The Battle of Bannockburn fought on 23–24 June 1314, was a victory of the army of King of Scots Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II of England in the First War of Scottish Independence. It was a major turning point in the war, which only officially ended 14 years later with the de jure restoration of Scottish independence under the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton; for this reason, Bannockburn is considered a landmark moment in Scottish history.
Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent was an English nobleman who served as Chief Justiciar of England and Ireland during the reigns of King John and of his son and successor King Henry III and, as a consequence, was one of the most influential and powerful men in English politics in the thirteenth century.
The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms in that members were liable for service anywhere in the country, rather than being limited to a single area or garrison. To establish a professional officer corps, the army's leaders were prohibited from having seats in either the House of Lords or House of Commons. This was to encourage their separation from the political or religious factions among the Parliamentarians.
The Battle of Falkirk, on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence. Led by King Edward I of England, the English army defeated the Scots, led by William Wallace. Shortly after the battle Wallace resigned as Guardian of Scotland.
Sir Roger Williams was a Welsh soldier of fortune and military theorist, who served the Protestant cause, fighting against the Spanish in several theatres of war. Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester said that as a soldier he was "worth his weight in gold". He was later a close associate of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and became a national hero because of his exploits fighting the Catholic League. He has been described as "an obstreperous, opinionated Welsh soldier" who was "Essex's devoted confederate and agent".
Edward Fiennes, or Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln KG was an English landowner, peer, and Lord High Admiral. He rendered valuable service to four of the Tudor monarchs.
Major-General Sir Robert Edward Laycock, was a senior British Army officer best known for his influential role in the establishment and command of British Commandos during the Second World War.
Ulick MacRichard Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde, 5th Earl of Clanricarde, 2nd Earl of St Albans, was an Anglo-Irish nobleman who was involved in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Catholic Royalist who had overall command of the Irish forces during the later stages of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, he was created Marquess of Clanricarde (1646).
Nunney Castle is a medieval castle at Nunney in the English county of Somerset. Built in the late 14th century by Sir John Delamare on the profits of his involvement in the Hundred Years War, the moated castle's architectural style, possibly influenced by the design of French castles, has provoked considerable academic debate. Remodelled during the late 16th century, Nunney Castle was damaged during the English Civil War and is now ruined.
General Sir Alexander John Godley, was a senior British Army officer. He is best known for his role as commander of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and II Anzac Corps during the First World War.
The siege of Reading was an eleven-day blockade of Reading, Berkshire, during the First English Civil War. Reading had been garrisoned by the Royalists in November 1642, and held 3,300 soldiers under the command of Sir Arthur Aston. On 14 April 1643, Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex brought a Parliamentarian army of 19,000 men to lay siege to the town, and began bombarding the town two days later.
Cornwall played a significant role in the English Civil War, being a Royalist enclave in the generally Parliamentarian south-west.
General Sir John Gordon Noel Wilton, was a senior commander in the Australian Army. He served as Chief of the General Staff (CGS), the Army's professional head, from 1963 until 1966, and as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CCOSC), forerunner of the role of Australia's Chief of the Defence Force, from 1966 until 1970. His eight-year tenure as senior officer of first the Army and then the Australian military spanned almost the entire period of the nation's involvement in the Vietnam War.
General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing, nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front during World War I, from 1917 to 1918. In addition to leading the AEF to victory in World War I, Pershing notably served as a mentor to many in the generation of generals who led the United States Army during World War II, including George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Lesley J. McNair, George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur.
The Battle of Pontvallain, part of the Hundred Years' War, took place in the Sarthe region of north-west France on 4 December 1370, when a French army under Bertrand du Guesclin heavily defeated an English force which had broken away from an army commanded by Sir Robert Knolles. The French numbered 5,200 men, and the English force was approximately the same size.
Sir Ronald Craufurd Ferguson, was a Scottish officer in the British Army and a Member of Parliament for the constituencies of Dysart Burghs and for Nottingham.
The siege of Sluis of 1587 took place between 12 June and 4 August 1587, as part of the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604). Its capture by the Spanish formed a significant advance towards the Enterprise of England.
The siege of Steenwijk was a siege that took place between 30 May and 5 July 1592 as part of the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War by a Dutch and English force under Maurice of Orange. By taking Steenwijk the Republic's army would take out one of the two main transport routes overland to the Drenthe capital of Groningen, the other lay at Coevorden. After a failed bombardment, an assault was made in conjunction with the detonation of mines under important bastions, and with two out of three successfully assaulted, the Spanish troops surrendered on 5 July 1592 and handed over the city to the Dutch and English army. This siege was one of the first in history to make use of pioneers as a separate military unit although they were still at the time regarded as soldiers.
The siege of Grave was a siege that took place between 18 July to 20 September 1602, as part of the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War. The Spanish-held city of Grave was besieged by a Dutch and English army led by Maurice of Orange and Francis Vere respectively. After a siege of nearly two months the city surrendered when a Spanish relief army under Francisco de Mendoza was defeated just outside the city by the besiegers. The defeat was severe enough to cause a major mutiny in the Spanish army.
The Laggan Army, sometimes referred to as the Lagan Army, was a militia formed by Protestant settlers in the fertile Laggan district in the east of County Donegal in Ulster, during the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
