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Battle of Stirling Bridge, by Owain Kirby © Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum |
Wallace and Murray bided their time waiting until just the right moment. Then they played their hand, ordering their men to attack. The Scots infantry made for the bridge, to cut off the English troops' only route in and out of the battlefield. By doing so, they cut off the vanguard from the rest of the English army, who were then forced to watch the ensuing slaughter, which was only a matter of 50 metres away. As the English had crossed onto a causeway surrounded on 3 sides by the river, they had nowhere to retreat but over the bridge, which at some point in the battle was destroyed. They could not be reinforced, nor could they run for safety. |
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