Richard III by Desmond Seward

his army were close on their heels, marching almost parallel. The last day of pursuit, Friday 3 May, was one of sweltering heat – ‘right-an-hot day’. Both sides suffered dreadfully from thirst in an incredible march of over thirty-six miles, since the water in the streams was undrinkable from being muddied by horses and wagons. By the late afternoon the Lancastrian foot could not move another step. They had reached Tewkesbury, but were too exhausted even to try to cross the river under cover of darkness.
    Nevertheless, the Duke of Somerset – Edward Beaufort, whose father and brother had already perished in the merciless conflict – was a brave and experienced commander. His troops were loyal and soon refreshed by a proper night’s rest. He knew how to make the most of the ground, taking up a strong entrenched position with his 3,000 men on a long, low ridge south of the town of Tewkesbury – it could only be attacked through ‘foul lanes and deep dykes, and many hedges, hills and valleys, a right evil place to approach’. He also used his scouts to familiarize himself with this difficult terrain. 6
    Somerset himself commanded the Lancastrian right, the Earl of Devon the left. The centre was nominally under the seventeen-year-old Edward, Prince of Wales, but in reality commanded by the octogenarian yet still extremely formidable Lord Wenlock, a veteran of Henry V’s campaigns. They might well have won, if only they had been content to stay on the defensive and rely on their archers as in the old wars in France.
    The Yorkists numbered about the same, 3,000 combatant troops. King Edward took the centre, Richard the right and Hastings the rearguard. 7 The right was also the advance guard and, early on the morning of Saturday 4 May, was the first to engage the enemy with arrow and artillery fire. Knowing the tangled terrain below him, Somerset was confident that if he left the high ground and took his men down he could surprise Gloucester’s attack from the flank and break it up before it had properly begun. His intelligence failed toinform him that the King had positioned 200 lances in the trees of Tewkesbury Park. Somerset engaged Richard’s troops at closer quarters and found a hotter reception than he had expected, being pushed back; as he was about to retreat uphill, the squadron concealed in Tewkesbury Park hurtled into his men who ‘were greatly dismayed and abashed, and so took them to flight into the park and into the meadow that was near, and into lanes and dykes, where they best hoped to escape the danger’ – as the
Historie of the Arrivall
recalls. Edward was now able to overwhelm the Lancastrian divisions one by one, he and Hastings charging up the hill at them. They were already shaken by Somerset’s rout and by Gloucester attacking their centre from the flank. Somerset, who had got back safely, went berserk – he rushed up to Wenlock, shouting that he was a traitor for not having supported him properly, and then struck the old man down with his axe. The Lancastrian army disintegrated. But there was no escape, since behind lay the River Avon. About a thousand died in the field which sloped down to it – and was renamed ‘Bloody Meadow’. Those who were not hacked to death drowned in the river.

Chapter Five
    THE END OF THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER
    ‘
Where his advantage grew, he spared no man’s death whose life withstood his purpose
.’
    Sir Thomas More,
The History of King Richard the Third
    ‘
Where’s that devil’s butcher,
Hard-favour’d Richard?
’
    Shakespeare,
King Henry VI, Part III
    The years 1470 and 1471 were when Richard saw most of Edward IV, fighting at his side, learning how to make and keep allies, how to outwit enemies. His brother taught him a lot. In war, to move fast – the value of engaging one’s opponent as soon as possible. In government, how to treat local or personal loyalties with the most delicate consideration, to reward magnates with new titles and