Battle of Culblean
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57°05′24″N 2°56′03″W / 57.0899°N 2.9341°W
Battle of Culblean | |||||||
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Part of Second War of Scottish Independence | |||||||
Monument marking the site of the Battle of Culblean | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Bruce loyalists |
Balliol supporters English allies | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Sir Andrew Murray | David, Earl of Atholl † | ||||||
The Battle of Culblean was fought on the 30th of November 1335, during the Second War of Scottish Independence. The Scots, led by Guardian Sir Andrew Murray, achieved victory over an Anglo-Scottish force commanded by David III Strathbogie, titular Earl of Atholl a strong supporter of Edward Balliol.
Background
After the murder of
The 1328
Appointment of Murray as Guardian
Although Scottish resistance was low at times, it was never completely extinguished. David II was sent to the safety of France in 1334. In September 1335,
St. Andrew's Day, 1335
In the late autumn of 1335, Strathbogie was operating north of the Forth, allegedly attempting to eradicate all freeholders, who from the time of William Wallace had been the backbone of Scottish resistance. Strathbogie's actions mirrored the policy of King Edward in southern Scotland, where over one hundred freeholders were forfeited in the period from 1335 to 1337. John of Fordun, a Scottish chronicler, reports the situation thus;
But the great tyranny and cruelty this earl practiced among the people words cannot bring within the mind's grasp; some he disinherited, others he murdered: and in the end, he cast in his mind how he might wipe out the freeholders from the face of the earth.
Strathbogie crowned his campaign by laying siege to Kildrummy Castle in Strathdon in Aberdeenshire. Kildrummy had for some time been held for King David by his aunt, the Lady Christina Bruce, who also happened to be Murray's wife. From southern Scotland the Guardian rushed north to her aid, having gathered a modest force of some 800 men. Strathbogie, according to the historian Lord Hailes, had 3,000 men at his disposal. Murray's tactics were risky: he was marching into battle, which all Scots leaders had carefully avoided since the disaster at Halidon Hill. But the situation was critical: the fall of Kildrummy would have been a serious setback to the national cause in the north.
Strathbogie was warned of Murray's approach. He raised the siege of Kildrummy, moving south to intercept his enemy in the forest of Culblean. Murray was joined a few miles north of the River Dee, to the east of Strathbogie's position near Culblean Hill, by a party of three 300 men from Kildrummy, led by one John of the Craig. John's knowledge of the local countryside was invaluable. On the night of 29/30 November, he guided Murray's force on a wide-sweeping movement to the south and west, designed to take Strathbogie from the rear. As Murray approached at dawn on St. Andrew's Day, the element of surprise was lost when he was spotted by enemy scouts. The camp was warned and Strathbogie made ready. But his troops were largely recruited from the local area, probably by impressment, and he appears to have had no archers.
Murray's force was divided in two, the forward unit being commanded by William Douglas. When he saw Strathbogie arrayed for battle Douglas halted, as if hesitating in the face of the enemy's preparedness. This had the desired effect and Strathbogie led his men in a downhill charge; but their ranks began to break on reaching a burn, and Douglas ordered a counter-charge. Sir Andrew with the rearguard immediately launched an assault on the enemy's exposed flank. The charge was so fierce that the bushes in the way were all flattened down. Pinned down in front and attacked from the side, Strathbogie's army broke. Unable to escape, and refusing to surrender, Strathbogie stood with his back to an oak tree and was killed in a last stand with a small group of followers, including Walter and Thomas Comyn. Some of the survivors took refuge in the nearby island castle of Loch Kinord, but were forced to surrender the following day.
Culblean in history
Compared with the other battles of the Wars of Independence, Culblean was a relatively small affair, and is now largely forgotten. Nevertheless, its size was greatly outweighed by its importance on the road to Scottish national recovery. W. Douglas Simpson passed what might be said to be the final verdict on the battle when he wrote; Culblean was the turning point in the second war of Scottish Independence, and therefore an event of great national importance. Small as it was, it effectively nullified the effects of Edward's summer invasion, ending Balliol's hope of gaining the Scottish throne forever. Its effects were almost immediately felt. Edward Balliol spent the winter of 1335–6, so says the Lanercost Chronicle; ...with his people at Elande, in England, because he does not yet possess in Scotland any castle or town where he could dwell in safety.
References
Primary
- Anonimalle Chronicle, 1333–81, ed V. H. Galbraith, 1927.
- Fordun, John of, Chronicles of the Scottish Nation, ed. W. F. Skene, 1872.
- Gray, Thomas, Scalacronica, ed. and trans. H. Maxwell, 1913.
- The Lanercost Chronicle, ed. and trans H. Maxwell, 1913.
Secondary
- Balfour-Melville, E. W. M., Edward III and David II, 1954.
- Brown, C., "The Second Scottish War of Independence" 2001.
- Campbell, T., "England, Scotland and the Hundred Years War", in Europe in the Late Middle Ages, ed. J. Hale et al., 1970.
- Hailes, Lord (David Dalrymple), The Annals of Scotland, 1776.
- Nicholson R., Edward III and the Scots, 1965.
- Ramsay, J. H. The Genesis of Lancaster, 1307–99, 1913.
- Reid, R. C. "Edward de Balliol", in Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Antiquarian and Natural History Society, 3rd series, vol. 35, 1956–7.
- Simpson, W. Douglas, "Campaign and Battle of Culblean", in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquarians of Scotland, vol 64 1929–30.
- Webster, B., "Scotland without a King: 1329-1341", in Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community, ed. A Grant and K. J. Stringer, 1993.