A Knight of the White Cross | Page 7

of a single life, with the exception of that of the Earl of
Worcester, who was hated for his cruelty by the people. Edward's
principal friends took refuge in various religious houses. The queen,
her three daughters, and her mother, fled to the sanctuary at
Westminster. All these were left unmolested, nor was any step taken

against the other adherents of the House of York. Warwick was now
virtually King of England. The king, whose intellect had always been
weak, was now almost an imbecile, and Margaret of Anjou was still
detained in France. Sir Thomas Tresham went down to his estates in
Kent, and there lived quietly for some months. The Duke of Clarence
had joined Warwick as soon as he saw that his brother's cause was lost;
and as the Duke had no knowledge of his changed feelings towards him,
he was heartily welcomed. An act of settlement was passed by
Parliament entailing the Crown on Henry's son Edward, Prince of
Wales, and in case of that prince's death without issue, on the Duke of
Clarence. On the 12th of March following (1471) Edward suddenly
appeared with a fleet with which he had been secretly supplied by the
Duke of Burgundy, and, sailing north, landed in the Humber. He found
the northern population by no means disposed to aid him, but upon his
taking a solemn oath that he had no designs whatever upon the throne,
but simply claimed to be restored to his rights and dignities as Duke of
York, he was joined by a sufficient force to enable him to cross the
Trent. As he marched south his army speedily swelled, and he was
joined by many great lords.
Warwick had summoned Henry's adherents to the field, and marched
north to meet him. When the armies approached each other, the Duke
of Clarence, who commanded a portion of Henry's army, went over
with his whole force to Edward, and Warwick, being no longer in a
position to give battle, was obliged to draw off and allow Edward to
march unopposed towards London. The citizens, with their usual
fickleness, received him with the same outburst of enthusiasm with
which, five months before, they had greeted the entry of Warwick. The
unfortunate King Henry was again thrown into his dungeon in the
Tower, and Edward found himself once more King of England.
Sir Thomas Tresham, as soon as he heard of the landing of Edward, had
hastened up to London. In his uncertainty how matters would go, he
brought his wife and son up with him, and left them in lodgings, while
he marched north with Warwick. As soon as the defection of Clarence
opened the road to London, he left the Earl, promising to return in a
few days, and rode to town, arriving there two days before Edward's

entry, and, purchasing another horse, took his wife and son down to St.
Albans, where leaving them, he rejoined Warwick. In a few days the
latter had gathered sufficient forces to enable him to risk the fortunes of
a battle, and, marching south, he encamped with his army on the
common north of Barnet. Edward had come out to meet him, and the
two armies slept on Easter Eve within two miles of each other.
Late in the evening Clarence sent a messenger to the Earl, offering to
mediate, but the offer was indignantly refused by Warwick.
In the darkness, neither party was aware of the other's precise position.
Warwick was much stronger than the king in artillery, and had placed it
on his right wing. The king, in his ignorance of the enemy's position,
had placed his troops considerably more to the right than those of
Warwick's army. The latter, believing that Edward's line was facing his,
kept up a heavy cannonade all night upon where he supposed Edward's
left to be -- a cannonade which was thus entirely futile.
In the morning (April 14th) a heavy mist covered the country and
prevented either force from seeing the other's dispositions. Warwick
took the command of his left wing, having with him the Duke of Exeter.
Somerset was in command of his centre, and Montague and Oxford of
his right.
Edward placed himself in the centre of his array, the Duke of
Gloucester commanded on his right, and Lord Hastings on his left.
Desirous, from his inferiority in artillery, to fight out the battle hand to
hand, Edward, at six o'clock in the morning, ordered his trumpets to
blow, and, after firing a few shots, advanced through the mist to attack
the enemy. His misconception as to Warwick's position, which had
saved his troops from the effects of the cannonade during the night, was
now disadvantageous to him, for the Earl's right so greatly outflanked
his left that when they