Battle of Otterburn
The Battle of Otterburn took place according to Scottish sources on 5 August 1388, or 19 August according to English sources, as part of the continuing border skirmishes between the Scots and English.
| Battle of Otterburn | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Kingdom of England | Kingdom of Scotland | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Sir Henry Percy (POW) |
Sir John Dunbar Earl of Moray Earl of Fife Sir James Lindsay Sir John Swinton Sir John De Montgomery of Eglesham Sir Robert Herriot Sir John Tories of Inverleith Sir William of London | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Up to 8,000 | Up to 6,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Up to 1,800 killed. More wounded, and captured | 100 or 500 | ||||||
The best remaining record of the battle is from Jean Froissart's Chronicles in which he claims to have interviewed veterans from both sides of the battle. His account is still regarded with some concern as details, such as the distance between Newcastle upon Tyne and Otterburn, are incorrect.
The Scottish nobles James, 2nd Earl of Douglas and John Dunbar, Earl of Moray led their army toward Durham while Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas at the time Lord of Galloway, and Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany coordinated a simultaneous attack on Carlisle Castle. It was timed to take advantage of divisions on the English side between Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland who had just taken over defence of the border and partly in revenge for King Richard II's invasion of Scotland three years previously.