Battle of Neville's Cross
| Battle of Neville's Cross | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Hundred Years' War | |||||||
 Battle of Neville's Cross from a 15th century Froissart manuscript (BN MS Fr. 2643). | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Scotland | England | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| David II of Scotland | William Zouche, Archbishop of York | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 12,000 | 3,000-4,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown (high) | Unknown (low) | ||||||
The Battle of Neville's Cross took place near Durham, England on October 17, 1346.
Background
By mid 1346, it was obvious that the English under Edward III had every intent of breaking the Truce of Malestroit and resuming (what would be known later as) the Hundred Years' War with France. As a consequence of the Franco-Scottish Auld Alliance and Philip VI of France's fear of an impending English invasion of northern France (an area which the French were not yet prepared to defend), Philip VI sent David II of Scotland numerous appeals for assistance to blunt the coming English threat. Though Philip VI's pleas became especially desperate in June of 1346 (when the English were amassing troops in southern England), major Scottish action against England would not commence for some time — in fact, the Scots would not invade Northern England until October 1346.
On October 7, the Scots entered England with approximately 12,000 men. They were expecting to find Northern England relatively undefended due to the fact that a major campaign was (by then) being conducted by Edward III in France. (Philip VI went so far as to characterize Northern England as a "defenceless void.") Unfortunately, David II's strategic and tactical abilities were not up to the task of making good use of the Scots' element of surprise. Perhaps, though, they didn't feel the need for haste. After taking Liddell (and bypassing Carlisle after being paid protection money), the Scots moved on toward their ultimate goal of Durham and Yorkshire after more than a week's march. Along the way they sacked the priory of Hexham and burned the territory around their line of march (not unlike the English in France at the time). They arrived at Durham on October 16 and camped at Beaurepaire, where the Scots were offered £1,000 in protection money to be paid on October 18.
Unbeknownst to the Scots, however, the English had already arrayed troops for just such an invasion. Once the Scots invaded, an army was quickly mobilized in Richmond under the supervision of William Zouche, the Archbishop of York. It was not, however, a large army and what men were available were split into two separate groups: 3,000-4,000 men from Cumberland, Northumberland, and Lancashire, with another 3,000 Yorkshiremen en route. Given the demands of the Siege of Calais, no further men could be summoned for the defense of Northern England. Worse still, on October 14 (while the Scots were sacking Hexham), the Archbishop decided not to wait for the Yorkshiremen and made haste toward Barnard Castle.
The battle
The Scots only discovered the presence of the English army on the morning of October 17. Troops under command of William Douglas stumbled upon them in the morning mist during a raid south of Durham. The two rearward divisions of the English army drove the Scots off with heavy Scottish casualties.
Upon hearing Douglas's report, David II led the Scottish army to high ground at Neville's Cross (site of an old Anglo-Saxon stone cross), where he prepared his army for battle. Both the Scots and English arranged themselves in three battalions. Though the Scots were in what is considered a rather poor position (with various obstacles between them and the English position), they remembered well their defeats in the Battle of Dupplin Moor and the Battle of Halidon Hill and thus took a defensive stance, waiting for the English to attack. However, the English also took a defensive stance, knowing they had the superior position (and likely that time was ultimately on their side). A stalemate resulted that lasted until the afternoon when the English sent longbowmen forward to harass the Scottish lines. The archers succeeded in forcing the Scots to attack, but their initial hesitation at going on the offensive appears in hindsight to have been the correct decision. Their poor position resulted in their formations falling apart as they advanced—allowing the English to make relatively easy work of the Scottish attack. When it became clear that the battle was going in the English's favour, Robert Stewart and the Earl of March fled, abandoning David II's battalion to face the enemy alone. Late in the afternoon, the King's own battalion attempted to retreat. The retreat was unsuccessful and David II was captured (though not without difficulty) while the rest of the Scottish army was pursued for more than 20 miles.
Contrary to popular convention, Edward III ordered the imprisonment of high ranking Scottish prisoners, including David II. Ransoming was officially prohibited without the express permission of the Council. (This unpopular order was naturally ignored one way or another in many cases.) David II was eventually brought south and imprisoned in the Tower of London in January 1347, where he would remain for eleven years, to ultimately be released for a ransom of 100,000 marks. (Though the Crown took possession of Scottish prisoners, the soldier who captured David II was well compensated: he received an annuity of £500 per year and was promoted to the rank of banneret.)
Sources and further reading
- Sumption, Jonathan, The Hundred Years' War, Vol. 1: Trial by Battle, London 1990, ISBN 0812216555
- Cornwell, Bernard, Vagabond, HarperCollins 2003; ISBN 0060532688. (Contains a dramatization of the battle.)