Why did the Scots win the Battle of Bannockburn?

extremely sharp spikes in them. After this Robert the Bruce very carefully camouflaged the pits so that the English wouldn’t notice.    Looking down from where they were standing the Scots could see the English hurriedly preparing for battle, with the first of their cavalry making it's way across the gorge. The Scots had very carefully managed to plan what they were going to do and were already off to a good start. Robert gave one final address to his troops before they were given their church blessing. Edward, watching the Scots kneeling in prayer, laughed aloud believing they begged for his mercy. Soon the very large group of the English had crossed the gorge and had formed up in preparation for the charge. As they approached near the Scottish line many of the English fell into the deep pits. At the same time Robert then saw that the English had decided to strike early so he quickly and cleverly ordered his troops to move out from the trees, and gather into their schiltroms. Schiltroms were big groups of people who had twelve-foot long spears and they would carry them around and from the top it looks partly like a hedgehog because all the spikes stick out. Soon they took up position to face the onslaught. As the English rode up to the Scots not only did they fall into the pits but were also met by a wall of pikes and spears that they could not break through. Within the English cavalry their was confusion however, with two commanders arguing over who was to lead the charge. One called for an advance and rode forward, but was only followed by a few, the rest of the cavalry, was confused and struggled to follow. This caused a lot of trouble and Edward the second’s troops were now confused and in a great muddle and was also in doubt for the rest of the battle. This was one other key reason to the fact of why the Scots won. The impact as the English horse hit the schiltroms was tremendous. Many of the English knights, charging unorganised, were killed outright on the Scottish pikes, others fell or were dragged from their horses to be crushed by their own men or killed by the Scots. The lack of English organisation was now becoming horribly apparent to them. Most of their archers were now across the gorge and in a panic someone had given the order to fire. Unfortunately for them, not only were they hitting the Scots but much of their own cavalry. The archers were bad news for the Scots, who no longer had the cover of the trees, but Robert had planned for this. As soon as he gave the signal, Keith the Marischal of Scotland, commanding some five hundred mounted infantry charged out of the woods and routed the archers from the field. With the cavalry retreating, and the archers scattered, there was huge confusion among the English ranks. The Scots, seeing this lifted their pikes and slowly advanced, in perfect formation, driving their struggling enemy back towards the gorge. What remained of the English cavalry continued to retreat and charge, each time being beaten back by the wall of Scottish spikes. The schiltroms pressed on, pushing more and more men into the horrific crush the gorge had become. Horses and men tumbled down the sides tripping over each other until, as one witness described it: "bodies lay so thick a man could cross the burn dry-shod". Soon almost all of the English, most not even given a chance to fight, were scattering. Many drowned as they tried to cross the Forth, others were killed or crushed by their own companions in the mad race to escape. King Edward second was not such a great leader although he had won a few battles before. Seeing as Edward’s army was about six times greater than Robert the Bruce’s, King Edward was more than certain that he was going to win this battle. Edward thought that to win he would hardly even have to try. Edward desperately wanted to win but in his mind he did not have enough determination. King Edward’s army unlike the Scots were extremely unorganised and so at the battlefield they got into a great muddle. They did not prepare nearly as much as the Scots did and thought they could easily win just because they had more men.          King Robert the Bruce was determined to win and in his heart he just thought that they had to win. Although he knew very well that Edward had more than six times more men than him he tried to think of some way to cleverly beat the English. The Bruce very cleverly thought of many cunning tricks that would fool the English. He prepared extremely well from beforehand and before the battle him and his troops knew what they were going to do off by heart. Bruce’s determination is proved in these exact words that he spoke, “ We have every reason to expect success for we have right on our side. We are fighting for our lives, our wives, our children and the freedom of our country. Meet your enemies boldly. See that your ranks are not broken so that the enemy come charging at you on horseback, but you’ll meet them bravely with your spears. You could have lived quietly as slaves but because you longed to be free so you are here with me.” Over all the Scots definitely deserved to win as they fought like real men and were determined to win. As for having a great leader like King Robert the Bruce of Scotland they were also very lucky. No matter how tired and exhausted they were, the Scots didn’t give up and carried on fighting. As for Edward he had thought that just because he had a much bigger army than the Scots he would easily win. For the Scots, the battle was undeniably one of the greatest in history. Their King, who for 18 years had fought for a cause once thought impossible, had led them to victory. Edward may have had the military might of all England behind him but not this time. Cunning and strategy were not, however, in short supply and the battle field was carefully prepared, pits dug to catch the cavalry horses, the land prepared to force the army into the boggy ground near the river, and the Scots took position on the firmer high ground. The battle itself began early and lasted over two days. From this time the English had to give up their claim to be the masters of Scotland, and for many years they found themselves very difficult to defend against the Scots. The English learnt a lesson from their defeat, however not to send horsemen in a charge against a solid line of spearmen.