How Forth crossing was a bridge too far for the English infantry

The Battle of Stirling Bridge began at dawn on 11 September, 1297. Wallace and Moray held their army on the soft, flat ground to the north of the River Forth as the English knights and infantry made their slow progress across the bridge.

When the vanguard - 5,400 English and Welsh infantry plus several hundred cavalry - had crossed, they ordered the attack. The heavy cavalry to the north of the river was trapped and cut to pieces, and those to the south were powerless to help.

Thousands of English were slaughtered, including more than 100 knights.

The English leader, Hugh de Cressingham - King Edward's treasurer in Scotland - was flayed and his skin cut into small pieces as tokens of the victory. Wallace is said to have used a strip to make a belt for his sword.

The remaining English fled to Berwick, leaving the garrison at Stirling Castle isolated and abandoning the Lowlands to the Scots.

The battle was a shattering defeat for the English and showed that, where the conditions were right, infantry could be superior to cavalry.