The Tactics of William Wallace and Andy Murray in Scotland's Wars Against England.

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The Scottish Wars of Independence goes down as a great inspirational story in history. The miniscule small army of Scotland with not even half the population of the enemy, Edward’s English army, who had far more weapons and other means of war at there disposal, still managed to defeat Edward. This was down to the tactics used by the leaders- William Wallace and Andrew Murray, great Scottish patriots of there time who go down in Scottish history as heroes.

Firstly, the idea of a Scottish rebellion against Edwards’s harsh rule was spreading fast across the kingdom of Scotland. This was all down to two Scottish heroes, William Wallace and Andrew Murray, who both had their reasons for Scottish independence, as well as being true patriots. Andrew Moray was born late in the second half of the 13th century. The date and place of his birth, and if he had any siblings, are unknown. He was born into the Morays of Petty; a wealthy and politically-influential baronial family whose powerbase was located in the province of Moray in north-eastern Scotland Murray came from the highlands. He felt that Edward was not a good leader and that under his laws and regulations life was very harsh. He began to think that if he managed to assemble an army that, if large enough, could overthrow Edward as overlord of Scotland. While the Scots suffered English occupation, Andrew Moray was enduring the humiliation of imprisonment. But sometime in the winter of 1296-97, he escaped. Eventually he returned to his father's lands, though it is not known how or by what means he made his escape. Although there is no way of knowing how the trauma of defeat and imprisonment affected him, it would quickly become clear that it was a determined man that returned to Scotland. And so he began to assemble a small army in the northern region of Scotland, with Murray as their chief and commander. Slowly over the coming months Murray and his army managed to reclaim several castles in northern Scotland. William Wallace was born in Elderslie, near Paisley. Little is known about him until he murders William de Hesselrig, an English high sheriff who Wallace believed had killed his family, in May 1297.  He then joined with William the Hardy, Lord of Douglas, and they carried out the raid of Scone. This was one of several rebellions taking place across Scotland, including several Scottish nobles and Andrew Murray in the north. The uprising suffered a blow when the nobles submitted to the English at Irvine in July. Wallace and Murray were not involved, and continued their rebellions. Wallace used Selkirk Forest as a base for raiding, and attacked Wishart's palace at Ancrum. Wallace and Murray met and joined their forces, possibly at the siege of Dundee in early September. When they did join forces, this was the true beginning of a realistic Scottish rebellion capable of overthrowing the powerful Englishman, Edward I

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Furthermore, The Battle of Stirling Bridge was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence and was Edwards’s first downfall. On 11 September 1297, the forces of Andrew Moray and William Wallace defeated the combined English forces of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey and Hugh de Cressingham near Stirling, on the River Forth. John de Warenne had won a victory over the aristocracy of Scotland at the Battle of Dunbar and his belief that he was now dealing with a rabble proved that he had greatly underestimated the Scottish forces. The small bridge at Stirling was ...

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