vaishnava_Association Essay on the position of gays and lesbians according to the Hindu scriptures. | | Evangelical_Covenant_Church_of_Canada The Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada, a denomination in Canada, and a regional conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church, is a community of churches in covenant with God and one another. Sear | | Greek_Orthodox_Archdiocese_of_Aleppo Multilingual site with sermons and writings (PDF format), history, information on activities, Sunday bulletin (in Arabic) and information on the Monastery of St Symeon the Stylite. | | Uzbekistan Mission of the Republic of Uzbekistan to NATO, featuring an explanation of Uzbek foreign policy principles. | | HellenicPagan A list of people interested in Hellenic beliefs and desire to get an organization going devoted to the study and religious practice of the ancient Hellenic world, as well as to facilitate communicatio | | The_History_of_a_Christmas_Box 1906 essay that examines the child labor involved in preparing and delivering a gift. | | 365_And_A_Wake_Up_-_Joe_Pursel A book in the making by a Northwest writer and Viet Nam veteran. Explores the lighter side of the Viet Nam war. You can contribute your story and possibly get credit. | | India_-_Insurance_Regulatory_and_Development_Authority_(IRDA) Established by Parliament to protect the interests of the policyholders, to regulate, promote, and ensure orderly growth of the insurance industry. | | Deaf_Today Syndication features articles, feature stories and events. [RSS] | | Vietnam_Veterans_of_America A non profit organization which supports community-based projects for Vietnam veterans throughout the United States. | | Jesuits_and_the_Sciences__1540-1995 An exhibit of rare scientific works from the Cudahy Collection of Jesuitica. | | Goliath Profile of the Philistine warrior from a joint Lutheran and Catholic bible study project. | | The_Crusades Links for research. | | Fourth_Generation_Warfare_Is_Here! Harold A. Gould and Franklin C. Spinney review the changes after September 11th attacks. University of Virginia, USA, Fall, 2001. |
|
Falkirk    AfterStirling, the Scottish lords were jealous of Wallace being appointed as the sole guardianof Scotland. Edward was having his own problems with France and with his barons. However,regardless of the problems at home, he planned the following year to deal with Wallace.The barons were fearful that Edward would once again depart for France and leave them tocontend with Wallace, which was not an easy task. Edward reassured the barons that hewould put down Wallace and assembled an army that consisted of 2500 horse, 12,000 foot,archers from Wales and crossbowmen from Gascony. If an Englishman had lands of a value of£15 you had to be available for service and had to take with you a hauberk (coat ofmail), an iron cap, a knife and a horse. If you only had 40 shillings or so you onlyneeded a sword, a knife, and a bow and arrows. This was an easy requirement as most menhad these items. These are what they used to hunt with to provide food for their families.Edward had trouble with the Welsh he had conscripted. In the recent past the Welch hadbeen fighting the English and now they were a part of the English army. They objectedheavily to the short rations. Edward decided that to keep them on his side, he would issuea supply of wine, which appears to have been a huge mistake. It resulted in a drunkenbrawl between the Welsh and the English. In this melee 80 Welshmen were killed and therest of them threatened to join Wallace. Edward reacted to this so violently that theWelsh leaders decided the better part of valor was to remain where they were.Theassemblage presented a formidable force for Wallace to deal with. Some say that Edward hadas many as 80-90,000 men. By July of the year the English were advancing up the coast witha fleet of ships for support. Supplies were hard to come by, especially with the size ofthe army, they were near starvation, and Wallace and his force seemed to have disappeared.Because of the size of the English force, Wallace continued to fall back, destroyingbehind him what could be of use to the English. The logistics of feeding an army of thatsize was becoming a real problem for Edward and he was thinking of abandoning the marchwhen he received vital intelligence that Wallace and his men were but 15 miles distant inCallander Wood. Since Wallace had his intelligence also, he must also have known of theEnglish forces assembled. Both sides waited out the night, knowing that the morning wouldbring another battle for subjugation or freedom.Wallacecould have side-stepped the battle, considering the heavy contingent of English horse thatEdward had, but his power and leadership depended upon successful campaigns against theEnglish and upon winning battles to free Scotland. Wallace’s forces consisted ofvolunteers, males between 16 and 60, most of whom came to him without training orexperience, and certainly without armor or horses. It is estimated that Wallace hadsomewhere around 30,000 men. This contingent is what must face the might of the Englishcavalry, most of them experienced in warfare. As a tactician, Wallace had chosen to deployhis troops well. The English from their vantage point could not know that where Wallacewas deployed there was a fast-moving burn that ran into another stream which made theground wet and boggy. The foot formed into schiltrons, a solid core of spearmen utilizing12 foot iron-tipped spears. The front rank would kneel and the second would level thespears over the shoulders of the men in front. This presented the English cavalry with aformidable obstacle. Charging horses would impale themselves on the spears, throwing theirriders into the midst of their enemy. The men were also inside a circle of stakes whichwere roped together to form a barrier. Lest we think that Wallace was heavily out-gunned,so to speak, he did have about 1500-2000 spears, a contingent of bowmen between theschiltron and the enclosure, and had his knights in reserve at the back, led by JohnComyn. Edwardwas assisted by an act of treachery. Many of the Scots nobles held lands in both Englandand in Scotland and their loyalties lay not with their country as much as with theprotection of their possessions and lands. Two of the Scots barons, the Earl of Angus andthe Earl of Dunbar rode over to the English side and informed Edward that Wallace waspreparing to strike at night, thus having an advantage in surprise. Wallace realized thatwith his two barons missing, he had been betrayed and since the element of surprise of anight battle was gone, decided to wait until morning to begin the battle. Norfolkand Hereford, two of Edward’s barons, commanded the English forces and they began todeploy in the usual battle order. The King led the rear guard. Their steady advance wasthwarted by the softness of the ground forcing the men to the left. An argument eruptedbetween Bishop Bek who led the fore and his lieutenant. The lieutenant, Bassett, wanted todo away with caution and he led the knights forward. Considering the condition of theground, this was a rash movement and if the Scots had been luckier, Wallace would againhave won a major battle. At first, things went as Wallace expected. He wanted the Englishto charge down the middle, which they did. They became bogged down in the mire and theScots archers picked their targets. The second wave of cavalry met with more success untilthey reached the schiltrons. Wallace was, of course, in the midst of the battle, swinginghis great sword. Arrows and spears fell all around him but none touched him. However, atthis point, another act of treachery took place and the Scots horse abandoned the fieldthe result of which the Scots bowmen were cut down. This second act of treachery wouldprove to turn the tide in favor of the English. However, the schiltrons held and theEnglish could not get by them. Edward now took control of the situation, sounded therecall, and brought up his Welsh and Gascon bowmen, archers and slingers. Pounded withstones and being felled in droves with the accuracy and range of the archers and longbows,nonetheless they held. The Scots own archers fell to a man. Also, Grahame of Dundaff andthe young Earl of Fife and other aristocrats who were loyal to Wallace fell. Gaps appearedin the ranks and the English charged through trampling men with their horses and hackingthem to death with their long swords. The Scots resisted with desperation but hundredsdied beneath the hooves of the cavalry. The remaining Scots were now fighting behind awall of dead bodies. Wallace was forced by his loyal men to flee as his army died aroundhim. No doubt many of his hopes for the country died at the same time. He was put on ahorse but the horse was so wounded it could only carry him a short distance. Edwardhad won this battle but the war was not yet over. Wallace never considered surrender andonce again reverted to hiding and striking in guerilla fashion, keeping the defiance ofthe Scots alive, a flickering flame to be sure, but alive. This bitter day was filled withshame for the treachery that had taken place, but was also filled with pride for the waythe Scots resisted.TheEnglish fell back to the border, devastating the peoples and land as they went. Raid andcounter-raid was the next phase of the war with the lowlands and the Borders laid waste.Wallace had been abandoned by the fickle Scots nobles and he was never able to build asufficient army or power base to escalate the war. Soon after Falkirk he resigned his postas Guardian of Scotland. Comyn, de Soulis, Bruce and Lamberton became the Guardians.Wallace tried to enlist support for the Scots cause, even by going to France. But in 1305(seven years after Falkirk) he was betrayed and taken by the English. Asked to repent andrecant, he nevertheless was defiant to the end and he remains one of Scotland’sgreatest heroes. He was killed in a ruthless and merciless manner - hanged, castrated anddisemboweled while living, drawn and quartered, his body hacked to bits, with pieces of itsent to the four corners of the kingdom as an example. His head was displayed on a pike inLondon. His offense was treason although he had never sworn fealty to Edward. But, he wasconsidered too dangerous a man to let live.Despitethe loss of the battle, and what seemed to be the loss of the Scots freedom, other forceswere in play, as we shall see in the Battle of Bannockburn. Although Wallace lost atFalkirk, due in large part to betrayal, he remains to this day a symbol of resistance totyranny, loyalty to one’s country, and a true hero to all peoples of the world. |
|
