At Flodden Field, the last great battle between two rival nations was fought all but bringing to an end a 600 year old border feud between England and Scotland.
In 1512 with the Italian Wars in full flow, France being attacked from all sides and in great danger pleaded with the Scottish King James IV for help. Despite relations between the Scots and English being at a peak in the previous decade, James felt he had no choice and at once renewed the "Auld Alliance" with the French and set about massing the largest and grandest Scottish army that would ever take to the field of battle. Both Highlanders and Lowlanders answered James call for fighting men and in time James would find himself in control of army around 70-80,000 strong. Heavily armed with state of the art and recently aquired French Pikes and the heavist Canon in Europe, James at once set out for England.
Crossing the River Tweed and entering England with no opposition in August 1513, the massive Scots Army easily took Wark castle and the fortress of Norham but these were poor achievments for such a great army. Also by this time provisions were running low and with few sources in a such a barren area the Scotsmen men set off home to get what food they could, many did not return. Meanwhile the English without their main army and under the command of the elderly Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey, the man Henry VIII had left in the charge of the country had set about gathering an army. Howard mustered a force of around 25,000 men consisting of Billmen, Longbowmen and a few small canon and marched to meet the Scots army, now camped on Branxton Hill, near the village of Flodden.
When the two armies finally faced each other, the Scottish force assisted by around 5000 French soldiers had decreased to around 40,000 while the English army is said to have been around 27,000 strong. Aswell as the numerical advantage the Scots also held the high ground and had entrenched their big guns into Branxton hill. Seeing this, Howard sent message to King James asking that they might have a fair fight on the fields below but to his dismay James refused. The ageing English General then in a stroke of genius did the only thing he could and wheeled his entire army around the back of the Scots. But to do this the English first had a to cross a marsh and thereby struggled to cover the distance, much to the amusement of the Scots soldiers on the hill above. Their laughter however sooned turned to disbelief as they soon realised the English were now inbetween them and Scotland.
The following day under stormy skies the battle commenced with an artillery duel. Which as a sign of things to come went badly for Scots, the Scottish artillery commander was killed within the opening shots. Although the Scots had more and bigger Canon their gunners could not depress the weapons low enough to fire downhill onto the English. The English gunners and Longbowmen had no such problem and soon silenced the Scottish guns before turning their attention to the massed ranks of Scottish Pikemen above them.
At about 4pm, the blood letting commenced, both sides opening the event with an artillery bombardment, both of which seem to have been equally ineffective. Hume’s Borderers though, either took the brunt of it, or, disliking standing still whilst being shot at, did not stand. They rushed forward towards Edmund Howard’s men, who, being positioned on virtually flat land were somewhat vulnerable. The fighting was hand to hand, brutal and vicious. Some Cheshiremen, not having the stomach for it, departed as quickly as they could, leaving gaps into which Hume’s long pikes were able to do great damage. Several knighted gentlemen were killed, Howard was unhorsed at lease twice, and the column was very close to folding. At this point, Surrey sent Dacre and his horsemen to his son’s aid, though it must be stated that even some of Dacre’s own men deserted at this point. Even so, the remainder crashed into the massed Borderers and broke their attack. Maybe feeling that they had done their day’s work, the Borderers fell back, and took to looting. Neither Humes nor Huntlys men took any further part in what followed.
James may have assumed, having seen the initial success of his left against the English right, that Hume and Huntly would have turned their men against Surrey’s right flank, and on this assumption, ordered his own and Bothwell’s column to advance down off his hill across wet and treacherous terrain into the maw of the English cannon. However, as seen, Hume and Huntly’s men were by then, otherwise occupied, and the Scots were advancing towards a steady and waiting line of Englishmen, a story repeated at Culloden, two centuries later. What ensued was, in the main again, the difference of having the right weapons for the conditions. Carrying their long and heavy pikes slowed the Scottish advance, leaving them vulnerable to shot and arrow, and being insufficiently trained in their use, together with the fact that the pikes were basically meant for use against cavalry made them more of an encumbrance than the expected advantage. As the two armies came into contact, the English bills, simply chopped the pikes into useless sticks.
It may have been at about this stage that Stanley’s column eventually, whatever the cause of their delay, entered the field. Seeing that there was an un-engaged column of Highlanders facing them (Argyll’s and Lennox’s), he launched his men against them before they could reinforce their king. Being Highlanders, they were not clad in the heavy armour as were many of the king’s column, they were therefore a much easier target to damage. Dividing his force, Stanley engaged his foe from the front, while sending a heavy contingent to turn their flank. Faced with such a determined and well disciplined attack, the Highlanders, after some initial resistance, gave way, and were soon in flight, leaving their commanders and a few of their more valiant comrades to be slaughtered.
By nightfall, the fighting cesed, it ceased for the simple reason that the Scottish army had ceased to exist. The dead and dying were too numerous to count, the carnage, appalling. Daylight the following day revealed more, between 5,000 and 10,000 Scots were dead, they included about two dozen earls and barons; James’ bastard son , who was Archbishop of St. Andrews; the Bishops of Caithness, and the Isles; two abbots and many knighted gentlemen and, king James himself; virtually the entire Scottish nobility. The English lost around 4000 men but no doubt the day belonged to them.
For Scotland it was an unessecery and disastrous battle whilst for the English, a terible revenge had been exacted for Bannockburn.
Today, a large granite cross mrks the Battlefield.
"Garlic......and bread?? Garlic bread??"
