Prelude

On the 22nd May 1455 the forces of the Duke of York met with those of the king at the First Battle of St. Albans, a brief affair of little more than a half hour. Casualties were few but noteworthy, the king lost Somerset, Northumberland, and Clifford, while Buckingham himself wounded, lost two sons. It was first blood to the house of York. There was then a 4-year hiatus while the country watched and waited, and on the 23rd September 1459, at the Battle of Blore Heath in the west midlands, an outnumbered Yorkist army defeated a Lancastrian force, inflicting about 2,000 casualties for the loss of 200. Subsequent to the battle at Blore Heath, the Yorkist faction became somewhat dispersed after treachery in a large part of their mustered army. Such was the loss, that it was as if a major military defeat had been inflicted, and the leaders were forced to flee, York to Ireland, Salisbury and Warwick to Calais. The Lancastrian king's faction took the opportunity to pass a bill of attainder against them, effectively depriving them of all their hereditary titles and estates.

At the end of June 1460, those exiles in Calais returned in force and at the head of a large army, entered London where only the Tower held firm for the king. Henry was at Coventry, so Warwick, at the head of 30,000 men left London to face him. They met on the field of Northampton on the 10th July, and after the battle there, yet more Lancastrian leaders were dead, among them were Buckingham, Shrewsbury, and Egremont. King Henry was captured and transported to London. The Duke of York then followed, and since the king had survived the battle, and his murder was not then an option, the best York was able to achieve was the 'right of succession', whereby on Henry's eventual death, York and his heirs would succeed to the throne. Queen Margaret, then in North Wales was not so willing to disinherit their own son, and began to gather together a very large army. The Duke of York with about 5,000 men, set off to meet the queen's army, and by Christmas Eve, he had reached his own lands in Yorkshire and his castle at Sandal, near Wakefield. By some means, York was tempted from the safety of his stronghold, and in the resulting clash of arms, called the Battle of Wakefield, he was slain, along with one of his sons, Edmund Earl of Rutland, who was killed by Lord Clifford in person. The corpses were then treated to gross indignities, which would not be forgotten by the surviving sons, Edward Earl of March later king Edward IV, George later Duke of Clarence, and Richard later Duke of Gloucester and king Richard III.
The death of his father had caused the 19-year-old Edward to inherit his title of Duke of York, provided that the Act of Attainder was ignored. He had been based in the Welsh marches but on the 2nd February 1461, he and a strong force of men met another Lancastrian force commanded by the earls of Wiltshire and Pembroke, who were defeated at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross. The bulk of the queen's army continued to march south from Wakefield towards St Albans where Warwick was waiting for them with another force of Yorkists from London. After a day of fighting the Yorkists were beaten (the 2nd Battle of St. Albans), and Warwick was forced to withdraw with 4,000 men still under arms. King Henry was released from his captivity, and reunited with his queen. It was decided that a further advance upon London was not advisable, so they and their army once again marched northwards. The advance of the royal host northwards left in its wake a trail of desolation and despair as the troops plundered and raped their way across the country. Warwick, learning of the death of the elder Duke of York had Edward proclaimed king in London before also marching north himself at the head of a large force. On the 12th March 1461, Edward, knowing full well that there could not be two kings of England also headed north while Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and William Neville, Lord Fauconberg set about recruiting men in the midlands.

The king and queen made a halt at York, leaving a defensive force to cover the crossing of the river Aire at Ferrybridge, under the command of Lord Clifford. It was a vital crossing point if the Yorkist troops were going to be able to follow the troops of the king rather than having to take a detour by way of Castleford. It was the royal intention that all the loyal northern levies would be able to join with the army camped between York and Tadcaster.
Edward joined forces with his advance elements somewhere north of the river Trent (the location is not recorded), following the trail of burned and destroyed habitations, and distressed populations. He was able to recruit on the march from all those who had been so badly dispossessed and maltreated by their own king and queen. Feelings were running extremely high, and Edward had little difficulty adding large numbers to his ever-growing army. It was essential if close pursuit was to be maintained for the crossing at Ferrybridge to be secured. On the 27th March, Edward sent a detachment commanded by Lord Fitzwalter to reconnoitre the situation at Ferrybridge, and if possible to seize and hold the bridge. On their arrival, the bridge was found to be badly damaged, but not contested, so immediate steps were taken to get repairs completed in time for the arrival of the main body of the army. Fitzwalter and his men were able to camp that night on the north bank of the Aire, but early in the next morning, Clifford's men launched their counter attack with such determination that the Yorkist detachment were forced to withdraw back over the bridge. So rapid had been Clifford's assault that Fitzwalter had been caught napping - quite literally - he was (reportedly) asleep as the Lancastrian attack was pushed home, and upon emerging from his tent, was immediately killed. One chronicler mentions that Warwick was present at this setback, and received a minor leg wound. Another has Warwick as messenger of doom, arriving back at Edward's camp and then performing a Caesarian gesture of slaying his horse while declaring his intention not to flee a further inch (even if true, he would have had more than the one mount). Edward had possibly foreseen the hold up at Ferrybridge, and had sent a part of his army the few miles westward to the crossing at Castleford, which effectively outflanked Clifford and his men, forcing them to pull back northwards. Clifford himself was not quick enough to retreat however, and was caught and slain, some will say, by troops from Fauconberg's command; at Dintingdale, according to Hall, Holinshed, and Grafton. The royal army, probably commanded by Somerset, had moved to intercept the Yorkists advance towards Tadcaster and York, and camped on a plateau between the villages of Saxton to the south and Towton to the north.