Editor's Note: This piece was originally published last year to mark the one-year anniversary of September 11th. We're re-publishing the piece on September 11th's two-year anniversary to once again mark the occasion.

September 11 - This Day in History

Last year's terrorist attack has left the date September 11 as the most recent to be considered one that will "live in infamy," as President Roosevelt once described December 7, 1941. Time and future events will decide whether or not the date becomes one of those details memorized by school children as a defining moment of history (let's hope it isn't eclipsed anytime soon by an even more horrific event). While our time machine is in the shop for repairs, let's take a look at some of the other events that have withstood the test of time and have been remembered by history as having occurred on the date of September 11.

As we are primarily a gaming publication (albeit one with a close affinity for history), we have chosen to illustrate the events discussed in this article using recent games that pay homage to these events.

Special thanks to Jeff Lapkoff of ISI Games, John Tiller of HPS Simulations, and Mark Kirby of The Wargamer for contributing to this article.

Battle of Sterling Bridge

Once peace was made with Edward I and the English began to occupy Scotland, rebellion was not long in coming.

The Scottish Wars of Independence had thus far been marked by periodic raids on weakly held English assets. In the late summer of 1297, a French invasion of Flanders drew a personal response from the English King Edward. By early September, it was decided that the situation in Scotland be left to Earl Warenne, and the King's treasurer, Hugh Cressingham. Warenne then ordered the army from Berwick to Stirling Castle near the River Forth.

The Scottish rebels mustered an army to contest the English advance. William Wallace raised a group at Selkirk, while Andrew Murray (aka de Moray) did likewise at Avoch. This "army" was largely comprised of untrained foot soldiers bearing spears, while Cressingham's advance guard boasted 300 mounted men-at-arms in addition to as many as 10,000 infantry.

The English had reportedly begun crossing the bridge over the Forth on the morning of the 11th, but withdrew when it was discovered Warenne had not yet got out of bed that morning. If this is true, the failure to secure the bridgehead when the opportunity arose would prove to be a fatal mistake.

In any event, presumably with a wide-awake Warenne in the command tent, Cressingham began leading his knights forward. When half of the English forces had crossed the bridge, Wallace charged down from Abbey Craig, a mountainous formation behind the marshy lowlands. The English Knights were bogged down in the marsh and couldn't coordinate charges. Stirling Bridge became clogged as broken English units tried in vain to flee for safety. The English were slaughtered in great number as Wallace was declared "The Guardian of Scotland".

Wallace followed up the victory by seizing lightly guarded baggage trains and taking Stirling Castle. It is thought that an opportunity existed for him to pursue and destroy the English army, but Wallace was hesitant to act without the consent of the Scottish nobility, who in turn was reluctant to give the low-born Wallace such authority. Warenne would lick his wounds, awaiting Edward's appearance to personally put an end to the Scottish revolt. Andrew Murray, who led his troops from the front ranks, was fatally injured at the Battle of Stirling Bridge and died of his wounds about a month later.

The Battle of Stirling Bridge was played out cinematically in the movie Braveheart.

For more information on the Battle of Stirling Bridge, visit the Scottish History web site.