Falkirk, battles of (1298, 1746). The English had been defeated in Scotland at Stirling Bridge in 1297; in the following year Edward I, determined on revenge, led an army of over 28, 000 northwards. On 22 July the English engaged the Scots under Wallace at Falkirk. The Scots formed up their army in four defensive schiltroms on foot. These were finally broken, initially by archers, at a cost of perhaps 2, 000 English casualties. Edward's discontented Welsh infantry, numbering almost 11, 000, took little part in the battle, joining in only when it became clear that the English had gained the upper hand.
After the Jacobite army had retreated from England in December 1745 they advanced into Scotland, reaching Falkirk on 17 January 1746. There some 8, 000 of them fought about 8, 500 Hanoverian troops under the command of Lt Gen Henry Hawley, popularly known as the ‘Hangman’. Hawley was convinced that his men were vastly superior to their opponents, and was overconfident of a victory, notoriously enjoying a leisurely lunch before engaging the enemy. He then ordered his dragoons to attack uphill, which some of his fellow officers considered a mistake. He himself then left the field, an action for which he was much criticized, although he tried to lay the blame for the subsequent fiasco elsewhere. The Jacobite army fired on the advancing dragoons and caused them to retreat. The artillery and some infantry then beat a retreat too when heavy rain wet cartridges so that muskets failed to fire. Only the right wing of the Hanoverian army, led by Maj Gen Huske and Brig Cholmondley, held. At nightfall both armies retired from the field, the Jacobites to Falkirk and the Hanoverians to Linlithgow and then Edinburgh. The taking of Falkirk enabled the former to claim the day.
Bibliography
- Prestwich, M. C., Edward I (London, 1988)
— Michael Prestwich/William A. Speck
