Battle of Sauchieburn

Battle of Sauchieburn
Part of second rebellion against James III
Date June 11, 1488 Location south of Stirling Result Decisive rebel victory
Belligerents
royalists	rebels
Commanders and leaders
†James III of Scotland	Alexander Home, 1st Lord Home, James, Duke of Rothesay
Strength
30,000?	18,000?
Casualties and losses
Unknown, but high	Moderate

The Battle of Sauchieburn was fought on June 11, 1488, at the side of Sauchie Burn, a stream about two miles south of Stirling, Scotland. The battle was fought between as many as 30,000 troops of King James III of Scotland and some 18,000 troops raised by a group of dissident Scottish nobles including Alexander Home, 1st Lord Home, nominally led by the king's 15-year-old son, Prince James, Duke of Rothesay.

James III had faced open rebellion for a few months, but chose to face the rebels close to where his ancestor Robert I of Scotland had defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn.

The battle went badly for the Royalists. Persistent legends, based on the highly coloured and unreliable accounts of sixteenth century chroniclers such as Adam Abell, Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie, John Lesley, and George Buchanan, claim that James III was assassinated at Milltown,^[1] near Bannockburn, soon after the battle. There is no contemporary evidence to support this account, nor the allegation that he fled the battle, nor the tale that his assassin impersonated a priest in order to approach James.

A story is told that, on the eve of the battle, Sir David Lindsay, son of Sir John, Lord Lindsay of the Byres, presented James III with a "great grey horse" that would carry him faster than any other horse into or away from the battle. Unfortunately, the horse threw the King during the battle, and James III was either killed in the fall, or was finished off by enemy soldiers.

Prince James ascended to the throne, and reigned as James IV for 25 years. Throughout his reign he wore a heavy iron chain around his waist, next to the skin, as a constant reminder of his role in the death of his father.

Contents 1 References 2 Participants 3 External links 4 Footnotes

References

• Norman MacDougall James III, (John Donald Publishers Ltd (5 Feb 1982))
• John Prebble The Lion in the North

Participants

Some of the participants in the Battle of Sauchieburn included:

• Royalists:
  • Alexander Cunningham, 1st Earl of Glencairn, slain in the battle;
  • Malise Graham, 1st Earl of Menteith;
  • David Lindsay, 1st Duke of Montrose;
  • Lord Erskine, slain in the battle;
  • Lord Graham;
  • Lord Maxwell;
  • Lord Ruthven, slain in the battle;
  • Sir David Lindsay of Byres, who in the legendary account gave King James III the horse that threw him;
  • Roger Grierson I of Lag, Fatally wounded
  • The troops were largely from Scotland's northern counties, plus some burgh levies.

• Rebels:
  • Alexander Home, 1st Lord Home;
  • Lord Hailes;
  • Lord Gray;
  • The troops were largely from East Lothian, the Merse, Galloway, and the border counties.

External links

• The History of Stirlingshire, Chapter XI. Battle of Sauchieburn (1488)

Footnotes