23 June in military history: Battle of Bannockburn, 1314

It was fought on 23 and 24 June 1314 near Stirling in central Scotland. The first day saw fighting around the New Park; the main battle came on the second day, and its exact site is still debated.

The Scottish army of King Robert the Bruce defeated the larger English army of King Edward II, who escaped by Dunbar to Berwick.

Bruce chose ground between a wood and the marshy Carse that narrowed the front and dug pits against cavalry. His spearmen, in tight formations called schiltrons, held off the English horsemen, and the crowded English army could not bring its rear divisions or its archers to bear.

On the first day Henry de Bohun, nephew of the Earl of Hereford, charged the Scottish king with his lance. Bruce, on a small horse, avoided the charge and killed him with one blow of his axe, breaking its shaft.

The sources differ widely. Historic Environment Scotland gives Bruce some 6,000 to 7,000 spearmen and 500 horsemen against about 2,000 to 3,000 English heavy cavalry and 16,000 foot; Oman thought both armies far larger. Both agree that the English army was the larger.