Battle of Culblean

Battle of Culblean

Part of: Second Scottish War of Independence

Battle of Culblean memorial stone

date	November 30, 1335
place	Forest of Culblean near Dinnet , Aberdeenshire (Scotland)
output	Scottish victory

Parties to the conflict
Kingdom of Scotland	Kingdom of England
Commander
Andrew Murray	David Strathbogie (†)
Troop strength
1100	3000
losses
light	heavy

The Battle of Culblean took place on November 30, 1335 during the Second Scottish War of Independence . The Scots under their leader Sir Andrew Murray were able to crush Edward Balliol's troops under the command of David Strathbogie .

prehistory

Despite the heavy defeat in the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, there were repeated conflicts between the Scottish nobles and that of Edward III. appointed King Edward Balliol and his supporters. Andrew Murray in particular, whose father had fought with Robert the Bruce , was one of the most influential advocates of Scottish independence and was given the office of Guardian of Scotland by the Scottish nobility . However, due to his influence, he was captured by the English in 1332. With his release, probably at the end of 1334, Balliol hoped to have won a mediator in the further spread conflict with the Scottish loyalists. Murray began, however - again appointed to the office of the Guardian of Scotland - under the appearance of peace negotiations to eliminate domestic political opponents.

The open conflict between Edward Balliol and the Loyalists occurred in the late autumn of 1335. Balliol appointed David Strathbogie, Titular Earl of Atholl to the Guardian of Scotland north of the Forth in October , while he retired to Northumberland for the winter . Strathbogie launched a campaign to conquer all of the free property north of the Forth. The culmination of this cruel campaign in southern Scotland was the siege of Kildrummy Castle in Aberdeenshire , which was defended by a garrison under the command of Christian Bruce , wife of Andrew Murray. Murray was negotiating with the English at the time, but when he learned of the siege he broke off negotiations and marched north with his troops. The English let him go because they expected his army to be defeated as decisively as the Scottish armies at Dupplin Moor and Halidon Hill . That would finally crush the Scottish resistance. Murray received support from the Earl of March , William Douglas , Alexander Ramsay, and Lawrence Preston on the way north , making his army about 800 men.

Course of the battle

Strathbogie was of course warned by the English against the approach of the Scottish army. He immediately broke off the siege to intercept the Scots in the Culblean Forest. The exact place and course of the battle is disputed. Presumably Strathbogie's army blocked the way to Boultenstone Pass in Kildrummy at a ford over a stream, the Vat Burn, in hilly terrain . Strathbogie's army camped on an easily defended hill overlooking the ford.

Murray's army had meanwhile been reinforced by the approximately 300-strong crew of Kildrummy Castle, which was led by the local John of the Craig from Auchindoir . This informed Murray that Strathbogie had broken off the siege, whereupon he wanted to carry out a surprise attack on the English camp in the forest of Culblean. He probably crossed the Dee with his army through a ford near Dinnet . He then moved into the Hall of Logie Ruthven quarters, a fortified property on Loch Davan . Craig advised Murray to leave the horses behind to encircle Strathbogie's camp under cover of night and attack in a surprise attack. The approach of the Scottish army was discovered by scouts that Strathbogie had set up. They alerted Strathbogie, who then made his army ready for action. When the Scottish vanguard led by William Douglas reached the ford over the Vat Burn, they found that Strathbogie's army was waiting for them ready to fight. Thereupon the Scottish advance stalled. Strathbogie now believed that the Scots' fighting spirit was broken after they discovered they could no longer attack the enemy by surprise. Believing that he had the entire Scottish Amree before him, he led his army to attack. When Strathbogie's army wanted to cross the Vat Burn, Douglas counterattacked with his vanguard. After the ranks of the opposing armies had met, Murray attacked the now open flank of Strathbogies from elevated terrain. Robert Brady , one of Strathbogie's knights, was killed at the ford, whereupon the Strathbogie's troops, most of whom were forced to do military service, flee. Lack of knowledge of the battlefield and lack of archers hastened the defeat of Strathbogie. According to tradition, he himself fought to the death with a few loyal followers in the protection of an oak tree. Some of his troops fled to Kinord Castle , a castle on an island in nearby Loch Kinord . There they had to surrender to the Scottish superiority the next day.

consequences

Before the battle, Murray had already negotiated with the English and had apparently been ready to submit to Balliol. If he had lost the battle, the Scottish struggle for independence would probably have collapsed. So the Scottish victory became the turning point of the war. As a result, the war was no longer just a war between rival magnates, but became the Scots' war of independence against English supremacy. In years of guerrilla warfare, Murray was able to drive the English out of their garrisons in southern Scotland until 1338. Edward Balliol lost much of the support of the Scottish nobility and was expelled from Scotland in 1338.

literature

• EWM Balfour-Melville: Edward III and David II. 1954.
• C. Brown: The Second Scottish War of Independence. 2nd Edition. 2006, ISBN 0-7524-3812-3 .
• W. Douglas Simpson: Campaign and Battle of Culblean. In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquarians of Scotland. vol 64, 1929-30.
• Ranald Nicholson: Edward III and the Scots. The formative Years of a Military Career . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1965
• B. Webster: Scotland without a King: 1329-1341. In: A. Grant, KJ Stringer (Ed.): Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community. 1993, ISBN 0-7486-0418-9 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nicholson: Edward III and the Scots , p. 232.
2. ↑ Nicholson: Edward III and the Scots , p. 233.
3. ↑ Nicholson: Edward III and the Scots , p. 234.
4. ^ Nicholson: Edward III and the Scots , p. 235.
5. ^ W. Douglas Simpson, MA, D. Litt, FSA Scot: The Campaign and Battle of Culblean, AD 1335. In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquarians of Scotland. February 10, 1930 ( PDF; 1.0 MB ).
6. ^ Nicholson: Edward III and the Scots , p. 235.
7. ↑ Nicholson: Edward III and the Scots , p. 236.