Edward IV met Warwick the Kingmaker at Barnet in Hertfordshire. in a fierce battle that proved deadly to Warwick.
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Battle of Barnet Edward IV met Warwick the Kingmaker at Barnet in Hertfordshire. in a fierce battle that proved deadly to Warwick. |
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The Battle of Barnet
The Battle It proved to be a fortunate error, for the Lancastrian artillery kept up a constant barrage during the night, but overshot the mark almost completely, so Edward's army was intact when the dawn came. The cause of the Lancastrian army was dealt a terrible blow by sheer mischance. The thick fog of morning made it impossible to see clearly, and in the half-light Warwick's left and centre mistook the other, first for enemy troops, then for traitors. The damage they did to each other was decisive, for until then the fight had been in Warwick's favour. Warwick himself was killed on the field, and his forces put to the rout. Casualty figures are unreliable, but it seems likely that 500 Yorkist and 1000 Lancastrians perished. Results The battle dust had barely settled when news came that Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI's queen, had landed in the west. Only a desperate march by Edward's men prevented her from reaching allies near Wales, and forced her into battle at Tewkesbury. More British Battles
History
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David Ross |
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April 14, 1471
Barnet, Hertfordshire
Yorkist troops under Edward IV vs. Lancastrian troops led by the Warwick,
"The Kingmaker"
Barnet was yet another in a long line of bloody battles we call the
Wars of the Roses, staged between the houses of Lancaster and York
as they struggled for the crown of England. It owed as much to personal
enmity between Warwick and Edward as it did to policies or alliances.
Warwick ostensibly fought to return Henry VI to the throne. At the
time of the battle, Edward held Henry in the Tower of London.