Wallace, William
William (1274-1305), a Scottish patriot. While he may be regarded as a historical character, one of a line of men who resisted the attempts of England to conquer Scotland, the exact facts of his life are not known. No doubt fancy and fiction have invested him with the halo usually surrounding a popular hero. So far as accounts go, Wallace was a daring leader, carrying on a species of partisan warfare like that waged by Sumter and Marion during the war of the American Revolution. He incurred mortal enmity not only for his daring, but by the murder of English dignitaries and the trouble he caused others. On one occasion he dashed into Scone and put the English court of justice to flight. At another time, at Glasgow, he routed out the English bishop of Durham who had been sent north to reorganize the Scottish church.
Among the adherents of Wallace was the great border family of Douglass. So many Scottish fortresses were recovered from the English that an army under Sir Henry Percy, the Hotspur of history, was sent north to suppress Wallace. Wallace was engaged in the siege of the Castle of Dundee, but retired and took his position in front of Stirling. Here he disposed his troops skillfully in a loop of the Forth. Percy's forces were crossing the river by a narrow bridge. When Wallace deemed that as many had crossed as he could handle easily, he threw a strong detachment forward to hold the bridge while he fell upon the advanced division. The Scottish victory was complete. The English fled in dismay. The date of this battle is given as September 11, 1297.
The following year King Edward invaded Scotland at the head of a force of 7,000 men-at-arms and 80,000 bowmen. Wallace defended himself bravely, but was defeated at Falkirk July 22, 1298. He became a fugitive and later, through English gold, was betrayed basely to the English governor of Dumbarton Castle. He was conveyed to London and tried at Westminster on a charge of treason and rebellion. He was executed in the Tower and was buried there. His two-handed sword is kept at Dumbarton Castle. The most interesting juvenile account of his exploits may be found in Jane Porter's Scottish Chiefs.