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FROM WAKEFIELD AND TOWTON: WAR OF THE ROSES
Richard III has come to be the most famous figure to emerge from Britain's War of the Roses, largely due to the play by William Shakespeare, but this 30-year conflict (1455-1485) had a large cast of heroes and villains, and saw the biggest and fiercest battles ever fought on English soil. This new book in the format of the popular Battleground Europe series concentrates on two major battles fought during the pivotal years of 1460 and 1461. As 1460 drew to a close, Edward, Duke of York (white roses) was in open revolt against the Lancastrian (red roses) king, Henry VI. A superior Lancastrian force ambushed Edward and killed him and many of his men; Edward's head was subsequently displayed over the main gate of his own city of York.
Thirsting for revenge, the Duke's son, also named Edward (who later reigned as Edward IV), gathered a force and sought out the Lancastrian host. On March 29, 1461 the two armies collided in a blinding snowstorm near the town of Wakefield in what was to be the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. The prevailing wind blew in the faces of the Lancastrian archers and the Yorkists were triumphant after a six-hour battle. As was often the case during the War of the Roses, the defeated army was mercilessly pursued and prominent leaders were executed when captured. This heavily illustrated account uses the Battleground Europe format to describe in detail these historic parts of Britain both then and now, an approach particularly important for medieval battles which must be more painstakingly reconstructed than more modern ones. Those seeking background material on Shakespeare's four plays on Henry VI and Richard III will also find this book useful.
Thirsting for revenge, the Duke's son, also named Edward (who later reigned as Edward IV), gathered a force and sought out the Lancastrian host. On March 29, 1461 the two armies collided in a blinding snowstorm near the town of Wakefield in what was to be the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. The prevailing wind blew in the faces of the Lancastrian archers and the Yorkists were triumphant after a six-hour battle. As was often the case during the War of the Roses, the defeated army was mercilessly pursued and prominent leaders were executed when captured. This heavily illustrated account uses the Battleground Europe format to describe in detail these historic parts of Britain both then and now, an approach particularly important for medieval battles which must be more painstakingly reconstructed than more modern ones. Those seeking background material on Shakespeare's four plays on Henry VI and Richard III will also find this book useful.
160 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2001
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May 5, 2021
From Wakefield to Towton by Philip A Haigh
Reviewed April 22, 2021
I’ve been working my way through various books about the battles and campaigns of the Wars of the Roses because when it comes to understanding medieval military matters, I’m more or less a newbie. Ask me about the Chickamauga or Gettysburg campaigns of the American Civil War and I’m much more at home, probably because I spent more than twenty years involved with a local Civil War Roundtable. That means that my approach to books like this is not that of an expert, but of an interested novice, so if I get something wrong I hope you’ll excuse my mistakes and gently correct me.
The first half of From Wakefield to Towton, which covers the Wakefield campaign, is taken mostly from Haigh’s 1996 book, The Battle of Wakefield: 1460. For that reason, you could call this the Reader’s Digest condensed version. All the important information is there, but if you want even more details about the people and events involved in Wakefield, you might want to check out the other book. To read my review for The Battle of Wakefield: 1460, use this link:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chapter 1 is “Origins of the Wars of the Roses” – a brief introduction that is helpful for the general reader, and makes a good refresher for the more knowledgeable one. Although the traditional view of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, is that of a man whose ambition drove him to rebel against King Henry VI, it was actually Queen Margaret (a "manipulative woman married to a weak king") who, according to the author, was “the main fomenter of the Lancastrian resurgence, and it was she, in Henry’s name, who instigated the removal of all Yorkist supporters from offices of state which had been given to them by the Duke of York in his time as protector of the realm.”
Chapter 2 covers “The 1460 Campaign”, describing events and movements that led up to the Battle of Wakefield.
Chapter 3 is “The Battle of Wakefield” itself, in which we learn among other things that contrary to later stories about being captured and abused before being killed execution style, the Duke of York died on the field of battle, his back to a clump of willow trees (for protection), facing his enemies.
Chapter 4, “The 1461 Campaign”, takes us from Wakefield to the 2nd Battle of St Albans. At this point, the Lancastrian army was feeling pretty good, having gotten the Duke of York out of the picture, and inflicting crushing defeats on the remaining Yorkist leaders, but failed to take into account Duke Richard’s oldest son, Edward, Earl of March. And this is when Margaret of Anjou does probably one of the stupidest things possible. She lets her army run wild, raping and pillaging. The “Lancastrian commanders – who were short of funds – allowed the mercenaries amongst their rank, a free hand as they passed through any town south of the Trent river.”
“This ‘permission to pillage’” writes Haigh, “was to severely damage what little favourable public opinion the Lancastrians held with the population south of the River Trent, and was to bring massive destruction to most of the towns along the ‘Great North Road’, particularly those which were known to be supportive to the Yorkist cause, Grantham, Stamford, Peterborough, Huntingdon, Melbourn and Royston suffered particularly due to their strong Yorkist loyalties and connections, as the Lancastrian army slowly marched nearer to London.”
It also drove many people who may have been ambivalent as to whom to support straight to the Yorkist side.
And now, Edward of March enters the picture. He had only recently learned of his father’s defeat and death at Wakefield, and was flush with victory having commanded an army that won the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross. He was also quite different from his father in that, unlike, Richard Duke of York, Edward was no longer prepared to keep faith with his enemies – his father’s killers – or the king. Too many times his father had taken the king at his word, only to be lied to and betrayed. Edward was not about to play that game.
Chapter 5 brings us to the lesser known Battle of Ferrybridge. The Battle of Ferrybridge took place on March 28, 1461, and was a major engagement in its own right with more casualties than there were in the Battle of Wakefield. As the name might suggest, the fighting centered on protecting or destroying (depending which side you were on) a bridge crossing the Aire River.
Because it took place the day before the much larger Battle of Towton, it is often overlooked or quickly glossed over, yet it is important as what happened at Ferrybridge affected what took place the next day, placement of both armies, etc. In this way, it reminds me of the Battle of South Mountain in the American Civil War, and here’s where my many years of studying the American Civil War comes into play.
Both Ferrybridge and South Mountain are often overlooked because they took place so close to another, bigger battle. With South Mountain that would be the Battle of Antietam; with Ferrybridge, it was Towton. Both engagements impacted how those other battles would be fought, affecting troop movements and placement of armies. It is also an interesting coincidence that in terms of casualties, the Battle of Towton is considered bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil, while the Battle of Antietam is the bloodiest one-day battle fought on American soil. Haigh writes,“History is riddled with significant moments, and the Towton campaign has a number of its own,” something else Antietam has in common with Towton.
The Battle of Towton proper is covered in Chapter 6. Here the fighting was hand-to-hand…and vicious. Back and forth the lines went, truly the ebb and flow of battle. The fighting went on for hours, with the Yorkist force being inexorably pushed back as the superior numbers in the Lancastrian army began taking its effect. Towton might have easily been a Lancastrian victory if not for the timely arrival of the Duke of Norfolk’s army. The arrival of fresh troops boosted the sagging Yorkist morale, allowing them to begin pushing back.
In the end, Towton was a decisive Yorkist victory, the battle that put Edward, Earl of March, on the throne as King Edward IV.
Chapter 7 provides the reader with directions for exploring the battlefields of Wakefield, Ferrybridge, and Towton. Although some changes have likely taken place since this book was written, thanks to continued development of these areas, I’ve been told (since I haven’t been able to visit myself) that the directions are detailed enough that they can still be easily followed.
After the tours are sections on chapter notes, sources and references, appendices about the burial of Richard, Duke of York, and recruiting during the Wars of the Roses, as well as museums and societies interested persons might want to check out.
All in all, From Wakefield to Towton gives a thorough description of those eventful months from later 1460 thru the spring of 1461 that does not bog down, even for the novice reader.
Reviewed April 22, 2021
I’ve been working my way through various books about the battles and campaigns of the Wars of the Roses because when it comes to understanding medieval military matters, I’m more or less a newbie. Ask me about the Chickamauga or Gettysburg campaigns of the American Civil War and I’m much more at home, probably because I spent more than twenty years involved with a local Civil War Roundtable. That means that my approach to books like this is not that of an expert, but of an interested novice, so if I get something wrong I hope you’ll excuse my mistakes and gently correct me.
The first half of From Wakefield to Towton, which covers the Wakefield campaign, is taken mostly from Haigh’s 1996 book, The Battle of Wakefield: 1460. For that reason, you could call this the Reader’s Digest condensed version. All the important information is there, but if you want even more details about the people and events involved in Wakefield, you might want to check out the other book. To read my review for The Battle of Wakefield: 1460, use this link:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chapter 1 is “Origins of the Wars of the Roses” – a brief introduction that is helpful for the general reader, and makes a good refresher for the more knowledgeable one. Although the traditional view of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, is that of a man whose ambition drove him to rebel against King Henry VI, it was actually Queen Margaret (a "manipulative woman married to a weak king") who, according to the author, was “the main fomenter of the Lancastrian resurgence, and it was she, in Henry’s name, who instigated the removal of all Yorkist supporters from offices of state which had been given to them by the Duke of York in his time as protector of the realm.”
Chapter 2 covers “The 1460 Campaign”, describing events and movements that led up to the Battle of Wakefield.
Chapter 3 is “The Battle of Wakefield” itself, in which we learn among other things that contrary to later stories about being captured and abused before being killed execution style, the Duke of York died on the field of battle, his back to a clump of willow trees (for protection), facing his enemies.
Chapter 4, “The 1461 Campaign”, takes us from Wakefield to the 2nd Battle of St Albans. At this point, the Lancastrian army was feeling pretty good, having gotten the Duke of York out of the picture, and inflicting crushing defeats on the remaining Yorkist leaders, but failed to take into account Duke Richard’s oldest son, Edward, Earl of March. And this is when Margaret of Anjou does probably one of the stupidest things possible. She lets her army run wild, raping and pillaging. The “Lancastrian commanders – who were short of funds – allowed the mercenaries amongst their rank, a free hand as they passed through any town south of the Trent river.”
“This ‘permission to pillage’” writes Haigh, “was to severely damage what little favourable public opinion the Lancastrians held with the population south of the River Trent, and was to bring massive destruction to most of the towns along the ‘Great North Road’, particularly those which were known to be supportive to the Yorkist cause, Grantham, Stamford, Peterborough, Huntingdon, Melbourn and Royston suffered particularly due to their strong Yorkist loyalties and connections, as the Lancastrian army slowly marched nearer to London.”
It also drove many people who may have been ambivalent as to whom to support straight to the Yorkist side.
And now, Edward of March enters the picture. He had only recently learned of his father’s defeat and death at Wakefield, and was flush with victory having commanded an army that won the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross. He was also quite different from his father in that, unlike, Richard Duke of York, Edward was no longer prepared to keep faith with his enemies – his father’s killers – or the king. Too many times his father had taken the king at his word, only to be lied to and betrayed. Edward was not about to play that game.
Chapter 5 brings us to the lesser known Battle of Ferrybridge. The Battle of Ferrybridge took place on March 28, 1461, and was a major engagement in its own right with more casualties than there were in the Battle of Wakefield. As the name might suggest, the fighting centered on protecting or destroying (depending which side you were on) a bridge crossing the Aire River.
Because it took place the day before the much larger Battle of Towton, it is often overlooked or quickly glossed over, yet it is important as what happened at Ferrybridge affected what took place the next day, placement of both armies, etc. In this way, it reminds me of the Battle of South Mountain in the American Civil War, and here’s where my many years of studying the American Civil War comes into play.
Both Ferrybridge and South Mountain are often overlooked because they took place so close to another, bigger battle. With South Mountain that would be the Battle of Antietam; with Ferrybridge, it was Towton. Both engagements impacted how those other battles would be fought, affecting troop movements and placement of armies. It is also an interesting coincidence that in terms of casualties, the Battle of Towton is considered bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil, while the Battle of Antietam is the bloodiest one-day battle fought on American soil. Haigh writes,“History is riddled with significant moments, and the Towton campaign has a number of its own,” something else Antietam has in common with Towton.
The Battle of Towton proper is covered in Chapter 6. Here the fighting was hand-to-hand…and vicious. Back and forth the lines went, truly the ebb and flow of battle. The fighting went on for hours, with the Yorkist force being inexorably pushed back as the superior numbers in the Lancastrian army began taking its effect. Towton might have easily been a Lancastrian victory if not for the timely arrival of the Duke of Norfolk’s army. The arrival of fresh troops boosted the sagging Yorkist morale, allowing them to begin pushing back.
In the end, Towton was a decisive Yorkist victory, the battle that put Edward, Earl of March, on the throne as King Edward IV.
Chapter 7 provides the reader with directions for exploring the battlefields of Wakefield, Ferrybridge, and Towton. Although some changes have likely taken place since this book was written, thanks to continued development of these areas, I’ve been told (since I haven’t been able to visit myself) that the directions are detailed enough that they can still be easily followed.
After the tours are sections on chapter notes, sources and references, appendices about the burial of Richard, Duke of York, and recruiting during the Wars of the Roses, as well as museums and societies interested persons might want to check out.
All in all, From Wakefield to Towton gives a thorough description of those eventful months from later 1460 thru the spring of 1461 that does not bog down, even for the novice reader.
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