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Wallace was first mentioned in 1297, when he was classed as an
outlaw. Wallace was the second son of a knight and he did not come
from nobility. In 1297 Wallace fought with some English soldiers
at Lanark, and although he escaped his wife was murdered by the
English. William got his revenge by returning to Lanark and killing
the English sheriff, Hazelrigg. He then went on to organise a group
of men who would then attack King Edward's men at any chance they
could.
Wallace's successes led to the nobles supporting him, but in June
1297 these nobles met an English army at Irvine and asked for peace
instead of fighting. After this King Edward thought that there would
be no more trouble and sailed for France. This move would undoubtedly
help Wallace in his future battles with the English.
In July of that year Wallace attacked Edward's chief judge in Scotland,
William Ormsby. This attack led to more men joining Wallace's army
and in August Wallace and Andrew Moray decided to attack Dundee.
 King
Edward had left the running of Scotland to Hugh Cressingham. He
was extremely unpopular with the Scots and was finding it very difficult
raising money. So in September he gathered an army and moved towards
Stirling. When Wallace and Moray heard of this attack they went
there to stop him. Their army only had a few knights and did not
have as much battle experience as the English who were led by the
Early of Surrey and Cressingham and they expected to beat the Scots
easily. The battle would take place at Stirling Bridge which itself
was very narrow, with the Scots at the North on the high ground
and the English in the South. The English could have walked a few
more miles and crossed the ford in the river, but Cressingham ordered
his army to cross the bridge. Of course it was going to take a while
for the English army to cross the narrow bridge, so the Scots waited
until a decent amount had crossed then attacked. Wallaces plan to
cut the army in two had worked. The English on the southside could
only watch the massacre. Cressingham was one of the casualties,
but there were some English survivors. The Early of Sussex fled
back over the border. When the Scots found Cressingham they removed
his skin and made it into souvenirs!
Andrew Moray was wounded in battle and died shortly afterwards.
Wallace was made into a knight, so became Sir William Wallace and
became the first Guardian of Scotland since the Scots met King Edward
at Norham. Wallace then went on to make sure a Scotsman was chosen
to be Bishop. He also started the trade with Europe up again.
Once Edward returned from France he organised an army and in July
1299 the Scots and the English faced each other again at Falkirk.
But unfortunately the Scots lost this battle. This led to Wallace
resigning as guardian of Scotland.
William Wallace was not captured until 3 August 1305 when he was
taken to London and accused of being a traitor. But Wallace claimed
that Edward was not his King and did not promise to obey him. He
was eventually hung, drawn and quartered and his body was torn apart
and placed in various parts of Britain as a warning to others.
In conclusion, William Wallace fought for Scotland's freedom, so
he was a freedom fight. But to England he was a terrorist.
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