Second Battle of St Albans

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Second Battle of St Albans
Part of the Wars of the Roses

Date February 17, 1461
Location St Albans in Hertfordshire, England
Result Lancastrian indecisive victory
Belligerents
House of York House of Lancaster
Commanders
Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick Margaret of Anjou
Strength
~15,000 ~10,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown
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Wars of the Roses

The Second Battle of St Albans was a battle of the English Wars of the Roses fought on February 17, 1461 near the town of St Albans (St Albans was a town at the time of the battle. It did not become a city until 1877). The army of the Yorkist faction under the Earl of Warwick attempted to bar the road to London at Saint Albans. The rival Lancastrian army used a wide outflanking manoevre to take Warwick by surprise, and drive his army from the field. The victors also captured the feeble King Henry, who had been Warwick's prisoner. However, they ultimately failed to take advantage of their victory.

Contents

[edit] Background

The Wars of the Roses were fought between the supporters of the House of Lancaster, represented by the mentally unstable King Henry VI, and those of the rival House of York, headed by Richard of York, who was respected for his statesmanship and believed by many to have a better claim to the throne.

After several armed clashes and attempts at reconciliation, York and his friends finally openly rebelled in 1459. At the Battle of Northampton in 1460, his forces under the Earl of Warwick defeated a Lancastrian army and captured King Henry, who had taken no part. In the aftermath, York attempted to claim the throne, but his supporters were not prepared to go so far. Instead, an agreement was reached, the Act of Accord, by which Richard was to become King after Henry's death.

This agreement disinherited Henry's young son Edward of Westminster. Henry's Queen, Margaret of Anjou refused to accept the Act of Accord and took Edward to the north of England, where she began raising an army of York's rivals and enemies. York, together with his brother in law, the Earl of Salisbury (Warwick's father), led an army to the north late in 1460 to counter this threat, but he fatally underestimated the Lancastrian forces. At the Battle of Wakefield, the Yorkist army was destroyed and York, Salisbury and York's son Edmund, Earl of Rutland were killed, or executed after the battle.

[edit] Campaign

The victorious Lancastrian army now began advancing south towards London. It was led by comparatively young nobles such as the Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland and Lord Clifford, whose fathers had been killed at the First Battle of St Albans. The Lancastrian army contained a substantial contingent from the West Country, but many of its men were from the Scottish Borders or Scotland, who subsisted largely on plunder in their march south.

The death of York left his eighteen-year old son, Edward, Earl of March as the Yorkist claimant for the throne. He led one Yorkist army in the Welsh Marches, while Warwick (with the Duke of Norfolk) led another in the south east. Naturally, they intended to combine their forces to face Margaret's army, but Edward was delayed by having to face another Lancastrian army from Wales at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross.

Warwick, with the captive King Henry in his train, meanwhile moved to block Margaret's army north of London. He took up position north of St Albans astride the main road from the north (the ancient Roman road known as Watling Street). He set up several fixed defences, including cannon and Burgundian mercenaries equipped with handguns, and obstacles such as pavises studded with spikes and caltrops. Part of his defences used the ancient Belgic earthwork known as Beech Bottom Dyke.

Although strong, Warwick's lines faced north only. Margaret knew of Warwick's plans, possibly through a traitor named Lovelace. Late on February 11, her army swerved sharply west and captured the town of Dunstable. 200 local people under the town butcher tried to resist them, but were easily dispersed. Warwick's "scourers" (scouts and patrols) apparently failed to detect this move.

[edit] Battle

From Dunstable, Margaret's forces moved south-east at night, to attack the town of St Albans. The leading Lancastrian forces attacked shortly after dawn. Storming up the hill past the Abbey, they were confronted by Yorkist archers in the town centre who shot at them from the windows. This first attack was thus repulsed and regrouping at the ford across the River Ver the Lancastrian commanders sought another route into the town. This was found and a second attack was launched along the line of Folly Lane and Catherine Street. This second attack met with no opposition and the Yorkist archers in the town were now outflanked. They continued to fight house to house however, and were not finally overcome for several hours.

Having gained the town itself, the Lancastrians now turned north towards Montagu's Rear Battle, positioned on Bernards Heath. The Yorkist divisions, or "battles", were widely dispersed and straggled into action one by one instead of in coordinated fashion. The Rear battle, attempting to reinforce the defenders of the town, was engaged and dispersed. (The Kentish contingent in the Yorkist army under the traitor Lovelace apparently defected at this point, causing further confusion in the Yorkist ranks). Warwick found it difficult to extricate his other units from their fortifications and turn them about to face the Lancastrians.

By late afternoon, the Lancastrians were attacking north-east out of St Albans to engage the Yorkist Main and Vaward battles under Warwick and Norfolk. As dusk set in (which would have been in the very early evening at this time of year and in the poor weather), Warwick realised that his men were outnumbered and increasingly demoralised, and withdrew with his remaining forces (about 4,000 men) to Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire.

[edit] Aftermath

The bemused King Henry was once again captured by the victors, having supposedly spent the battle sitting under a tree, singing. Two knights (one of them Sir Thomas Kyriell, a veteran leader of the Hundred Years War) had sworn to let him come to no harm, and remained with him throughout. The next morning, Margaret asked her son, the seven year old Edward of Lancaster, how, not whether, the two knights were to die. Edward, thus prompted, sent them to be beheaded.

Although Margaret and her army could now march unopposed onto London, they did not do so. The Lancastrian army's reputation for pillage may have caused the Londoners to bar the gates. This caused Margaret to hesitate, as did the news of Edward of York's victory at Mortimer's Cross. The Lancastrians fell back through Dunstable, losing many Scots and Borderers who deserted and returned home with the plunder they had already gathered. Edward and Warwick entered London on March 2, and Edward of York was soon proclaimed King of England.

[edit] References

  • Winston Churchill, A History of the English speaking peoples, Vol. 2, Cassell and co. 1956, ISBN 0304295000
  • Philip Warner, British Battlefields: the South, Fontana, 1975
  • Burley, Elliott & Watson, The Battles of St Albans, Pen & Sword, 2007, ISBN 9781844155699

[edit] See also