Battle of Piperdean
| date | September 10, 1436 |
|---|---|
| place | near Cockburnspath , Berwickshire |
| output | Scottish victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 1500-4000 men | 4000 men |
| losses | |
|
low - 200 fallen |
1500 captured or fallen |
.svg){kind=small}
The Battle of Piperdean (also Piperden or Pepperden on Brammish ) was fought on September 10, 1436 between English troops under the command of Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland , and a Scottish army under the command of William Douglas, 2nd Earl of Angus , carried out. The short battle ended in a clear Scottish victory.
Background and battle
In the summer of 1435, William Douglas, 2nd Earl of Angus and at the same time Warden of the Scottish Marches , took over the ruins of Dunbar Castle at Dunbar Harbor and began to re-fortify the complex. Since this castle was only about 45 kilometers from Berwick , Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland , and George de Dunbar, 11th Earl of March , who had fallen out of favor in Scotland , marched north with an army of about 4,000 men to prevent further expansion.
William Douglas did not want to run the risk of being trapped in a castle whose defenses had not yet been restored. He decided to forestall a siege and attack the English troops on the march. Two armies of about the same size clashed, with the surprise effect (possibly also an ambush) leading to a Scottish victory after a short but fierce battle.
The casualties in the battle are given differently. Ridpath names 200 Scottish dead, including Lord Elphinstone, on the English side 1,500 dead, including 40 knights. Brenan agrees with the numbers on the English side, but calls the Scottish losses “insignificant”, while Maxwell only lists 40 dead, but 1,500 British prisoners.
Henry Percy withdrew with his remaining troops to Alnwick Castle .
Coordinates: 55 ° 55 ′ 14 ″ N , 2 ° 18 ′ 6 ″ W.
literature
- Joseph Bain: Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, vol. iv, 1357-1509 and addenda 1221-1435 . Edinburgh 1888.
- Hector Boece: The Buik of the Croniclis of Scotland: or, A metrical version of the History of Hector Boece . Ed .: William Stewart, WB Turnbull. Vol. III. Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts, London 1858 ( online at archive.org [accessed September 23, 2014]).
- Gerald Brenan: History of the House of Percy . Vol. I. Freemantle, London 1902 ( online at archive.org [accessed September 23, 2014]).
- Herbert Maxwell: A History of the House of Douglas . Vol. II. Freemantle, London 1902 ( online at archive.org [accessed September 23, 2014]).
- G. Ridpath: The Border-History of England and Scotland . London 1776 ( online at archive.org [accessed September 23, 2014]).