A skirmish near Coldstream in 1316 in which Scottish forces under James Douglas repelled an English raiding party, tightening the siege of Berwick.
Key Facts
- Date
- February 1316
- English raiding party size
- Approximately 80 men
- English commander
- Edmond Caillou, Gascon knight
- Scottish commander
- Sir James Douglas
- Outcome for Caillou
- Killed in action
- Berwick captured
- April 1318, by Douglas and Thomas Randolph
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Scottish reconquest of territory surrounding Berwick upon Tweed had cut off English supply lines to the garrison, which faced starvation. To relieve this pressure, the English commander Edmond Caillou led roughly 80 men out of Berwick to raid Teviotdale for cattle and provisions.
Sir James Douglas, informed that the English raiding party was smaller than it proved to be, moved to intercept it near Coldstream on the Anglo-Scottish border. In the ensuing skirmish, Douglas's forces defeated the English raiders and killed Caillou. Douglas later described it as the hardest fight of his career.
The defeat of the raiding party deepened the isolation of the Berwick garrison and reinforced Scottish dominance of the surrounding region. This pressure contributed to the eventual fall of Berwick, which was captured by Douglas and Thomas Randolph in April 1318, a significant gain for Scotland in the First War of Independence.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Sir James Douglas.
Side B
1 belligerent
Edmond Caillou.