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Moray defeated the English forces. An English army of 3,000 cavalry and 8,000 to 10,000 infantry met with disaster as they crossed to the north side of the river. The narrowness of the bridge prevented many soldiers from crossing together (possibly as few as three men abreast), so while the English soldiers crossed, the Scots held back until half of them had passed and then killed the English as quickly as they could cross. The infantry were sent on first, followed by heavy cavalry, but the Scottish fighters managed to force the infantry back into the advancing cavalry. In the general confusion, the bridge collapsed, sending armored knights and numerous English soldiers to drown in the river below. Led by Wallace and Moray, the latter suffering lethal wounds from this battle, the Scots won a significant victory, which boosted the confidence of their army. Following this victory, Scottish cavalry completed the action by running the English out of Scotland. Upon his return from the battle, Wallace was knighted and named Guardian of Scotland and Leader of its Armies.
In the 6 months following the Stirling Bridge battle, Wallace led a raid on northern England. His intent was to transfer the warfare to English soil and to demonstrate to Edward that Scotland had the power to inflict the same sort of damage south of the border.
A year later, the English invaded Scotland, regaining some castles they had lost, but they failed to bring Wallace to combat. The Scots adopted a scorched-earth policy in their own country, and the English quartermasters’ failure to prepare for the expedition left morale low and food scarce. Weakened by the Scottish tactics, the English were ready to retire, and Wallace was organizing a surprise attack in which he was planning to finally beat the invaders. However, Scottish aristocrats who knew about the plans conveyed them to the enemy, and Wallace was immediately forced into an open confrontation between the two armies at Falkirk.
Although caught by surprise, Wallace arranged his spearmen in circular hedgehog formations surrounded by a defensive wall of wooden stakes. However, the Scots were not only heavily outnumbered but also lost out in terms of strategy because they were up against the Welsh longbowmen employed by the English. The English attacked with