In the battle of the Standard, King David and his Scots Common army (DBA list 140, for MW, use the Conquest Period Pre-Feudal Scots list) attempted to smash the Anglo-Norman (DBA list 134) defenders of York, who rallied around the banners of St. Peter, St. John, and St. Wilfred.

The Historical Battle

In the summer of 1138 King David of Scotland assembled what is described by the chroniclers as "a formidable array" and invaded Northern England for the third time that year. The two previous incursions were easily turned back without a battle when King Stephen of England, grandson of William the Conqueror, marched north at the head of his own formidable army. This time, though, Stephen was tied up in the South trying to suppress one of the numerous baronial revolts that characterized his somewhat illegitimate reign (after the death of Henry I his daughter Matilda should have taken over but Stephen, Count of Boulogne at the time, rushed to England, marched to Canterbury, and secured a coronation that was never acknowledged by a large proportion of the kingdom's tenants, King David among them) and the Scots army proceeded to besiege Wark, augmented in strength by the defection of Eustace fitz John, an important Northern baron.

With the siege of Wark still in progress, the Scottish army moved southwards, crossed the Tyne and reached the borders of Yorkshire unopposed sometime in the middle of August. At this point action seems to have been taken by Archbishop Thurstan of York who summoned the military leaders of the area at a war council in York. There, Bernard de Balliol (an interestingly Scottish name) reached them at the head of a mounted contingent, the only reinforcements King Stephen could afford to dispatch. Heartened by that and by the words of the bishop, the English barons decided to act. They send for their contingents and the city militias of York, Beverley, and Ripon were mobilized; the latter marched under the banners of their patron saints St. Peter, St. John, and St. Wilfred, respectively, mounted on a wagon.

Nineteen miles north of York the English army paused at Thirsk were it received word of the Scottish advance. It was decided to intercept the enemy across the Great North Road at once and a night march must have commenced since the battle begun around 6 am on the morning of the 22nd. The armies, marching overnight through dense fog that lifted in early morning, met three miles north of Northallerton on The Great North Road.

To the right of the road there were two hillocks, the only terrain mentioned in the chronicles, and the English army occupied the southernmost of them and started to deploy. Who was in overall command is not clear but certain prominent Norman barons were present such as Count William of Aumale, Walter Espec, Roger de Mowbray, and Richard de Courcy. Every man was to fight on foot except a small mounted contingent positioned behind the lines to guard the horses of the dismounted men-at-arms. The first line was composed of archers while the dismounted knights formed the center with the militia to the flanks and behind them. The wagon with their holy standards was placed at the summit of the hill, doubtless in order to provide a rallying point for the troops, and was surrounded by the elite of dismounted knights.

The Scots started to deploy on the opposite hill. King David was forced to change his initial disposition (he was going to match the English line of battle) when the highlanders from Galloway insisted upon their ancient right to begin the battle against the enemy first in line. So adamant they must have been that the Scottish King, unwillingly, put them in the center of his formation. To the Picts' right there was Prince Henry (the king's son) in command of the mounted Scottish knights supported by men from Cumbria as well as by the majority of the archers. The left wing was composed by contingents from the Lowlands and Western Highlands while a tactical reserve commanded by the king himself (all on foot) was kept behind the Pictish warbands in the center.

The battle opened with a charge by the Highlanders who, accompanied by wild yells and screams, rushed uphill against the conglomeration of archers and dismounted knights. The archers in the front decimated the charging Galwegians while the knights met adequately the momentary penetration carried by the impetuous of the charge. Again and again the lightly armored highlanders charged home only to be met with the same fatal results.

At this point Prince Henry took the initiative (there is no evidence that he received an order) to charge against the English left. Outdistancing his infantry support he and his knights crashed into the militia, chopped their way through, and emerged diminished in number at the back of the English formation. Instead of turning on the backs of the English, they went forward apparently with the intention of pillaging the horses. After a brief skirmish with the mounted guard they had to withdraw throwing away their insignia and mingling with their opponents in order to get away. The gap they caused in the line was easily repaired by the English who threw back the infantry who tried to exploit it. The Scottish left then made a half-hearted charge, was beaten off and withdrew from the field.

At this point the so far idle King David ordered the reserve forward. Unwilling to press a lost cause and having witnessed the fate of the center and right, they turned back and left. Soon the king found himself surrounded by only the few English and Norman knights of his bodyguard. All they could do was to call for their horses and withdraw from the field. The Yorkshiremen made no attempt to pursue; they were obviously content to have repulsed the immediate threat to York and the rest of Yorkshire. The Scottish army disintegrated during the retreat; the remains gathered at Wark, pressed on the siege and finally took the castle in November despite the heroic defense of Walter Espec-the garrison was actually allowed to leave intact and join King Stephen in the South.

The Battle of the Standard presented a series of opportunities for the Scottish who failed to exploit them. If the reserve had been committed to action earlier maybe it would have saved the day; if Prince Henry had hit the English in the back maybe they would have collapsed. It also showed that wild charges against an orderly line of heavier troops don't pay off unless supported properly, which did not happen in this case.

Army Composition and Wargaming the Battle