5 – Battle of Barnet – 1471
In the decade since Towton, quite a lot had happened but not much it took place on the battlefield. There had been battles at Hexham among others but one key event took place in 1465. The hapless Henry VI was once again captured by Edward and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. However, Warwick the Kingmaker was disillusioned by Edward IV’s rule and began a rebellion in 1469. He defeated the king’s forces at Edgecote Moor that year and imprisoned the monarch.
A counter attack forced Warwick to release the king and the Kingmaker fled to France. He returned to English soil in 1470 and helped release Henry VI while Edward was forced to flee to the Netherlands. Henry was restored as king but not for long as Edward returned to England on 14 March 1471 with a small army.
On 14 April, Edward’s force of around 12,000 men met Warwick’s 15,000 man army at Barnet. Edward attacked at 4am without realising how close the enemy actually was. The thick night fog was still prominent and as it transpired, the armies were located in such a way that an advantage could be gained if either army’s right side could wrap around the opposition’s left side. The Lancastrians spotted this first but their achievement in overwhelming the Yorkist left side had no real impact as the fog had damaged visibility so neither side could tell who had the advantage.
This confusion was to cost the Lancastrians dearly; one of their groups mistakenly attacked an ally in the belief that they were Edward’s men. A cry of ‘treachery’ went up and caused mass panic in the Lancastrian ranks. Edward quickly sent his reserves in to destroy the enemy and Warwick’s brother was killed. Warwick attempted to flee but died in the melee. Estimates on the number of casualties vary from 4,000 to 10,000.