Historic%20Yorkshire

THE BATTLE OF TOWTON.
engagement;but threateningto punish terribly those who
behaved in a cowardly or unwilling manner during the
battle. This and the determination of the Earl of
Warwick, whoslew his horse before the army, swearing
to undergo the same hardships and dangers as his commonest
soldier,gave the Yorkist forces great confidence.
Shakespeare speaks of Henry and Margaret as being
presentat the battle,whereasthey, with their son Edward,
were left by the army at York when it advancedsouthward.
The lines supposed to be spokenby Henryrun: —
Here on this molehill willIsit me down;
To whom God will, therebe the victoryI
For Margaret, my Queen, andClifford too,
Havechid me from the battle, swearingboth
They prosper best ofall whenIam thence.
We have seen, however, that Clifford was killed before
the battlecommenced.
The two armies were now on the eve of the most
momentous battle of the Roses' struggle; each "well
disciplined in arms; each animated by the most bitter
animosity. At last, in the early morning of Palm
Sunday, the 29th of March, 1461, they met. The place
chosen by the Lancastrians was an elevated ridge of
ground, which included in length about four miles, from
the villageof Grimston to that of Saxton, each two miles
above and below Towton. The armies stood face to face,
each awaitingfor a brief period the preliminary measures
of the other. Suddenly the elements threw a cast in
favour of the Yorkists, for a blinding snowstorm swept
down full in the faces of the Lancastrians. This was
quickly perceived by Lord Falconberg (the same who
recoveredthe passage of the Aire), whocommandedhis
ready archers to " send a flight arrow into the enemies'
ranks " and then retiring a few paces, to stand. The
manSuvre succeeds ; the Lancastrians thinking their
foes nearer than was the case, plied their arrows fast and
thick, but with no result whatever, except to exhaust
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