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 Battles of Wakefield. 
 
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THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 AN HISTORICAL NARRATIVE 
 
 THE BATTLE OF WAKEFIELD, 
 
 IN 1460; 
 
 ALSO,. AN ACCOUNT OF 
 
 ij\t ^itgagemettt on iEakfielb §xm\, 
 
 . IN 1643; 
 WITH ANTIQUARIAN, TOPOGRAPHICAL, AND LOCAL REMARKS. 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE T YAS. 
 
 ABTHUE HALL AND CO., 35, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 GEORGE TYAS, NORTHGATE. 
 1854. 
 
DA 
 
 ^,^(\l^\o\ 
 
 •WAKETIELD : 
 PEINTBD BY TYAS AND BOBKIDOE, NOKTHGATE. 
 
TO 
 
 GEOEGE SANDAES, ESQ., M.P., 
 
 OF ALVEETHORPB HALL, IN THE COUNTY OF YORK, 
 
 THIS LITTLE WORK, 
 
 ILLUSTEATING THE EARLY HISTORY 
 
 OF WAKEFIELD, 
 
 IS EESPECTF0LLY INSCRIBED, 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
There are two sorts of countries that divide the face of the glohe, new 
 countries and old. • » • I conceive it to be one of the advantages which 
 the fortunes of my birth reserved for me, that I was born the native of an 
 old country * • • I love to dwell in a country where, on whichever side 
 I turn, I find some object connected with a heart-moving tale, or some scene 
 where the deepest interests of a nation for ages to succeed have been stre- 
 nuously agitated, and emphatically decided. * * » The various fields in 
 which " York and Lancaster drew forth their battles," bring to my mind tlie 
 generous feehngs and inextinguishable attachments which kept ahve that 
 contention, and the deplorable examples of cold-blooded murder with which 
 it was attended. The scenes of the gi-and contest for our liberties under the 
 long parliament, hold language of another sort. — Godwin. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 Heney of Huntingdon, in the preface to his English Chronicle, 
 claims for history the highest position in the various departments 
 of learning. " The pursuit of kno-wledge," he writes, " in all 
 its branches, affords, according to my way of thinking, the 
 sweetest earthly mitigation of trouble and consolation in grief ; 
 so I consider that precedence must be assigned to history, as 
 both the most delightful of studies, and the one which is invested 
 with the noblest and brightest prerogatives. Indeed, there is 
 nothing in this world more excellent than accurately to investi- 
 gate and trace out the course of worldly affairs. * * * * 
 History brings the past to the view, as if it were present, and 
 enables us to judge of the future by picturing to ourselves the 
 past." 
 
 Holding these views fully in common with Henry of Hunt- 
 ingdon, the author presents the following pages as the result of 
 a careful study of historical documents, coeval with a period 
 perhaps the most interesting and eventful in the history of our 
 country. It has often been a matter of regret, that the early 
 history of Wakefield has not received that attention at the hands 
 of historical writers to which it is entitled by the many exciting 
 incidents, of which it has been the theatre. The endeavour 
 of the author in this little work, to exhibit, in a convenient 
 form and readable style, the " waifs and strays" of information 
 relative to Wakefield, preserved in public offices or printed by 
 historians, will, it is hoped, meet with the good wishes of 
 all who have a care to the interests of our town, or who delight 
 in tracing, amid the darkness and turmoil of the past, the tardy 
 growth of our modem civilisation. 
 
In the war of the Roses, and in the more recent period of 
 Parliamentary opposition to Monarchical authority, Wakefield 
 bore a distinguished part. It is the aim of the following work, 
 to exhibit, as clearly and circumstantially as possible, the con- 
 nection of Wakefield with the important epochs in question. 
 
 Diligence and accuracy, as Gibbon remarks, are the only, 
 merits an historical writer may ascribe to himself; and these 
 two requisites have ever been endeavoured to be observed in the 
 composition of the present work. 
 
 It would be uncourteous were the author to close these 
 remarks without expressing his deep obligations to those gen- 
 tlemen who have favoured him with suggestions or informa- 
 tion on the subject of his book. During the progress of the 
 publication, he has had many reasons to be grateful for the 
 kind and efficient assistance cheerfully rendered in cases 
 where he has required information of a particular or exclusive 
 nature ; and in several instances, he has been laid under deep 
 obligations to parties who have volunteered information on 
 curious topics connected with the subject. This general 
 acknowledgement is therefore gratefully placed upon record. 
 
 It is sincerely hoped that the present work may be found a 
 not unwelcome addition to the literature of the town. It has 
 been composed in the best spirit,, and with the view of affording 
 a knowledge of the early history of Wakefield, to those who seek 
 such information. Whether the author has been successful in 
 his object or not, must be left to the public to determine. 
 
 Wakefield, Feb. 95th, 1854. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 fart I. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF WAKEFIELD, 1460. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Chaptek 1. Intboduction 1 
 
 3. The Succession to the English Crown 5 
 
 3. Heney VI 14 
 
 4. The Duke of Yoek 85 
 
 5. The War of the Eoses 32 
 
 6. Wakefield 39 
 
 7. The Battle 48 
 
 8. The Chapel on the Bridge 66 
 
 fart m 
 
 THE ENGAGEMENT OF 1643. 
 
 Chapter 1. Charles I. and his Parliament. 77 
 
 „ 9. The Engagement on Wakefield Green 83 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 A.D. 1460. 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The war of the Roses will ever hold a famous place 
 in English History. It was a fierce and protracted 
 struggle between two aristocratical factions, gathered 
 under the banners of two branches of the royal 
 family, for supremacy in the state ; a great civil 
 contest in which Englishmen fought hand to hand 
 with Englishmen ; for though it was a matter of but 
 small importance to the people whether the crown 
 belonged to the House of York or to the House of 
 Lancaster, yet were they divided and brought into 
 sanguinary collision by the leaders of the opposing 
 parties, and many a fine English field was crimsoned 
 with the blood of those who had no enmity towards 
 each other, but had made themselves the slaves of 
 proud and ambitious men. One of the battle-fields 
 on which, during the war of the Roses, Englishmen 
 shed the blood of Englishmen, lies in the immediate 
 neighbourhood of Wakefield. On that field, nearly 
 four hundred years ago, the House of Lancaster 
 
 A. 
 
2 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 gained a signal triumph over the House of York. On 
 that field fell the great Duke of York, and his second 
 son, the Earl of Rutland, was mercilessly butchered 
 while attempting to escape from the scene of his 
 father's defeat. It might be better in some respects 
 that the records of war — and especially civil war — 
 should be obliterated from the page of History. It 
 is not pleasant to remember that our forefathers 
 were engaged in deadly feud against each other ; that 
 some quiet locahty where corn is now growing, or 
 sheep grazing, was once the spot on which armies 
 met, and thousands of brave men perished in the 
 battle. But there is a moral to be obtained from 
 even such unpleasant remembrances as these. 
 We rejoice that the times are gone when the 
 English crown was an object of contention to the 
 leading houses of the realm, and that in our day it 
 rests so securely upon the head of one who has shewn 
 herself so fit to wear it. We rejoice that Queen 
 Victoria has no need, like Queen Margaret, to put 
 herself at the head of an army to oppose the preten- 
 sions of some other aspirant to the throne. We 
 lament the fact, that in the times of Queen Margaret 
 the English people were regarded as the mere prey 
 of those who could gain the rule over them — to do 
 them feudal service — to pay them heavy taxes — and 
 to fight for them, against their brothers and their 
 friends. We lament the fact that a quarrel about the 
 succession between rival princes should have involved 
 our country in all the miseries of a lengthened civil war. 
 We live in a better era, and we read the story of the 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 3 
 
 past that we may more highly appreciate the happier 
 state of things in which our lot is cast. 
 
 The ohject of the following pages is to describe as 
 clearly and circumstantially as possible that great 
 battle in the war of the Eoses which was fought on 
 Wakefield- green, the last day of December, 1460. 
 Local associations, connected with a period long gone 
 by, are deeply interesting to those who reside in or 
 near the particular locahty. To the inhabitants of 
 Wakefield and its neighbourhood it must ever be a 
 matter of laudable curiosity to know precisely the 
 place on which the battle was fought, and the curious 
 incidents of the battle itself, so far as they can be 
 accurately ascertained after the lapse of centuries. 
 But to know where the battle was fought, and to 
 know the various incidents of the battle, will lead on 
 to other enquiries. The battle was only one of a 
 series — and it was not the decisive one in the contest 
 — and it would be well to understand the grounds 
 and the progress of the quarrel which led to this 
 particular battle. It would be well also to follow 
 the subject a little further, and see the termination 
 of the war, and the union of the rival Roses to deck 
 the crown of the House of Tudor. Preliminary 
 therefore to a particular description of the battle of 
 Wakefield, we shall briefly notice the origin of the 
 dispute between the Houses of York and Lancaster ; 
 and then rapidly trace the progress of the dispute 
 until it resulted in civil war. The succession to the 
 crown was undoubtedly the ostensible cause of the 
 quarrel, but it would never have assumed such mag- 
 
4 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 nitude, or involved such serious consequences, had 
 there not been powerful elements of disunion 
 amongst the principal nobles of the land. Who 
 should be king was certainly an important question, 
 but who should rule the king, — that is to say — what 
 noble families should obtain and use the influence of 
 the crown — was a more important question still. It 
 must be borne in mind that the barons of that age 
 had mighty influence in the state. United together 
 it was easy for them to make or unmake kings. They 
 were indeed an order of minor kings, and were, in 
 general, more earnestly opposed to each other, than 
 they were ever associated in behalf of this or that 
 aspirant to the English crown. It will, however, be 
 necessary to follow the succession to the crown from 
 the reign of William the Conqueror, and thus we 
 shall be able to form a correct opinion as to the 
 relative claims of the Houses of York and Lancaster. 
 The direct succession to the English crown has been 
 frequently interrupted, and it is a subject of painful 
 interest to see how one house has given way to 
 another, and how royal famihes have been exposed 
 to more frequent and more terrible changes than any 
 other families. We now proceed to trace the suc- 
 cession to the crown from WiUiam the Conqueror to 
 Henry VI. 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE SUCCESSION TO THE ENGLISH CROWN. 
 
 William the Norman had not the shadow of a just 
 claim to the EngHsh Crown. The manifesto which 
 he pubhshed when he invaded England, declared 
 that he came, first, to revenge the death of Prince 
 Alfred, the son of Ethelred II., and Emma of Nor- 
 mandy, and brother of Edward the Confessor, whom 
 the Earl Godwin was supposed to have murdered ; 
 secondly, to restore Eobert, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 to his see, from which he had been banished by the 
 General Assembly, in Edward the Confessor's reign ; 
 and thirdly, to assist the English in punishing Harold 
 the Second, for unlawfully seizing the crown. These 
 were his pretences, for the truth is, he came with a 
 brave adventurous army to obtain forcible possession 
 of a crown that had so long been an object of con- 
 tention to Saxon and Dane, and to which the Norman, 
 in those days when might trampled upon right, might 
 found as good a claim as either of the other two. 
 The battle of Hastings decided the fate of Harold II. 
 and made William of Normandy, the bastard son of 
 Duke Robert, King of England. William treated 
 England as a conquered country, and his great aim 
 was to change its character from Saxon to Norman. 
 
6 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 The land was divided amongst his greedy Norman 
 followers. He attempted to abrogate the old Saxon 
 laws, and substitute the Norman for the Saxon 
 tongue. But William never succeeded in conquering 
 the English people, and in course of time, the Nor- 
 man element was almost entirely lost in the Saxon, 
 instead of the Saxon being utterly destroyed by the 
 Norman. Upon William the Conqueror's death, the 
 crown descended to his second son WilUam Eufus. 
 His eldest son Robert took the dukedom of Nor- 
 mandy. There can be little doubt that Robert's claim 
 to the English crown was superior to that of his 
 brother William. The Conqueror, on his death-bed, 
 professed to leave the crown to the disposal of God, 
 but he had previously made such arrangements as 
 would be Hkely to secure it to his second rather than 
 to his eldest son. But Robert did not forget his own 
 claims, and it might have been easy for him to have 
 dethroned his brother, had not his natural indolence 
 kept him in Normandy. William was not satisfied 
 with a kingdom to which he had but a questionable 
 title, but impudently attempted to wrest from his 
 brother the Dukedom of Normandy, to which he had 
 no title at all. William Rufus died in 1100, and 
 the crown of England came into the possession of 
 Henry Beauclerk, the third son of William the Con- 
 queror. Robert, Duke of Normandy, was still living, 
 and besides his original claim, he had obtained a 
 new one, by a treaty made between him and William 
 Rufus, in which it was agreed that the survivor of 
 the two should be heir to all their father's inheritance. 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 7 
 
 But when William Eufus died, Robert was out of the 
 way, and no one could tell where to find him. He 
 had gone with one of the crusades, and was not yet 
 returned ; and so his brother Henry was without any 
 competitor upon the spot. Henry improved his 
 advantages, and was elected and ackowledged King 
 of England. Two things must we notice in refer- 
 ence to Henry : he was born in England, during his 
 father's reign, and he married Matilda, daughter of 
 Malcolm, King of Scotland, by Margaret, sister of 
 Edgar Athehng. Having been born on English 
 soil, and having allied himself to the old Saxon royal 
 family, seems to have made him more of an English 
 king than either of his Norman predecessors. Henry 
 died in 1135, and left only one legitimate child, a 
 daughter, named Matilda. She had been married to 
 the Emperor Henry V., but was left a widow. She 
 was married a second time, to Geoffrey Plantagenet, 
 son of IVilk, Earl of Anjou, by whom she had a son, 
 named Henry, after his grandfather. Henry, before 
 his death, had taken every necessary measure to 
 secure the succession to his daughter. By a triple 
 oath he had bound the cords spiritual and temporal ; 
 but oaths were not more efficacious in ancient times 
 than they have proved to be in modern. Stephen, 
 Earl of Boulogne, was a man of some craft, and 
 much ambition. He had hoped for the hand of 
 Matilda, but had been disappointed ; still he aspired 
 to the English crown. Adela, his mother, was the 
 daughter of William the Conquerer. She had borne 
 the Earl of Blois, her husband, four sons, of whom 
 
8 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 Stephen was the third. Stephen was, therefore, on 
 his mother's side, grandson of William the Conqueror. 
 Immediately upon the death of Henry, Stephen — by 
 the agency of his brother Eoger, Bishop of "Winches- 
 ter, a great man in Church and State — negotiated 
 with the barons of England, and prevailed upon them 
 to elect him King, in the room of his uncle, and to 
 reject the claims of his cousin Matilda. This led to 
 a civil war, the result of which was that Henry, the 
 son of Matilda, was adopted by Stephen, and acknow- 
 ledged to be the heir to the English crown. After 
 the death of Stephen, Henry Plantagenet, who united 
 in himself the claims of the Norman and Saxon lines, 
 took possession of the kingdom with universal assent 
 and approbation. Henry was a great prince, and his 
 long reign of thirty-four years, was, on the whole, a 
 prosperous one. His latter days were embittered by 
 the opposition of his wife and sons, and he died in 
 3189, leaving the crown of England to his eldest son, 
 Richard. Richard spent a large portion of his reign 
 in fighting with the infidels, and all that he gained 
 by the crusades, was a surname, to which we suppose 
 no man ever had a better title. Richard made his 
 brother John heir to all his dominions, but John's 
 title was open to question, for his elder brother 
 Geoffrey had left a son, Arthur of Bretayne, whose 
 claims were not to be treated with indifference. Here 
 it may be proper to observe that no strict law of 
 s accession seems to have prevailed in the times of 
 which we are writing. We find the younger brother 
 taking precedence of the elder. We find that the 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 claims of females were not ignored. We cannot 
 judicially decide that Stephen of Blois, had no claim 
 to the crown, and we cannot judicially decide that 
 John was wrong in overstepping the claims of his 
 nephew Arthur, Claims were frequently very nicely 
 balanced, and in those cases the scale was turned by 
 other circumstances of might and influence. Weak 
 claims were recognised when they were enforced by a 
 strong hand, and the strongest claims were of little 
 avail, unless they were supported by readiness and 
 intrigue, by courage and nerve. John died in 1216, 
 after a most unhappy reign of nearly eighteen years. 
 John had by his third wife, Matilda of Angouleme, 
 two sons and three daughters. His eldest son Henry 
 succeeded to the throne. The reign of Henrj' HI. 
 is the longest but one in English history, and is, 
 perhaps, chiefly remarkable for the bitter contentions 
 that occurred between the sovereign and the baronial 
 order. Henry had nine children by Eleanor of 
 Provence, of whom, however, only two sons and two 
 daughters survived him. His eldest son, Edward, 
 became his successor. Edward I. reigned for nearly 
 thirty-five years. He was a great prince, of strong 
 martial disposition. He conquered Wales, and was 
 on his way to destroy Scotland, from sea to sea, when 
 death terminated his course. By his wife, Eleanor 
 of Castile, he had four sons, and nine daughters, but 
 Edward II., who succeeded him, was the only son 
 who survived him. Edward II. was a weak and 
 incapable prince, and his tragical death in Berkely 
 Castle, is one of the most horrible events recorded 
 
10 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD, 
 
 in history. Isabella, his wife, was the principal in- 
 strument of his downfall. She fought against her 
 husband as determinedly as Margaret in after times 
 fought in her husband's behalf. Edward II, was 
 succeeded by his eldest son, Edward III. The 
 great aim of Edward III, was to make himself King 
 of France. He fought the famous battle of Cresy, 
 was father of the famous Black Prince, and insti- 
 tuted the famous Order of the Garter. His eldest 
 son and destined successor, the Black Prince, died 
 before him, to the profound grief of the English 
 nation. The Black Prince left one legitimate son, 
 who became King of England, after the death of 
 Edward III. But it will be necessary for us at 
 this point to notice that Edward III. had six sons 
 besides the Black Prince, and from two of these 
 arose afterwards the Houses of York and Lancaster, 
 Edward's second son, WiUiam, died an infant. 
 Lionel, Duke of Clarence, his third son, ended his 
 days in Italy, leaving only a daughter, named Philippa, 
 by his first wife, an Irish lady. Edmund, Earl of 
 March, grandson of Roger Mortimer, who was be- 
 headed in the beginning of the reign of Edward III., 
 married this Philippa, only daughter of Lionel, Duke 
 of Clarence, and by her had a son, called Roger. 
 Edward's fourth son was John of Gaunt, Duke of 
 Lancaster. His fifth son was Edward of Langley, 
 afterwards Duke of York. His sixth son, William of 
 Windsor, died young. His seventh son was Thomas 
 of Woodstock, afterwards Duke of Gloucester. 
 Richard II. succeeded to the crown as representative 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 11 
 
 of his father, the Black Prince, aud though he was 
 but eleven years old, and had three uncles who might 
 have disputed his claim to the throne, yet the people 
 were so attached to him, on account of the illustrious 
 character and deeds of his father, that he took pos- 
 session of the kingdom without the least opposition 
 from any one. His uncles were appointed co-reg^ts 
 during his minority, and he had before him the pros- 
 pect of a long and glorious reign. It is no part of 
 our place to enter into the events of Richard's reign, 
 as it will be sufficient for our purpose to know that 
 he endeavoured to make himself a despotic prince 
 and failed ; that in consequence of his tyrannical 
 conduct he raised against himself the armed opposi- 
 tion of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, the son of John 
 of Gaunt, by whom he was overthrown. Eichard 
 was murdered in Pontefract Castle, and Henry of 
 Lancaster was acknowledged King of England in his 
 place. Here the question arises whether Henry of 
 Lancaster had a just claim to the crown — for he chal- 
 lenged the realm of England, and the Crown, in the 
 name of the Trinity, as being descended from the good 
 King Henry III. Now if he attempted to derive his 
 iitle from Henry III., rather than from Edward III. his 
 grandfather, it was because there was a rumour, that 
 Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, surnamed Crouchback, 
 was eldest son of Henry III., but by reason of his de- 
 formity, Edward I., his younger brother, was placed on 
 the throne. According to this supposition, Henry of 
 Lancaster would have made the ignorant believe 
 that he could ground his title upon being son of 
 
13 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 Blanche of Lancaster, grand-daughter of Edmumd 
 Crouchback, and heiress of that family. But as he 
 was sensible that all could not be imposed upon by 
 so gross a forgery, he added certain expressions, inti- 
 mating that he built his right also upon the service 
 he had done the state. The truth is, Henry of 
 Lancaster had no just claim to the crown. Richard 
 had treated him oppressively, and he had overthrown 
 Richard, and the reins of government fell naturally 
 into his hands. We have seen that Roger Mortimer, 
 Earl of March, was the lineal representative, through 
 his mother Philippa, of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the 
 third son of Edward III. By the Parliament which 
 met in 1385, Roger Mortimer was declared heir pre- 
 sumptive to the crown, in case Richard should die 
 without issue. It is clear that the claim of Roger 
 Mortimer was superior in every respect to that of 
 Henry of Lancaster. Henry IV. had not much 
 enjoyment of his royal position. He was not beloved 
 by the people, and died unlamented in 1413, leaving 
 the crown to his illustrious son, Henry V. But it 
 must be observed that during the reign of Henry IV. 
 his claims to the crown had not remained unopposed. 
 Roger Mortimer was succeeded in his titles and pre- 
 tensions by his son Edmund, and a rebellious 
 attempt was made to set Edmund Mortimer upon 
 the throne. The rebels were defeated at the cele- 
 brated battle of Shrewsbury. Richard, Earl of Cam- 
 bridge, the younger son of Edmund, Duke of York, 
 uncle of Richard II. and Henry IV. married a sister 
 of the Earl of March, and by this union the claims 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 13 
 
 that were derived from Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the 
 third son of Edward III. passed into the family of 
 Edmund, Duke of York, the fifth son of Edward III, 
 The reign of Henry V. is rendered memorable by 
 the wars which he carried on in France. There was 
 a time when England was on the point of becoming 
 a mere province of France, but the arms of Henry 
 V. nearly succeeded in making France a province of 
 England. The battle of Agincourt has invested 
 the name of Henry with imperishable renown. He 
 died in 14S3, after what the historian calls a trium- 
 phant reign of more than nine years. By his wife, 
 Catherine of France, he left but one son of his own 
 name, an infant about eight or nine months old. 
 We have thus rapidly traced the succession to the 
 English crown from the times of WiUiam the Con- 
 queror, to the times of Henry VI. It has been 
 shewn that the succession was very irregular ; that 
 might too frequently prevailed against right ; and that 
 the Salique law was not recognised in England. A law 
 was made in the reign of Henry IV. excluding females 
 from the succession, but it was repealed immediately 
 after it was made. It has also been shewn that a fair 
 title to the Enghsh crown existed in the House of 
 York — a more valid one than that which was pos- 
 sessed by the House of Lancaster. 
 
14 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 CHAPTEK III. 
 
 HENEY VI. 
 
 It will now be our duty to examine the course of 
 events that followed upon the accession of Henry VI. 
 to the English throne. His father had been emi- 
 nently prosperous in his French campaigns, and had 
 secured to himself, by his victorious arms, many rich 
 and extensive provinces. By a treaty that had been 
 recently made, the crown of France, after the death 
 of Charles VI., was to come into the possession of 
 the English King. There seemed at that time every 
 probability that France and England would become 
 one kingdom. But Henry V. died before the treaty 
 was properly settled, leaving an infant for his suc- 
 cessor. Not long afterwards, Charles VI. King of 
 France died too, and Charles VII. was not so readily 
 disposed, as his father had been, to resign his regal 
 ■dignity to an English rival. It thus happened that 
 Henry VI. and Charles VII. assumed at the same 
 time, the title of King of France, and disputed with 
 each other the possession of the throne for thirty 
 years. The management of ajQfairs for the infant 
 king of England, was in the hands of his two uncles, 
 the Dukes of Glocester and Bedford, the former 
 
THE BATTLES OP WAKEFIELD. 15 
 
 acting as regent in England, and tlie latter as regent 
 in France. It would be foreign to our purpose to 
 enter into the details of the protracted contest between 
 Henry and Charles, for the French crown. The result, 
 however, was, that the French King recovered his 
 possessions, and all the conquests that were made by 
 Henry V. were lost in the reign of his unfortunate 
 son. The war was chiefly remarkable for the novel 
 and amazing exploits of the celebrated Joan of Arc, 
 who turned back the English hosts, and put to flight 
 the armies of the aliens. Marvellous it was, that the 
 great French monarchy should be saved by the piety 
 and prowess of a mere peasant girl ! Our business 
 is to show, not how Henry failed in winning and 
 wearing the French crown, but how, by weak and 
 injudicious government, he lost his own English 
 crown. "When the Duke of Bedford, regent of 
 France, died, Richard Plantagenet, duke of York, 
 was appointed to succeed him. It must be borne in 
 mind that this Eichard Plantagenet was the son of 
 Richard, Earl of Cambridge, who married the sister 
 of the Earl of March, and who was beheaded for con- 
 spiracy against Henry V. All the claims of the 
 House of March had descended to Richard Planta- 
 genet, who was also the representative of the House 
 of York. At the time when the Duke of York was 
 appointed regent of France, the English arms in 
 France had suffered many serious reverses, and these 
 reverses abroad made the people dissatisfled at home. 
 The cost of this long French war must have been 
 enormous, and the people cannot but have been bitterly 
 
16 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 vexed to find themselves so heavily taxed for defeat, 
 and loss, and shame. For a while the affairs of tlie 
 English in France appeared more hopeful under the 
 government of the Duke of York, but no great ad- 
 vantage was achieved. The Duke of York was after- 
 wards recalled, and the Earl of Warwick took his 
 place, but when the latter died, the Duke of York 
 was sent to France again. The state of things in 
 England about this time will be best understood, 
 from the following extract from Rapin : — " Certainly 
 the Duke of Glocester was in a sad situation. Be- 
 sides his vexation to see those who were at the helm 
 stearing a course, directly contrary to that marked 
 out by his glorious brother, Henry V., he perceived 
 there was a settled design to mortify him on all 
 occasions. The King, his nephew, who was so much 
 obliged to him, suffered himself to be misled by the 
 artifices of his enemies, not having penetration 
 enough to discern those who had only their own in- 
 terest in view. He was made to consider his uncle 
 as a secret enemy, that would rejoice at his destruc- 
 tion, because he was his next heir. What is more, 
 they inspired him with strong suspicions of him, by 
 representing him as a counsellor, whose interests it 
 was to engage him in wrong courses, in order to 
 render him contemptible and odious to his subjects, 
 and thereby pave his own way to the crown." It is 
 no wonder a young prince of so narrow a genius as 
 Henry, should be blinded by such insinuations. He 
 had none about his person to undeceive him, and for 
 some time had only seen his uncle's enemies. The 
 
THE ba1:tl1es oi waReJield. l^ 
 
 catdmal— the Bishop of Winchester — was ever watch=- 
 ful not to suffer any person at court, or in the council, 
 but what was devoted to him, and this he made his 
 chief business. He it was that had introduced to 
 court the Earl of Suffolk, for whom the king had 
 conceived so strong an affection, that he saw nothing 
 but with his eyes, and did nothing but by his advice. 
 As the new favourite wholly owed his fortune to the 
 cardinal, he missed no opportunity to insinuate to his 
 master, that of all his subjects, the cardinal was most 
 safely to be trusted. By these means, he daily sunk 
 the Duke of Glocester's credit, whose counsels were 
 always directly contrary to those of his enemy. John 
 Kemp, Archbishop of York, and cardinal, was also a 
 counsellor entirely devoted to the Cardinal of Win- 
 chester, and his instrument to confirm the king in 
 his suspicions of the Duke of Glocester. Thus, 
 these three ministers being strictly united togetherj 
 so ordered it, that the king daily gave his uncle some 
 fresh mortification. On the other hand, the haughty 
 and impatient temper of the Duke of Glocester, not 
 suffering him to bear indignities without complaining 
 and threatening the authors, he promoted his own 
 downfall, by the continual faults his impatience caused 
 him to commit." The Earl of Suffolk, mentioned 
 in the above passage, was William De la Pole, de- 
 scended from a merchant of Hull. His life is one 
 of the most interesting and romantic in English 
 history. We see how the weak-minded Henry was 
 influenced by counsellors, of whom it appears just to 
 say, that their own advancement, and the ruin of the 
 
 c 
 
18 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD, 
 
 Duke of Glocester, who was an honest and able 
 man, were the simple objects they kept in view. In 
 1444, a truce was made between the kings of Eng- 
 land and France, and the Earl of Suffolk was the 
 ambassador from the English court. At the same 
 time a marriage was negociated, between Henry VI. 
 and Margaret of Anjou, daughter of Bene, King of 
 Sicily, and niece of the Queen of France. The 
 Earl of Suffolk contrived this marriage, and brought 
 it to a successful issue. Instead of Margaret bring- 
 ing a dowry to Henry, one of the marriage-conditions 
 was, that he should give up the province of Maine, 
 which was a matter of deep regret to the English 
 people, and afterwards the ground of a serious charge 
 against the Earl of Suffolk, The marriage was cele- 
 brated by proxy, at Tours, in the presence of Charles 
 and his court, in a splendid manner, and William De 
 la Pole acted as Henry's substitute. In May, of the 
 following year, the Queen came to England, and was 
 crowned. She soon discovered her husband's weak- 
 ness, and in conjunction with Suffolk, the Cardinal 
 of Winchester, and the Archbishop of York, she 
 ruled him with an absolute sway. In 1447, the 
 Duke of Glocester died, and it was generally believed 
 that he had not died in a natural way. 
 
 The death of the Duke of Glocester is a circum- 
 stance in our story that requires special notice, for it 
 was this event that roused the Duke of York to a 
 remembrance of his claims to the crown, and gave 
 him a fair opportunity of urging those claims with 
 isome hope of success. There can be little doubt 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 19 
 
 that the Queen and her three ministers considered 
 tfie Duke of Gloeester as an obstacle in the wafcy of 
 their ambitious designs, that must be renioved by 
 some means or other. It was not possible to piilt 
 him to death, by the usual coui^se of justice, and it 
 would have been too dangerous to murder him openly. 
 Their first effort was to intimidate him, by hinting 
 that serious charges would be brought against him id 
 Parliament They warned him not to come to the 
 Parliament; but he was too conscious of his own 
 innocence to be influenced by any of their endea- 
 vours to keep him away. On the first day of the 
 session, however, he was apprehended, and Com- 
 mitted to close confinement. The charge preferred 
 against him was that he had conspired to kill the 
 king, and with an armed force to deliver his duchess 
 from her imprisonment, in Kenilworth Castle. The 
 people did not believe him guilty of suteh intentions, 
 and no doubt was entertained of his being able to 
 vindicate himself frOm these Wicked caitimnies. On 
 the second day of the session he was found dead in 
 his bed, but without any marks of violence uJ)on his 
 person. But it was an awkward thing for him to die 
 so suddenly, and so soon after he had fallen into the 
 hands of his enemies. The people were convinced 
 that he had been murdered. Some surmised that he 
 was smothered between two feather-beds ; others said 
 that he had been put to death as Edward II. was. 
 Something was done to remove the suspicion of 
 murder. The body was shown to both Houses of 
 Parliament, but what amount of evidence would be 
 
20 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 sufl&eient to prove, under such, strong circumstances 
 of suspicion, that no violence had been done 
 to the Duke ? He might have died from mere 
 mental emotion, at finding himself treated with in- 
 dignity and injustice. But the common opinion was, 
 that the Duke had been foully murdered, and the 
 common opinion was probably correct. Meanwhile 
 to make good, in some measure, the charges against 
 the deceased, several of his domestics were appre- 
 hended, and accused of being in the plot to kill the 
 King. They were aU sentenced to die, by judges 
 appointed by the King's commission, of whom the 
 Marquis of Suffolk was the chief. But it is remark- 
 able that they were all pardoned, which gave occasion 
 to the surmise, that they had been bribed to confess 
 their guilt, to implicate their master, and their trial 
 and condemnation was nothing better than a farce. 
 The death of the Duke of Glocester brought upon 
 the Queen and her ministers an almost universal 
 hatred. The Queen especially was publicly charged 
 with the murder, and the respect due to her was not 
 capable of bridling people's tongues. Most probably 
 the poor weak King had nothing to do with the mat- 
 ter. The Queen, and the rest of the Duke of Glo- 
 cester's enemies, thought that his death had secured 
 them from all opposition. But by a just retribution, 
 the Duke's death was the very cause of the ruin of 
 the King, the Queen, and all who were concerned. 
 The Duke of York thereby saw himself at liberty to 
 assert his claim to the crown, a claim which caused 
 torrents of English blood to be shed, and of which. 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEEIELD. 21 
 
 doubtless, lie would never have thought, if there had 
 been such a competitor as the Duke of Glocester. The 
 Cardinal of Winchester, one of the principal authors 
 of the Duke of Glocester's death, enjoyed but one 
 month the satisfaction of his enemy's fall. He w^as 
 a prelate much fitter for the world than the church, 
 and is said to have died in a sort of passion that his 
 riches could not exempt him from the common fate. 
 The truce with France was continued, but there was no 
 prospect of permanent peace being established. This 
 caused an outburst of popular complaint against the 
 Marquis of Sufiblk. It was thought that in his nego- 
 tiations he had betrayed the King and the state ; and 
 a number of charges were brought against him, from 
 which, however, he vindicated himself to the satisfac- 
 tion of the King, but by no means to the satisfaction of 
 the people. He was regarded by them as the principal 
 author of the Duke of Glocester's murder, and the 
 King's marriage with Margaret, which he had nego- 
 ciated, was looked upon as one of the greatest 
 calamities that had ever befallen England. The 
 King had given himself up entirely to his devotions, 
 and was making himself a saint of the first degree, 
 while his wife, using his name, was governing the 
 country in the most despotic manner. Her intimate 
 connexion with the Marquis of Sufiblk, gave occasion 
 to reports that were not much to her honour. It 
 was under these circumstances that the Duke of 
 York began secretly to prepare the minds of the 
 people for the consideration of his claims to the 
 crown. It was whispered about that the House of 
 
22 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 Lancaster had usurped the throne. The usurpation 
 had heen tolerable, while the kings of that house 
 were princes of distinguished worth, and had acted 
 for the welfare and honour of the nation ; that even 
 during the non-age of the present King, there had 
 been hopes of his treading in the steps of his ances- 
 tors, and of his being a worthy follower of the King 
 his father; but since he became of age, nothing 
 glorious was to be expected of him ; that therefore, 
 the English could have no reason to support any 
 longer the usurpation of the crown, for the sake of 
 a Queen, who, being sprung from their most mortal 
 enemy, ruled the kingdom with an arbitrary power ; 
 that in viewing the posterity of Edward III., it was 
 evident the House of March had been unjustly de- 
 prived of the crown ; and that the Duke of York being 
 sole heir of that house, and descended from Edward 
 III., by his paternal ancestors, ought to have his due 
 right. Moreover, his noble qualities, his great virtue, 
 and his signal services to the states very strongly 
 supported the just title which came to him by birth. 
 Such discourses artfully spread amongst the people, 
 began to gain a party for the Duke of York. He, 
 however, appeared not himself; all was done in 
 private by his friends. The Queen, the favourite, and 
 all the House of Lancaster, failed not to take notice 
 of what was divulged concerning the pretensions of 
 the Duke of York. As they did not question that 
 all these discourses were circulated with his approba- 
 tion, they determined to diminish his importance, by 
 removing him from the regency of France. This 
 
THE BATTLES OP WAKEFIELD. 23 
 
 was a high affront to the Duke of York, hut as it 
 was not in his power at that time to be revenged, he 
 concealed his resentment, and waited for a more 
 favourable opportunity to show it. In the beginning 
 of the year 1448, the King, who only acted by the 
 Queen's suggestion, created the Marquis of Suffolk, 
 Duke of Suffolk. The Queen seemed determined 
 to brave the people, by daily showering her favours 
 upon a man, who was so odious to the whole nation. 
 The war in F*rance re-commenced in 1449, and 
 the first campaign was fatal to the English, who 
 were commanded by the Duke of Somerset, the 
 rival of the Duke of York. A rebellion also broke 
 out in Ireland, and to get the Duke of York out of 
 the way, and place his life in jeopardy, he was sent 
 to put it down. This he did most successfully, and 
 made the Irish his friends for ever aftervsards. The 
 reverses in France filled the English people with 
 indignation, and the whole kingdom rang with com- 
 plaints against the Duke of Suffolk. In the Parlia- 
 ment of 1450 he was impeached by the House of 
 Commons, and the Queen, perceiving that matters 
 were likely to go ill with him, arranged that the King 
 should commit him to the Tower, not with an inten- 
 tion of punishing him, but to give some satisfaction to 
 the Commons. She also adjourned the Parliament to 
 Leicester, for fear the Commons should persist in 
 their prosecution. But soon after Suffolk was released 
 from confinement and resumed his old post at court. 
 The news of his release raised a sedition in Kent, 
 which was headed by one Thomas Thaney, a fuller, 
 
M THfi BATTLES OF WAKEPIELD. 
 
 who was nick- named Blue-beard; but before the re- 
 bels could make any considerable attempt, the ring- 
 leaders were apprehended and executed, and so the 
 sedition was stifled in its birth. When the Parliament 
 re-assembled at Leicester, the King and Queen ap- 
 peared, attended by the Duke of Sufi"olk, as Prime 
 Minister. This was intolerable ; the Commons were 
 roused once more, and the King was compelled to 
 banish the Duke for five years. Sailing for France, 
 he was met by an English vessel, the captain of which 
 was bold enough to take the Duke and behead him 
 on the spot. Thus fell WiUiam De la Pole, Duke of 
 Suffolk, who, a few days before, was the greatest and 
 most powerful person in the kingdom. 
 
THE BATTLES o:F -WAKEFIELD. 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ITHE DUKE OF YORK. 
 
 The death of the Dufce ^of Suffolk removed one of 
 the bitterest enemies of '€a.e Duke of York out of the 
 ■way. Tie was now comparativelj free to work out the 
 designs he had so long ■cherished in secret. Though 
 he was in Ireland -at th« time, his friends in England 
 were active in extolling his merits, and representing 
 to the people the incapacity of the Kinlg and tiie 
 arbitrary government of the Queen, The loss of 
 Normandy occurring at the same Juncture, produced 
 a deep impression upon the popular mind. The his- 
 torians say that the Duke of York, not willing to 
 hazard himself, devised &.e expedient of instigating 
 one Jack Cade to begin an insurrectionary movement. 
 Such might have been the case, but we should think 
 that the people generally were i^ipe for rebelUon, and 
 were ready to follow Jack Cade, or any other leader, 
 high or low, who would attempt the task of overturn- 
 ing a bad government. Cade was an Irishman, 
 and assuming the name of John Mortimer, of the 
 house of March — who had been executed in the 
 beginning of the present reign — ^he repaired into 
 
 D 
 
26 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELB. 
 
 Kent, which seems to have been the strong-hold of 
 disaflfection. He soon gathered a host of followers, 
 by proclaiming that his object was to reform the 
 government, and ease the people. In a few days Cade 
 found himself strong enough to encamp upon Black- 
 heath, near London. The King sent to inquire the 
 reason of the insurrection ; and was informed that no 
 ill design against himself was meditated, but that 
 many grievances, of which the people complained, 
 must be redressed. Thereupon the King raised an 
 army of fifteen thousand men to disperse the rebels. 
 The rebels retreated before him, and Henry, supposing 
 that they were frightened, thought it sufl&cient to 
 send a detachment of his army after them, while he 
 returned to London. The rebels, who were lying in 
 ambush, cut the detachment to pieces. Cade now 
 marched upon London, and the King and court 
 retired to Kenilworth Castle, leaving a garrison in the 
 Tower, under the command of Lord Scales. Cade's 
 previous success had attracted multitudes to his 
 standard, and the City of London, pleased or terrified, 
 opened her gates to the rebels. They behaved very 
 well to the citizens, and the beheading of Lord Say 
 was the only stain upon their conduct. Afterwards, 
 however, the friendship between the citizens and the 
 rebels was broken, and a battle ensued, in which the 
 rebels were defeated. Cade was slain while flying 
 from the scene of his discomfiture. 
 
 While these things were passing in England, the 
 war was continued in Normandy, but still to the dis- 
 advantage of the Enghsh. In a short time the King 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 27 
 
 of France saw himself master of the whole of that 
 «plendid province, and the Duke of Somerset returned 
 home, having no further defeat to suffer in France. 
 The people were much enraged against him, and the 
 King, in answer to their petitions, sent him to the 
 Tower, from which, however, he was soon liberated, 
 and assumed at Court the post formerly enjoyed by 
 the Duke of Suffolk, It seems that the more mis- 
 chief a man did to the interests of the country, the 
 higher he stood in the estimation of the Court ; and 
 it might almost be supposed that there was some 
 secret design to lose all the possessions which the 
 English had acquired in France. Guienn-e was lost 
 without a single effort being made to retain it. 
 
 And now the Court grew very uneasy about the 
 Duke of York. As in the Kentish rebellion, Jack 
 Cade had assumed the name of Mortimer, it seemed 
 evident that the purpose was to sound the inclination 
 of the people towards the House of March. The Duke 
 of York was also suspected of forming some plot in 
 Ireland, and of intending to bring an army of Irish 
 into England. The King sent orders to the sheriffs 
 of Wales, Shropshire, and Cheshire, to make prepa- 
 rations to oppose his landing. This was a false step ; 
 it shewed that the Court were afraid of the Duke, 
 and it put the Duke upon his guard. The Duke 
 sent to the King to complain of the suspicion enter- 
 tained of him, and the King returned a civil answer, 
 but did not revoke his orders. The Duke having 
 completed his term of government in Ireland, em- 
 barked for England, and repaired to London, where 
 
SB THE BATTLES 03? WAKEFIELD.. 
 
 he was ikrEpatiently expected by his friends. Thej 
 had freqtifintly conferred during his absence, but. 
 could not come to any resolution without him. His; 
 principal adherents were, John Mowbray, Duke of 
 Norfolk ; Richard Nevil, Earl of Salisbury ; Richard 
 Nevil, his son — ^who was shortly afterwards Earl 
 of "Warwick — Thomas, Earl of Devonshire ; and 
 Edward Brook, Baron of Cobham. With these 
 lords, the Duke, immediately after his arrival, con- 
 certed measures to accomphsh his designs. The 
 result of their consultations was, that the Duke 
 shouH retire into Wales, where the family of March 
 had always, had a great interest ; that he should pri- 
 vately be- assured of seasonably raising an army, by 
 means of his friends ; and that he should then write to 
 the King to- advertise him of the people's dishke of 
 the ministry, artd paa-ticxilarly of the Duke of Somerset- 
 In pursuance of this resolution^ the Duke, repairing 
 into Wales, and takiag all his measures, wrote to the 
 King, " that all the kingdom was dissatisfied, because 
 traitors were screened fi-om justice, and that he took 
 the freedom to advise- hiTo. to prevent the ill conse- 
 quences of the public di'seontent. That the speediest 
 means was to order the guilty to be brought to their 
 trial, and particularly the Duke of Somerset, who, 
 having been impeached by the Commons, was restored 
 to freedom without any examination. In fine, that 
 if he would give the nation that satisfaction, he 
 ofi'ered to assist in the execution of so good a design." 
 It was perceived by the ministers that the Duke of 
 York desired an occasion of quarrel, but in their pre- 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 29 
 
 sent situation it was not advisable for them to treat 
 him haughtily. The King, therefore, sent him a civil 
 answer, in which he stated his intention of choosing 
 some able and virtuous counsellors, of whom the 
 Duke of York was to be one, and he promised that 
 the traitors should be punished, and that the Duke 
 of Somerset should be brought to trial. The Duke 
 of York was ilot satisfied with this answer. He had 
 taken measures to raise an army, and he now put 
 himself at the head of it, and marched towards 
 London. But he found that the Queen had not been 
 negligent in preparing for such an emergency. When 
 the Duke retired into Wales, the Queen levied troops 
 in the King's name, without discovering the object 
 for which they were intended. The Duke, therefore, 
 was no sooner upon the march, than he heard 
 that the King was advancing to give him battle. 
 Though he wanted neither courage nor experience, 
 he thought he should not venture a battle with the 
 King, without having a more plausible pretence than 
 what he had used to cover his designs. His aim was 
 to gain the people ; but to fight the King without a 
 more specious reason, was not the way to compass 
 his ends, though he could have been sure of victory. 
 Besides, looking upon the City of London as able to 
 incline the balance to his side, he judged that before 
 all things he ought to secure the metropolis. For 
 this reason, when he heard the King was coming 
 against him, he suddenly altered his route, and by 
 speedy marches, got before him, and appeared before 
 London, where he expected to be received with open 
 
30 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 arms. But lie had the mortification to find the gates 
 shut, the inhabitants not thinking proper to declare 
 for him whilst the King was so closely pursuing him 
 with a superior army. He was forced, therefore, to 
 pass the Thames at Kingston, and encamp on Black- 
 heath, twelve miles from London. The King, fol- 
 lowing him, marched over London Bridge, and 
 encamped about four miles from him. The two 
 armies being so near each other, that nothing could 
 prevent an engagement, the King sent to ask the 
 Duke why he appeared in arms. The Duke thought 
 it best to be civil, and replied that he had no ill 
 intention against the King, but only wished him to 
 remove his evil counsellors, of whom the Duke of 
 Somerset was the chief. The King took him at his 
 word, and immediately ordered the Duke of Somerset 
 to be arrested. The Duke of York was siurprised at 
 this ready acquiescence with his wish, and found 
 himself in a very awkward situation. He, however, 
 disbanded his troops, and soon after made his appear- 
 ance at Court, where an amusing scene occurred. 
 When he was in the King's presence, he accused the 
 Duke of Somerset with great warmth, and endea- 
 voured to persuade the King that he was a traitor, 
 and had sacrificed the interest of the kingdom to his 
 ambition and avarice. Upon these words, the Duke 
 of Somerset, who was concealed behind the hangings, 
 suddenly stepped forth to answer him, and accused 
 him of conspiring to dethrone the King. The Duke 
 of York, seeing his enemy before him, when he 
 thought him in safe custody, perceived that he was 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 31 
 
 in no slight danger. Nevertheless, without shewing 
 any concern, he complained of the King's breach of 
 promise. Immediately after the King dismissed him, 
 and ordered him to be apprehended as soon as he 
 was out of his presence. But his enemies were 
 afraid to proceed too vigorously against him, and they 
 contented themselves with exacting an oath from 
 him that he would remain a faithful subject to the 
 King tiU death, and never take up arms against him. 
 This done, the Duke of York retired to his castle of 
 Wigmore, in Herefordshire, and the Duke of Somerset 
 enjoyed, without a rival, the authority he had acquired 
 at Court. 
 
32 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE WAR OP THE ROSES. 
 
 The Duke of York had renewed his oath of alle- 
 giance to the House of Lancaster, but it was only to 
 free himself from the danger into which his impru- 
 dence had thrown him. He was no less resolved to 
 maintain his pretensions, and to take advantage of 
 the King's incapacity, and the disaffection of the 
 people towards the Queen and her ministers. To 
 consider duly the laws and customs of the realm his 
 title was indisputable. He was descended from the 
 third son of Edward III., while Henry was descended 
 from the fourth son of the same prince. It is true, 
 it was by a daughter, but the Salique law did not 
 prevail in England. On the contrary, in the reign 
 of Eichard II., Roger, Earl of March, his grand- 
 father by the mother's side, was declared by the 
 Parliament, presumptive heir to the crown, in case 
 Richard died without issue. And even since the 
 House of Lancaster had held the crown, the Parha- 
 ment had confirmed by a solemn act, the right of the 
 daughters and their descendants. And yet Henry VI. 
 was no usurper. It was now above fifty years since 
 
THE BATTLES OP WAKEFIELD. 33 
 
 the House of Lancaster had held the crown, by the 
 authority of the ParHament, who settled it on the 
 family of Henry IV. So the Duke of York could 
 pretend to the crown only upon the supposition that 
 the Parliament had not power to alter the succession. 
 For this reason, he could not openly discoyer his 
 intention, without attacking the privileges of the 
 Parliament, of which the English nation has ever 
 been jealous. Besides, he stood in need of the Par- 
 liament, to succeed in his design. But how could 
 he gain the Parliament to his side, if he oflfered to 
 question the validity of their acts ? On the other 
 hand, he was to break through a fifty years' possession, 
 confirmed by the unanimous consent of the people, 
 and become still more authentic by the glorious ad- 
 vantages procured to the nation by Henry V. The 
 Duke of York, therefore, went about the accomplish- 
 ment of his designs in a very wary manner. At this 
 time the war in France was over ; aU the English 
 possessions had been lost, except two unimportant 
 places ; and the King was sinking rapidly into a state 
 of imbecility. The Duke of York and his two friends, 
 the Nevils, took advantage of this circumstance to 
 obtain admission into the council. They soon gained 
 the supremacy there, and sent the Duke of Somerset 
 to the Tower. The council empowered the Duke 
 to hold the Parliament in the King's name ; and the 
 Parliament, as soon as it met, impeached the Duke 
 of Somerset, and appointed the Duke of York pro- 
 tector of the realm during the King's indisposition, 
 till such time as Edward, the King's son, should be 
 
 E 
 
34 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 of age to exercise that oflace. In the beginning of 
 1455, the King was somewhat better, and the Duke 
 of York's functions ceased. Whereupon Somerset 
 was immediately released, and restored to his former 
 position. The Duke of York soon after retired into 
 Wales, having received many affronts from the Queen 
 and her favourite. He now determined to try the' 
 fortune of war, an'd having succeeded in raising a 
 numerous army,: he riiet the Bang's army at St. Albans-, 
 where a battle was fought on the 31st of May. This 
 was the first encounter between the White Kose of 
 York and the Eed Bose of Lancaster. The King's 
 army was defeated in a few minutes— Somerset was 
 killed on the spot — and the King himself, wounded 
 and deserted, fell into the hands Of the Duke of 
 York. The Duke conducted the King to London, 
 when Parliament was immediately sumnioned, and 
 as the King had suffered a relapse, the Duke of 
 York was once more made protector. In the early 
 part of 1456, the King had recovered, and the pro- 
 tectorship was resigned, and the Duke of York again 
 retired to his castle of Wigmore. During the year 
 1457, the fears and jealousies of both parties were 
 interrupted by foreign affairs. In 1458, a reconcilia- 
 tion was brought about, and a public thanksgiving 
 was celebrated in St. Paul's Church, the Duke of 
 York walking with the Queen upon that occasion. 
 But this peaceful state of things did not last long. 
 The Earl of Warwick got into trouble in London, 
 and thinking himself aggrieved and his safety im- 
 perilled, he, with his father, the Earl of SaUsbury, 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 35 
 
 repaired to the Duke of York, to consult with him what 
 should be done. They concluded that the reconcila- 
 tion that had lately taken place, was only a snare to 
 surprise them the more easily, and to destroy them 
 one after the other. They, therefore, arranged that 
 Warwick should return to Calais, of which he was 
 governor, lest it should be taken from him, and that 
 while the Duke was levying an army in Wales, the 
 Earl of Salisbury should advance towards London, at 
 the head of five or six thousand men, to demand 
 satisfaction for the injury done to his son. The 
 Queen sent Lord Audley to oppose the march of the 
 Earl of Salisbury, They met near a small river 
 upon Blore-heath, in Shropshire; and after a long 
 and severe contest, the royal army was completely 
 routed, and Audley himself slain, with all the principal 
 -officers. 
 
 The Earl of Salisbury now effected a junction 
 with the Duke of York, but their force was not 
 large enough to justify them in marching towards 
 London, as the Court had assembled a large army at 
 Coventry. They sent for the Earl of Warwick from 
 Calais, who brought with him part of the garrison. 
 Seven months had elapsed since the battle of Blore- 
 heath, before the two parties had drawn all their 
 forces together. The Yorkists were encamped at 
 Ludlow, and the royal army advanced to give them 
 battle. A proclamation, offering pardon to aU who 
 would lay down their arms, was distributed among the 
 rebels, and produced an amazing eifect. The deser- 
 tion of Sir Andrew Trollop, who commanded the 
 
36 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 troops from Calais, completed the mischief, and 
 instead of fighting, the Duke of York and his com- 
 panions, immediately took to flight. Thus termi- 
 nated the Duke of York's second attempt to gain the 
 crown. 
 
 When the Parliament assembled, the Duke of 
 York and his adherents were declared guilty of 
 high treason — their estates were confiscated — and 
 they and their posterity pronounced incapable of 
 inheriting to the fourth generation. An attempt was 
 also made to oust Warwick from his post at Calais, 
 but it proved unsuccessful. Soon afterwards, War- 
 wick contrived to have an interview with the Duke 
 of York, in Ireland, whither he had fled, and fresh 
 plans were concocted. The royalists, in order to 
 prevent any further rebellion, began now to deal 
 harshly with any of the adherents of the Duke of 
 York, that could be discovered. Many were con- 
 demned to death, and the men of Kent expected 
 that signal vengeance would be inflicted upon them. 
 They, therefore, sent to the rebel lords, at Calais, 
 Warwick and Salisbury, and the Earl of March, 
 eldest son of the Duke of York, to say, that if they 
 would make a descent in their county, they should 
 be received with open arms. Accordingly, they soon 
 after landed at Sandwich, with fifteen hundred men, 
 and were immediately joined by Lord Cobham, with 
 four thousand men. With that reinforcement, they 
 marched to London, and the gates being opened to 
 them, they entered the city with forty thousand men. 
 The Archbishop of Canterbury and four bishops, 
 
THE BATTLES OB' WAKEFIELD. 37 
 
 declared for them. The Queen, who was at Coventry, 
 assembled all her forces, and advanced towards 
 London. The young Earl of March, with twenty- 
 five thousand men, left London to give her battle; 
 the armies met near Northampton, and a sanguinary 
 engagement took place, in which the royalists were 
 again totally defeated. The King was captured, and 
 the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of 
 Somerset, fled into Durham. The poor King, after 
 residing some time in Northampton, returned to 
 London, where a Parliament was called that reversed 
 aU the harsh measures that had been passed against 
 the Yorkists by the preceding Parliament. The 
 Queen, after escaping from Durham into Wales, 
 went with her son into Scotland, where she remained 
 tiU a favourable opportunity presented itself of at- 
 tempting the rescue of her husband. 
 
 The Duke of York returned from Ireland, two days 
 after the meeting of Parliament, and boldly put forth 
 his claim to the crown. After a debate of several days, 
 it was decided, and embodied in an Act of Parliament, 
 that Henry should enjoy the crown for life, and that the 
 Duke of York should be his successor ; but if the 
 King should break this engagement in any way, the 
 crown was immediately to devolve to the Duke of 
 York and his lawful heirs. The day after passing 
 the before-mentioned act, a procession was made to 
 St, Paul's, where the King was present, with 
 the crown on his head, attended by the Duke of 
 York, who now induced the King to sign an 
 order for the return of the Queen, which, however 
 
38 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 he knew she would disobey. But, indeed, Her 
 Majesty was returning with an army she had collected 
 in the north, to whom she had promised the spolia- 
 tion of the country south of the Trent. She had 
 gathered together neaxly twenty thousand men, and 
 the Duke of York, not knowing her strength, left 
 London with a force of five or six thousand men, 
 leaving orders with his son, the Earl of March, to 
 lead the rest of the army into Wales to refresh them, 
 and then to come and join him. As he advanced 
 towards the north, he was mortified to hear of the 
 Queen's success in levying troops. At length, as he 
 drew near to Wakefield, he heard that the Queen was 
 advancing to meet him, at the head of eighteen thou- 
 sand men, and he thought it prudent to retire to his 
 Castle of Sandal, and wait for the arrival of the Earl 
 of March. He knew that the Queen, who had no 
 artillery, would be unable to force him from that 
 position, which was well fortified ; and he did not 
 question that his son would speedily come to his 
 relief. 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 39 
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 WAKEFIELD. 
 
 We come now to describe the battle which, was fought 
 near Wakefield, on the last day of December, 1460, 
 but before doing so, it may be interesting to give a 
 short account of this ancient and important town 
 — important, at least, in past times, though in 
 this respect it has been much diminished within 
 the last century, by the astonishing growth of the 
 great manufacturing towns of the West Eiding of 
 Yorkshire. Wakefield is mentioned in Domesday- 
 book, and its name is there written " Wache- 
 field," which most probably denotes the appellation 
 of its first Saxon possessor. It was a field or pro- 
 perty belonging to " Wache." At the time of the 
 Domesday survey it was in the hands of the King,, 
 and the manor comprised nine berewicks, most of 
 which are in the parish of Halifax, and two of them 
 are uncertain. In the manor of Wakefield, with its 
 nine berewicks, there were two churches and three 
 priests. The two churches were probably at Wake- 
 field and Sandal. There was a chapel at Horbury^ 
 and it is presumed that the third priest ministered 
 
40 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 at that place. It is supposed, also, that Wakefield 
 did not belong to the first class of the old Saxon 
 churches, but that it was taken out of the original parish 
 of Morley. 
 
 About 1080, to which date the Domesday sur- 
 vey of Yorkshire may be referred, William de War- 
 renne was already in possession of Conisborough, with 
 its numerous and valuable dependencies. To this 
 William de Warrenne the grant of the Manor of 
 Wakefield, was afterwards made, but its exact date 
 cannot now be ascertained. The first William 
 •de Warrenne died June 24th, 1088, and the first 
 legal act by which it can be proved that the family 
 ■were seized of the manor of Wakefield, with its 
 -dependent lordships, is the charter of William, the 
 ■second Earl of Warren, by which he grants to 
 God and St. Pancras of Lewes, besides other churches, 
 the Church of Wakefield, with the Chapel of Horbury, 
 ^nd all that belonged to them. In the Warren family 
 the manor of Wakefield remained till the 9th of 
 Edward II., when John, the last Earl, having no 
 male issue, did, by special grant, dated on the 
 morrow after the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, 
 :g-ive the fee simple and inheritance of all his lands to 
 the crown; after which, the King assigned to him for 
 life, the Castles and Manors of Conisborough and 
 Sandal, the latter including Wakefield, Dewsbury, 
 Halifax, &c. On his demise, therefore, the crown 
 •entered into full possession. The property came 
 ^afterwards, by some means or other, into the posses- 
 sion of the Earl of Warwick, and Kobert, Earl of 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 41 
 
 Warwick, gave it as part of the marriage portion of 
 his daughter Penelope, to Sir Gervase CUfton, of 
 CUfton, in the county of Nottingham, Bart., in which 
 family it remained till the year 1700, or thereabouts, 
 when it was sold to the Duke of Leeds. 
 
 Leland, who lived in the time of Henry VIII., 
 gives the following description of Wakefield, in his 
 " Itinerary " : — " Wakefeld upon Calder ys a very 
 quik market towne, and meately large : well served 
 of flesch and fische, both from the se and by rivers, 
 whereof divers be thereabout at hande. So that al 
 vitaile is very good chepe there. A right honest man 
 shal fare wel for 9 pens a meale. In this town is 
 but one chefe church. There is a chapel beside. 
 * * * * There is also a chapel of Our Lady 
 on Calder Bridge, wont to be celebrated a peregrinis 
 (visited by pilgrims). A forrow lenght or more out 
 of the towne, be scene dikes, and bulwarkes, and 
 monticulus egestce terrce indicium turris specularis — 
 whereby apperith that ther hath bene a castel. The 
 Guarines, Erles of Surrey, as I rede, were ons lords 
 of this towrie. It standith now al by clothyng." 
 " These things I especially noted in Wakefeld. The 
 faire bridge of stone, of nine arches, under the which 
 renneth the river of Calder ; and on the est side of 
 this bridge is a right goodly chapel of our Lady, and 
 two cantaurie prestes founded in it, of the fundacion 
 of the townesmen, as sum say ; but the Dtikes of 
 Yorke were taken as founders for obteyning the morte- 
 mayne. I herd one say that a servant of King 
 Edwarde's (the 4th) father, or else of the Erie of 
 
42 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 Eutheland, brother to King Edward the 4th, was a 
 great doer of it. There was a sore batell faught in 
 the south feildes by this bridge, and yn the flite of 
 the Duke of Yorke's parte, ether the Duke himself, 
 or his sun therle of Eutheland, was slayne a litle 
 above the barres, beyond the bridge, going up a 
 clyving ground. At this place is set up a crosse in 
 memoriam. The commune saying is there, that the 
 erle wold have taken ther a poor woman's house for 
 socour, and she for fere shot the dore, and strait the 
 erle was killed. The Lord Clifford for killing of men 
 at this batail, was called the boucher. The principal 
 church that now is yn Wakefield is but of a new work, 
 but it is exceeding faire and large. Some think, that 
 were, as now, is a chapell of ease at the other ende of 
 the toune, was ons the old paroch church. The 
 vicarage at the este end of the church garth is large 
 and faire. It was the parsonage house not very many 
 yeres syns : for he that now lyvith is the 4 or 5 vicare 
 that hath been there. Afore the impropriation of 
 this benefice to St. Stephane college at Westminster, 
 the personage was a great lyving, yn so much that 
 one of the Erles Warines, Lordes of Wakefield, and 
 much of the countery thereabout, did give the per- 
 sonage to a sunne or nere kinsman of his, and he 
 made the most parte of the house wher the vicarage 
 now is. A quarter of a mile withoute Wakefield, 
 appearith an hille of erth caste up, where sum say that 
 one of the Erles Warines began to build, and as faste as 
 he builded violence of winde defaced the work. This 
 is like a fable. Sura say it was nothing but a winde 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 43 
 
 mille hill. The place is now caulled Lohill. The 
 toune of Wakefield streachith out al in lenght by est 
 and west, and hath a faire area for a market place. 
 The building of the toune is meately faire, moste of 
 tymbre, but sum of stone. Al the hole profite of 
 the toune standith by course drapery. There be few 
 tounes yn the inwarde parts of Yorkshire, that hath 
 a fairer site or soile about it. Thar be plenty of se coal 
 in the quarters about Wakefield." Such is Leland's 
 picture of Wakefield as it was more than three cen- 
 turies ago, and about eighty years after the battle was 
 fought in its neighbourhood. 
 
 Fuller, in his " Worthies of Yorkshire," writes thus 
 about " Merry Wakefield." — " What peculiar cause 
 of mirth this town hath above others I do not know, 
 and dare not too curiously enquire, lest I should turn 
 their mirth among themselves into anger against me. 
 Sure it is seated in a fruitful soil and cheap country ; 
 and where good cheer and company are the premises, 
 mirth (in common consequence) will be the con- 
 clusion : which if it doth not trespass in time, cause, 
 and measure, Heraclitus the sad philosopher, may 
 perchance condemm, but St. Hilary the good father 
 will surely allow." It is supposed that the cause of 
 the merriment of Wakefield in Fuller's time, was the 
 great abundance of barley grown, and malt manufac- 
 tured, in the neighbourhood. One of the old ballads 
 detailing and glorifying the achievements of Eobin 
 Hood, is entitled " the Jolly Pinder of Wakefield," 
 which should be sung " to an excellent tune." It 
 commences in the following uproarious manner : — 
 
44 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 " In Wakefield there was a jolly pinder, 
 
 In Wakefield all on a green, 
 
 In Wakefield all on a green : 
 There is neither Knight nor Squire, said the pinder 
 
 Nor Baron that is so bold, 
 
 Nor Baron that is so hold. 
 Dare make a trespass to the town of Wakefield 
 
 But his pledge goes to the pinfold." 
 
 The Wakefield of modern times is a quiet town, 
 that has allowed its neighbours to outstrip it in size, 
 population, and industry. From its situation and 
 local advantages, it should have become the metropolis 
 of the West Riding ; but when the manufacturing 
 interest began to grow so amazingly in this country, 
 it was not welcomed by the inhabitants of Wakefield, 
 and so it settled down in Leeds and Bradford and other 
 places. Wakefield thus lost an opportunity of im- 
 provement and progress which can never be recovered. 
 At present it is important, not for its manufactures, 
 but for its corn market and cattle fairs. On the 
 whole, it is a neat town, and well built, and has some 
 good public buildings, but it cannot be described now 
 by the word " quik," which was so applicable to it in 
 the days when Leland wrote. 
 
 The lofty and elegant spire of the Parish Church 
 is a fine object to the eye for many miles round 
 Wakefield, and it would be well if the inhabitants 
 of Wakefield would restore it to its original beauty. 
 
 The principal antiquity of Wakefield is the Chapel 
 on the Bridge that crosses the Calder, of which we 
 shall speak more particularly in a subsequent chapter, 
 as it is immediately connected with the Battle of 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 45 
 
 Wakefield. Wakefield is situated upon the left bank 
 of the Calder, and is chiefly built on elevated ground. 
 To the south of Wakefield — facing the South Parade 
 — there stretches out a long strip of low and level 
 ground, having Lowe Hill upon the right, near the 
 town, and Sandal Castle Hill upon the left, at a dis- 
 tance of about a mile and a half. This strip of 
 ground is crossed diagonally by the Calder. It was 
 beyond the Calder, in the fields between the Calder 
 and Sandal Castle Hill, that the battle of 1460 was 
 fought. 
 
 Very little remains of the strong fortress that once 
 occupied the summit of Sandal Castle Hill. Trees 
 are growing where the massive walls once used to 
 stand, and sheep are grazing where soldiers were wont 
 to keep watch and ward. As we contemplate the 
 ruins of the old castle, we can hardly restrain the 
 wish to have seen it in its former strength and glory. 
 But it is better that the castles should have passed 
 away, or become transformed into pleasant mansions, 
 with nothing of the castle about them but the name. 
 For the most part they were the strong-holds of petty 
 tyrants, and disturbers of the public peace, and in 
 their ruins we see the ruins of that oppressive feudal 
 system under which England endured so many evils, 
 and so much intestine strife. We shall never pray, 
 with a modern aristocratic bard, for the restoration of 
 our " old nobility ;" and we shall never sigh for the 
 restoration of the castles in which they used to en- 
 trench themselves. Sandal Castle was built by John, 
 Earl of Warren, about the year 1380. In the reign 
 
46 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 of Edward III., Edward Baliol resided in it, while an 
 army was raising to establish him on the throne of 
 Scotland. It afterwards became the property of 
 Kichard Plantagenet, Duke of York, in the following 
 manner. It has been related that in the reign of 
 Edward II., John, the last Earl of Warren and 
 Surrey, having no lawful issue, gave all his honours, 
 castles, manors, lands, and tenements, to the King. 
 This was done with a view of obtaining a re-grant to 
 his unlawful issue. In 1318, Earl Warren, by virtue 
 of a license from the King, did grant the manor of 
 Wakefield to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, grandson 
 of Henry III., during the term of the natural hfe of 
 the said Earl of Warren ; but he enjoyed it only about 
 three years, for being leader of the barons at that 
 time against the King, he was taken prisoner near 
 Boroughbridge, and beheaded at Pontefract, on the 
 25th of March, 1322. The manor of Wakefield now 
 came again into the hands of the Earl of Warren, 
 who held it till his death, which happened in 1347. 
 On his death, the manor with all its appendages came 
 to the crown in the person of Edward III., who, in 
 1362, created his fifth son, Edward of Langley, Earl 
 of Cambridge, and gave him all the castles, manors, 
 and lands beyond the Trent, which had formerly 
 belonged to John de Warren, Earl of Surrey. Ed- 
 mund of Langley, was afterwards, by his nephew 
 Kichard II., created Duke of York, and died in 1402, 
 seized, among other possessions, of the manors of 
 Coningsborough, Sandal, Hatfield, Thorne, Fishlake, 
 Holmfirth, and Sowerby, and likewise of the manor 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 47 
 
 and lordships of Wakefield, including that of Halifax, 
 leaving Edward, Earl of Kutland, his son and heir. 
 This Edward perished in the battle of Agincourt, in 
 the year 1415, and dying without male issue, his 
 honours and estates devolved on his nephew, Richard 
 Duke of York, son of his brother, Eichard, Duke of 
 Cambridge, who was beheaded in the same year for a 
 conspiracy against Henry V. And when Edward, 
 the son of Richard, Duke of York, became King of 
 England, all these estates belonged to the crown 
 once more. The castle and its demesnes came after- 
 wards into the possession of Sir Edward Carey, who 
 conveyed it to the Savile family. In the civil wars 
 of Charles I. it was held for the King by Colonel 
 Bonivant, but being besieged by the Parliamentary 
 forces it surrendered in the month of October, 1645, 
 and in the following year it was dismantled by order 
 of the Parliament. Sandal Castle Hill is a famous 
 visiting-point for the inhabitants of Wakefield. It 
 lies a little to the right of the turnpike road leading 
 from Wakefield to Barnsley, and its distance from 
 Wakefield requires but a short and pleasant walk to 
 reach it. The upper part of the hill is somewhat 
 difficult of ascent, but when you have mounted the 
 summit the panorama is beautiful in the extreme. 
 A quiet lane, that rejoices in a very unromantic ap- 
 pellation, leads you from the main road, around the 
 ruins of the castle, into the main road again. A few 
 pieces of wall still standing, of enormous thickness, 
 shew what the strength of the fortress once was, and 
 the moat that surrounded the castle may yet be 
 distinctly traced. 
 
48 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 
 
 The celebrated battle of Wakefield took place on the 
 80th December, 1460. Its exact site is now a matter 
 of antiquarian dispute. Some writers have fixed its 
 locality in the flat meadows now and for some years 
 known as " the Pugneys," and which stretch south- 
 wardly from the castle to the banks of the Calder. 
 The etymology of the word " Pugneys" is the only 
 ground for the supposition that we can discover ; and 
 when we come to consider the physical difiiculties of 
 such a battle-field, it is hard to reconcile the possibi- 
 lity of its being the site of the conflict with the pro- 
 babilities of the case. The Duke of York would 
 never have committed so grave a mistake as to descend 
 from his castle-eminence into an open plain, where 
 his small troop might easily be environed by the larger 
 force of the adversary. It is far more probable that 
 the battle took place in front of the castle, and on the 
 open space of ground which is, even at the present 
 day, called Sandal Common. Here, no doubt, the 
 main army of Margaret was posted; several large 
 bodies of soldiery being detached for the purpose of 
 misleading the Duke of York as to the number of 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 49 
 
 the enemy, by concealing themselves behind the small 
 hillocks that surround the castle. One old writer 
 states that the Duke's troops had in the first instance 
 been billeted in the adjacent town of Wakefield, and 
 were hastily thrown into the castle on the news of 
 the Queen's approach with a large army becoming 
 current. It is but fair to add, however, that this 
 writer's statement does not receive any confirmation 
 at the hands of contemporary or subsequent his- 
 torians; and we are not, consequently, bound to 
 accept his isolated account. 
 
 The Duke of York, ill-prepared as he was for such 
 an encounter, by the considerable disparity in point of 
 number, between his forces and those of the Queen, 
 appears to have acted with great rashness in foolishly 
 evacuating his strong position in the castle, to meet 
 the Queen's army in the open field. From an exami- 
 nation of the locality, one would readily come to the 
 conclusion that the fortress was almost impregnable ; 
 and this opinion would go far towards convicting the 
 Duke of almost suicidal hardihood and chivalrous 
 daring in meeting Margaret on the open plain. In 
 Sandal, he was adequately protected from the army 
 which the Queen had brought against him, and which 
 was more an army of recruits than one of experience or 
 engineering ability. On the 29th of December, 
 however, the Duke summoned a council of war in 
 one of the rooms of the castle, to consider what mea- 
 sures should be adopted with reference to the hostile 
 army encamped in the neighbourhood. There were 
 present at the conference Kichard, Duke of York ; 
 
 G 
 
6b THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 Edmund, his son, Earl of Rutland ; the Earl of Salis- 
 bury ; Sir Thomas Netill, Sir David Hall, Sir John 
 Parr, Sir John Mortimer, Sit Hugh Mortimer, Sir 
 Walter Limbrike, Sir John Gedding, Sir Eustace 
 Wentworth, and Sir Guy Hartington ; Captain Fitz- 
 james, Captain Ralph Hastings, Captain JohnBaunne, 
 and Captain Digi)y. Most of these eminent com- 
 inanders and soldiers counselled the Duke to remain 
 within the walls of his castle until the reinforcements, 
 under his son Edward, Earl of March, should join 
 him ; but the Duke, with that chivalrous spirit which 
 in his youth so briUiantly distinguished hiiii in the 
 tournaments of Fra,hce, and on the plains of Nor- 
 mandy, ai,ppea,ts to have sunk all prudential considera- 
 tions in the fear that it would be considered cowardly 
 and unknightly to remain in entrenchments against 
 a woman-general. This infatuation, for it can be 
 called by no milder term, cost Plantagenet his life, 
 and for the time appeared seriously to depress the 
 claims of his house to the crown. Many arguments 
 Were advanced by the brave knights present at the 
 conference — and their bravery was undoubted — to 
 induce the Duke to remain within the castle, but in 
 vain. In that peremptory and decisive strain so 
 markedly charsicteristic of the great leaders of that 
 iron age, the Diike resolved to oflfer the Queen's 
 forces immediate battle, and isSlied the necessiiry 
 instructions to his captains to carry out the order. 
 
 History does not exhibit much variance on the 
 subject of tlie relative disproportion of the two arinies. 
 The historians of that period are almost unanimous 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 61 
 
 in ascribing to the Duke 3, force q£ some 5000 or 
 6000 men, whilst the Queeij's army has been variously 
 estimated at 18,000 and 20,000 soldiers. It there- 
 fore becomes a matter of wonder how Plantagenet 
 could reasonably apprehend any other issue ,to the 
 pending battle than the entire subjugation of his 
 band, and the endangering of his ambitious claim. 
 He had not even the satisfaction of knowing that he 
 was opposed to an army of foreigners, whose presence 
 in the fruitful vales of Yorkshire might have beep, 
 viewed with suspicion and dislike by the peasantry, 
 and whose efforts would consequently have been de- 
 voted to an extermination of the inyaders. The 
 battle would be essentially a civil conflict, Englisl;i- 
 man against Englishman, and in many instances, 
 Yorkshireman against Yorkshireman. The Queen's 
 march had been so hasty that she had not rnade any 
 arrangeiments for sitting down before the walls of the 
 castle with any intention of forcing it; and if the 
 Duke could only have been persuaded to await the 
 arrival of >his jSon with reinforcements, it might 
 reasonably be expected that Margaret would have 
 foup.d herself obliged to raise the siege, and prose- 
 cute her jouriiey to the south. This the Queen 
 herself does not appear to have been insensible to ; 
 for she is represented by historians as " neglecting 
 no afrtifice which she thought could induce him to 
 quit his retrep,t before his son's arrival. She affected 
 to continue her route towards the south ; then she 
 placed the greater part of her .forces behind an .emi- 
 nence ; and with the rest approaching the Castle of 
 
52 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 Sandal, provoked him to battle by tbe most insulting 
 messages. Whether the Duke was stimulated by her 
 reproaches, or found himself obliged to make a des- 
 perate effort for want of provisions; or lastly, was 
 deceived in the number of his enemy ; certain it is, 
 he drew out his men, and resolved to hazard a battle." 
 According to Polydore Virgil, " the Duke, trusting to 
 his own knowledge in warfare, and the valiance of 
 his soldiers, issued out of his campe against his 
 enemies in good array." 
 
 On the side of the Duke of York were ranged the 
 following eminent commanders and valiant soldiers : 
 The Earl of Salisbury, Sir Thos. Harrington, Sir 
 David Hall, Sir Hugh Hastings, Sir Thos. Neville, 
 third son of the Earl of Salisbury, Sir John Morti- 
 mer, Sir Hugh Mortimer, and many other gentlemen 
 of note. The Queen was strong in troops, and 
 among her commanders, whose talents in the field 
 were experienced and undoubted, were the brave 
 Earls of Clifford and Northumberland. Her army 
 was partly posted in close environment of the castle, 
 and partly concealed behind the swelling uplands 
 which still mark the physical conformation of the 
 battle field. The pile itself was amply defended 
 against any occasional or random assault. Located 
 on several eminences, its approaches were easily 
 guarded ; and a deep moat, crossed by a portcullis 
 bridge, completed its utter isolation from the sur- 
 rounding villages. 
 
 On the morning of the battle, the gate was widely 
 thrown open, the drawbridge lowered, and the small 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAEEFIELB. 53 
 
 army of 5000 men, led by the Duke of York, who 
 was supported by the Earl of Salisbury and Sir 
 Thomas Neville, swiftly crossed the intervening 
 plain, and boldly attacked the Lancastrian forces. 
 The banners of the Yorkist army displayed the usual 
 device of the family — a falcon volant Argent, with a 
 Fetterlock Or ; — in this and succeeding battles, when 
 the family was contending for the crown, the Falcon 
 being represented as endeavouring to expand its 
 wings, and to force open the lock — (intended to 
 typify the crown of England). Taken by surprize, 
 for some time the fortunes of the day were unde- 
 cided, and the Duke's handful of troops, fighting 
 with surprizing courage against such a dispropor- 
 tionate force, at one time threatened to rout the 
 army of the Queen. Plantagenet, although rash in 
 his evacuation of the fortress of Sandal, appears to 
 have animated his men with the same fearless 
 spirit which he himself possessed. His army 
 first attacked the enemy immediately investing 
 the castle, and to such purpose did his soldiers 
 wield their weapons that the Lancastrians were 
 here quickly broken, and sent flying in great 
 confusion. The main body of the forces, under the 
 command of the Earl of Clifford, which had been 
 bivouacked on Sandal Common, then came up, and 
 the engagement, which had hitherto been of a merely 
 local nature, then became general. York, fighting 
 with great courage at the head of his men, was soon 
 wounded in several places; and this circumstance 
 coming to the knowledge of his men, threw them into 
 
6i THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 disorder, and produced a panic which was speedily 
 co^tagious to the whole availahle force of the York- 
 ists. Margaret for some time had endeavoured in 
 vain to environ the opposing arn^y, and the wounds 
 which the Duke had received disqualifying him 
 for that active and vigilant supervision and disposition 
 of his force necessary to one in his disproportioned 
 condition, Clifford's troops succeeded in utterly sur- 
 rounding their antagonists ; and the motto of the 
 Lancastrians being " Victory or death," it may well 
 be supposed that the contest was not long protracted. 
 Two thousand nine hundred Yorkist soldiers wei^e 
 slain, and the Duke of York being taken prisoner, 
 the residue of his forces was speedily vanq;uished. 
 There fell also in this ba(ttle ySir ThOfm.a^ Harringto?i, 
 Sir David HaU, ^s Hugh Hastings, Sir ThQS. Nevil, 
 Sir John and Sir Hugh Morjtiijier, and many other 
 geriftlemen. The concluding scenes of this bloody 
 drama were as unjustifiably cruel as ;they were 
 impolitic. In the early part of the fray, the 
 Duke's son, Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Rutland, 
 had been despatched from the castle, in company 
 with his tutor, to ^ seek shelter far away from the scene 
 of carnage. Clifford, who was posted on Sandal 
 Com.nion, appears to have discovered the flying fugi- 
 tives, and himself pursued and overtook them near 
 ihe bridge wliich at Wakefield spans the Calder. 
 Here, in cold blood, was ;the young Edmund 
 of Butlg^nd barbarously murdered by the cruel Clif- 
 jford ; and this dramatic episode of the battle has 
 been suitably reprobated by Shakspere in his " King 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 55 
 
 Heflfy the VI.," (act 1., s. Srd.) Most of our readers 
 will remember the passage. 
 
 The heautiful Chantry on the Bridge, so recently 
 restored by the benevolence of the public, is supposed 
 by many credible writers to have been originally 
 erected by Edward IV. , the brother of the murdered 
 Rutlarldi in remembrance of the fatal result of the 
 Wakefield encounter, and in which priests could daily 
 pray for the souls of his deceasedrelatives.* Withrefer- 
 ence to the Duke of York, who was taken prisoner by 
 the Queen's soldiers, there prevails different opinions* 
 Some writers are of opinion tha,t York was killed 
 in the fray, whilst manfully fighting at the head of his 
 army ; others, and amongst the rest, Shakspere, and 
 our own local Writer, Mr. Leatham, have given him a 
 poetical and highly pathetic subsequent existence on the 
 plains of Sandal, where the ceremony of a mock coro* 
 nation was gone through in the presence of the 
 Queen, and the Earls of Clifford and Northumberland ; 
 and when York wept from sheer vexation at being 
 submitted to the indignity of having his temples paled 
 within the limits of a paper crovvh, the cruel Clifford 
 gave him a handkeMlief dipped in the innocent 
 blood of the totrdered Rutland, %hetewith to wipe 
 his eyes. 
 
 Sandal Castle ^ it may be added, was taken in the early 
 part of the day by Lord Wilts, having been left entirely 
 unguarded by its late brave occupants. It appears 
 that the headless corpse of the Duke was suffered 
 to remaia for some days oh the field; the head 
 
 *T}ie Duke of York and the Earl of Buttand. 
 
56 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 itself having been sent to York and placed upon 
 the walls of that city, so that, in the language of 
 Clifford, " York might overlook York." The Earl of 
 SaUsbury, who was also wounded and taken prisoner, 
 was sent to Pontefract Castle, where he shortly after- 
 wards suffered decapitation. Thus fell Kichard, 
 Duke of York, a prince possessed of many great 
 and eminent qualities, and blameworthy alone, for 
 having involved his country in the miseries of 
 a civil war, with a view to assert a disputed claim 
 such as had often been disregarded in the suc- 
 cession of the English Kings, both before and 
 after the conquest; a claim which, in all probability, 
 would have lain dormant, had not the imbecility of 
 Henry, and the arbitrary measures and unpopular 
 deportment of his queen, awakened and invited it from 
 the shade of oblivion.* 
 
 Our readers will, perhaps, be gratified to have the 
 battle described to them in the language of the old 
 chroniclers. Speed, who took his narrative from 
 " Grafton's Chronicle" and " Stowe's Annals," gives 
 the following account of the fight : — 
 
 "The Castle of Sandal standeth pleasantly upon a small hiU, in -view of 
 the fairs town of Wakefield. There, the Duke of York, coming thither upon 
 Christmas eve, reposeth himself; and expeoteth the increase of his numhers. 
 The Queen, advertised, thinks it wisdom to fight hefore the Duke grows too 
 strong ; and, therefore, marcheth forward, having an army of eighteen thou- 
 sand men, led by the Dukes of Somerset and Exeter, — ^ihe Earls of Devon- 
 
 * Smollett's History of England, 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 57 
 
 shire and Wiltshire, — the Lords Neville, Clifford, Eoese, and, in effect, all the 
 northern nobility. The host, or so much thereof as they thought it necessary 
 to shew, presents itself before Sandal, to provoke and dare the Dulie to battle. 
 His blood, impatient at these braves, and ignorant, perhaps, that the enemy 
 had so great a multitude, -will needs fight, though the Earl of Salisbury and 
 Sir David Hall, an ancient servant of his and a great soldier, advise him to 
 stay tiU his son, the Earl of March, approached with such Welchmen and 
 Marchers, as he had assembled in great numbers. The Queen, therefore, 
 addeth stratagem and int to her force, to the intent he might not escape her 
 hands ; whereupon, the Earl of Wiltshire upon one side of the hill, and the 
 Lord Clifford upon the other, lie in ambush to tempt between him and the 
 castle; the Dukes of S(omerset and Exeter stand embattled in the open field. 
 Their policy had the Wished success; for the Duke, not being fully five 
 thousand strong, issueth out of the castle down the hill. The battles which 
 stood in front join furiously, when, so doing, the Duke of York sees himself 
 enclosed ; and although he expressed great manhood, yet, within one half 
 hour, his whole army was disoomfitid, — himself and divers of his dear Mends 
 beaten down and slain." 
 
 It is clear, from the preceding narrative, that Sandal 
 Castle, at that time, was surrounded by woods, except 
 on the side towards Wakefield. Towards Wakefield 
 lay the open field on which Somerset and Exeter 
 displayed a portion of the Queen's troops to tempt 
 the Duke to battle. Considering the shortness of 
 the fight, and the spot on which the Duke — according 
 to tradition — fell, there can be little difiiculty in iden- 
 tifying the precise locality on which the battle was 
 fought. 
 
 Polydore Virgil, who lived and wrote in the times 
 of Henry VIII., gives the following account of the 
 battle : — 
 
 "After these things the Duke of York, knowing for certaine that the 
 queene would not be content with the decree of this parliament (appointing 
 him successor to the crown_) made speede into Yorkshire to pursue her, and 
 pitched his campe at a towne distant from York upon the west about fifteen 
 miles, of some strength, by reason of a castle adjoyning, which towne is 
 
 H 
 
68 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 called Wakefield ; and there lie consulted with his frendes as touching the 
 assaling of his enemyes. Some there were who thought it not well to joyne 
 hattaUe before his sonne Edward should come with newe forces ; but the 
 duke, trusting to his owne knowledge in warfare, and the vaUencie of his 
 soldiers, yssued out of his campe against his enemyes in good array. Like- 
 Yidse the queene, who was resolved in minde to demaund her husbande by 
 dint of swoorde, and for that cause had aireadie assembled a puissant armie, 
 when she understoode that thenemie approached, forthwith she made head 
 against them and gave them the charge. At the beginning the fight was 
 mightUy mainteyned mutually, while that a great part of them who were in 
 the front of the battaile being mied, the Duke of Yorkes small number was 
 environed, of the multitude. Then the queene, encouraging her men, van- 
 quished the residue of her enemyes in the moment of one houre. There 
 fell in that conflict Eicharde, Duke of Yorke, the bead of that faction, with 
 Edmund his sonne, Earle of Eutlande, Thomas Neville, David Hall, John 
 Parre, Walter Limbrike, John Gedding, Eustace Wentworth, Guy Harrinton, 
 of thorder of Knights, and of courageous captains James Fitzjames, Ealphe 
 Hastings, John Baunne, and Eoland Digbie. Eichard, earle of Salisbury, 
 another head of that faction, was amongst others taken, who were beheaded 
 soone after, and their heades, put upon stakes were carried to Yorke for a 
 spectacle to the people, and a terror to the rest of thadversaryes." 
 
 Rapin furnishes the following account : — 
 
 " The Queen appeared before the Castle of Sandal, provoking the Duke 
 all manner of ways, one whOe threatening him, another while sending him 
 defiances, and upbraiding him, that a man who aspired to the crown should 
 suffer himself to be thus shut up by a woman. The Duke of York had 
 hitherto acted with great prudence and conduct. During the wars in France, 
 where he had often commanded in chief, he had shown no less wisdom than 
 true valour. But, on this occasion, he unfortunately suffered his courage to 
 prevail, contrary to the opinions of his friends, who advised him to despise 
 these vain reproaches. Probably his hatred to the Queen led him, as it 
 were, against his will, to commit an unpardonable fault, in a general of so 
 estabhshed a reputation. This, at least, was the motive ascribed to him by 
 historians. For my part, if I may be allowed to speak my opinion, I own I 
 think it improbable. I should rather believe the want of provisions forced 
 him to a battle, in order to avoid the danger to which he was exposed. So if 
 he committed a fault, it was in shutting himself up in a castle, instead of 
 returning, or meeting his son, who could easily join him. Be this as it will 
 he marched out of Sandal, and drew up his men on Wakefield green, imagin- 
 ing that his courage and experience would supply the defects of his army. 
 He was no sooner drawn up, but he saw himself attacked by the Queen's 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 59 
 
 troops, which being more numerous than his, had a great advantage over 
 him. Whilst he was pressed in the front by his enemies, stronger than 
 "himself, the ambushes rose, and attacked him in the rear. That unexpected 
 assault bred such confusion among his troops, that within half an hour they 
 were routed, and himself slain, valiantly fighting. The young Earl of Eut- 
 land, his second son, not above twelve years of age, flying with his governor, 
 was overtaken by the Lord Chfford, who plunged his dagger into his breast, 
 notwithstanding the earnest entreaties of the governor to spare the young 
 prince's life. Afterwards the same Lord Chfibrd, finding the Duke of York's 
 body, cut off the head, and crowning it with a paper crown, fixed it on the 
 end of his lance, and presented it to the Queen, who ordered it to be placed 
 on the walls of York." 
 
 The principal facts of the battle may be gathered 
 from the foregoing extracts. There was a great dis- 
 proportion between the army of the Duke and the 
 army of the Queen. The fatal mistake which the 
 Duke made was either in shutting himself up in 
 Sandal Castle, or in leaving it with so small a force. 
 No doubt the Duke fought with the energy of despair 
 when he found himself enclosed by his adversaries, 
 and yielded his life bravely, as the penalty of his 
 ambition. " The spot where the Duke of York was 
 killed, upon the green," says Hutton, " is about four 
 hundred yards from the castle, close to the old road 
 from Bamsley to Wakefield, now called, from the sign 
 of a public-house, Gocli and Bottle Lane." " This 
 spot," remarks Mr. Norrisson Scatcherd, " on the right 
 of the lane or old road leading from Wakefield to the 
 Three Houses, at Sandal, and which was once the 
 London road, is a triangular piece of ground, with a 
 fence about it, which the tenant of the place is bound, 
 by his lease, to maintain. When I saw it, many years 
 ago, some very old trees were growing in the fence, 
 
60 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 and vestiges of others, still older, were perceptible." 
 According to tradition, the cross was destroyed dur- 
 ing the civil war of the seventeenth century ; but as 
 such crosses were generally of wood, and very small, 
 it doubtless perished in the century preceding." 
 Hutton thinks that the spot where the Earl of Rut- 
 land was slain is the same that is called " The Fall- 
 ings," which is on the left of the bridge, going to 
 Heath, 
 
 In explanation of Lord Clifford's inhuman treat- 
 ment of the young prince it must be stated that his 
 father, Thomas, Lord Clifford, having been slain by 
 the Duke of York in the battle of St. Albans, he had 
 sworn to destroy every branch of the York family 
 that might come within his power. Beside the Duke 
 of York and his son, there fell in this sanguinary 
 conflict, nearly three thousand of the Duke's army. 
 We have seen what was done with the Duke's head 
 by his merciless conquerors. It was fixed upon 
 Micklegate Bar — one of the gates of York — that, in 
 the language of our great dramatist, " York might 
 over-look York." His body was first interred at Pon- 
 tefract, but, afterwards, in the collegiate church of 
 Fotheringhay. 
 
 It has been said of the Duke of York, that no 
 prince was ever so near a throne and not in it ; and 
 his great opponent, the Duke of Somerset, remarked 
 respecting him, that if he had not learned to play 
 the King, by his regency in France, he would not 
 have forgotten to obey as a subject when he returned 
 to England. He had a fair claim to the English 
 
THE BATTLES OF "WAKEFIELD. 61 
 
 crown, and was a man of great ability, and considering 
 how badly the country was governed by the Queen 
 and her favourites, we should almost say that he was 
 justified in attempting to wrest the sceptre from the 
 hands of those who swayed it. Fighting for a crown, 
 however, is perilous work, and to the Duke of York 
 it was fatal. He was fifty years of age when he 
 perished. 
 
 By Cecily, his wife, daughter of Kalph Nevil, Earl 
 of Westmoreland, the Duke of York had, as some 
 say, eight sons and four daughters. Henry, his eldest 
 son, died young. Edward, Earl of March, his second 
 son, became, afterwards, King of England. Edmund, 
 Earl of Rutland, his third son, was slain in the 
 battle of Wakefield. John, William, and Thomas, 
 all died young. The other two were George, after- 
 wards Duke of Clarence, and Eichard, afterwards 
 Richard III. 
 
 The battle of Wakefield was a severe blow to the 
 York party, but it did not prevent them from pursuing 
 the object for which they had commenced the war. 
 On the death of Richard, Duke of York, his son 
 Edward was proclaimed King of England ; and hav- 
 ing collected a force of 49,000 men, he encamped at 
 Pontefract. Henry and his Queen were at York ; 
 and in this city, or its vicinity, had 60,000 men, who 
 were commanded by the Duke of Somerset, the Earl 
 of Northumberland, and Lord Clifford. These gene- 
 rals proceeded with the army against Edward, leaving 
 Henry, his queen, and son, in that city. The Duke 
 of Somerset began his operations by sending Lord 
 
63 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 Clifford to dislodge the Yorkists from their post on 
 the north side of the Aire ; and the attack was so 
 successful, that they were driven across the river with 
 great slaughter ; the commander of their detachment, 
 and several eminent officers, heing slain in the action. 
 The Earl of Warwick, on hearing of this disaster, 
 was under great consternation, fearing that it might 
 discourage the troops. He immediately informed 
 the King of the event, and Edward, perceiving the 
 Earl's concern, judged it necessary to prevent the ill 
 effects this check might have on the minds of the 
 soldiers. He therefore issued a proclamation, inform- 
 ing them that those who desired it might depart; 
 that he would liberally reward those who should do 
 their duty ; but that no favour was to be expected by 
 any that should fly during the battle. At the same 
 time he detached WiUiam Nevil, Lord Fauconberg, to 
 pass the Aire at Castleford, between three and four 
 miles above Ferrybridge, with orders to attack those 
 who guarded the post lately lost. Fauconberg ex- 
 ecuted his orders with such secrecy and promptitude, 
 that hO; passed the river at Castleford before the enemy 
 had the least notice of the transaction. Then march- 
 ing falong the north side of the river, he suddenly 
 attacked Lord Clifford,'who was at the head of a body 
 of horse, which was completely routed. Chfford was 
 kiUed by an arrow, — too mild a punishment, says the 
 historian, for his inhuman murder of the young Earl 
 of Eutland, at the battle of Wakefield, 
 
 The post of Ferrybridge being thus recovered, 
 Edward passed with his whole army over the Aire, 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 63 
 
 and marched northward, towards Tadcaster, in quest 
 of the enemy. The two armies met near the village 
 of Towton, and on Palm Sunday, the 29th of March, 
 1461, the memorable and decisive battle of Towton 
 was fought. Henry's army consisted of 60,000 men, 
 commanded by the Duke of Somerset : that of Ed- 
 ward amounted to 48,000, and was commanded by 
 himself. Rapin says " the air was darkened by the 
 snow which fell very thick, and was driven by the 
 wind in the faces of the Lancasterians. The last 
 began the fight with a volley of arrows, which, being 
 discharged too far off, did no great execution. Fau- 
 conberg, who commanded the van of Edward's army, 
 disdaining to fight at such a distance, ordered his 
 men to lay bye their bows, and take to their swords, 
 whereupon, the armies approaching each other, began 
 a furious fight, wherein both sides seemed equally brave, 
 and resolute to exert their utmost to gain the victory. 
 The battle lasted from morning till night ; and from 
 thence it may be judged how obstinately it was fought 
 on both sides. Edward signalized himself by an 
 uncommon valour, which did not a little contribute 
 to maintain his troops in their resolution of conquer- 
 ing, or dying for his sake. At length the Lancaste- 
 rians began, towards the evening, to give ground, not 
 flying, but retreating as they fought, and making a 
 stand now and then, so that their enemies could not 
 be sure of the victory. However, this advantage 
 encouraging Edward's soldiers to make fresh efforts, 
 they so pressed their enemies, that at last they forced 
 them to fly. Then it was that a dreadful slaughter 
 
64 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 ensued. Edward had, before the battle, made pro- 
 clamation in his army that no quarter should be 
 given, well knowing the taking of prisoners would 
 but weaken his army. The flying troops shaped 
 their course for Tadcaster bridge ; but despairing to 
 reach it, because they were so hotly pursued by their 
 enemies, they turned aside in order to pass the Cock, 
 which runs into the Wharf. This was done with 
 such confusion and hurry, that the river was imme- 
 diately full of those that were drowned, and who, in 
 their misfortune, served as a bridge to their com- 
 panions. The slaughter is said to have been so great 
 in this place, that the waters of the Wharf were 
 dyed with the blood." By this battle the House of 
 York achieved the object for which it had been so 
 long contending, and the crown of England, which 
 had been worn by three princes of the House of 
 Lancaster, was placed upon the head of Edward IV., 
 the representative of the House of York. 
 
 It is painful to notice at what a price the crown 
 was obtained. It proved no blessing to the House of 
 Lancaster, and brought terrible calamities upon the 
 House of York. After the death of Edward IV., it 
 was seized by his brother Kichard, who barbarously 
 put all competitors out of the way. And Richard 
 found the crown as difficult to keep as it had been 
 to acquire. It toppled from his head in the battle of 
 Bosworth, and he lost crown and life together. Then 
 came the union of the two Houses of York and Lan- 
 caster, in the house of Tudor, which was followed in 
 succession by the House of Stuart, by one of whose 
 
THE BATTLES OP WAKEFIELD. 65 
 
 princes England was again involved in the horrors of 
 civil war. 
 
 The connexion of Wakefield with this second civil 
 war wUl be narrated in a subsequent part of this 
 work. 
 
66 THE BAMtES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE CHAPEL ON THE BKIDGE. 
 
 This interesting and beautiful Chantry having been 
 mentioned in connection with the Battle of Wakefield, 
 in previous pages of this work, it may not be out of 
 place to examine in what relation it stands to that 
 event. The chapel has been generally denominated 
 in history, " The Chapel of Edward IV.," and as it 
 has now become a question whether the edifice has, 
 in point of fact, any connection with the battle, the 
 following information has been collected to assist the 
 reader in coming to a conclusion. 
 
 Dr. Whitaker remarks, on Leland's narrative, that 
 " with respect to the beautiful Chapel on the Bridge, 
 beautiful even after the botchwork by which it has 
 been attempted to be repaired ; so early and aiithori- 
 tative a testimony as that of Archbishop Holgate, 
 must go far towards establishing the fact, that it was 
 founded by Edward, Duke of York, afterwards Edward 
 IV. This endowment," Dr. Whitaker proceeds to 
 say, " might have taken place in order — as is gene- 
 rally supposed — to pray for the souls of the slain in 
 the Battle of Wakefield, and especially of poor little 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 67 
 
 Rutland. The architecture of the rich fagade, at 
 least, is unquestionably of that age, but it is equally 
 certain that there was a Chantry on this bridge of 
 a much earher date ; for by charter dated at Waksr 
 field A.D. 1357 (31 Edward 3rd) and copied by Mr. 
 Hopkinson into his collections, it appears that the 
 said king vested a rent-charge of ten pounds per 
 annum on William Kaye and William Bull, chaplains, 
 and their successors for ever, to perform divine service 
 in the Chapel of St. Mary, then newly-erected, on 
 Wakefield Bridge. By a later account which I have 
 seen, ttie later chantry of two priests, said to have 
 been endowed by Edward, Duke of York, was valued 
 at £14: 15s. 3 Jd. I am unable to reconcile the differ- 
 ence between this sum and ^8 10s. 3d. ; but the 
 vicinity of the bridge to the ground where the former 
 Duke of York and little Rutland fell ; and especially 
 the title assumed by the founder, which, in the fol- 
 lowing year, was merged in the style of King, renders 
 it in the highest degree probable that this chapel was 
 reendowed by that Prince immediately after the battle, 
 and for a purpose which his feelings would then dic- 
 tate." The discrepancy in the amount of the endow- 
 ment, which appears to have puzzled Dr. Whitaker, 
 arises from his comparison of the later account of the 
 chapel with the report of the Wakefield Chantries 
 furnished by Archbishop Holgate, who mentions, inter 
 alia, " the chantrie of the two priests in the middle 
 of Wakefield Bridge, founded by Edward, Duke of 
 York, and valued at ^8 10s. 3d." 
 
68 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 ' With respect to the period when a chapel was first 
 erected on "Wakefield Bridge, antiquarians do not 
 agree. A William de Bayley, who died within the 
 parish of Mitton, in Craven, in 1391, furnishes the 
 following interesting item in his will relative to the 
 Chapel on the Bridge : — " Item lego C Sol ad con- 
 firmacionem cantarie in Capellae See Marias sup Pont 
 de Wakefield." This extract is conclusive as to the 
 existence of a chapel on the bridge 70 years previous 
 to the Battle of Wakefield ; and its antiquity is fur- 
 ther established by the following copy of a ancient 
 MS. in the archives of the Hatfield family : — In 1398 
 there were two chantries ordained in the Chapel on 
 Wakefield Bridge, which were founded by William, 
 son of John Terry del Wakefield, and Robert del 
 Heth (Heath), who obtained licences of the King 
 (Richard II), to give and assign to the chaplains cele- 
 brating divine service in the Chapel of St. Mary, on 
 Wakefield Bridge, lately built, ten pounds rent in 
 Wakefield, Stanley, Ossett, Pontefract, Horbury, 
 Heckmondwike, Shafton, Darfield, Preston Jackling, 
 and Frystone by the Water." The evidence is there- 
 fore conclusive that for a long period previous to the 
 Battle of Wakefield, a chantry, dedicated to our Lady, 
 was standing on Wakefield Bridge ; and the connec- 
 tion of Edward IV. with the building appears to have 
 been confined to its reendowment, for the purposes 
 before adverted to. 
 
 Mr. Norrisson Scatcherd, a gentleman who has 
 written extensively upon local antiquities, labours 
 very ingeniously and originally to prove that the 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 69 
 
 chapel on Wakefield Bridge cannot have been erected 
 in the reign of Edward IV. * for four reasons, viz : 
 Firstly, from printed or written documents ; secondly, 
 by inferences drawn from the usage of ancient times; 
 thirdly, from its architecture ; and fourthly, from 
 notices of Bridge chapels left us by Leland, and 
 others. Mr. Scatcherd certainly appears to make out 
 his case as far as the original erection of the chapel 
 is concerned ; but it has been reasonably suggested 
 that it was re-built and re-endowed by Edward IV., 
 after the battle. From a legal document, dated 27th 
 September, 39nd of Henry VI., and noticed in the 
 Gentleman's Magazine for 1801, p. 723, it appears that 
 an estate in Wakefield, was charged with the payment 
 of 3s., in the following words : " Beddendo inde annu- 
 atini Cantaria sive Capellce heatoe Marice scituet sup 
 Pontem Villa de Wakefield, tres solidos argenti ad tres 
 terminos scilicet ad festum sancti Michalis, purificationis 
 
 - beata Maria et Pentecostes per equales portiones." This 
 would certainly warrant the opinion that a chantry 
 existed on the Bridge f" Cantaria sive Capella beata 
 Maria scituet sup Pontem Villa de Wakefield") an- 
 terior to 1460 ; but that there was a re-erection 
 
 ■ shortly after the battle, does appear in the accounts 
 of several writers. Mr. Scatcherd very ingeniously 
 notes his reasons for accounting for the popular 
 tradition that the chapel was first erected by Edward 
 IV., by showing that in Edward the third's reign, the 
 vast estates of the Earls Warren reverted to the 
 
 • The Chapel of King Edward III. on Wakefield Bridge ; or an Improved 
 Essay on this and other Ancient Bridge Chantries. 1843. 
 
70 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 crown, and were, in the 63rd year of his leign, given 
 by that monarch to Edmund Langley, Earl of Cam- 
 bridge, to whom thus descended, (inter alia) the 
 Manor of Wakefield. Edmund Langley was after- 
 wards created Duke of York by his nephew Bichard 
 II., and left behind him a son, Edmund, also Duke 
 of York, who fell in the battle of Agincourt. Richard, 
 the second son of Edmund, was the father of that 
 Bichard, Duke of York, who was slain at the battle 
 of Wakefield, and this last-named was the father of 
 Edward the IV. All typographers know that mis- 
 prints may easily occur, and Edward III., printed as 
 Edward IV. in contemporary antiquarian notices, 
 might pass undetected for years. We can readily 
 suppose that this printer's error may have occurred ; 
 but can more reasonably account for the popularly 
 current tradition by remembering that if the chapel 
 was really and truly re-built and re-endowed by Ed- 
 ward IV., that the account handed down by suc- 
 ceeding writers has been written from this cir- 
 cumstance. If the chantry was in a dilapidated 
 condition anterior to the reign of Edward IV. and 
 a considerable battle took place in 1460, the 
 occasion might very appropriately be taken advan- 
 tage of by Edward IV., considering that he lost 
 his father (Richard, Duke of York), and his 
 youngest brother (Earl of Rutland), to re-endow the 
 chapel by a grant, in order that two priests migkt for 
 ever pray for the souls of such near and dear relatives 
 who met their death in the battle. Such instances 
 of filial and fraternal afiection were very common ; 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 71 
 
 and when we add to this incentive the fact, that the 
 popular manner of reUgious commemoration adopted 
 in those times, was to erect a chantry or chapel, as 
 near the field of battle as possible, we consider that 
 the hypothesis of the chapel's re-erection by Edward 
 IV. is a most reasonable one. Contemporary writers 
 very strongly support this view. 
 
 Mr. Scatcherd is of opinion that a chapel was first 
 erected on the bridge in 1363, — about one hundred 
 years anterior to the battle of Wakefield — and that 
 the occasion was the progress of Edward III. through 
 the kingdom, in commemoration of his having com- 
 pleted his fiftieth year. " The tributary kings of 
 France, Scotland, and Cyprus, hastened to England 
 to do him homage." Mr. Scatcherd speaks with 
 some weight on this topic, having, as he observes, aU 
 architectural authorities on his side. In the reign of 
 Edward III., the oak leaf, q^uatrefoil, roses, and 
 crockets, were exceedingly common. " This reign 
 formed a style. The arch is sharp without curve : 
 often moulded with oak leaves. Kows of small orna- 
 mental arches. Niches and tabernacles, with statues, 
 Pinnacles not very lofty, but adorned with leaves, 
 crockets, polished orbs, &c. This reign, (Edward 
 III.) is deemed, by men of the greatest taste and 
 skill, the best era of this kind of architecture. 
 These are exactly the ornaments in a stone," says 
 Mr. Scatcherd, " which fell from a corner pinnacle of 
 the chapel about sixt-een years ago, (1827) which was 
 rescued, at the time, from destruction ; and has been 
 in my safe custody ever since. * * * * But this 
 
72 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 rich canopy or finial stone, has more upon it than 
 even this. For, at the terminus of the weather- 
 mould of the canopy, there have been ' leopards cou- 
 chant'; and on two sides there is the Prince of 
 Wales' feather, (as I take it to be) ; the fourth side 
 abutting on the building. It was an old opinion, 
 pretended to have originated in a prophesy of Merlin, 
 that the lilies and leopards should be united in the 
 same field." The ambassadors sent by Edward III., 
 in 1329, to claim the regency of France, opened 
 their harangue with this declaration. If any doubt 
 as to the age of the chapel could exist, the appear- 
 ance of the " leopards couchant," would remove it. 
 The leopards, it is true, are not recognised in any of 
 the cognizances or badges of our Kings ; but a know- 
 ledge of Numismatics enables me to say that they 
 belong to Edward III., who had them on the obverse 
 of his florins, struck about 1342." 
 
 Having thus, we thinks satisfactorily established 
 the point that the chapel on Wakefield Bridge was 
 erected in the time of Edward III., and re-endowed 
 by Edward IV. after the battle of 1460, it may not 
 be amiss to enquire why this chantry was erected 
 upon a bridge, and here again we have to acknow- 
 ledge our indebtedness to Mr^ Scatcherd's pamphlet. 
 Leland, writing of this chantry, says, " it was wont 
 to be visited ' a Peregrinis,' or by pilgrims. This 
 appears to have been the use to which our beautiful 
 Chapel on the Bridge was put. Since that period, 
 when its cresset-light acted as a guide to the wayfarer 
 and to the navigator of the Calder, it has no doubt 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 73 
 
 been frequently visited by travellers, whose first step, 
 upon entering a town was to call at some chapel de- 
 dicated to the Virgin, and return thanks for their 
 preservation from danger by flood and field. The 
 Chantry has undergone many strange metamorphoses. 
 It has been degraded into an old-clothes shop, a ware- 
 house, a shop for flax- dressers, a news-room, a cheese- 
 cake house, and a tailors' shop. Now, however, it 
 again stands consecrated to sacred purposes, and 
 challenges the admiration of all visitors to our town. 
 It has been rebuilt, in perfect accordance with its 
 original design, and is perhaps as pretty a specimen 
 of the style of architecture of the time of Edward III 
 as will be found within the compass of the three 
 kingdoms. 
 
 This chapter may be aptly concluded by Mr. 
 Scatcherd's remarks : — " Now that this jewel of the 
 town is appropriated to religious purposes, I trust my 
 text will be no longer appropriate, ' We think upon 
 her stones, and it pitieth us to see her in the dust ;' 
 but that with reference at least to the Reformed 
 National Religion, I may substitute my former motto: 
 Rede ! Judge ! and thank God for a better hght." 
 
 END OF PART FIRST. 
 
THE 
 
 BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 M $ttm)i. 
 
 THE ENGAGEMENT OF 1643. 
 
IP art ^mA 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHAELES I. AND HIS PAELIAMENT. 
 
 When Charles I. was led, by the great opposition he 
 experienced from his Parliament, to declare his deter- 
 mination to govern the kingdom without the House 
 of Commons, he took a very foolish step, for his 
 necessities soon became so urgent as to drive him to 
 procure money by many arbitrary and offensive means. 
 The Star-chamber, the levy of tonnage and poundage, 
 the tax called ship-money, and, lastly, the attempt to 
 introduce episcopacy into Scotland, with the liturgy 
 of the Church of England, were the fruitful sources 
 of misunderstanding between this unfortunate mo- 
 narch and his people. In 1640, Charles was so dis- 
 tressed for want of funds that he once more sum- 
 moned a parliament, after an interval of eleven years. 
 He was in hopes that this movement would have been 
 interpreted as a concession to the commons, but, as 
 
78 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 soon as the parliament met, instead of paying any 
 attention to the King's afiairs, they began to consider 
 at length their own grievances. This so exasperated 
 the King, that he dissolved the parliament after it 
 had sat only a few months ; and his want of money 
 at length became so urgent, that he was obliged to 
 avail himself of accommodations from his ministers 
 and courtiers. The Scots, in defence of their cove- 
 nant, were again in the field ; and Charles, having 
 ultimately succeeded in raising a body of troops, met 
 his opponents at Newburn, where however, he was 
 quite defeated. In this dilemma, he was again 
 obliged to have recourse to a Parliament, and he 
 once more summoned the commons. The impeach- 
 ment and execution of Strafford, and the abolition of 
 the Court of Star-chamber, were the principal actions 
 of the new Parliament. Unfortunately for the King, 
 republican principles had begun to spring into exist- 
 ence, and with the professors of these doctrines the 
 moderate men felt bound to ally themselves, in oppo- 
 sition to the abuses of the royal prerogative which 
 had taken place. The Puritan element in the state 
 was also just beginning to rise into eminence, and 
 this party insisted on the destruction of the hierarchy. 
 Consequently, the King had plenty of work cut ready 
 for his hands, and his unhappy temper only tending 
 daily to widen the chasm between himself and the 
 Commons, a civil war was soon inevitable. 
 
 It would be impossible, in the limits of our article, 
 to enter into a detailed account of the progress of the 
 difficulties between Charles and the Parliament. 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD^ 79 
 
 Each party becoming more and more irritated^ the 
 King withdrew in 1643, to York, and took with him 
 his two eldest sons, Charles and James. The party- 
 names of " cavaliers", and " roundheads," appear ta 
 have originated at this time in York ; the Puritans,, 
 to mark their contempt of the gentry who had flocked 
 to the King, denominating them "cavaliers" or 
 " malignants," while the Eoyalist gentlemen, in ridi- 
 cule of the formality of the close-cropped hair of the 
 Puritans, gave them the name of " Koundheads." Sir 
 John Hotham's refusal to admit the King into Hull, 
 produced infinite mischief; and the resolution of 
 Parhament, on the 28th April, 1642, " That Sir John 
 Hotham, Knight, according to this relation, hath 
 done nothing but in obedience to the commands of 
 both Houses of Parliament," was looked upon as an 
 open declaration of war by the nobility and gentry 
 of the county of York. The voluntary corps of 200' 
 Yorkshiremen, who enrolled themselves to testify 
 their loyalty to the King, was interpreted by the 
 Parliament as a force levied to subdue them ; and 
 the following vote, taken by the Commons on the 
 20th May, 1642, may be said to have originated the 
 great civil hostilities which ended in the King's exe- 
 cution on the scaff"old : — " First, that it appears that 
 the King (seduced by wicked counsel), intends ta 
 make war against the Parliament, who, in all their 
 consultations and actions, have proposed no other end 
 unto themselves but the care of his kingdoms, and 
 the performance of all duty and loyalty to his person. 
 Secondhj, that whensoever the King maketh war upon 
 
80 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 the Parliament, it is a breach of the trust reposed in 
 him by the people, and contrary to his oath, and 
 tending to the dissolution of this government. 
 Thirdly, that whosoever shall serve or assist him in 
 such wars, are traitors to the fundamental laws of the 
 kingdom, and have been so adjudged by two Acts of 
 Parhament (2nd Richard II. and 1st Henry IV.), and 
 ought to suffer as traitors." These remarkable reso- 
 lutions of the House called forth a reply from the 
 King, in which he deprecated the "causeless jealou- 
 sies of the Malignant party in the kingdom, which 
 desires nothing more than to snatch to themselves 
 particular advantages out of a general combustion ;" 
 and forbidding all his Majesty's subjects belonging to 
 the trained bands or militia in this kingdom, to rise, 
 march, muster, or exercise, by virtue of any order or 
 ordinance of either House of Parliament, without 
 consent or warrant from his Majesty, upon pain of 
 punishment, according to the law." 
 
 A few weeks afterwards, the Parliament passed votes 
 for raising an army and naming a general ; and an 
 order was addressed to all high- sheriffs, justices of 
 the peace, and other officers within one hundred and 
 fifty miles of the city of York, to take special care to 
 stop all arms and ammunition carrying towards York, 
 and to apprehend all persons in charge of the same. 
 
 On the 27th May, 1642, the King issued a procla- 
 mation, requiring all ministers, freeholders, farmers, 
 and substantial copyholders, to meet him on Heworth 
 Moor, near the city of York, on the 3rd June. On 
 the day appointed, there was a very numerous gather- 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAICEriELD. 81 
 
 ing on the Moor, to the number of 70,000, some 
 historians even stating the number at a larger total. 
 The King arrived about 11 o'clock, and was raptu. 
 rously received by the meeting. Silence being pro- 
 claimed, Charles made a speech, and afterwards rode 
 round the moor, a large crowd following him, and 
 shouting " God save the King." In the month of 
 August, in 1642, the King returned to York, after 
 having made a short expedition to Nottingham and 
 Leicester. The heads of this county, in obedience 
 to his summons, met the unfortunate King on the 
 4th, and he then took his leave of them in a pathetic 
 and moving speech. After a stay of five months. 
 Bang Charles then left York, in order to erect the 
 standard-royal at Nottingham. Mr. Echard and 
 other writers are of opinion that it would have been 
 much more to the King's service, if his standard had 
 been raised at York, most of the northern countries 
 being then devoted to him. This appears to be 
 scarcely a matter of doubt ; but the Yorkshire gentry 
 had such a pusillanimous fear of the King's army 
 remaining in their county, that Charles adopted the 
 only course left open to him, by proceeding to Not- 
 tingham, and there displaying his standard. Two of 
 the principal instruments the Parliament made use 
 of to carry on the war in the north, lived in York- 
 shire : Ferdinando, Lord Fairfax, of Denton, and 
 his son, Sir Thomas Fairfax, of Nunappleton. The 
 father had already shown himself hostile to the court, 
 by bringing the message from Parliament to the King, 
 respecting Sir John JHotham's conduct at Hull ; and 
 
83 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 the son began very early to show his hatred to the 
 royal cause, if we may believe his own words in the 
 short memorial of his life. These two gentlemen, 
 says Echard, were almost the only persons of any 
 considerable quality in the county who were not well- 
 disposed to His Majesty, and who were influenced 
 by two or three others of inferior rank. The King 
 had at one time intended to take them prisoners 
 before leaving York, but the pressure of mightier 
 matters of state prevented his adopting this course. 
 On the 22nd August, 1642, the King's standard- 
 royal was erected at Nottingham, and a proclamation 
 issued, calling upon all loyal subjects to join his 
 cause. 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 83 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ENGAGEMENT AT WAKEFIELD. 
 
 The Earl of Cumberland, had been constituted by 
 Charles, the supreme commander of the country in 
 all military affairs ; and upon the King's departure 
 from York, in September, the city was ordered to be 
 immediately put in a posture of defence, and 
 ordnance was mounted on the gates. The gentlemen 
 of Yorkshire, however, were so cautious of involving 
 their county in a war, that a treaty was set on foot, 
 and fourteen articles agreed upon, between the Earl 
 of Cumberland, and Ferdinando, Lord Fairfax. These 
 articles comprehended a suspension of all military 
 actions and preparations on both sides, and were 
 agreed to at Rodwell, (probably Rothwell) on the 20th 
 September, 1649. This treaty was signed by Henry 
 Bellasyse, William Savile, Edward Osborne, John 
 Ramsden, Ingram Hopton, and Francis Nevile, on 
 the King's part; and Thomas Fairfax, Thomas Male- 
 verer, William Lister, William White, John Farrar, 
 and John Stockdale, on the other part. But this 
 amicable treaty and agreement was of short duration, 
 and the family names figuring in the above declara- 
 
84 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFlEtD. 
 
 tion, were shortly to be known as leaders in the civil 
 conflict which now broke out. Several skirmishes 
 between the Eoyalists and the Parliamentarians 
 followed, and at Tadcaster the field was desperately 
 contended. The fight commenced about 11 o'clock 
 in the forenoon, and lasted until 4 or 5 in the after- 
 noon, when powder and match being spent, the 
 Eoyalists were obliged to desist, until a further 
 supply could be obtained from York. During the 
 night, however, Lord Fairfax drew off his men to 
 Selby and Cawood, and left the Earl in free posses- 
 sion of the place. There were slain on both sides 
 about 300, but none of note except a Captain Lister, 
 who was shot in the head by a musket ball. 
 
 Wakefield was the next place subdued by Fairfax. 
 
 On the evening of the 20th May, 1643, Lord Fair- 
 fax withdrew out of the garrisons in Leeds, Bradford, 
 Halifax, and Howley, some horse, foot, and dragoons, 
 altogether amounting to 1,500 men, and sent them 
 against Wakefield, which was at that time held by 
 General Goring. Thomas Fairfax, assisted by Major 
 general Giffbrd, Sir Henry Fowles, and Sir William 
 Fairfax, commanded the small attacking force of the 
 Parliament. He appeared before Wakefield about 
 4 o'clock on Sunday morning, the 21st May, and 
 found the garrison in the town had been apprised of 
 his intent, and were prepared to receive him. The 
 Royalist garrison in the town comprised General 
 Goring, Sergeant Major-general Mackworth, Lord 
 Goring, and other celebrated commanders; with 
 about seven troops of horse, and six regiments of 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIEi.D. 85 
 
 foot, containing 3,000 men. The town appears to 
 have been well fortified, not only with outworks, but 
 also with cannon ; four pieces of ordnance being 
 used against the Parliamentary army. General Fair- 
 fax, in his account of the engagement, says: " our men, 
 both commanders and common soldiers, went on with 
 undaunted courage, and notwithstanding the thick 
 volleys of small and great shot from the enemie, 
 charged up to their works, which they entered, seized 
 upon their ordinance, and turned them upon them- 
 selves, and pursued the enemy so close as they beate 
 quite out of the town the most part of the horse and 
 a great number of the foot, and made all the rest 
 prisoners, and with them took four pieces of ordi- 
 nance, and all the ammunition then in the town, and 
 a great number of armes, and amongst the prisoners 
 General Goring himself, with divers other command- 
 ers, and other common soldiers, in all about three 
 hundred men, and twenty-seven colours of foot, three 
 cornets of horse, of which I send a more particular 
 list enclosed ; the more exact and particular relation 
 of this service, as it is testified to me und6r the hands 
 of the principal commanders employed in that de- 
 signe. * * Truly for my part I do accounte it a 
 miracle rather than a victory, and the glory and 
 praise to be ascribed to God that wrought it, in which 
 I hope I derogate nothing from the merits of the 
 commanders and soldiers, who every man in his 
 place and duty, shewed as much courage and resolu- 
 tion as could be expected from men. When the 
 town was thus taken, they (the Parliamentary forces) 
 
8b THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 found their number and strength too weak to keep it 
 and their prisoners, so they left the place and marcht 
 away with their booty. In taking the town we lost 
 no man of note, and not above seven men in all, of 
 which one was the Gierke of the Store, and an En- 
 signe of the Foot, and one a Quartermaster of Horse, 
 the rest common soldiers, but many of our men were 
 shot and wounded." This narrative of the battle 
 occurs in Lord Fairfax's letter to W. Lenthall, Esq., 
 Speaker in the House of Commons, and is dated from 
 Leeds, on the 23rd May, 1643. It appears that tlie 
 Parliament adjudged this victory to be so important, 
 as to order public thanksgiving to be given on the 
 28th May, in all the churches and chapels of London, 
 Westminster, the borough of Southwark, and other 
 places adjacent. The letters also " relating this good 
 success, were ordered to be read in the said churches 
 and chapels." 
 
 The following is the oflPicial dispatch of the battle 
 furnished to Lord Fairfax by the commanders con- 
 cerned in it. " On Saturday night, the 20th of May, 
 the Lord Generall Fairfax gave order for a party of 
 1,000 foot, three companies of dragooners, and eight 
 troops of horse, to march from the garrisons of Leeds, 
 Bradford, Hallifax, and Howley ; Sir Thomas Fairfax 
 commanded in chief. The foot were coramanded by 
 Serjeant Major Generall Gifford, and Sir William 
 Fairfax. The horse were divided into two bodies, 
 four troops commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax, and 
 the other four troops by Sir Henry FouUs ; Howley 
 was the rendevouz, where they all met on Satur- 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 87 
 
 day last, about twelve o'clock at night ; about two 
 next morning, they marcht away, and coming to Stan- 
 ley, where two of the enemy's troops lay, with some 
 diagooners ; that quarter was beaten up, and about 
 one and twenty prisoners taken. About four o'clock 
 in the morning we came before Wakefield, where, 
 after some of their horse were beaten into the town, 
 the foot, with unspeakable courage, beat the enemies 
 from the hedges, which they had lyned with musket- 
 tiers into the town, and assaulted it in two places, 
 Wrengate and Norgate ; and after an hour and a half 
 fight, we recovered one of their peeces, and turned 
 it upon them, and entered the town at both places, 
 at one and the same time. When the baracadoes 
 were opened. Sir Thomas Fairfax, with the horse, fell 
 into the town and cleered the street, where ColoneU 
 Goring was taken, by Lievtenant Alured, brother to 
 Captain Alured, a Member of the House ; yet in the 
 Market Place there stood three troops of horse, and 
 Colonel! Lampton's regiment, to whom Major Generall 
 Giflford sent a trumpet with ofier of quarter, if they 
 would lay down their arms, they answered they 
 scorned the motion ; then he fired a peece of their 
 own ordnance upon them, and the horse fell in upon 
 them, beat them out of the town, and took all these 
 officers exprest in this inclosed list, twenty-seven 
 colours of foot, three coronets of horse, and about 
 1500 common souldiers. The enemy had in the town 
 3000 foot and seven troops of horse, besides ColoneU 
 Lampton's regiment, which came into the town, after 
 we had entered the town : The enemy left behinde 
 
88 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 them four peeces of ordnance, with ammunition, 
 which we brought away. (Signed), Thomas Fairfax, 
 Henry Foulis, John Gifford, William Fairfax, John 
 Holmen, Kobert Foulis, Titus Leighton, Francis 
 Talbott." 
 
 The following is a list of the commanders taken 
 prisoners at Wakefield, on May 21st, 1643 : — General 
 Goring, Sir Thomas Bland, Lieutenant- Colonel to 
 Sir George Wentworth ; Lieut-Colonel Saint George, 
 Lieut-Colonel Macmoyler, Serjeant Major Carr, Capt. 
 Carr, Capt. Knight, Capt. Wildbore, Capt. Eueston, 
 Captain Pemberton, Captain Croft, Captain Ledgard, 
 Captain Lashley, Captain Kayley, Captain Nuttall, 
 Captain-Lieut. Benson, Serjeant-Major Carnabie, 
 and Captain Nuttall, left wounded in Wakefield, upon 
 their engagements to be true prisoners. Lieutenants 
 Munckton, Thomas, -Wheatley, Kent, Nicholson; 
 Ensigns Squire, Vavasor, MaskeWjLampton, Ducket, 
 Stockhald, Baldwinson, Davis, Carr, Gibson, Smath- 
 weight, Ballinson, Watson, Smelt, Hallyburton ; 
 Coronet Wivill. 
 
 The Kev. J. Hunter, in his Antiquarian Notices of 
 Lupset, The Heath, Sharlestone, and Aclcton, adopts the 
 very popular rumour that Colonel Goring, and several 
 Royalist commanders, were playing at bowls on the 
 Heath, on the Sunday morning, when Wakefield was 
 thus taken by the Parliamentary forces. He says : 
 There was a bowhng-green at Heath Hall, in the 
 days of Lady BoUes, and the place was sometimes, if 
 not frequently, the scene of those festive meetings 
 of which traces are so often found in the private 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 89 
 
 aunals of the old families of the West Riding. One 
 meeting of this kind is memorable for the veiy im- 
 portant consequences which ensued upon it. In the 
 height of the contest between the Royal party and 
 the Parliamentarians, AVakefield was taken by sudden 
 surprize. It was on the morning of Whit-Sunday, 
 in 1643. Sir Thomas Fairfax led the Parliamentary 
 forces ; and Sir Francis Mackworth had the com- 
 mand of the garrison at Wakefield, which consisted 
 of more than 3,000 men, in whose charge a large 
 portion was left of the ammunition of the northern 
 army under the Earl of Newcastle. It was a very 
 memorable action. Neither the Duchess of New- 
 castle, nor Sir Thomas Fairfax, both of whom have 
 written memoirs of this war, enter into the details 
 which the antiquarian mind requires; but Vicars, 
 that invaluable chronicler of the civil wars, tells us 
 that Sir Thomas Fairfax appointed the rendezvous 
 of such troops as he was able to collect, at Howley 
 Hall, where they were gathered at twelve o'clock on 
 Saturday night. At two in the morning they set out. 
 They came to Stanley, where they beat up a small 
 force of the enemy, and about four o'clock they were 
 before Wakefield, which they assaulted in two places. 
 Wren-gate and North-gate, and after an hour and a 
 half's fighting, they entered the town in both places 
 at once. The success was complete ; Colonel Goring 
 was taken prisoner, and the whole of the ammunition 
 was taken possession of. The forces of Sir Thomas 
 Fairfax were so far inferior in number to those of the 
 Royalists, and the Royalists were taken so much by 
 
90 THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 
 
 surprise, that we can hardly hesitate to accept the 
 further information given us by Dr. Nathauiel John- 
 stone, who hved at the time, and who, in his manu- 
 script remains, has preserved many civil-war anecdotes, 
 when he tells us that " there was a meeting at Heath 
 Hall upon the Saturday, at a bowling, and most of 
 the officers and the governor were there, and had 
 spent the afternoon in drinking, and were most drunk 
 when the town was alarmed. It was taken fully by 
 nine o'clock in the morning, and more prisoners were 
 taken than the forces that came against it. It seems 
 probable that Sir Thomas Fairfax had notice of their 
 festivities at Heath, and perceived the advantage 
 which they might afford him." It is very probable, 
 as Mr. Hunter observes, that the gentlemen-com- 
 manders of the garrison were playing at bowls to 
 within a very short time of the engagement ; but that 
 the Royalists were taken by surprise is not in accord- 
 ance with Lord Fairfax's ofiicial dispatch. Lord 
 Fairfax, as will be seen from the quotations given 
 from his letters, distinctly states that his men " ap- 
 peared before Wakefield about four o'clock on Sunday 
 in the morning, where they foimd the enemie, (ivho had 
 intelligence of their designe) ready to receive them." 
 This point is not of much importance, except that it 
 slightly detracts from the merit which the Parliamen- 
 tary army took to itself for its bravery and address in 
 the engagement. Mr. Hunter does not appear to have 
 seen the parliamentary paper on the subject, other- 
 wise he would certainly consider Lord Fairfax iis good 
 an authority as either Vicars or Dr. Johnstone. 
 
THE BATTLES OF WAKEFIELD. 91 
 
 For some years subsequent to the above engage- 
 ment, Yorkshire was a scene of blood and misery, 
 the chances and the struggles between the Crown 
 and the Commons being variable. The death of King 
 Charles on the scaffold, on the 30th January, 1648-9, 
 gave peace for some years to our previously unsettled 
 county ; and from that time to the present, there has 
 been no hostile array of force against force on the 
 plains of Wakefield. Let us hope that the time may 
 be far distant when the clarion of strife shall be again 
 heard within her peaceful precincts. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Tyas and Horeidge, Printbbs, Norihgatb, Wakefield.