It was September 9th of 1513 that the Battle of Flodden Field would commence. This battle was fought in Northumberland, England between Scottish and English Armies led by King James IV for the Scots and the Earl of Surrey, Thomas Howard. This battle was considered to be the largest battle between the English and the Scots in their entire history and as such it was also a bloody defeat which left the Scots limping home.
The Battle of Flodden Field occurred because King James IV of Scotland declared war against England as a means of honouring the Auld Alliance and as an attempt to draw the English forces from the current battles that were raging against the French who were led by King Louis XII. It was at this time that the English were in the Italian Wars in which the English were protecting Italy along with the Pope from French forces. Marching on the pretence that it was revenge for the murder of John “The Bastard” Heron who was the leader of the Scottish East March. When the Scots invaded English making their way to Flodden Field, they arrived with a 30,000 strong military force.
While this may have been the name of the battle, the Battle of Flodden Field did not actually even occur at Flodden Field but rather the battle took place south of Braxton between Flodden Field and the village of Braxton. It was on August 22nd that King James and his army would cross over the border into England. The 30,000 Scots were armed for battle with continental Pikes. While the traditional weapon of choice by the Scottish army was that of a Scottish Schiltrom Spear, the continental Pike was more than 6 feet longer than the traditional weapon. While these particular weapons had grown a fierce reputation when used in tight formations by the German and the Swiss, in which they received their training from these soldiers prior to marching into battle with the Pikes.
Along with the 30,000 strong foot soldiers armed with the continental Pikes, Master Gunner, Robert Borthwick utilised 400 oxen as a means of dragging 17 artillery cannons from Edinburgh. In a bold move, King James ordered that his best gunners forward with the foot soldiers even though the cannons were too cumbersome for a field battle and were left far behind the rest of the troops. Most of these soldiers were new recruits and the worst part of it, was that these troops’ moral was already at a low point due to the high number of casualties after the siege of Norham Castle which occurred immediately following the crossing of the border into England. Coupled with some of the most horrible weather imaginable, disease quickly became rampant amongst the troops.
By the time that King James met up with the Earl of Surrey, the troops were already in bad shape. To make matters worse, the Earl of Surrey had a military of over 26,000 soldiers who were composed of archers and infantry armed with a bill. The bill is an 8 foot long pole with an axe-like head that could be used to cut and slash their way through the enemies’ front lines. Furthermore, the English also had with them 1,500 light horsemen.
While in an attempt to turn the battle into a gentleman’s game, the Earl of Surrey sent a herald to King James and it was agreed upon. However, within only a few days time, it was found that King James had taken up camp in a natural fortress rather than on an open field. As a result, the Earl sent another herald to determine if the battle would still occur on a level field. While a level field was in King James’s best interest, he declined the offer which would take away the advantage that his pike-men would have had on a level field.
The Earl’s army was starting to run low on supplies and he had to make the decision on whether to leave King James there and return for supplies, or to outflank his sizeable army. The choice was obviously clear and the English went to outflank the Scots. In doing so, not only did they outflank the Scottish army, but they managed to completely trap them in their natural fortress. This would be the downfall of King James’s marched invasion as the English quickly won the battle.
Original Authors: Nick (Globel Team)
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 15/08/2008
