Battle of Glen Trool

Battle of Glen Trool

Part of: Scottish Wars of Independence

possible scene of the battle

date	April 1307
place	Glen Trool ( Scotland )
output	Scottish victory

Parties to the conflict
Kingdom of England	Kingdom of Scotland
Commander
unknown	King Robert I.
Troop strength
about 10 riders and 23 men-at-arms	unknown
losses
unknown	unknown

The Battle of Glen Trool (also Glentrool ) was a battle during the First Scottish War of Independence . It took place in April 1307 , but the exact date is as little known as the course of the battle.

After his flight to the West Scottish Islands after his defeat in the Battle of Methven in 1306, the Scottish King Robert Bruce returned to South West Scotland in February 1307. From there, he and his supporters waged a guerrilla war against the English troops who were looking for him under the command of the English governor Aymer de Valence and the command of John Botetourt , Robert Clifford and Henry Percy . The English troops were assisted by Scottish barons such as John Menteith , Ingram de Umfraville , John Macdougall of Lorne and David Strathbogie . The English King Edward I , who was sick not far from the Scottish border, pressed for Bruce to be captured in order to put down the rebellion once and for all. Bruce avoided his pursuers, however. In April 1307 he was even able to advance far into Galloway . There he hid with his force in Glen Trool , a deep side valley of the River Cree , which was largely filled by Loch Trool . An English force made an advance into this inaccessible area, in which they were probably ambushed southeast of Loch Trool and suffered losses. The English armed forces are said to have consisted of 10 knights and 23 men-at-arms , but there is no reliable information about the exact strength and losses of the armed forces involved. According to the Scottish chronicler John Barbour , the battle was a triumph for Robert Bruce, as he was the first to defeat an English force. According to the English chronicles, however, it was only a skirmish in which a mounted English force in the area between Glen Trool and Glenheur lost a few horses. After the success of Glen Trool, Bruce moved north. He bypassed Ayr and captured Aymer de Valence on May 10 at the Battle of Loudoun Hill .

Web links

Commons : Battle of Glen Trool  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Historic Environment of Scotland: Glentrool

Individual evidence

1. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 244.
2. ^ AAM Duncan: The War of the Scots, 1306-23: The Prothero Lecture . In: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , 2 (1992), p. 138.
3. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 105.