Battle of Tewkesbury Turns Tide of Wars of the Roses

The March to Tewkesbury

The Lancastrian army of around 6,000 men, led by Margaret of Anjou, arrived at Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire at four in the afternoon of 3rd May 1471 to cross the River Severn to Wales for reinforcements. However, by that time, they had marched for a night and a day, and it was therefore decided to rest for the night and take the field the following day against the Yorkist army.

King Edward IV arrived at Cheltenham with his army of about 5,500 that same afternoon in a march of thirty miles through the Cotswolds. After a rest and refreshments, the Yorkist force moved to Tredington, where they set up camp for the night.

Battle Formations and Terrain

At dawn on 4th May 1471, Edmund Beaufort, fourth Duke of Somerset and commander of the Lancastrian army, set up his men in battle formation south of Tewkesbury Abbey. Somerset led the right wing, Lord Wenlock and Edward, Prince of Wales, the centre, and John Courtenay, the fifteenth Earl of Devon, the left. According to the contemporary Historie of the Arrivall: “Afore them and on every hand of them were foul lanes and deep dykes, and many hedges with hills and valleys, a right evil place to approach as could well have been devised.”  Margaret of Anjou then retired to the rear with her ladies-in-waiting.

The Yorkist Advance

King Edward IV arrived at Tewkesbury later that morning and formed up his troops about 500 yards in front of his enemies. Edward commanded the centre with his brother George, the Duke of Clarence. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, led the Yorkist left wing, and William, Lord Hastings, the right. Edward also set up a force of 200 mounted spearmen in a park a quarter of a mile to his left in case of an ambush.

The Battle Unfolds

After an exchange of artillery and arrow fire, the Duke of Somerset attacked the Yorkist left wing, calling on his centre to join his assault. The Duke of Gloucester’s force stoutly resisted and was assisted by King Edward’s centre and the 200 spearmen who attacked the rear of Somerset’s men.

The Lancastrian centre did not join the attack, and consequently, Somerset’s force was cut to pieces and put to flight. By one account, Somerset returned to the centre, called Lord Wenlock a traitor for not joining his attack, and dashed out his brains with a battle axe.

Bloody Meadow and Lancastrian Rout

King Edward took advantage of the confusion in the Lancastrian ranks and ordered a general advance. Many Lancastrian troops were killed at the Abbey Mill; some attempted to cross the River Avon, but most were slaughtered at the Bloody Meadow, which bears that name to this day.

Edward, Prince of Wales, according to The Arrivall, “was taken fleeing to the townwards and slain in the field.”

He was later buried at Tewkesbury Abbey, where a plaque on the floor commemorates his death, with the Yorkist Sun in Splendour badge on the ceiling above.

Aftermath and Executions

The Lancastrian army had lost around 2,000 men, including the Earl of Devon and Sir John Beaufort, Somerset’s younger brother. The Yorkists lost about 500.

On 6th May 1471, the Duke of Somerset and fifteen other Lancastrians who had taken refuge at Tewkesbury Abbey were dragged out and put on trial for treason by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Constable of England, and John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, Marshal of England. The verdict was never in doubt, and those on trial were beheaded at Tewkesbury marketplace and later buried at the abbey.

Margaret’s Capture and Henry VI’s Death

Margaret of Anjou was captured by Sir William Stanley with her ladies on 7th May at a “poor religious house in Worcestershire” and later taken to London, a broken woman, with King Edward’s victorious army.

On 21st May 1471, King Edward arrived in London with his troops to be welcomed by the Lord Mayor and the city fathers. That same night, King Henry VI, according to the Warkworth Chronicle, “being in ward in prison in the Tower of London, was put to death, between eleven and twelve o’clock, being then at the Tower the Duke of Gloucester, brother to King Edward, and many others.”