Battle of Brander

Battle of Brander

Part of: Scottish Wars of Independence

The summit of Ben Cruachan, on the slopes of which the battle took place

date	between August 15 and 23, 1308
place	Pass of Brander at Ben Cruachan
output	Victory of King Robert I.

Parties to the conflict
Kingdom of England	Kingdom of Scotland
Commander
John of Lorne	King Robert I.
Troop strength
unknown	unknown
losses
unknown	unknown

The Battle of Brander (also Battle of the Pass of Brander ; Battle of Ben Cruachan or Battle of Fanans ) was a military conflict during the First Scottish War of Independence . In the battle, which probably took place on one day between August 15 and 23, 1308, the Scottish King Robert I was able to defeat the contingent of the Lord of Argyll.

prehistory

The Scottish nobleman Robert Bruce had rebelled against the English occupation of Scotland in 1306 and rose as Robert I to be King of Scots. After initial setbacks, he was able to gain control over large parts of Scotland from 1307. Not only did he have to assert himself against the English troops, but also defeat their Scottish allies. By a train to Northern Scotland he was able to defeat his opponents there one after the other until the summer of 1308. After defeating the Earl of Buchan in the Battle of Inverurie , he and his forces moved to western Scotland to subdue Argyll . In the summer of 1306 he had suffered a heavy defeat against a contingent led by John of Lorne from Argyll in the battle near Dalry . Presumably he had signed an armistice with Alexander Macdougall, Lord of Argyll in 1307 , which now expired in mid-August 1308.

Course of the battle

Robert I was presumably supported in his new campaign by James Douglas and by the MacDonalds and MacRuaridhs , who were also enemies with the Macdougalls of Argyll. He moved to Argyll via Oban . The Argyll contingent was again led by John of Lorne, a son of Alexander Macdougall. Bruce's army outnumbered John of Lorne's troops, so he set up his force at Ben Cruachan so that they could attack Bruce's troops from higher places at Brander Pass . So he tried to block Bruce's way to Dunstaffnage Castle . The battle was described by John Barbour , although the presumed battlefield has not yet been proven by archaeological finds. The battle probably took place at the northern end of Loch Awe on the southern slope of the 1126 m high Ben Cruachan. There a strategically important path led over a pass along the mountain, which drops off steeply to Loch Awe, which is only 36 m high. Alternatively, the battle could have taken place east of the Falls of Cruachan or on the south bank of Loch Etive on the north slope of Ben Cruachan. Without archaeological finds, the site of the battle cannot yet be confirmed with any certainty. John of Lorne was sick at the time of the battle and was watching the battle from a ship. His men camped above the pass road and wanted to attack Bruce from above. However, Bruce realized the danger and split his force. While leading his troops to the Pass of Brander himself, James Douglas led a detachment of warriors from the Highlands who climbed the mountain on another side. Then they, in turn, attacked the Argyll contingent from above with bows and arrows before they went on to hand-to-hand combat. Attacked by Bruce's troops on the pass road as well as from the summit, resistance from the Argyll levy collapsed. They fled to a bridge over the River Awe . Bruce's men chased them so quickly that the bridge could not be destroyed as planned. The Argyll men fled to Dunstaffnage Castle, where they were besieged by Bruce. The castle and Alexander Macdougall surrendered shortly afterwards. John of Lorne fled to Inchchonnell Castle , where he later surrendered.

consequences

Robert I had achieved a brilliant tactical victory in the Battle of Brander, which had a major impact on the further course of the War of Independence. He had eliminated his last major inner-Scottish opponent and gained control of western Scotland. He first tried to get Alexander Macdougall to his side and appointed him defender of the islands . However, Alexander Macdougall rebelled again against Bruce in 1309, but the rebellion quickly failed. Thereupon Alexander Macdougall and his son John of Lorne fled to England. From there, John of Lorne continued the fight against Robert I.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland: Case Information Battle of Pass of Brander. Retrieved December 17, 2019 . 
2. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, pp. 256-257.
3. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 107.