View source for Battle of Otterburn

{{Short description|1388 battle of the Anglo-Scottish Wars}}
{{For|the ballad|The Battle of Otterburn (ballad)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{more footnotes|date=August 2011}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Otterburn
| partof            = the [[Anglo-Scottish Wars]]
| image             = [[File:Otterburn Battle.jpg|300px|Battle of Otterburn]]
| caption           = Battle of Otterburn, ''[[Froissart's Chronicles]]''
| date              = 5 August or 19 August 1388
| place             = 1 mile north-west of [[Otterburn, Northumberland|Otterburn]], [[Northumberland]]
| coordinates       = {{Coord|55|14|13|N|02|11|41|W|type:event_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| result            = Scottish victory
| combatant1        = [[Kingdom of England]]
| combatant2        = [[Kingdom of Scotland]]
| commander1        = [[Henry Percy (Hotspur)|Sir Henry Percy]]{{POW}}
| commander2        = [[James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas|Sir James Douglas]]{{KIA}}
| strength1         = Up to 8,000
| strength2         = Up to 6,000
| casualties1       = Up to 1,800 killed. More wounded and captured
| casualties2       = 100 or 500
}}
{{Campaignbox Anglo-Scottish Wars}}
[[File:Pennon of James Douglas, Earl of Moray from Otterburn 001.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Pennon of James Douglas, Earl of Douglas]]
[[File:Pennon of Sir Henry (Hotspur) Percy, Battle of Otterburn.jpg|thumb|150px|Captured pennon of Hotspur|right]]

The '''Battle of Otterburn''', also known as the '''Battle of Chevy Chase''', took place according to Scottish sources on 5 August 1388,<ref>Tom Steel, ''Scotland's Story'', p. 57, {{ISBN|0006370039}}.</ref><ref>''The Hundred Years' War'' by [[Anne Curry]], p. 53, {{ISBN|1841762695}}.</ref> or 19 August according to English sources,<ref>''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'' by [[Francis James Child]], p. 292, {{ISBN|0486431452}}.</ref><ref>''Border Fury, England and Scotland at War 1296–1568'' by [[John Sadler (historian)|John Sadler]], p. 275, {{ISBN|1405840226}}.</ref> as part of the continuing border skirmishes between the [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scots]] and [[Kingdom of England|English]].

The Scottish nobles [[James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas|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]], at the time Earl of Fife, coordinated a simultaneous attack on Carlisle Castle.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Michael |title=The Black Douglases |date=1998 |publisher=Tuckwell Press Ltd. |location=East Linton, Scotland |pages=76–77}}</ref> 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.

==Battle==
The Scots fielded two armies, with Archibald Douglas's force and their [[baggage train]] heading to attack [[Carlisle]], while another force under the Earl of Douglas and Earl of Moray ravaged the countryside around [[Durham, England|Durham]] and [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]]. Northumberland sent his two sons [[Harry Hotspur]] and Sir Ralph Percy to engage while he stayed at [[Alnwick]] to cut off the Scottish retreat.

Froissart says that the first fighting included a meeting of the Earl of Douglas and Henry Percy in hand-to-hand combat, in which Percy's [[pennon]] was captured. The Earl of Douglas then moved off, destroying the castle at [[Ponteland]] and besieging Otterburn Castle (now [[Otterburn Tower]]). Percy attacked Douglas's encampment with a surprise attack in the late afternoon, but first encountered the Earl's serving men, giving the bulk of the forces time to muster and attack them on their flank.

James Douglas led the left wing, while Dunbar led the right. Hotspur's men, having ridden up from Newcastle, were tired and disorganized as they made their way onto the field. Hotspur was so overly confident that he attacked the Scots while the rest of his force was still marching up through [[Otterburn, Northumberland|Otterburn]].

During the battle on a moonlit night Douglas was killed; his death had no influence on the outcome of the battle and went unnoticed until much later. The Percys were both captured. Sir John Montgomery, 9th of Eaglesham, captured Henry Percy (later using the ransom to build [[Polnoon Castle]]) with the remaining English force retreating to Newcastle. Despite Percy's force having an estimated three to one advantage over the Scots, Froissart records 1,040 English were captured and 1,860 killed whereas 200 Scots were captured and 100 were killed. ''[[The Westminster Chronicle]]'' estimates Scottish casualties at around 500.

Some have suggested that Hotspur's rashness and eagerness to engage the Scots and the added tiredness of the English army after its long march north, were without doubt, the reasons for English defeat, despite having a three to one advantage in numbers. It is possible that the reasons for this defeat may be more complex, however.

==Aftermath==
Such a decisive victory kept the two sides apart for some time. Of such renown was the battle of Otterburn that several [[ballad]]s were composed in its honour including ''[[The Battle of Otterburn (ballad)|The Battle of Otterburn]]'' and ''[[The Ballad of Chevy Chase]]'' ([[Child ballad]]s 161 and 162). Chevy Chase rather mangles the history of the battle and may be confusing other conflicts at around the same time but it is still cited as one of the best of the ancient ballads.{{Cn|date=September 2021}}

The [[Percy Cross]], located just off the [[A696 road|A696]], was erected before 1400 to commemorate the Battle of Otterburn.<ref name="ArmstrongWalsh2006">{{cite book |last1=Armstrong |first1=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5wEZgyYnoikC&pg=PA93 |title=Otterburn 1388: Bloody Border Conflict |last2=Walsh |first2=Stephen |year=2006 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-84176-980-6 |pages=93– |access-date=17 December 2011}}</ref>

==Houses involved in the battle==
Some of the various Scottish Lowland families involved in this battle were the [[Clan Hall]] [[Clan Swinton|Swintons]], [[Clan Johnstone|Johnstones]], [[Clan Graham|Grahams]], [[Clan Gordon|Gordons]], [[Clan Lindsay|Lindsays]], [[Clan Leslie|Leslies]], [[Clan Heron|Herons]] and [[Clan Montgomery|Montgomerys]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=139q7Wmb5vYC&dq=Otterburn+johnston&pg=PA266 Vincent Stuckey Lean, ''Lean's Collection'', p. 266]</ref>

Among the English [[Knight|knights]] cited in Froissart's ''Chronicles'', representing their respective houses in battle, were the commanding brothers Sir Ralph and [[Harry Hotspur]] of [[Percy family|House Percy]], Sir [[Ralph Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley|Ralph Lumley]], Sir Matthew Redman, Sir [[Ogle family|Robert Ogle]], Sir Thomas [[Grey family|Grey]], Sir Thomas Holton, Sir [[Felton family|John Felton]], Sir Thomas Abingdon, Sir John Copeldyke and Sir [[Lilburn family|John Lilburn]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wallis |first=John |url=https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.27863 |title=The natural history and antiquities of Northumberland and so much of the county of Durham as lies between the rivers Tyne and Tweed; commonly called North Bishoprick |date=1769 |publisher=Printed for the author by W. and W. Strahan, sold by S. Bladon |location=London |pages=489}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Froissart |first=Jean |author-link=Jean Froissart |url=https://archive.org/details/chroniclesoffroi00froiuoft |title=The Chronicles of Froissart |last2=Berners |first2=John Bourchier |last3=Macaulay |first3=G. C. (George Campbell) |date=1899 |publisher=London, Macmillan and co., limited |others=Kelly - University of Toronto |pages=371, 376}}</ref>

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
;Primary
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*Froissart, Jean, ''Chronicles'', 1903 ed.
*Hardyng, John, ''Chronicles'', 1812.
*''Pluscarden, the Book of'', ed. F. H. Skene, 1880.
*''The Westminster Chronicle, 1381–1394'', ed. and trans. by L. C. Hector and B. F. Harvey, 1982. {{ISBN?}}
*[[Andrew of Wyntoun|Wyntoun, Andrew of]], ''Origynal Chronicle of Scotland'', ed. F.J. Amours, 1908.

;Secondary
*[https://archive.org/details/annalshouseperc00fonbgoog Fonblanque, E. B., ''Annals of the House of Percy'', London 1887.]
*Grant, A., ''The Otterburn War from a Scottish Point of View'', in War and Border Societies in the Middle Ages, ed. A. Goodman and A. Took, 1992. {{ISBN?}}
*Robson, J., ''Border Battles and Battlefields'', 1897.
*Tyson, C, ''The Battle of Otterburn: When and Where was it Fought?,'' in War And Border Societies, see above.
*Walton, R. H., ''The Otterburn Story,'' in History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club, vol. 35, 1961.
*Wesencraft, C. F., ''The Battle of Otterburn'', 1988. {{ISBN?}}
*White, R. H., ''The History of the Battle of Otterburn'', 1857.

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030320174044/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=FroChro.sgm&images=images%2Fmodeng&data=%2Ftexts%2Fenglish%2Fmodeng%2Fparsed&tag=public&part=4&division=div1 Froissart's account of the battle]
*{{mmukscaled|NY877936|25|Map sources}} for Percy's Cross which marks the battlefield

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otterburn, Battle of}}
[[Category:1388 in England]]
[[Category:1388 in Scotland]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1388]]
[[Category:Battles between England and Scotland]]
[[Category:Military history of Northumberland]]
[[Category:House of Douglas and Angus|*Battle of Otterburn]]
[[Category:Registered historic battlefields in England]]
[[Category:Battles of the Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Otterburn, Northumberland]]
[[Category:Night battles]]
[[Category:14th-century military history of Scotland|Otterburn]]
[[Category:14th-century military history of the Kingdom of England|Otterburn]]