Battle of Towton

Overview

The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire. Yorkist forces decisively defeated Lancastrian supporters of Henry VI, securing the English throne for Edward IV. Fought for ten hours between an estimated 50,000 soldiers from both sides in a snowstorm on Palm Sunday, it was "probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil".

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Towton, fought on Palm Sunday 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, produced a decisive Yorkist victory that secured the English throne for Edward IV, displacing the Lancastrian king Henry VI. With an estimated 50,000 soldiers engaged across both sides, the engagement lasted ten hours and has been characterized as probably the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. Lancastrian casualties of 6,000 against 3,000 Yorkist losses reflect the scale of the defeat suffered by the forces supporting Henry VI. The outcome was not a marginal shift in the balance of the conflict but a settlement of the immediate contest for the crown, establishing Edward IV's hold on the throne at a moment when Yorkist supremacy had been far from certain.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (8)