"Scottish Command at Shrewsbury 1403?" Topic

A favourite of mine.

I recently watched a Battle of Shrewsbury 1403 game where the Percy force was divided up into three battles and one of them, the Van, was commanded by the Scot Earl of Douglas.

Douglas had been captured the year before during the Scots defeat at Homilton Hill. Surely, a captured Scots prisoner would NOT have commanded an English contingent?

The game player did say he would check his facts for me but I have yet to hear from him?

Your thoughts, knowledge or opinions, please.

Douglas certainly fought for his captor Percy at Shrewsbury, but I don't recall hearing anything about his commanding a battle. According to link "The rebel centre was commanded by Hotspur, and it is safe to assume that the Earl of Worcester headed one of the wings. The other was probably led by one of the more experienced Cheshire gentry, possibly Sir Hugh Browe."

Not in command of a battle, but certainly fought there – as Percy's 'guest' it would have been rude not to.

If we don't know who the commander of "one of the wings" was, and even the commander of the other is not positively stated in the original sources, then Douglas is a possibility along with any other suggestion. Anytime we have to say "probably" we are only guessing. The "story" is more interesting if Douglas gets the command….