Battle of Humbleton Hill

Battle of Homildon Hill
Date 14 September 1402 Location Wooler, Northumberland, England Result Decisive English victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Scotland	Kingdom of England
Commanders and leaders
Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas	Earl of Northumberland Henry 'Hotspur' Percy Earl of Dunbar & March
Strength
10,000	15,000-20,000
Casualties and losses
Very high	Somewhat low

The Battle of Homildon Hill was a conflict between English and Scottish armies on 14 September 1402 in Northumberland, England. The battle was recounted in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, part 1. Although Humbleton Hill is the modern name of the site, over the centuries it has been variously named Homildon, Hameldun, Holmedon, and Homilheugh.

During the time leading to the repudiation of the Truce of Leulinghem, both Kingdoms began to raid the other. On 22 June 1402, a small force backed by the Scots government, returning from one such raid, was beaten by George Dunbar, the Earl of March's son, at the Battle of Nesbit Moor, at which no quarter was given.

Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, arguably the most militarily powerful man in Scotland, and a key part of the Duke of Albany's administration, used the pretext of Nisbet Muir to lead a punitive expedition into England. With Murdoch of Fife, Albany's son, Douglas's army marched as far as Newcastle to avenge the battle. At the head of 10,000 men, he laid waste to the whole of Northumberland.

March persuaded Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, and his son Harry "Hotspur" to lie in wait for the returning Scots at Wooler. Once Douglas's men had made camp at Milfield, relatively low ground, the English army rushed to attack. The Scots did however have keen sentries and the army was able to retreat to the higher ground of Homildon hill, and organised into traditional Schiltron formations. Douglas had not learnt the lessons that had defeated his great uncle at the Battle of Halidon Hill seventy years previously. The Schiltrons presented a large target for the English Longbowmen, and the formations started to break. A hundred men, under Sir John Swinton of the Swintons of that Ilk, chose to charge the enemy saying: "Better to die in the mellay than be shot down like deer". All perished. It has been suggested that Douglas hesitated to signal the advance of his main force, and when he did, it was too little too late. Douglas's mauled army met the as yet unbloodied English men at arms, and were routed. Many of Douglas's leading captains were captured, including his kinsman George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus, Thomas Dunbar, 5th Earl of Moray and Murdoch of Fife. Douglas himself was captured having been wounded five times, including the loss of an eye. This wounding was despite the fact that it is alleged Douglas' armour had taken three years in its construction.

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