Flodden Field, Battle of, was a battle between the kingdoms of England and Scotland on Sept. 9, 1513. It took place in the English border county (now unitary authority) of Northumberland, and ended in a decisive English victory. With possibly some 50,000 troops engaged, the battle was the largest ever fought between the two kingdoms. The battle is also called the Battle of Branxton Moor.
In 1513, England was at war with France, Scotland’s ally. That August, Scotland’s King James IV led an army into England and captured several castles along the two kingdoms’ border. The Scots then dug fortified positions along Flodden Hill. With England’s King Henry VIII engaged in France, Thomas Howard, the Earl of Surrey, led an English army to meet the Scots. Rather than launch a frontal assault on Flodden Hill, Howard marched his troops around the Scottish positions. The English force circled north to a low ridge on which the town of Branxton stands. The move cut off a potential Scottish retreat. The Scots dragged their guns to nearby Branxton Hill, overlooking the English army.
On the rainy afternoon of September 9, the two armies met on the boggy ground below Branxton Hill. Scottish artillery (heavy guns) opened the battle, firing high over Howard’s troops. English guns fired back accurately, knocking out the Scottish artillery. Scottish infantry then advanced under a steady bombardment. On solid ground, the left side of the Scottish force battered a section of the English line. The Scottish center and right, however, became mired in the muddy bog. English archers rained down arrows on the Scots. English infantry then swarmed upon them. The Scots fought hard, but eventually fled the field.
Accounts after the battle estimated that about 10,000 Scots and about 1,500 English troops died in roughly three hours of combat. Some modern historians think the Scottish losses may have been a few thousand fewer and English losses may have been as high as 4,000. The dead included many Scottish nobles, including King James IV. James was the last British king to die in battle.
The English victory at Flodden Field is often attributed to superior weapons. The Scottish guns were slow to reload and reposition, and they fired heavy balls that sank into the wet ground, doing little damage. The English used light field guns, which were easy to move and could be quickly reloaded and fired. The English guns killed and wounded many Scots. The Scottish infantry also carried long wooden spears called pikes. Pikes were effective when troops advanced in close formation, but the muddy battlefield made that type of attack difficult. The English infantry fought with shorter weapons called bills. A bill was a short, heavy spear topped with an ax head, spikes, or a hook, and was developed from a farming tool called a billhook. Bills proved to be excellent weapons in the conditions at Flodden Field. In addition, English archers, who had trained since childhood, were accurate and deadly with their fire.
Flodden Field was one of the first battles in Britain in which artillery played a decisive role. It was also one of the last battles in which archers played a major part in achieving victory. Scotland’s King James V was only 17 months old when he succeeded his father James IV. Years later, James V also launched an ill-fated invasion of England. His army was crushed at Solway Moss in 1542.
The Scottish ballad “Flowers of the Forest” commemorates the fallen soldiers of Flodden Field. The song is often played by a solitary bagpiper at the military funerals and memorial ceremonies of several countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In 1910, a monument to the dead was erected on Piper’s Hill at the northern end of the battlefield.
See also Scotland, History of (The Renaissance kings).
