The English army was led by the Earl of Surrey, Edward’s lieutenant of Scotland and also by Hugh Cressingham, the Treasurer of Scotland. The Earl was a very able tactician and had led the English to victory at Dunbar, but was in poor health and had to return from recuperation in England with haste to lead the army. On the morning of the Battle he was tired, unwell and irritable. Cressingham, on the other hand was everything that Surrey wasn’t, his expertise lay in finance rather than war. He was more concerned about the financial implications of the Battle rather than the thought of glory. In fact, he had already sent some of the men home, to cut wage and food expenditure. Despite the relatively minor misgivings from Cressingham, both English Commanders were supremely confident that they would win the day; neither held any fear of either Wallace or Murray.

As the sun broke the horizon on the 11th September 1297, the English army began to cross the bridge, but it was only wide enough for a few men to cross at one time. The unwell Surrey had slept in, and thus missed the start of the Battle, so the English force was ordered back across the bridge to wait for their Commander’s arrival. When he did finally rouse and make his way to the battlefield, he ordered the men back across the bridge. But once again, the proceedings were interrupted by the arrival of the Scottish Earl of Lennox bearing a message from Wallace. Surrey assumed that Wallace was going to surrender, so he recalled the men again. But upon reading the message, he found it be of the contrary, so the men were ordered to cross for a third time. You can imagine what the soldiers were thinking at this point, it must have resembled a game of musical chairs.

Some of the English Commanders including a Scot, serving in the English ranks, Richard Lundie objected, stating that it would be madness to attempt it again. He suggested that they use a Ford that lay upstream. But Surrey and Cressingham dismissed the notion and proceeded with their original plan. Surrey didn’t think it would make much of a difference anyway, and Cressingham didn’t want to concern the Scots too much; just in case they should flee. Being the money man, he was concerned about the army being kept together for longer than anticipated, which meant more expenditure on provisions.

Meanwhile, Wallace and Murray had been watching the proceedings all morning with interest and probably amusement or bafflement. When the English crossed for the third time, Wallace was sure of the strategy that he would use. He formed his men along the causeway, a dry, wooden walkway stretching from the bridge to the town of Perth. He waited until a third of the English had crossed, then ordered his spearmen to walk forward, bunching close together, adopting a formation known as Schiltron. The objective was to charge and try to capture the end of the bridge.

Wallace waited a few moments longer, until he ordered the charge. The Scots charged ferociously, but still keeping their formation, they ploughed into the English, quickly overwhelming them. The Scots succeeded in cutting off the English force from the rest on the other side of the river. Unable to retreat, some of the English attempted escape by swimming across the river, but most of them drowned. Sir Marmaduke Tweng and his small troop of Horsemen did manage to flee, but the rest of the English were totally slaughtered, including Cressingham, a man so vilified and detested, that he was skinned and his body parts made into souvenirs.

Surrey ordered a hasty retreat, seeing that the day was lost. He led the man back to Berwick. Some of them hid in Stirling Castle, but with no reinforcements to help, they were forced to surrender control of the Castle to the Scottish.