Battle of Langside

Part of Civil war between Queen Mary and Regent Moray

Monument erected to commemorate the Battle of Langside

Date	13 May 1568
Location	Langside south of Glasgow
Result	Decisive Regent Moray victory

Belligerents

Regent Moray

Mary, Queen of Scots

Commanders and leaders

Regent Moray
William Kirkaldy of Grange

Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll

Strength

about 4,000

about 6,000

Casualties and losses

unknown

about 300

The Battle of Langside, fought on 13 May 1568, was one of the more unusual contests in Scottish history, bearing a superficial resemblance to a grand family quarrel, in which a woman fought her brother who was defending the rights of her infant son. In 1567 Mary, Queen of Scots' short period of personal rule ended in recrimination, intrigue and disaster when, after her capture at Carberry Hill, she was forced to abdicate in favour of James VI, her infant son. Mary was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle, while her Protestant half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray was appointed Regent on behalf of his nephew. In early May 1568 Mary escaped, heading west to the country of the Hamiltons, high among her remaining supporters, and the safety of Dumbarton Castle with the determination to restore her rights as queen. Mary was defeated and went into exile and captivity in England. The battle can be regarded as the start of the Marian civil war.

Mary's abdication had not been universally popular, even among sections of the Protestant nobility, and news of her escape were widely welcomed. With an escort of fifty horse led by Lord Claud Hamilton she arrived in Lanarkshire, soon to be joined by a wide cross-section of the nobility, including the Earls of Argyll, Cassillis, Rothes and Eglinton, the Lords Sommerville, Yester, Livingston, Herries, Fleming, Ross, numerous of the feudal barons and their followers. Within a few days Mary had managed to gather a respectable force of some 6000 men.

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Wikipedia