Page 35 - All About History - Issue 70-18

Richard III at War
for the Battle of Barnet name no Yorkist
commanders, other than Edward IV, but it is
assumed that Richard played an important role.
The Yorkists were outnumbered and the
battlefield was shrouded in fog, which was made
worse by smoke from artillery fire. Richard
reputedly commanded Edward’s right flank and
he got lost in the fog while trying to find the
duke of Exeter’s Lancastrian soldiers. Despite
the danger, he managed to manoeuvre around
Warwick’s left flank and put pressure on the
Lancastrians. Edward was then able to fight from
the centre and Warwick’s men were outflanked.
The Lancastrians began to fight each other in the
fog and a rout ensued where Warwick was killed.
The death of the Kingmaker was a blow to
the Lancastrians and Edward was now on the
offensive. Barnet was also a success for Richard
who been slightly wounded. His military
apprenticeship was over and he accompanied his
brother to destroy the last serious Lancastrian
resistance in England.
Clash at Tewkesbury
Henry VI, who had been forced to accompany
Edward to Barnet, was sent back to the Tower
“The ground they ran
as the Bloody Meadow for the fierce
fighting that occurred there”
and the Yorkist brothers pursued the Lancastrians
across England. Henry VI’s heir, Prince Edward
of Westminster – his son by Margaret of Anjou
– had landed in the southwest and linked up
with the duke of Somerset and earl of Devon to
form an army. The Lancastrians aimed to link up men and reformed his lines to face Somerset. His
with Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke in Wales by
crossing the River Severn at Gloucester.
However, the Lancastrians were refused entry
into Richard’s ducal capital and they marched
north to the next crossing at Tewkesbury.
The Yorkists hotly pursued the Lancastrians
and caught them forming an irregular battle line
on 4 May 1471. The battlefield was on formidable
high ground that was dominated by streams,
ditches, hedges and woods. Tewkesbury Abbey
was behind the Lancastrian positions and it was
in this difficult terrain that Richard fought his first Somerset personally killed Lord
confirmed command.
over became known
Richard led the Yorkist vanguard and
immediately began an assault. The terrain bogged
down the attack and the Lancastrians retaliated
with arrows and cannon fire before Somerset
charged the Yorkist right flank. Richard rallied his
counterattack was so strong that the Lancastrians
faltered. Edward then unleashed spearmen from
a hidden position against Somerset’s division
and the Lancastrians fled. The ground they
ran over became known as the Bloody
Meadow for the fierce fighting that
occurred there.
Edward now attacked from the
centre while Richard assaulted the
unprotected Lancastrian right flank.
With the battle turning against him,
Wenlock in anger because his
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