Weardale Campaign

Weardale Campaign

Part of: Scottish Wars of Independence

date	Mid-July to August 9, 1327
place	Northern england
output	scottish victory
consequences	Edinburgh and Northampton Agreement

Parties to the conflict
Kingdom of Scotland	Kingdom of England
Commander
Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray , James Douglas , Domhnall, 8th Earl of Mar	King Edward III , Henry of Lancaster, 3rd Earl of Lancaster
Troop strength
unknown	unknown
losses
unknown	unknown

The Weardale Campaign was an English campaign from mid-July to August 9, 1327 during the war with Scotland . With a large army, the English government wanted to defeat a Scottish army that had undertaken a raid into the north of England . Although the English army was able to provide the Scottish army, the Scots were finally able to withdraw without a major fight. After this failed campaign and after further Scottish raids, the English began peace negotiations with Scotland, which eventually led to the peace of Edinburgh and Northampton .

prehistory

In the war between England and Scotland in May 1323, a thirteen-year armistice was signed. After the reign of King Edward II of England had been overthrown by his wife Isabelle in autumn 1326 , relations between England and Scotland deteriorated. In the overthrow of Edward II, Queen Isabelle had received substantial support from her lover Roger Mortimer , who had negotiated with the Scottish ambassador Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray in Paris before the invasion of England in 1326 . In it they are said to have agreed that Scotland would remain neutral during the Isabelle and Mortimer invasion. In return, Mortimer would recognize the independence of Scotland as regent. The northern English barons and especially the influential Henry of Lancaster were strictly against recognition of Scottish independence. Therefore, Mortimer could not keep his promise to Moray, although he was the actual ruler instead of the underage King Edward III. had become. On the day of the coronation of the new King Edward III. the Scots undertook a surprise attack on the English frontier fortress Norham Castle on February 1, 1327 , which was however repulsed by the castle's crew. The seriously ill Scottish King Robert I apparently wanted to take advantage of the fact that the English government was not yet consolidated after the overthrow of Edward II. Indeed, despite the attack, the English government was not immediately ready for war with Scotland. She hired Anthony Lucy to defend Carlisle and Henry Percy to defend north-east England, but on February 15, Percy and other commanders were warned to strictly adhere to the 1323 armistice agreements. This ceasefire was confirmed by the new government on March 6th.

Scottish landing in Ireland

The Scottish king continued to try to weaken the English. After April 12th, he himself landed in Ulster, Northern Ireland . There he is said to have tried to persuade the Irish to invade Wales together. There they were supposed to support the Welsh in a revolt against English rule, so that all the Celtic peoples of the British Isles would fight together against the English. This plan was not pursued any further, but Henry Mandeville , the English Seneschal of Ulster, recognized Robert I as King of Scotland in the face of the Scottish threat. On July 12, 1327 he concluded an agreement with him in which he obliged Ulster to pay tributes to the Scottish king. In return, he would refrain from further attacks on Ulster for at least two years. Then Robert I sailed back to Scotland.

English preparations for a campaign in Scotland

In March 1327, the English are said to have learned from spies of Scottish preparations for a major campaign to the north of England. On April 5, Mortimer began preparations for a campaign to Scotland. Initially, several magnates and their armed entourage were called up to Newcastle for May 18 , and numerous boroughs were asked for support. The planned campaign was welcomed by many English barons. The barons trusted Mortimer, who had proven himself a capable military man in Ireland by the 1310s. The campaign began with delays in the arrival of the troops and the fleet that was to accompany the advance. Even the king was not in Newcastle on May 18th, but only reached York with his entourage on May 23rd , where he stayed for the next few weeks. After Percy's command had expired on May 31, as agreed, the Earl of Kent and Henry of Lancaster were jointly handed over command of the English troops in the Scottish Marches on June 6 . These marched together with Thomas Wake , John de Ros , John Mowbray and Henry de Beaumont to Newcastle to organize the defense of Northumberland . However, there may have been tension between Kent and Lancaster, as on June 30th Lancaster was appointed sole command of the troops in the Scottish Marches. Despite the military deployment, the English government also negotiated with the Scots. Beaumont was one of the ambassadors. Although Scottish ambassadors came to York, the negotiations were unsuccessful.

Tensions in the English army

Before June 17th, news reached the King in York that the Scots were making new raids across the border. Then were contingents from Yorkshire and Lancashire immediately appointed to York, while the line-up was arranged by contingents in six other counties on 26 June. Mortimer had also recalled Johann von Hainaut and his Flemish mercenaries for the campaign to Scotland , who had contributed significantly to the overthrow of Edward II the previous year. The mercenaries had left England on March 10th, but on May 8th Johann returned to England with about 2,000 mercenaries. The fact that the Queen owed the mercenaries over £ 13,491 in pay and reimbursement of expenses certainly contributed to this hurry. Jean Le Bel , who later became chronicler, was among the mercenaries . Another fifty knights and weapons servants led Wilhelm , a son of the Count of Jülich York. There soon there was tension between the English soldiers and the Flemings. Fighting broke out on the evening of June 7th, and some Flemings were killed by the English. The Flemings fled to their quarters, where they armed themselves. A little later there was bloody street fighting, in which there were numerous victims on both sides, before the English commanders could stop the fight. According to Jean Le Bel, the Flemish mercenaries are said to have killed 316 English archers. After this bloody incident, tension remained between the English soldiers and the foreign mercenaries throughout the campaign.

Advance of the English army to Durham

On July 3, the English received information that the Scots were planning an attack on Carlisle on July 14. Thereupon the English army set out from York. The army was led by the young king and Henry of Lancaster, while the Earls of Norfolk and Kent held sub-commands. The army was divided into three battalions and marched in battle order. The flanks were secured by mounted men-at-arms . But since there is no pay list for the campaign, the size of the English army cannot be clarified. The English army surely outnumbered the Scots. In addition to the main army, the English were able to use the troops in Newcastle and the troops of Anthony Lucy at Carlisle. But since at least half of the English soldiers were foot soldiers and the army had a large train with them, the foot soldiers had only reached Darlington on July 14th , while the king was already in Durham on July 15th . Now the further advance was delayed, as the leaders disagreed about the further goal. Between Carlisle and Durham lay the harsh, sparsely populated landscape of northern England that was difficult to control. The English were unaware of the whereabouts of the mobile Scottish force, and they feared that the Scots might bypass the English army and attack the almost undefended York, where Queen Isabelle was staying. In addition, the English received the disturbing news of the landing of the Scottish king in Ulster.

Scottish raid to the north of England

The English now received information that the Scots had invaded northern England in three columns of march. Their commanders were the Earl of Mar , the Earl of Moray and James Douglas . The Scots waged a campaign of devastation in northern England, bypassing English troops and castles. They advanced past the English army to the south of Durham and were spotted at Barnard Castle . In contrast to the English army, all Scottish soldiers were mounted. The soldiers lived on stolen cattle and limited supplies of their own. This made her army smaller, but much more agile. She was strong enough to defeat local resistance, small enough to feed on the land, and agile so that she could evade a superior army.

Persecution of the Scots by the English

From Durham, the English troops finally followed the columns of smoke from the burning villages that had been set alight by the Scots. By July 19th the English had reached Bishop Auckland and on July 20th Stanhope . But their slowly marching army had no chance of catching up with the Scots. So the English commanders decided to cut off the Scots' way back. To do this, they wanted to block the crossings over the River Tyne . The river could only be crossed by bridges at Newcastle and Corbridge , while there were several fords west of Corbridge. Above all, the British wanted to block the ford at Haydon , which was about eleven kilometers upriver from Hexham . By July 21st, after an exhausting ride in bad weather, the English cavalry reached the Tyne at Haydon. The foot soldiers followed them, while the entourage did not follow. After the English horsemen had crossed the river, it rained so heavily the next day that the ford became impassable. As a result, there was no supply, and only a few traders reached the English army with pack horses laden with food . The scarce food was sold overpriced. Without sufficient supplies the English army stayed at the ford, while the Scots did not appear. The commanders then offered a heavy reward to anyone who found out the position of the Scottish Army. About fifteen men-at-arms dared to cross the river south in search of the Scots. The bulk of the army moved west to find a ford that could be passed. On July 28th the army reached Haltwhistle , and a little later Thomas Rokeby , who had found the Scottish army, galloped up. The English army then moved south again to Blanchland on the Derwent . From the abbey, which was burned down by the Scots, the English moved further south in battle formation. On July 30th they reached the left, northern bank of the Wear . On the opposite south bank they saw the Scottish camp at Stanhope, where they had been camped in a defensive position for ten days.

The Wear at Stanhope (2007)

Skirmish at Stanhope

The Scottish camp was on the ten meter high cliff above the river. With a mock attack the English tried in vain to get the Scots to leave their easily defended position. Even the English archers could not bombard the Scottish position and even suffered losses when James Douglas counterattacked with his riders. Now Roger Mortimer, an experienced military man, took command and stopped the English attack. The English tried to shoot the Scots with early cannons, so-called Crakkis of Wer , but this was unsuccessful. This makes Stanhope the first battle in England in which cannons were used. The following night the English spent awake for fear of Scottish raids while the Scots demoralized the English with horn blows and noise. Since the English supplies still did not reach the army, the English suffered from hunger, although sufficient supplies had been brought to Newcastle.

Skirmish at Stanhope Park

The armies faced each other for three more days and nights until the Scots secretly withdrew on the night of August 4th. They did not go far, however, but took up an even more defensive position a few miles further at Stanhope Park , a hunting park owned by the Bishops of Durham. The English followed them on the opposite bank of the river, so that they remained separated from the Scots by the Wear. When the English found the new Scottish position, the young king wanted to attack quickly, but he was held back by his magnates. From some Scottish prisoners, the English had learned that the Scots had plenty of cattle, but hardly any bread and wine, so Mortimer decided to starve them. But presumably on the first night after the English moved into their new camp, James Douglas led a surprising cavalry attack on the English camp. The Scots had crossed the Wear by an upstream ford and then bypassed the English camp. They then attacked the unguarded side of the English camp facing away from the river. The Scots advanced to the center of the English camp and cut the lines of the royal tent, which collapsed over the king. Only the valiant struggle of the knights of the royal household saved the king from capture. In the following nights the unsettled English left their camp heavily guarded, with false alarms and tensions between the English archers and the Dutch mercenaries being frequent.

Withdrawal of the armies

On the morning of August 7th, the English found that the Scots had apparently left during the night. Before that they had lit huge bonfires and left several hornblowers behind so that the English had not noticed their departure. At dusk, two Scottish heralds informed the English of the withdrawal of the Scottish Army, and at dawn a detachment of Dutch mercenaries crossed the river and found that the camp was deserted. Given the speed of the Scottish riders, the English decided not to pursue them. While the Scots reached Scotland again without major losses, the English withdrew to Durham, which they reached within two days. After the three-week campaign with poor care, both the soldiers and the horses were in poor shape. In Durham the army found supplies so that the soldiers got enough provisions. The army then moved back to York, where most of the army was released. In York the Flemish mercenaries sold their horses to the king at significantly inflated prices in order to save the cost of sea transport and left England on September 8th. John de Ros, the Steward of the Household tried to sell the horses. The mercenaries had been paid over £ 18,900 for the campaign and charged the king over £ 21,482 for the horses. The steward sold 407 of the horses to English magnates, for which he only received £ 920.

With the escape of the Scottish Army, the campaign had become a complete failure. The English army had been unable to threaten the Scots effectively and, despite their withdrawal, further Scottish raids threatened in the future. In addition, the campaign had used up a large part of the financial reserves left by the government of Edward II. For the young Edward III. the failed campaign was certainly a formative experience. Rumors soon spread that treason was responsible for the failure. The Marshal is said to have worked with Mortimer to prevent the Scots from being attacked. This suspicion was reinforced by the behavior of Thomas of Brotherton, who insisted on his rights and privileges as a marshal during the campaign. It is possible that Mortimer had deliberately avoided open battle in order to persuade the combative young king, but above all the barons of Northern England, to make peace with Scotland after this failure, while Lancaster was to be discredited as a general. Ultimately, however, the failure also damaged Mortimer's reputation.

consequences

Despite the withdrawal of the Scots and although some English troops were still ready to defend northern England, large parts of northern England were without effective defense after the failed campaign. This became clear as early as the end of August when the Scots invaded Northumberland again under the command of Robert I, who had returned from Ireland. This time the Scots did not limit themselves to looting, but besieged the great castles of the region. The Scottish King himself, with the help of engineer John Crab , besieged Norham Castle with siege engines , while James Douglas and the Earl of Moray besieged Henry Percy at Alnwick Castle for a fortnight . Possibly because of the strong garrison of Alnwick, which had consisted of nearly 200 men in July, Douglas and Moray finally broke off the siege. They made an unsuccessful raid on Warkworth Castle and then joined Robert I's army at Norham Castle. Faced with the impending conquest of Northumberland, the residents of County Durham , Carlisle, Westmorland and Cleveland and Richmond in Yorkshire signed a truce with the Scots, limited until May 22, 1328, to whom they paid a heavy tribute. The residents of Northumberland were apparently unable to meet the Scottish demands. Archbishop William Melton reported to Bishop Louis de Beaumont on September 22nd that the Scots apparently wanted to conquer Northumberland.

The British government had stayed in York until the end of August without being able to do anything about the raids. In view of the impending conquest of Northumberland, she was now faced with a choice between waging a new campaign to relieve Norham Castle or asking the Scots to negotiate peace. During a parliament in Lincoln in September, the magnates made no proposals to counter the Scottish threat. As the crown treasure had been used up by the high costs of the Weardale Campaign, the government sent envoys to the Scottish king in early October to begin peace negotiations. These negotiations led to the peace concluded on March 17 in Edinburgh and on May 4, 1328 in Northampton, which ended the Scottish War of Independence.

literature

• Ranald Nicholson: Edward III and the Scots. The formative Years of a Military Career, 1327-1335 . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1965
• Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2

Individual evidence

Ranald Nicholson: Edward III and the Scots. The formative Years of a Military Career, 1327-1335 . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1965

1. ↑ p. 15
2. ↑ p. 16
3. ↑ ^{a b} p. 17
4. ↑ p. 43
5. ↑ p. 22
6. ↑ ^{a b} p. 23
7. ↑ ^{a b} p. 21
8. ↑ p. 25
9. ↑ p. 26
10. ↑ p. 27
11. ↑ p. 29
12. ↑ p. 30
13. ↑ p. 31
14. ↑ p. 33
15. ↑ p. 35
16. ↑ ^{a b} p. 36
17. ↑ p. 37
18. ↑ p. 42
19. ↑ ^{a b} p. 44
20. ↑ p. 45

Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2

1. ↑ p. 175
2. ↑ p. 174
3. ↑ ^{a b} p. 176
4. ↑ p. 181
5. ↑ p. 182
6. ↑ p. 183
7. ↑ p. 184

Further sources:

1. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 210.
2. ^ ^{A b} Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 211.
3. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 213.
4. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 546.
5. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 549.