Historic%20Yorkshire

106
THE BATTLE OF WAKEFIELD.
the Castle. The Dukes of Somerset and Exeter stand
embattledin the open field. Their policyhad the wished
success, for the Duke, not being fully five thousand
strong, issueth out of the Castle down the hill. The
battles which stoodin the front fought furiously, when, so
doing, the Duke of York sees himself enclosed, and
although he expressed great manhood, yet within one
half-hour his whole army was discomfited."
It was the 24th of December, when the Duke, with his
devotedlittle army,passed out from the gates of Sandal
Castle. He led his Yorkists to Wakefield Green, and
there, in the midstof a blindingsnowstorm, theyprepared
to give battle to the Lancastrians. The enemyimmediatelyin
front was alone sufficient to have annihilated his
army, but he faced them with a bravery that calls for
admiration. As might be expected, the carnage was
terrible; when, while stubbornly engagedwith these, the
men which the crafty Margaret had caused to lie in
ambush, suddenlyrising, attacked him in the rear. The
Yorkistswerecompletelysurrounded, and escape rendered
impossible,not less than 3,000 of their numberfalling, as
above mentioned, in half-an-hour. The Duke of York
himself was killed while fighting valiantly, and by the
order of the Lord Clifford his head wasstruck off,and prepresentedto
theQueen,who,it is said, caused to beplaced
onit in derisiona paper crown! Inaccordance with the
repellingcustoms of those rude days,it was subsequently
fixed on a pike over Micklegate Bar, York, as a warning
to his adherents. Thus perished Richard, Duke of York,
and (nearly) King of England,inthe 50th yearofhis age.
According to Hutton: — " The spot where the Duke of
York was killed,upon the Green, is about four hundred
yards from the Castle, close to the old roadfromBarnsley
to Wakefield, now calledfrom the sign of a public-house,
Cock andBottleLane." Mr.Norrison Scatcherd says: —
" This spot, on the right of the lane or old road,leading
from Wakefield to the Three Houses at Sandal, and
which was once the London road,is a triangular piece of