The Scots have by 1314 recovered all the castles controlled by English garrisons except Berwick and Stirling.

Edward II leads a large and lavishly equipped English army, heavy with cavalry, north in an effort to relieve Robert the Bruce’s months-long siege of Stirling Castle.

Bruce creates a two thousand-foot front by positioning eight thousand men on a hill at Bannockburn, near Stirling, placing his left flank in dense woods and his right on a bend the brook.

The English must not only advance up a hill but must also cross a bog in order to reach it.

Edward gives the order to advance on June 24; as the heavily armored knights advance through a hail of Scottish spears and arrows, they begin to sink in the marsh while Scottish spearmen drive back Edward’s archers.

The English, although superior in number by a factor of three to one, suffer heavy losses against the Scottish pikemen and soon retreat with the Scottish infantry in pursuit.

Edward panics and flees, followed by his surviving troops.

The Scots consider the victory a confirmation of their independence, but the obstinate Edward refuses to agree.