Hotspur and Douglas, however, rejected the offer.
The trumpets then blew on either side, and the armies joined battle.
Their numbers were about equal.

Each consisted of some fourteen thousand men.

Douglas and Hotspur had taken their place in the centre of their line, having behind them a party of their best knights.

These charged with fury down upon the king's standard, which stood in the centre of his array.

Hotspur and Douglas, his former rival, were accounted two of the best knights in Christendom, and the fury of their charge was irresistible.