Heritage > 'British Battles'

Bosworth Field

22 August 1485

The Wars of the Roses were a result of a dynastic lust for power. The Houses of York and Lancaster had both been born from the lineage of Edward the Third and both claimed the sovereignty of England. The affectation 'Wars of the Roses' derives from the symbols used to denote each dynasty; The House of York was symbolised by the white rose while the House of Lancaster was symbolised by the red rose.
Each claimant found allies in the Barons and Lords who had recently lost their lucrative ties with lands in France following the English defeat in the Thirty Years War. Hungry for more power they sided with either York or Lancaster.

Many noted figures came to prominence during the conflict, both political and military. Margaret of Anjou was unpopular among the English but she did lead her own soldiers into battle for her husband's cause. Perhaps the most noted man at the time was Warwick 'the Kingmaker' a man to make Macchiavelli proud he gave great support to the Yorkists for 20 of the 30 years of the conflict but found himself forced to change sides in order to protect what power he already held.

In a series of power struggles the final reckoning between the two houses came in 1485 at Bosworth Field. By this time the leaders of the two armies were the Yorkist King Richard the Third and the Lancastrian Henry Tudor.

A marsh on the present day borders of Warwickshire and Leicestershire was perhaps the place for one of the major turning points in English history.

It would be too easy to think that this was purely an English battle. In fact on August 8th Henry Tudor had landed at Milford Haven in Wales with a quoted 2,000 French mercenaries. He was further reinforced along his march into the heart of England by those with a grievance against the Yorkist king. Some showed their support quite openly whereas others dare not. Lord Stanley was the step-father of Henry Tudor but the king had imprisoned his son as a hostage to ensure Stanley's support for the Yorkist cause.

The news that the Lancastrians had reached the city of Lichfield forced the King's hand and he marched towards his enemy. Richard the Third was an experienced warrior whereas Henry was relatively raw. Richard understood the need for high morale in his troops and so wore his golden crown on his helmet with trumpets heralding his march. Some historians suggest that the wearing of the crown was a deliberate copying of Henry the Fifth at Agincourt.

The King's army numbered around 8,000 (exact numbers being impossible to calculate) and outnumbered Henry's at the outset. It was the reliance of Richard on his 'allies' such as Stanley which would prove to be his downfall.

The physical key to the battle was Ambien Hill. The 'scurryers', the equivalent of modern day scouts, of the royal army took advantage of the hill from where they could see Henry's camp. Richard's first objective was to get his forces to this hill before Henry did. In the meantime he was wary of the two armies that flanked the battlefield. With this wariness in mind he left the Earl of Northumberland and a force to guard his rear as he went forward with the main body.

Due to inexperience and poor intelligence from his own 'scurryers' Henry found himself faced with the main force of the Yorkists as he approached the hill and furthermore that his direct line of advance was compromised by a marsh.

The King and his chief advisor, the Duke of Norfolk, debated whether to attack downhill into the confused ranks or whether to hold their position. Whether the King still held suspicions about Stanley's forced allegiance is not known but he decided upon staying put on the hill and exchanging fire with the rebels below.

The Yorkist army had the numerical and positional advantage. Volleys of arrows and the odd puff of the often ineffective canons of the era became the weapons of the opening exchange. It was the canonfire which alerted the two flanking armies to reveal their true colours. Lord Stanley attacked the King's right flank from the south while Sir William Stanley, his brother and a known rebel, attacked the left flank from the north.

The Earl of Northumberland, a Yorkist, had the opportunity to intervene but for some reason did nothing. Whether he had decided that any intervention would be fruitless or he was best served by having a new King is uncertain but he and his force did nothing at all. Whichever, he survives in infamy.

The King fought alongside and in front of his men as they faced enemies on all sides. Their flanks exposed, their rear unguarded they must have fought with desperation. Shakespeare was a great dramatist but perhaps his line from his Richard the Third: "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse" has some basis in truth as Richard's horse became bogged down and he called for another. He was cut down as he fought to the very end. It is recounted, even by his enemies, that Richard died like a king.

The battle lost the survivors of the Yorkist cause, now crushed forever, made their retreat south.

There was little quarter given following the battle with one terrible action being the slaughter of a group of women camp followers who the Lancastrians thought to be the partners of Irish mercenaries fighting for Richard. They were in fact the women of Richard's Welsh bowmen. The golden crown worn by Richard was taken by a Yorkist knight and hidden in a thorn bush as he and the rest of the defeated survivors fled from the field of carnage. The crown was discovered by the Lancastrians and duly placed upon the head of the new king, King Henry the Seventh. A new dynasty now ruled England. The House of York had now been replaced by the House of Tudor.



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