Capture of Roxburgh (1314)

This article is about the siege of 1314. For other sieges and captures of Roxburgh, see Capture of Roxburgh.

Capture of Roxburgh
Part of Wars of Scottish Independence
Date 19 February 1314 Location Roxburgh Castle, Scotland 55.596°N 2.457°W / 55.596; -2.457 Result Scottish victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Scotland	Kingdom of England
Commanders and leaders
Lord James Douglas Sir Walter Stewart	William Fiennes (WIA)
Strength
Unknown, inferior to the English	2000+
Casualties and losses
Low	High

The Capture of Roxburgh was a siege that took place in 1314, which was a major conflict in the First War of Scottish Independence. This siege was a prelude to the Battle of Bannockburn.

Background

Sir James Douglas, Lord of Douglas, after his victory over the Clan MacDougall, had been capturing several castles back from the English, but the mere thought of taking Roxburgh Castle was one that daunted him.

Siege

Roxburgh Castle was on impregnable ground, and was guarded well. Douglas and Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, disguised their few men as cows, so the garrison was unaware of their presence. They then used ladders to climb to the top and took the castle by total surprise. They inflicted heavy casualties on the garrison, including wounding their leader in the face with an arrow.

Aftermath

The Lanercost Chronicle records that "all that beautiful castle the Scots pulled down to the ground, like the other castles that they had succeeded in capturing, lest the English should ever again rule the land by holding the castles."