A fateful day for Scotland
The Battle of Flodden Field was founded upon the soundest of
military maxims-'to take the enemy in rear whilst he is directed
upon another enemy.' Unfortunately, as with all strategies, it is
never more than a 'plan' and being good or sound is no guarantee of
success as James IV, King of Scotland, found out to his fatal cost.
In 1513, the year of the battle, Henry VIII, the formidable Tudor
king sat upon the throne of England though he was on the continent
as war raged with France. The King of Scotland was persuaded by the
Queen of France to join in the fray, to his own advantage, in a
renewal of that famous alliance said to exist between the two
kingdoms. A Scots invasion force moved south into Northumbria
where, upon a pretext, King James crossed the Tweed at Coldstream,
burning castles and property, as he advanced at the head of a
formidable Scottish Army of over 60, 000 men. Whilst King Henry was
abroad the defence of the realm was put into the capable hands of
Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, who moved northwards, gathering
forces as he marched. The initial position as the armies faced one
another was close to Millfield Plain where each side fielded
approximately 30,000 men with the Scots holding the high ground.
However both sides manoeuvred for position along the River Till,
the English finally crossing it unopposed. The battle, which was
originally known as the Battle of Branxton after the site of the
Scottish position on its heights, was mostly fought at close
quarters, in the manner of the 16th century, and was a scene of
barely conceivable carnage as thousands of men blew each other to
pieces, pierced each other with arrows, trampled men under the
hooves of chargers or hacked with edged weapons. This book
describes this pivotal battle and the campaign that accompanied it.
When it was over the King of Scotland was lying dead on the field
among the bodies of 10,000 of his countrymen including the flower
of Scottish aristocracy. It had been the largest battle ever fought
between the two nations.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each
title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our
hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their
spines and fabric head and tail bands.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
