The Skaggs-Files

Baron Poynings

Henry Percy (1421 - 1461), 2nd Earl of Northumberland, was the son of the 1st earl (of the second creation). He fought on the Lancastrian side at the Battle of Wakefield, and commanded the Lancastrian van at the Battle of Towton, where he was killed.

The Battle of Wakefield took place at Wakefield, in Yorkshire, on December 30, 1460, and was one of the major actions of the Wars of the Roses. The opposing factions were a royal army, nominally commanded by Margaret of Anjou, and the supporters of Richard, Duke of York, rival claimant to the throne.

York had already succeeded in obtaining a promise from King Henry VI of England that, on Henry's death, the crown would pass to him and his heirs. Queen Margaret was unwilling to accept this promise, which had been obtained by force, and was determined to protect the inheritance of her only son, Edward, Prince of Wales, then aged about six. With a force outnumbering that of the Yorkists, she marched north to confront the Duke. The details of what ensued are not entirely clear, and most people are more familiar with William Shakespeare's melodramatic version of events, notably the "murder" of York's second son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland.

In Shakespeare's play, Edmund is depicted as a small child, and, following his unnecessary slaughter, Margaret torments his father, York, before murdering him also. In fact, the Duke of York was killed during the battle, and his son, Edmund, at seventeen, was more than old enough to be an active participant in the fighting. York's defeat was probably the result of his own over-confidence, as he apparently refused to wait for reinforcements to arrive before leaving his stronghold at Sandal Castle to meet the Lancastrians.

The outcome was important mainly because it left York's eldest son, Edward, as the Yorkist pretender to the throne. Edward, though young, would prove an outstanding battle commander and a consummate politician, and would eventually reign as King Edward IV of England

The Battle of Towton, one of the most decisive of the Wars of the Roses, is remembered as the bloodiest ever fought on British soil, with casualties believed to have been in excess of 20,000. The battle took place on March 29 - Palm Sunday, 1461, between the villages of Towton and Saxton in Yorkshire (about 20 km south-west of York and about 4 km south of Tadcaster).

At this point in the civil war, the Lancastrians were on equal terms with the Yorkists, having eliminated the Duke of York from the scene at the Battle of Wakefield and been victorious at the second Battle of St Alban's. However, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, "the Kingmaker", controlled London and had proclaimed the eldest of York's sons as King Edward IV of England. It was Edward himself who decided to take the initiative and march north in the hope of inflicting a final defeat on his rival, King Henry VI of England. Henry, a pious and peace-loving man, took no part in any military decisions, but allowed his queen, Margaret of Anjou, complete freedom to employ her battle commanders, chief of whom was Lord Clifford, on his behalf.

It is thought that 50,000, or perhaps even 80,000 men fought, including 28 Lords (almost half the peerage).

The battle was long and hard-fought, made no easier for either side by the blizzard conditions which prevailed. The decisive moment came in the middle of the day, when the Yorkist reinforcements arrived, led by the John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. The Lancastrians retreated in disarray, resulting in a near-massacre. The death in battle of Lord Clifford, Queen Margaret's most experienced commander and right-hand man, was a serious blow from which the Lancastrians would take years to recover. Margaret and Henry fled north to Scotland, while those Lancastrian lords who were not killed or dispossesed were forced to make peace with Edward.