THE BATTLE OF NORTHAMPTON.
In the month of June, 1460, while the Duke of York was in Ireland,
while Margaret of Anjou was with her feeble husband at Coventry,
and while Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter, York's son-in-law, was, as
lord high admiral, guarding the Channel with a strong fleet, Richard
Neville, Earl of Warwick, sailed from Calais for the shores of England.
It was in vain that Exeter endeavored to do his duty as admiral; for
on the sea as on the land, "The Stout Earl" was a favorite hero, and
the sailors refused to haul an anchor or hoist a sail to prevent his
landing. At Sandwich he safely set foot on English ground, and prepared
to strike a shattering blow at the house of Lancaster.
Warwick was accompanied by the Earl of Salisbury and the Earl of March;
but the army with which he came to change the dynasty did not consist
of more than fifteen hundred men. The earl, however, was not dismayed
at the weakness of his force. Indeed, his own great name was a tower
of strength; and when, on landing, he proclaimed that his motive for
taking up arms was to deliver his countrymen from oppression, and to
maintain the ancient laws and liberties of England, he knew that the
people would rally around his banner. Ere this, the White Rose, in
addition to being the emblem of hereditary right, had become identified
with the cause of civil and religious freedom.
The earl's confidence in the people of England was not misplaced. As he
marched toward London, the fighting men of Kent and of all the south
flocked to his standard, and on reaching Blackheath he was at the head
of thirty thousand men. As the patrician hero entered the capital he
was hailed with enthusiasm, and cheered with the hope of crowning his
enterprise with success.
The king and queen were still at Coventry when informed of Warwick's
landing, and Margaret lost no time in taking measures to resist the
Yorkist invasion. Money was borrowed from the Lancastrian clergy and
nobles, and troops, under Percies, Staffords, Beauforts, Talbots, and
Beaumonts, gathered rapidly to the royal standard. The respect which,
on his heroic father's account, people still entertained for Henry,
and the fear with which Margaret inspired them, were powerful motives;
and a great army having been assembled, the Lancastrian king and his
haughty spouse, accompanied by Somerset and Buckingham, removed to
Northampton, and took up their quarters in the Friary.
Meanwhile, leaving his father in London to defend the city and besiege
the Tower, still held for the king by Lord Scales, Warwick marched
through the midland counties. Having taken up a position between
Towcester and Northampton, he sent the Bishop of Salisbury to the king
with pacific overtures. The bishop returned without satisfaction, and
Warwick, having thrice ineffectually attempted to obtain an audience of
the king, gave the Lancastrians notice to prepare for battle.
The queen was not less willing than the earl to try conclusions.
Believing the Lancastrians equal to an encounter with the army of
Warwick, she addressed her partisans, and encouraged them with promises
of honors and rewards. Confident in their strength, she ordered them
to cross the Nene; and, Lord Grey de Ruthin leading the van, the royal
army passed through the river, and encamped hard by the Abbey of
Delapré in the meadows to the south of the town. There the Lancastrians
encompassed themselves with high banks and deep trenches; and, having
fortified their position with piles, and sharp stakes, and artillery,
they awaited the approach of the Yorkist foe.
Warwick was not the man to keep his enemies long waiting under such
circumstances. After charging his soldiers to strike down every knight
and noble, but to spare the common men, he prepared for the encounter;
and, ere the morning of the 9th of July--it was gloomy and wet--dawned
on the towers and turrets of the ancient town on the winding Nene,
his army was in motion. Setting their faces northward, the Yorkists
passed the cross erected two centuries earlier in memory of Eleanor of
Castile, and in feudal array advanced upon the foe--"The Stout Earl"
towering in front, and Edward of March, York's youthful heir, following
with his father's banner.[5]
At news of Warwick's approach, the Lancastrian chiefs aroused
themselves to activity, donned their mail, mounted their steeds, set
their men in battle order, and then alighted to fight on foot. The
king, in his tent, awaited the issue of the conflict; but Margaret of
Anjou repaired to an elevated situation, and thither carried her son,
to witness the fight. Her hopes were doubtless high, for gallant looked
the army that was to do battle in her cause, and well provided were
the Lancastrians with the artillery which had, in the previous autumn,
rendered the Yorkists so formidable at Ludlow.
By seven o'clock the Yorkists assailed the intrenched camp at Delapré,
and the war-cries of the Lancastrian leaders answered the shouts of
Warwick and March. At first the contest was vigorously maintained;
but, unfortunately for the queen's hopes, the rain had rendered the
artillery incapable of doing the service that had been anticipated.
In spite of this disheartening circumstance, the warriors of the Red
Rose bravely met their antagonists, and both Yorkists and Lancastrians
fought desperately and well. But, in the heat of action, Lord Grey
de Ruthin, betraying his trust, deserted to the enemy. Consternation
thereupon fell upon the king's army, and the Yorkists having, with the
aid of Lord Grey's soldiers, got within the intrenchments, wrought
fearful havoc. The conflict was, nevertheless, maintained with
obstinacy till nine o'clock; but after two hours of hard fighting
the king's men were seen flying in all directions, and many, while
attempting to cross the Nene, were drowned in its waters.
In consequence of Warwick's order to spare the commons, the slaughter
fell chiefly on the knights and nobles. The Duke of Buckingham, the
Earl of Shrewsbury, Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, and John, Viscount
Beaumont, were among the slain. Somerset narrowly escaped, and fled
after the queen in the direction of North Wales.
When intelligence of Warwick's victory reached London, the populace
broke loose from all restraint. Lord Scales, who, while keeping the
Tower, had incurred their hatred, disguised himself and endeavored to
escape. The watermen, however, recognized him, and, notwithstanding
his threescore years, cut off his head and cast the body carelessly on
the sands. Thomas Thorpe, one of the barons of the Exchequer, met a
similar fate. While attempting to fly, he was captured and committed
to the Tower; but afterward he was taken possession of by the mob, and
executed at Highgate. With such scenes enacting before their eyes, the
citizens recognized the necessity of a settled government; and the
adherents of the White Rose intimated to their chief the expediency of
his immediate return from Ireland.
King Henry, after the defeat of his adherents at Northampton, was found
in his tent, lamenting the slaughter. As at St. Albans, he was treated
by the victors with respectful compassion, and by them conducted, with
the utmost deference, to London.