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west of England, was compelled to fall back northward. York, havingbeen proclaimed as Edward IV. on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of March 1460/1461, followed them up into Yorkshire, and on the 27th his leading troops surprised the passage of the See also:

AIRE

Aire at Ferrybridge. The Lancastrians were encamped at Towton, some See also:

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

miles away, covering Tadcaster and York; but a force under See also:

Lord See also:

Clifford was promptly sent out, recaptured Ferrybridge by surprise, and cut to pieces the.Yorkist See also:

garrison. About the same See also:

time, how-ever, Edward's See also:

van, under Lord Fauconberg, an experienced soldier, crossed the Aire higher up, and Clifford was compelled to retire. He was closely pressed, and at Dintingdale, within a few furlongs of his own camps, was cut off and killed with nearly all his men. Edward's See also:

main See also:

BODY

body was now See also:

close at See also:

hand, and the Lancastrians See also:

drew up on their chosen battlefield See also:

early on the 29th. This See also:

field was an elevated See also:

plateau, with steep slopes, between the See also:

PRESENT

present See also:

GREAT

Great See also:

North Road and the See also:

RIVER

river See also:

COCK, EDWARD (1805-1892)

Cock, cut in two by a depression called Towton See also:

Dale. On opposite sides of this depression stood the two armies, that of York facing north, their opponents southward. Both lines of battle were very dense. On a front of little more than a thousand yards the Lancastrian party had nearly 6o,000 men.

Edward's force (less than 50,000) was not all present, the See also:

REAR

rear " battle " under See also:

Norfolk being still distant. See also:

SNOW (in O. Eng. sndw; a common Indo-European word; cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger. Schnee, Du. sneeuw; in Slavonic snieg', Lith. snegas; Gr. vi4a, Lat. nix, nivis, whence the Romanic forms, Ital. neve, Fr. neige, &c.; Ir. and Gael. sneachd; the original

Snow and See also:

SLEET (either from Nor. sletta, of the same meaning, or related to Ger. Schlosse, hailstone)

sleet blew in the faces of the Lancastrians and covered the field of battle. The skilful Fauconberg used this See also:

ADVANTAGE

advantage to the utmost. Aided by the See also:

wind, his archers discharged flights of arrows against the enemy, who replied blindly and feebly, hampered by snow and wind. The Yorkists withdrew until the enemy had exhausted their quivers, and then advanced afresh. Their arrows soon stung the Lancastrians into a See also:

WILD, JONATHAN (c. 1682-1725)

wild and disorderly See also:

charge. Suffering severe losses the latter closed with Edward's See also:

LINE

line of battle. No See also:

QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

quarter was given by either party, and on the narrow front the numerical superiority of the Lancastrians counted for little. The See also:

long, doubtful and sanguinary struggle was only decided by the arrival of Norfolk's See also:

CORPS (pronounced as in French, from which it is taken, being a late spelling of tors, from Lat. corpus, a body; cf. " corpse ")

corps, which charged the enemy in flank. Driven backwards and inwards, the Lancastrians were in a desperate position, for their only way of See also:

ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape to Tadcaster crossed the swollen See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of the Cock by a single narrow and difficult See also:

ford, and when, after a stubborn struggle, they finally See also:

broke and fled, they were slaughtered in thousands as they tried to See also:

CROSS

cross. At the close of the See also:

day the defeated See also:

army had ceased to exist. Twenty-five thousand Lancastrian and eight thousand Yorkist dead were buried in and about Towton.

The neighbourhood of the battle-field contains many See also:

RELICS (Lat, reliquiae, the equivalent of the English " remains " in the sense of a dead body)

relics and memorials of this, the greatest battle hitherto fought on See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

SOIL

soil. Particularly well pre-served is the See also:

TOMB (Gr. Tuµ/3a, Tuµ(3os, probably allied to Lat. tumulus, literally a swelling, tumere, to swell)

tomb of Lord Dacre, a prominent Lancastrian, in Saxton See also:

churchyard. See R. See also:

Brooke, Visits to English Battlefields (London, 1857) ; C. R. B. See also:

Barrett, Battles and Battlefields of England (London, 1896) ; H. B. See also:

George, Battles of English See also:

HISTORY

History (London, 1895).

End of Article: TOWTON

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