Wallace avenged his wife's death and began the first movements to oppose the English. Wallace attacked several English outposts, using guerrilla warfare which greatly lowered the morale of English troops and made Edward nervous about his grasp over Scotland. Wallace then won a surprising victory over the English army at Stirling Bridge. Soon after this however Wallace was defeated and forced to go into hiding. In 1305 Wallace was executed for treason against England and now Robert the Bruce, who had been waiting for the right time made his bid for the crown of Scotland, came forward and declared himself King of Scotland.
King Edward sent a huge English army to quell the uprising in Scotland. He beat Bruce in a major battle which sent the Scottish King on the run. For the next year the English army ravaged Scotland, once again murdering, raping and pillaging the Scottish people. Two of Bruce's brothers were killed during this time, and now Scotland was in dire need for a king to rise up and stop the English terror. Robert the Bruce had once again played it smart and waited until the right time to come out of hiding. He led Scottish revolutionaries to a decisive victory against English occupying troops at which point King Edward decided to come to Scotland himself to set things straight. However the English King was dying and never made it to Scotland. This was a key turning point in the fight for Scottish freedom. King Edward's son, Edward II, was a much weaker ruler than his father. Bruce won battle after battle and drove the English from Scotland. Seeing that England's grasp over Scotland was nearly gone, Edward II brought together a huge army and invaded Scotland. Although the English vastly outnumbered Robert the Bruce's army, Bruce, along with his lieutenant, Sir James Douglas, were brilliant military strategists. Using guerrilla tactics the Scottish won the most important battle of the war for Scottish independence at Bannockburn.