the first war of Scottish independence took place between 1296 and 1328 there were several military campaigns during the war one of them is the Battle of ferk and here's what happened after his success at the Battle of Sterling bridge in September 1297 William Wallace likely spent the next month and a half consolidating his forces and rallying support from other Scottish Nobles and leaders who were opposed to English domination this effort involved Gathering troops securing alliances and organizing ing a more coordinated resistance effort the victory at Sterling Bridge energized the Scottish populace and encouraged more individuals to joined the fight for independence swelling the ranks of the resistance movement meanwhile in France King Edward I learned of the English defeat at Sterling Bridge which initiated the movement of portions of the English government to York and not returning them to London until 1304 the city also served as a central base for Edward's Army and for a Time became the effective capital of the England between November and December 1297 Wallace and his forces engaged in raids against english- held territories and strongholds in Scotland these raids served to disrupt English supply lines weaken their control over Scottish territories and bolster the morale of the Scots Wallace led a daring military campaign into Northern England raiding towns from Newcastle to carile and raided as far south as North umberland inflicting damage on English territories and demonstrating the strength of the Scottish resistance upon on his return to Scotland in December 1297 a meeting was held at the forest Kirk in the sheriffdom of selker it was supposedly there that William Wallace was appointed a guardian of Scotland although there are some historians that believe he may have been self-appointed being a guardian was not simply a title given the Guardians were a group of Regents who governed the kingdom of Scotland from 1286 to 1292 and again from 1296 to 1306 in the absence of a Scottish Monarch the missing Monarch here was John Bol a puppet King by most accounts put in place by Edward the of England Edward deposed Bol in 1296 declaring himself ruler of Scotland in April 1298 the Scottish nobles were summoned to meet with the King and that request went unanswered not a single one showed up Edward the first was outraged by this action or in action as it were and declared the Scottish Nobles traitors in the following months an army was assembled in York with some accounts SA it consisted of at least 2500 mounted Knights archers and roughly 13,000 infantry some other estimates claim the size of the army was closer to 18,000 men this was one of the largest armies to invade Scotland since the Romans in the first century by early July 1298 Edward and his army had crossed the river Tweed and continued heading north into Scotland searching for the Scottish Army Wallace and his army were already north of Edward and continued wasting the land behind them r rendering the English king unable to leverage anything to sustain or resupply his army on July 21st Edward's Army was half starved lacking provisions and on the verge of disbanding when he received word that Wallace and his army were in the vicinity of ferk Edward's response to this threat was that he would not trouble them to seek me now some historians believe that Wallace was hoping the English would be forced to leave Scotland so he would not have to engage them it's quite possible Wallace was in a position where he was to fight the following day Edward arrived at ferk with his army while not anywhere near as unified or organized as the English army under King Edward I several Scottish Nobles also LED contingents of troops at ferk however internal divisions and rivalries among the Scottish nobility weakened their effectiveness in coordinating their efforts against the English which heavily outnumbered Wallace's Army much like the Battle of Sterling Bridge the Scottish Army was heavily comprised of spearmen as it English forces approached Wallace reportedly said to his men I have brought you to the ring now dance if you can Wallace structured his army and four sheltons which are circles of spearmen the Spearman would be defended by The Archers and the Knights on either side of them the Scots were somewhat protected by a marsh in front of them presumably hoping the English would charge and plunge into it things did not turn out as they had hoped the English attempted to cross the marsh with no success led by Earl Marshall Roger bigod as well as the Earls of Herford and Lincoln the English eventually went around the marsh to the West Anthony Beck the bishop of Durham commanded the second approach and was able to maneuver around the marsh to the east it didn't take long for the English Knights to drive off the Scottish Cavalry in fact most of the Nobles took their forces and simply left without a fight several were wealthy with the states in England and some had relatives held as hostage as by Edward between these factors their loyalty to Wallace was conflicted and debated but their actions at ferk left little room for interpretation there were however two Nobles who stood strong with William Wallace Sir John de Graham was a close associate of Wallace and a key military leader in the Scottish Army he fought alongside Wallace at both the Battle of Sterling bridge and at the Battle of ferk Sir John Stewart of Bon Hill was another prominent Scottish Noble who fought at the Battle of ferk he was a supporter of Wallace and played a significant role in the Scottish resistance against English rule with most of the Cavalry having retreated or otherwise wiped out by the English the Scottish archers were the next to fall the English Cavalry moved in for an initial approach on the Spearman but pulled back essentially trapped and cut off from reinforcements and protection the formations of the Spearman began to quickly fall apart the English archers took position and the Longbow rained down on the Spearman afterwards a final charge from the English Cavalry and the Spearman were decimated despite the Scottish having a strong defense position Edward the First's Army utilizing experience long bowman and Cavalry ultimately prevailed dealing a significant blow to the Scottish resistance the battle concluded shortly after it began the English lost and estimated 2,000 men from their force of approximately 15,000 the Scots lost about a third of their army losing 2,000 men from their significantly smaller Army of a reported 6,000 men Sir John deg Graham and Sir John Stewart were both killed at the Battle of ferk of the overall commanders who fought for Scotland at ferk Wallace is one of the very few to have survived the battle Wallace traveled North with other survivors laying waste to Sterling and Perth after raiding Perth St Andrews and airshire Edward restored Sterling but could not maintain an army there he returned to Carlile in England in September of 1298 3 months later with his military reputation destroyed Wallace set down as a guardian of Scotland in December of 12 98 the guardianship was then taken on by Robert the Bruce later King Robert I as for William Wallace some stories suggest he went to France for a brief time before returning to Scotland but there's not much about his activities after the Autumn of 1299 the Rebellion persisted until around 1304 when most of the Scottish Nobles gave in to Edward I Wallace was arrested and subsequently executed in August of 1305 the following year Robert the Bruce led the Scottish rebellion and eventually 1 Scotland's Independence