Most people may not be familiar with the Battle of Flodden; however, this does not mean it was insignificant, it actually was one of the most important battles in Scottish history. It was the deciding battle that marked the supremacy of the English army over the Scottish one and ended all future attempts of invasions of England from Scotland. The Battle of Flodden was fought on September 9, 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai. The king of Scotland, King James IV in order to honor the Auld Alliance with France, declared war on England in 1513. In preparation of the war, the Scottish army switched from the Scottish spear to the European spike and even though they had been trained by the French Comte d’Aussi they had not mastered the weapon, and did not maintain the tight formations needed to succeed with it. They had weaker infantry as a result and the men were not as capable because they were not as comfortable with the European spike as they were with the Scottish spear. With around 30,000 men King James crossed the border into England on August 22. The Scottish army succeeded in capturing Norham, a town right near the border, but due to disease and harsh weather, many Scottish soldiers deserted their army before the actual battle day. During this time, King Henry VIII of England had been gathering an army under Thomas Howard, Earl of Howard. Thomas Howard dispatched a message to King James proposing battle on September 9th. King James accepted and began moving his army to a rough horseshoe position atop of Flodden, Moneylaws, and Branxton Hills. By the time he arrived, Thomas Howard realized what an advantage King James had due to his position. As a result Howard invited him to have the battle on the fields around Millford. James refused, wanting to fight a defensive battle on his grounds. James knew of the advantages to being on high ground during battle. The English then began to move to the north and the west of the scots in an attempt to push the scots out of their position. King James did not notice the movement of the English due to bad weather and had to move his army entirely to Branxton hill. Sir Walter Scott wrote a poem describing the battlefield scene before the battle:
“From Flodden ridge,
The Scots beheld the English host
Leave Barmoor Wood, their evening post
And headful watched them as they crossed
The Till by Twizell Bridge.
High sight it is, and haughty, while
They dive into the deep defile;
Beneath the cavern'd cliff they fall,
Beneath the castle's airy wall.
By rock, by oak, by Hawthorn tree,
Troop after troop are disappearing;
Troop after troop their banners rearing
Upon the eastern bank you see.
Still pouring down the rocky glen,
Where flows the sullen Till,
And rising from the dim-wood glen,
Standards on standards, men on men,
In slow procession still,
And sweeping o'er the Gothic arch,
And pressing on in ceaseless march, To gain the opposing hill.”
Around 4:00 pm on September 9th James’s artillery began to open fire on Howards forces. Because of the type of gun they were using, and the fact that they only had 17 vs. Howards 22 gun men, James’s artillery did little to nothing on Howard’s army, but the return fire from Howard wiped out all of James’s artillery. Howard continued to destroy
