Siege of Berwick (1355)
The siege of Berwick took place in November 1355 where the Scottish army recaptured in a surprise attack the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed.[1]
| Siege of Berwick | |||||||||
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| Part of Anglo-Scottish Wars | |||||||||
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In the absence of Edward III, Thomas Stewart Earl of Angus together the Earl of March collected a great numbers of ships and in the night disembarked a group of men-at-arms on the northern side of the Tweed. The next morning they moved unobserved to the foot of the wall and applied their scaling ladders at the gate. The English that were on guard were quickly overpowered and the townsmen escape to the other gates and abandoned the garrison to the assailants.
In the battle Alexander Ogle, Captain of the town and Thomas Percy and Edward Grey were killed. The Scottish lost Andrew Scott of Balwearie,[2] Thomas Vaux, John Gordon, William St Clair, Thomas Preston and Alexander Moubray.
Aftermath
The great importance of Berwick push the English king to recover it, he arrived at Durham on the 23 December and attend the remaining of the soldiers at Newcastle on the 1 January 1356. On 14 January, Edward III marched at the head of his army and his navy also arrived to the laid siege to the town both by land and sea. As the castle Edward III guided the soldiers in person accompanied by his guards and Sir Walter Manny, one of the most celebrated Captains advancing a mine on the wall with the help of some miners.
The double front of the fight forced the Scottish to capitulate and the English retake the garrison again.
References
- "BERWICK-UPON-TWEED TOWN WALLS". castlesfortsbattles.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- "Battle of Halidon Hill (1333)". clanscottscotland.com. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
Sources
- Moses Aaron Richardson, "The Local Historian's Table Book of Remarkable Occurences ..., Volume 1".