Battle of Northampton 1460

Battle of Northampton as depicted by Matthew Ryan

After nine months in exile, Yorkist commanders Earl of Warwick and Edward, Earl of March, led their forces to victory in the Battle of Northampton on 10 July 1460.

 BACKGROUND

After fleeing the Battle of Ludford Bridge, Yorkist commanders Duke of York, Earl of Salisbury and Earl of Warwick were able to consolidate in exile despite having their lands and titles forfeited in an act of attainder. 

The Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Earl of Rutland, was able to learn more about his office when he accompanied his father, Duke of York, to Ireland. The Irish welcomed York and he peacefully received Warwick in March 1460 in order to plan their return to England.

Warwick had enjoyed exile in Calais and was accompanied by his father, Earl of Salisbury, and York's eldest son Edward, Earl of March. Henry VI had previously replaced Warwick as Captain of Calais with Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, but Calais rallied behind Warwick and denied Somerset entry into the city. 

Somerset eventually made landfall at Guisnes and appointed Andrew Trollope the town's bailiff. This appointment was mainly due to Trollope's knowledge of the area before he betrayed Warwick at Ludford. Somerset had several skirmishes with Warwick's men but his presence in France was more of an irritant than a threat to Warwick.

Warwick still had a ship moored at a dock in Sandwich on the English south coast and Margaret of Anjou sent the husband of long-time friend, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, to commandeer the vessel. Richard Woodville, who was now Earl Rivers, and his son, Anthony, arrived at Sandwich but were later taken prisoner by Warwick's men and taken across the English Channel to answer to Warwick. Warwick, Salisbury and March each ridiculed their captives, with Warwick berating Earl Rivers for being a son of a squire who had married himself into the nobility to become a lord.  

Sandwich was to be the location of the return of Warwick, Salisbury and March to England on 26 June 1460. The three commanders gathered support in the south-east and Salisbury stayed behind to garrison the Tower of London. Warwick and March marched further north and their forces of 10,000 men met the royal forces at Northampton. 

BATTLE

Northampton battlefield map

The royal forces took up a defensive position in the grounds of Delapré Abbey behind a water-filled ditch topped with spikes, and in front of the River Nene near Northampton. 

Warwick had previously sent three emissaries to present the Yorkist grievances to the king but were denied by Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Buckingham sent word back that "The Earl of Warwick shall not come to the King's presence and if he comes he shall die." Upon arriving at Northampton, Warwick replied to Buckingham with the message that "at 2 o'clock I will speak with the King or I will die."

Warwick's army was twice the size of the Lancastrians and the Yorkists advanced at 2 o'clock into hard wind and rain. They were met with a fierce hail of Lancastrian arrows but the rain had made the royal artillery near useless. March took the vanguard up to the ditch guarding the Lancastrian right flank and his men were pleased to see Lord Grey of Ruthin offer a helping hand over the defences. 

Ruthin had personal gain from his treachery as March had previously agreed to support Lord Grey in a land dispute with Lord Fanhope.  The battle lasted just half an hour once the Yorkists were behind the Lancastrian front lines as the royal troops fled the king's defence. Henry VI had remained in his tent behind the frontline and his four lieutenants of Buckingham, Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Egremont and Lord Beaumont, all died trying to stop the Yorkist approach to the royal tent.

A victorious Warwick kneels to Henry VI as depicted by Graham Turner

WIth the death of the despised royal councillors, Warwick and March respectfully greeted Henry VI, swore their loyalty to the crown and escorted the king to London. 

York now readied a return to England to claim the English throne for himself.

Battle of Wakefield 1460

The Battle of Wakefield, on December 30 1460, was a pivotal clash in the Wars of the Roses that resulted in the deaths of key Yorkist commanders and serves as the opening for Loyalty Binds Me.

BACKGROUND

Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, family patriarch and Lord Protector of England, moved north from London on December 9th 1460 to counter the growing Lancastrian forces. York was joined by his son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, and his brother-in-law, Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury. London was guarded by Salisbury's son, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and York's eldest son, Edward, Earl of March, was dispatched to Wales to quell Lancastrian support.

York's progress north was slowed by widespread flooding and this allowed the Lancastrians forces to grow in the north. The northern Lancastrian army were led by Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, Lord John Clifford and Lord Thomas Ros. Reinforcements came from the West Country with men commanded by Henry Beauford, Duke of Somerset, and Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon, to amass an army of over 15,000 men gathered around Kingston-upon-Hull. A substantial amount encamped at Pontefract and began pillaging York's and Salisbury's nearby estates. Northumberland, Clifford and Somerset were ready to exact revenge on those who had killed their fathers five years previously at the First Battle of St. Albans.

York's force of 8,000 men arrived in Wakefield on 21 December after earlier skirmishes in Nottinghamshire. The gates of Wakefield were closed to York and he took residence nearby at Sandal Castle. The Lancastrian army encircled the castle and a Christmas truce was agreed upon with a battle commencing on the Feast of Epiphany, January 6. York sent word to his son in Wales to bring reinforcements, whilst his men at Sandal Castle grew hungry after depleting their provisions over Christmas. York decided to send out a foraging party on December 30 to get more provisions but they never returned.  

BATTLE

York took his men down from Sandal Castle later that day and were soon ambushed on Wakefield Green. As York engaged the Lancastrians to his front, others attacked him from the flank and rear, cutting him off from the castle and the scene was later described by Edward Hall “like a fish in a net, or a deer in a buckstall; so that he manfully fighting was within half an hour slain and dead, and his whole army discomforted."

Ruins of Sandal Castle

York's army was surrounded and destroyed with the dead numbering 2,500 Yorkist and 200 Lancastrians. York was killed in the battle but instructed his son to flee to Wales before dying. Rutland was soon captured and killed on Wakefield Bridge. Clifford cried out “By God’s blood, thy father slew mine and so will I do thee and thy kin” as he stabbed Rutland to death.

Salisbury, whose son Sir Thomas Neville died in battle, escaped the battlefield but was captured during the night, and was taken to the Lancastrian camp. Although the Lancastrian nobles had been prepared for Salisbury to ransom himself, he was dragged out of Pontefract Castle and beheaded by local commoners who felt animosity towards their former harsh overlord.

The heads of York, Rutland and Salisbury were later put on spikes on Micklegate Bar, the western gate into the city of York. The Duke of York was ridiculed with a a paper crown on his head and a sign around his spike that stated "Let York overlook the town of York."

Wakefield brought the end of York's claim to the throne but this was quickly taken up by his son, and future King, Edward VI. Wakefield set a grisly precedent in that after every following battle in the Wars of the Roses, the victorious side would eliminate any opposing leaders, making the struggle more bitter and revenge driven.