Bannockburn battlefield

Once we were back on the bus we took another very short drive to the next point of interest. There isn't a whole lot to see anymore at the field where the Battle of Bannockburn took place. This was another battle the Scots won because of their own cleverness and the English king's stupidity. After the death of Wallace it was up to Robert Bruce to wage war against the invading English. Edward I (Longshanks) had also died leaving his ineffectual son, Edward II, in command. Under Edward II the English occupation of Scotland which took place after the execution of Wallace was kind of half-hearted. Bruce waged a guerilla warfare campaign that led to the English giving up almost all their claims in Scotland except for the impregnable Stirling Castle. While English troops were holed up there Edward II led a force of 20,000 soldiers Northward to relieve the garrison. He was opposed by Robert Bruce's army of only 7000. Bruce lured the English onto a boggy field that rendered the intimidating English calvary ineffectual while also slowing the more heavily armored English foot soldiers. The lightly armored Scots closed quickly on the English and in those close quarters the English longbow archers were unable to unleash effective volleys. At the peak of battle Bruce craftily released all his reserves. By spreading his inferior forces across the crest of a hill the English mistook them for a much larger force then fled the field in panic. Many English knights fell to Scottish spearman that day. Edward II escaped with his life but not much of his army remained.