James Douglas (soldier) - Bannockburn

Bannockburn

The greatest challenge for Bruce came that same year as Edward invaded Scotland with a large army, nominally aimed at the relief of Stirling Castle, but with the real intention of pinning down the foxes. The Scots army – roughly a quarter the size of the enemy force – was poised to the south of Stirling, ready to make a quick withdrawal into the wild country to the west. However, their position, just north of the Bannock Burn, had strong natural advantages, and the king made ready to suspend for a time the guerrilla tactics pursued hitherto. On the morning of the 24 June, the day of the main battle, Barbour states that Douglas was made a knight, which would have been curiously late in his career. Many believe that Douglas was made a knight banneret. The knight banneret was established under Edward I. A knight banneret was not one with command responsibilities so much as one with greater honours. A knight banneret fought under their own banner unlike a knight bachelor who was limited to a pennon. In his The Bruce, John Barbour states in Book XV that Douglas fought under his own banner, hence Douglas had to be a knight banneret. Barbour does state Douglas and others were knighted on the field of the Battle of Bannockburn, "each in their own degree" which would seem to say that not all were knights bachelor. Others believe that he was knighted late in his career. There is disagreement on the point.

Traditional Scottish accounts dating from the 1370s state that during the battle, Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray commanded the vanguard, the left wing though nominally led by the young Walter Stewart was commanded by his cousin Douglas, Edward Bruce took the right wing, and King Robert the rearguard. However contemporary English accounts state that the Scottish army consisted of three units, so the idea that Douglas and Stewart commanded a unit could be later invention or the English account is simply mistaken.

Once the English army was defeated Douglas requested the honour of pursuing the fleeing Edward and his party of knights, a task carried out with such relentless vigour that the fugitives, according to Barbour, "had not even leisure to make water." In the end Edward managed to evade Douglas by taking refuge in Dunbar Castle.

Bannockburn effectively ended the English presence in Scotland, with all strongpoints – outwith Berwick – now in Bruce's hands. It did not, however, end the war. Edward had been soundly defeated but he still refused to abandon his claim to Scotland. For Douglas one struggle had ended and another was about to begin.