The Decisive Battle between the Houses of Lancaster and York

The Lancastrian army numbered around 5-6000 men, the Yorkists around 3500 to 5000.

The Lancastrian plan was that Lord Wenlock should attack from the front from their position on higher ground, but it was the Yorkist army, having been led with some difficulty up the hill, who opened hostilities with cannon and longbows, and for an hour inflicted many casualties.

Then the Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III) of the Yorkists gave the order to sound the retreat - an old ruse to provoke the enemy into leaving a good defensive position. The ruse worked, and the Duke of Somerset led the Lancastrians in a charge downhill where they crashed into the Yorkist left flank.

However, the King (Edward IV) had deployed 2-300 spearmen amongst the trees a quarter of a mile from the Lancastrian position so as to prevent the Lancastrians from doing the same and ambushing the Yorkists. These spearmen now joined the attack, the Duke of Somerset's men were cut to pieces and the remaining soldiers panicked and began to flee. At that point, the battle was lost.

Henry VI's son Prince Edward, seeing service for the first time, was to have led the Lancastrian centre under instructions from Lord Wenlock. However, Wenlock made him hold back, refusing to let him advance to Somerset's aid. When Somerset afterwards realised that Wenlock had not helped him, he publicly branded him a traitor to his face, and then split his head open with his battle mace.

There followed a desperate rout in which the Lancastrians fled the field hotly pursued by Yorkists out for their blood. Some sought refuge in Tewkesbury Abbey, but bands of Yorkist soldiers forced their way in and ran riot, looting and vandalising. Lancastrian soldiers who had sought refuge were savagely despatched.

Battle information from Alison Weir's Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses.
Image at top of page from The Battle of Tewkesbury, depicted in a Ghent manuscript.