Battlefields Trust London & South East

Introduction
The Battle of Barnet was one of the most important and eventful battles of the Wars of the Roses. It was the defining moment of a power struggle that occurred during 1469-1471, between the two men who had dominated England since 1461: King Edward IV and his cousin Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. The fact that the battle was fought in fog made it an unusually confusing and terrifying affair, in which luck played a major part in determining the outcome.
Location

The precise battle site cannot be stated with certainty. Contemporary sources place it up to a mile north of Barnet and one account mentions a hedge, thought to be on Old Fold Manor Golf Course. Hadley Green is the likely battle site, due to it being a plateau and the highest local ground on the Great North Road.

The most obvious site for the Lancastrian deployment is the ridge leading west of Hadley Common, with the left east of the junction between Hadley Highstone and Dury Road and the right stretching across the golf course. The Yorkists probably deployed across the road at the northern edge of modern High Barnet.

Landscape Interpretation
The former villages of High Barnet and Monken Hadley are now outer London suburbs and consequently developed. Although the area remains quite green and accessible, it is impossible to get an overview of the battlefield.

The western side of the battlefield is occupied by the golf course. Although open, the central area of Hadley Green is bisected by the busy A1000 and enclosed by quiet roads. The A1000 originates from the Eighteenth Century and is 200 yards east of its Fifteenth Century predecessor. The eastern side of the battlefield falls quite sharply away from the plateau and is largely undeveloped private land.

The Hadley High Stone is a monument to the battle, erected by Sir Jeremy Sambrook in 1740. It is at the junction between the road of the same name and Kitts End Road.
Background

On 3 March 1461, the Duke of York was proclaimed King Edward IV and consolidated his position by defeating the army of Henry VI, who was eventually captured and imprisoned. Edward's most important ally was his cousin, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who expected to gain power and influence from his efforts. In the first three years of the reign, there was persistent Lancastrian rebellion in Northumberland, which was eventually suppressed by the Nevilles. Warwick's brother John, Lord Montagu was created Earl of Northumberland in recognition of his efforts.

On 1 May 1464, Edward secretly married Elizabeth Grey, the news only being made public in September, while Warwick was negotiating a diplomatic marriage for Edward with Bonne, sister-in-law of the King of France. The earl was furious at this personal and political humiliation. Warwick then became increasingly marginalised by the queen's numerous unmarried Woodville relatives. The family dominated the court at the expense of the Nevilles and in order to compensate for their relatively humble origins, were granted titles, estates and advantageous marriages. Warwick became resentful, feeling that the king was forgetting the help that he had received from the Nevilles in winning the throne.

In 1467, it was announced that Edward's sister Margaret would marry Charles, Duke of Burgundy. This further humiliated Warwick, who had, with Edward's apparent authority, been negotiating an alliance with Burgundy's enemy France, causing him to withdraw from the court to Middleham.

In July 1469, Warwick defied Edward by marrying his daughter Isabelle to the king's brother George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence. After defeating the king's allies the Herberts at the Battle of Edgecote, Warwick captured and imprisoned Edward, who was released after refusing to co-operate.

In March 1470, Warwick sponsored a rebellion designed to crown Clarence, which ended ignominiously at the Battle of Losecote Field, causing the conspirators to flee to France after being declared traitors. In a further attempt to curb Neville power, Edward conferred the Earldom of Northumberland on Henry Percy.

Warwick then allied with the exiled Lancastrian court under Margaret of Anjou and committed himself to its restoration. Warwick attracted support on his return to England, including his brother John, who had not been placated by being created Marquess Montagu. Edward was decisively weakened and fled to Burgundy, while Warwick released Henry and ruled in his name as Lieutenant of England.

The Campaign
The most detailed contemporary account for the Barnet campaign is the Historie of the Arrivall of Edward IV in England and the Finall Recouerye of his Kingdomes from Henry VI AD1471. The Arrivall was probably written within a year of the battle by an anonymous author present during the whole campaign. It has detailed coverage of the return from exile up to the early stages of the battle and then the aftermath.

The Great Chronicle of London, written by Alderman Robert Fabyan, a Lancastrian who died in 1513 gives important detail on the next stage of the battle. The last phase is covered by A Chronicle of the First Thirteen Years of the Reign of King Edward the Fourth, written by John Warkworth, Master of Peterhouse College, Cambridge in the 1480s. Warkworth, a moderate Lancastrian, also generally corroborates the campaign as detailed in the Arrivall. Although not comprehensive, a letter written three days after the battle by Gerhard von Wesel, a London merchant gives useful details not found elsewhere.

On 14 March 1471, Edward IV, his youngest brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester and William, Lord Hastings landed on the north bank of the Humber. They negotiated a precarious route through hostile Yorkshire, neutralising opposition by claiming that Edward sought only his rights as Duke of York and not the throne.

Edward passed through York and Tadcaster to head for Sandal Castle, risking an engagement with Montagu, who occupied Pontefract Castle. Montagu, however, was concerned about the presence of the nominally Yorkist Earl of Northumberland to the north and failed to commit himself. This allowed Edward to pass through Doncaster, Nottingham and Leicester, where 3,000 retainers of Hastings reinforced him.

When he reached Warwick, Edward was symbolically proclaimed king for the first time since his return from exile and established his headquarters in the earl's principal town. Neville had retreated into the walled city of Coventry and refused to fight, anticipating reinforcements.

On 3 April, Edward was reconciled with the Duke of Clarence, who had not profited from his alliance with Warwick. Clarence had been secretly negotiating with his brothers for some time and chose to join them in the approaching conflict. Warwick refused the efforts of Clarence to mediate, influenced by committed Lancastrians such as John de Vere, Earl of Oxford and Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter. Montagu had also reached Coventry while Edward was at Warwick.

Edward offered battle once more and was again rebuffed. Short of supplies and ill equipped to assault Coventry, he headed for London on 5 April. Warwick followed, hoping either to find Edward in disarray having been barred from the capital or to catch him unawares during Easter.

As Yorkist opinion in London began to prevail, prominent Lancastrians including Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset left for the West Country, where Margaret of Anjou was imminently expected from France. Warwick's brother George, Archbishop of York led Henry VI around the streets, hoping to boost Lancastrian morale. The feeble appearance of the king inspired no confidence, however and swayed public opinion in favour of his rival. Yorkist prisoners took the Tower, enabling Edward to enter London on 11 April and take possession of Henry.

On 12 April, Warwick reached St Albans, prompting Edward to mobilise at St John's Field the following day and march north at about 4pm. After covering ten miles, the Yorkist vanguard scattered Lancastrian scouts at Barnet, pushing them back to the main army, deployed by a hedge, half a mile to the north on Hadley Green.

Arriving in darkness, Edward camped closer than expected to Warwick, with each army outflanking the other. Ignorant of Edward's proximity, Warwick maintained an overnight bombardment, which overshot the enemy. There was no response, as Edward did not want to betray his position and was outgunned.

Von Wesel sited the encampments on either side of the road, with the Yorkists in a marshy hollow, east of Hadley Green. Here, they could have sheltered from the bombardment.

The Battle
Deployment
On 12 April, Warwick reached St Albans, prompting Edward to mobilise at St John's Field the following day and march north at about 4pm. After covering ten miles, the Yorkist vanguard scattered Lancastrian scouts at Barnet, pushing them back to the main army, deployed by a hedge, half a mile to the north on Hadley Green.

Arriving in darkness, Edward camped closer than expected to Warwick, with each army outflanking the other. Ignorant of Edward's proximity, Warwick maintained an overnight bombardment, which overshot the enemy. There was no response, as Edward did not want to betray his position and was outgunned.

Von Wesel sited the encampments on either side of the road, with the Yorkists in a marshy hollow, east of Hadley Green. Here, they could have sheltered from the bombardment.
Numbers
Medieval chroniclers were notoriously bad at numbering combatants. Although the Arrivall records 9,000 Yorkists fighting 30,000 Lancastrians, this is probably propaganda designed to exaggerate Edward's achievement. The Arrivall records 2,000 Yorkists landing in Yorkshire, 600 recruits in Nottingham and 4,000 joining with Clarence. Other sources record 3,000 Hastings retainers joining the ranks in the East Midlands, suggesting approximately 10,000 Yorkists entering London before the battle. 12,000 combatants could be suggested, allowing for unspecified reinforcements in London and other places. The only detailed Lancastrian numbers in the chronicles are the 4,000 assigned to the combined force of Exeter and Oxford. Given the consistent records of superior Lancastrian numbers and von Wesel's account of Warwick having a numerical advantage of 3,000, a total of 15,000 can be suggested.

Divisional Commanders
Both the Arrivall and Warkworth name Warwick, Montagu, Oxford and Exeter in the Lancastrian ranks and Edward, Clarence, Gloucester and Hastings in the Yorkist army. Somerset is mentioned as a participant in some modern accounts, influenced by the Tudor chronicle of Edward Hall. The Arrivall, however, plausibly places him in the West Country during the battle, given that he raised the army from that region, which then marched north-east to fight the Battle of Tewkesbury.

The only reference to individual deployments in the chronicles is that of Fabyan, who records Oxford routing Gloucester. As the Arrivall records the Lancastrian right routing the Yorkist left, the positions of Oxford and Gloucester can be deduced. The remaining positions can be inferred within the medieval practice of fighting in three divisions, sometimes with a reserve.

Edward would logically have commanded the Yorkists from the centre, together with Clarence, who was sufficiently untrustworthy to command independently. Hastings would then command the right. Most modern accounts reverse the positions of Gloucester and Hastings on the grounds that the duke commanded the vanguard, which traditionally fought on the right. The fact that the same Yorkist leadership fought three weeks later at Tewkesbury with Gloucester on the left and Hastings on the right, opens the traditional assumption to question.

Warwick would logically have commanded the Lancastrians from the centre, with his greater numbers allowing him to command the reserve. His experienced, trusted brother Montagu would be the obvious candidate to command the advanced central division, with Exeter on the left.

An Account of the Battle
At daybreak, between four and five o'clock, the two armies became only vaguely aware of each other due to fog and gunsmoke. Edward's artillery finally returned fire but the poor visibility was such that a general advance was quickly sounded.

Gloucester's attack on the left faltered when it became apparent that he was outflanked and outnumbered by Oxford. The earl counter-attacked and chased most of the enemy left flank off the field into Barnet. Some fugitives reached London, starting rumours that the battle was lost. Fog, however, concealed this disaster from the other Yorkist divisions, whose morale remained unshaken and reserves strengthened the depleted left.

On the Yorkist right, Hastings possibly descended the boggy hollow described by von Wesel, before climbing to meet the sounds of battle. An unexpected uphill advance would explain how he could outflank Exeter, who also faced a frontal assault by Edward and Clarence.

Warwick committed reserves to prevent Exeter's collapse as the flanking movements caused a drastic realignment of the forces through about forty-five degrees. Montagu turned Edward at a similar angle after the depletion of the Yorkist left.

With four divisions stuck in a bloody stalemate, Oxford returned to the fray after rallying eight hundred men, in an effort to break the deadlock. He was, however, unsighted by the fog and therefore unaware of the realignment. Expecting to attack the Yorkist rear, he inadvertently approached Montagu's force, which now formed the Lancastrian right wing in opposition to Clarence and Edward. Further confusion was caused by the similarity between the star badges worn by the men of Oxford and the sun badges worn by the Yorkists. Montagu's archers, believing themselves to be under enemy attack, fired on Oxford, prompting the latter to cry of treachery and flee in chaos.

Lancastrian morale was inherently fragile due to the uneasy alliance of diehards and Yorkist defectors and was therefore easily undermined by whispers of treachery in the tightly packed ranks. With Exeter wounded, the Lancastrian left collapsed, as did the right when Montagu was killed, possibly by an ally after donning Edward's livery. Warwick tried to rally his men but fell back as his line disintegrated.

As a rout ensued, Warwick fled towards Wrotham Park, where his horse had been left. Hampered by distance, woods and weight of armour, he made slow progress before he was trapped and killed. Most of his men were mercilessly pursued further east into Dead Man's Bottom.

After three hours of fighting, Warwick and Montagu were dead, Exeter lay wounded on the field until being rescued by friends and Oxford fled to Scotland. Edward was received joyously in London and gave thanks for his victory at St Paul's Cathedral. The following day, the Nevilles' naked bodies were displayed in the cathedral to dispel rumours of their survival and prevent rebellion in their name.

Consequences
The deaths of the Nevilles considerably enhanced both Edward's chances of ultimate victory and the country's hopes of stability. The return of Margaret and her son, however, raised another Lancastrian army, which was defeated at Tewkesbury on 4 May. Prince Edward was killed and his mother captured and imprisoned. When the Yorkists returned to London, Henry VI died in the Tower, of 'pure displeasure and melancholy' according to the Arrivall, thus ending the House of Lancaster.

The Duke of Exeter's wounds were treated and he was smuggled into sanctuary. He was then imprisoned but probably spared execution because he was the king's brother-in-law. He was released and briefly rehabilitated before drowning in suspicious circumstances while sailing across the English Channel in 1475.

Edward IV ruled with little opposition until his death in 1483, although the Duke of Clarence was privately executed for treason in 1478, traditionally by being drowned in a butt of wine. The king's son succeeded him as Edward V, but was deposed two months later by the Duke of Gloucester, who became Richard III. This was opposed by Lord Hastings, whom Richard had summarily beheaded. Edward and his brother, the 'princes in the Tower,' were last seen alive in 1484.

Henry Tudor, a distant Lancastrian descendant returned from exile in 1485 to defeat and kill Richard at Bosworth Field, to become Henry VII. Henry's army was commanded by the Earl of Oxford, who was now the unlikely sole survivor of the Battle of Barnet.

For a more detailed study of Barnet, and a reappraisal of the location by Glenn Foard, see UK Battlefields Resource Centre - Barnet