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The Battle of Dunbar was the first of the series of conflicts of the Wars of Scottish Independence. King Edward I of England had invaded Scotland in 1296 to punish John Balliol for his refusal to support English military action in France.
Background
After the sack of Berwick-upon-Tweed Edward, in no hurry to complete the conquest of Scotland, remained in the town for a month, supervising the strengthening of its defences. On the 5th of April he received a message from King John renouncing his homage, to which he remarked, more in contempt than anger, ''O foolish knave! What folly he commits. If he will not come to us we will go to him."
The next objective in the campaign was the Earl of March's castle at Dunbar, a few miles up the coast from Berwick. March was with the English, but his wife, Marjory Comyn, sister of the earl of Buchan, did not share her husband's political loyalties and allowed her fellow Scots to occupy the castle. Edward sent one of his chief lieutenants, John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey, John Balliol's own father-in-law, northwards with a strong force of knights to invest the stronghold. The defenders sent messages to King John, bivouacked with the main body of his army at nearby Haddington, asking for urgent assistance. In response the army, or a large part of it, advanced to the rescue of Dunbar. John, who was showing even less skill as a commander than he had as a king, did not accompany it. The war of 1296 was now to enter its final phase.
Battle
The two armies came in sight of each other on the 27th of April. Leaving a small force to cover the castle, Surrey turned to face the enemy. The Scots occupied a strong position on some high ground to the west. To meet them Surrey's cavalry had to cross a gully intersected by the Spot Burn. As they did so their ranks broke up, and the Scots, deluded into thinking the English were leaving the field, abandoned their position in a disorderly downhill charge, only to find that Surrey's forces had reformed on Spottsmuir and were advancing in perfect order. The English routed the disorganised Scots in a single charge, the leaders fleeing along with the common soldiers. Only Sir Patrick Graham stood and fought to the death. According to the English sources over ten thousand Scots died at the battle of Dunbar, hardly a credible figure, given the speed with which the whole fair was concluded. The survivors fled westwards to the safety of Selkirk Forest. The following day King Edward appeared in person and the castle surrendered. Some important prisoners were taken, amongst them three earls-Atholl, Ross and Mentieth-together with 130 knights and esquires. All were sent into captivity in England.
Aftermath
The battle of Dunbar effectively ended the war of 1296. The remainder of the campaign was little more than a grand moping up operation. James, the hereditary High Stewart of Scotland, surrendered the important fortress at Roxburgh without attempting a defence, and others were quick to follow his example. Only Edinburgh Castle held out for a week against Edward's siege engines. The garrison sent for help to John, who had fled north to Forfar, but were told to provide for their own safety. In the south-west young Robert Bruce, the future king, now fighting with the English, recaptured his father's lands in Annandale, dominated by Lochmaben Castle. Edward himself, true to his word, advanced into central and northern Scotland in pursuit of the fugitive King John, abandoned by all apart from his Comyn kinsmen. Stirling Castle, which guarded the vital passage across the River Forth was deserted save for a porter who stayed behind to hand the keys to the English. Edward reached Perth on 21 June, where he received messages from John begging for peace.
John Balliol, in surrendering, submitted himself to a protracted abasement. At Kincardine Castle on 2 July he confessed to rebellion and prayed for forgivness. Five days later in the kirkyard of Stracathro he abandoned the treaty with the French. The final humiliation came at Montrose on 8 July. Dressed for the occasion John was ceremoniously stripped of the vestments of royalty. Anthony Bek, the bishop of Durham, ripped the read and gold arms of Scotland from his surcoat, thus bequething to history the nickname Toom Tabard-empty coat-by which John has been known to generations of Scottish schoolchildren. He and his son Edward were sent south into captivity. Soon after the English king followed, carrying in his train the Stone of Scone and other relics of Scottish nationhood.
1296 | Battles of the Wars of Scottish Independence | Scottish Borders | History of Scotland
"Battle of Dunbar (1296)"