Battle of Annan

Battle of Annan
Part of the Wars of Scottish Independence
Date 16 December 1332 Location Annan, Dumfries and Galloway Result Bruce loyalist victory
Belligerents
Bruce loyalists	Balliol supporters English allies
Commanders and leaders
Sir Archibald Douglas	Edward Balliol
Casualties and losses
Minimal	About 100

The Battle of Annan, known in the sources as the Camisade of Annan took place on 16 December 1332. It took place at Annan, Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.

King Edward Balliol had seized the Scottish crown three months earlier after the Battle of Dupplin Moor (10–11 August 1332). October 1332, Sir Archibald Douglas, Guardian of Scotland, made a truce with Balliol, supposedly to let the Scottish Parliament assemble and decide who their true king was. Emboldened by the truce, Balliol dismissed most of his English troops and moved to Annan, on the north shore of the Solway Firth. He issued two public letters, saying that with the help of England he had reclaimed his kingdom, and acknowledged that Scotland had always been a fief of England. He also promised land for Edward III on the border, including Berwick-on-Tweed, and that he would serve Edward for the rest of his life.

In the early morning hours of 16 December 1332, Bruce loyalists led by Sir Archibald Douglas, John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray, the future Robert II of Scotland, and Simon Fraser made a surprise attacked on Balliol. Most of Balliol's men were killed, though he himself managed to escape through a hole in the wall, and fled naked on horse to Carlisle, England.

The Bruce loyalists were supporters of King David II of Scotland, the eight year old son of Robert the Bruce who had died on 7 June 1329. Robert II, the future King of Scotland, was sixteen years old at the Battle of Annan.

References

• Liber Pluscardensis, ed. Skene, Edinburgh 1880. https://archive.org/details/liberpluscarden01unkngoog]
• https://www.stirling.gov.uk/tourism-visitors/stirlings-history/wallace-bruce-rob-roy-macgreagor/the-second-war/