The Battle of Blore Heath
September 23, 1459
After four years of uneasy peace the King presided over a wasting realm. No parliament had been summoned for three years, the country was sadly divided and distressed. The Yorkists were armed, armies were marching across all England. Lord Audley had recently raised a Lancastrian army centered round Market Drayton, and the Queen -through whom the King ruled- sent him orders to intercept Lord Salisbury, who was marching from Yorkshire to join the Duke of York at Ludlow. The two armies met head on two and a half miles east of Market Drayton at a place called Blore Heath. Salisbury, with 3,000 troops, was outnumbered by more than two to one, but could not avoid giving battle.
Audley took up a position just west of a little stream that crossed the Market Drayton-Newcastle-under-Lyme road, and Salisbury’s men were drawn up about 150 yards east of the present Audley Cross, which marks the spot where Lord Audley fell. The Yorkist left rested upon the boggy edge of a wood, but their right was in the air, and Salisbury made a laager of his wagons to protect this flank. Whether Salisbury feigned retreat in order to draw Audley on is not certain, but the Lancastrian commander was definitely the one to attack. Two cavalry charges were repulsed, the first with heavy loss to the Lancastrians, and then they mounted an infantry attack up the hill to the Yorkist position. But this too failed; there was no support from the cavalry, Lord Audley had already fallen and 500 Lancastrians chose this moment to desert to the enemy. Salisbury’s victory was complete and in the pursuit, which continued for two miles, the slaughter was very heavy. Possibly 2,000 Lancastrians perished in this battle, but fewer than 200 Yorkists fell.
For more information on the Battle of Blore Heath, contact Blore Heath 1459 online at http://www.bloreheath.org
YORKISTS LANCASTRIANS
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Sir Christopher Conyers of Sokebourne, Durham |
Sir Henry Bromflete, Wymington, Bedford |
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Sir John Conyers of Hornby, Yorkshire |
Sir Robert del Booth of Wilmslow, Cheshire (killed in battle) |
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Sir Walter Devereux of Weobley, Herefordshire (killed in battle) |
Sir John Bourchier of West Horsley, Surrey |
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Sir Richard Grey of Powis, Powis |
Sir Hugh Calveley of the Lea, Cheshire (killed in battle) |
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Sir Richard Hamerton of Hamerton, Yorkshire |
Sir William Catesby (Sr.) of Ashby St. Legers, Northamptonshire |
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Sir Thomas Harrington, Lancashire |
Sir John Dawne of Cheshire |
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Sir Roger Kynaston of Hordley, Shropshire |
Sir Jerkin Done of Wickington, Cheshire (killed in battle) |
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Sir Thomas Lumley of Lumley, Durham |
Sir Robert Downes of Shrigley, (killed in battle) |
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Thomas Meering of Tong |
Sir Thomas Dutton of Dutton, Cheshire (killed in battle) |
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Sir James Metcalfe of Nappa, Yorkshire |
Sir John Dwnn of Cheshire, killed in battle |
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Sir John Middleton of Belsay Castle, Northumberland |
Sir John Egerton of Egerton, Cheshire (killed in battle) |
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Sir Thomas Mountford of Hackforth, Yorkshire |
Sir Nicholas of Eyton of Eyton, Shropshire |
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Sir Richard Neville (Earl of Salisbury) of Middleham, Yorkshire (fled to Calais) |
Sir Richard Fitton of Gawsforth, Cheshire |
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Sir Richard Neville (Earl of Warwick) of Middleham, Yorkshire (fled to Calais) |
Thomas Fitton, fate unknown |
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Sir Thomas Neville of Thornton Bridge, Durham |
Sir John Haigh, killed in battle |
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Sir Robert Ogle of Ogle, Northumberland |
Sir Edmund Hampden of Hampden, Buckinghamshire |
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Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal, Westmoreland |
Sir Thomas Hesketh of Rufford, Lancashire |
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Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, fled to Ireland |
Sir Henry Holland of Darlington, Devon |
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Sir William Pudsey of Selaby, Durham |
Sir John Legh of Booths, Cheshire (killed in battle) |
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Sir James Strangeways of Whorlton, Yorkshire |
Sir Philip Maunsell of Scrurlage, Glamorgan |
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Sir Walter Strickland of Sizergh, Westmoreland |
Sir Richard Molyneux of Sefton, Lancashire (killed in battle) |
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Sir John Wandesford of Kirklington, Yorkshire |
Sir John Neville of Raby, Durham |
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Sir John Wenlock of Wenlock, Shropshire |
Sir Ralph Shirley of Shirley, Sussex |
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Sir Walter Wrottesley of Wrottesley, Shropshire |
Sir John Skidmore of Mochas, Herefordshire |
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Sir John Stanley of Pipe, Staffordshire |
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Sir Edmund Sutton of Dudley, Westmoreland |
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Sir John Sutton of Dudley, Westmoreland |
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Sir William Troutbeck of Dunham-on-the-Hill, killed in battle |
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James Touchet (Lord Audley) of Markeaton, Derbyshire (killed in battle) |
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Sir Hugh Venables of Kinderton (killed in battle) |
For further reading on the battle:
Parry, Nicholas, Editor, Battle of Blore Heath, Tern P., 1987.
Swynnerton, Brian, Battle of Blore Heath, 1459, P. Griffith Associates, 1995.
©The Richard III Foundation, Inc.