"The Battle of Wakefield: 1460" Topic

"It was the culmination of ten years of increasingly violent unrest between supporters of King Henry VI and his cousin Richard, Duke of York. Helen Cox takes us on a battlefield tour of Wakefield.

In October 1460, the exasperated Duke finally pressed his own claim to the throne and was recognised as heir-apparent – whereupon Henry's resolute Queen, Margaret of Anjou, immediately called on Lancastrian loyalists to restore the succession to their son Edward, Prince of Wales. Her supporters duly harassed the Duke's northern estates to draw him away from his power-base in London, and around 21 December, an opening skirmish was fought at Worksop between outriders of the armies converging on Yorkshire.

The Yorkists spent Christmas 1460 at Sandal Castle near Wakefield with an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 men, and the Lancastrians, with perhaps twice that number, nine miles away at Pontefract Castle. During a brief festive truce, the Duke granted a commission of array to one of his in-laws, John, Lord Neville, to recruit on his behalf; he may also have received a pledge of support from an erstwhile Yorkist ally Sir Andrew Trollope, a veteran commander in Calais…"
Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand

I had a look through the magazine in Smiths, its got a good spread and I may have too pick a copy up. thanks for the post.

Wakefield is possibly the coolest WotR battle from a campaigning war games pov. You have several "players" on each side, and a conspiracy to betray Richard of York. Dice rolls would alter history, and possibly swing Lancastrians to the Yorkist side instead. I like the double ambush on the flanks, and the doomed fighting retreat, etc. It makes a natural gaming table setting too, very picturesque….