Battle of Barnet
Edward IV struck a decisive blow against his former ally Warwick the Kingmaker in a misty battle that reinforced Yorkist power in England
Edward IV faced off against his former ally, Warwick ‘the Kingmaker’, to secure the throne
By 1469 Edward IV and his most powerful ally, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, were in opposition. Warwick was largely responsible for placing the Yorkists on the throne, but Edward made himself unpopular by marrying Elizabeth Woodville, whose family were bitterly opposed to Warwick. Open warfare finally broke out, with Warwick defeating Edward’s forces at the Battle of Edgecote Moor in July 1469, although the king himself was not actually present.
An uneasy truce was established, but relations soon broke down and Edward fled to Flanders in 1470 despite winning a victory against Warwick’s supporters at Losecoat
Field. Warwick then acted as ‘kingmaker’ once again and restored the Lancastrian Henry VI. Edward retaliated by landing in Yorkshire and outmanoeuvred Warwick by taking London and capturing Henry. In this highly charged situation, Warwick offered battle to Edward 16 kilometres (ten miles) outside London near High Barnet in Hertfordshire.
Edward arrived at Barnet at dusk on 13 April 1471, and his army collided with Warwick’s picket lines. To sap Lancastrian morale, Edward brought the unfortunate Henry VI with him and held the rival monarch in reserve. The king hoped to launch a surprise dawn attack, and the Yorkists encamped in battle lines “passing great silence all the night whereby the enemy might not know where they lay”. In the darkness Warwick ordered a night bombardment against the Yorkists, but his gunners overshot the enemy lines as “the king’s host lay much nearer than they deemed”.
The fog of war
At dawn on 14 April 1471 the two armies were positioned in a mist that was heavy with the whiff of gunpowder. Warwick commanded 15,000 men compared to Edward’s 10,000 and both sides formed into three divisions, known as ‘battles’. Both armies were confused by the fog, which was not helped by opposing heraldry: Edward’s men wore the badge of the sun while the Lancastrian troops under John de Vere, Earl of Oxford wore a similar badge of a radiant star.
The Yorkists first advanced under Lord Hastings on the left flank through the fog but were soon attacked by Oxford’s archers and artillery. The Yorkists faltered, and Oxford successfully charged Hastings’s men and put them to flight. On the right flank Edward’s youngest brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester failed to find the Lancastrian duke of Exeter’s men in the fog, but this mistake proved to be a blessing. Gloucester swung around Warwick’s extreme left instead and put increasing pressure on the Lancastrians.
While Gloucester was fighting on his right, Edward personally led his men in the centre. The king’s experience and imposing physique made him an impressive focus for his men. The Yorkist thrust now squeezed Warwick from two directions, but the Lancastrians did not initially break. Warwick’s left wing began to buckle, and the formation of the battle spun anticlockwise until the Lancastrians were pushed into an area called Dead Man’s Bottom. Opposing billmen engaged in hand-to-hand combat and the battle turned into a bloodbath.
“THE KING’S EXPERIENCE AND IMPOSING PHYSIQUE MADE HIM AN IMPRESSIVE FOCUS FOR HIS MEN”
Death of the Kingmaker
After routing Hastings’s attack, Oxford’s men left the field and turned to looting. Oxford was only able to rally 500 cavalrymen to return to the battle. Warwick and Oxford then confused each other for the enemy in the mist. Warwick’s men accidentally attacked their comrades with Oxford’s troops shouting, “Treason! Treason!”
While the Lancastrians inadvertently fought themselves, Edward committed his reserves to the battle, which further pushed Warwick’s centre back. Warwick attempted to rally his troops by crying, “This is our last resource. If we withstand this charge the day be ours.” This optimistic rallying cry went unheeded and the Lancastrians disintegrated and fled. Warwick was recognised as he tried to recover his horse and was attacked by Yorkist men-at-arms. The earl fought alone until he was knocked to the ground and killed. The once mighty ‘Kingmaker’ was dead.
Edward IV had comprehensively defeated his most powerful enemy and former ally at Barnet. The battle lasted between two to three hours and thousands of men were killed, although the exact figure is not known. The Yorkist king went on to destroy the final remnants of Lancastrian resistance at Tewkesbury only weeks later, and his rule was finally secured.