40 



numbers were in the hostile amiies, but it is supposed upon reasonable 

 grounds, that Richard brought into the field about 19,000 men; that 

 Henry brought 7,000 ; Lord Stanley 5,000 ; and Sir William Stanley 

 3,000 ;^ consequently Richard's forces were considerably more numerous 

 than his enemy's at the commencement of the battle, but were consi- 

 derably out-numbered by those on the side of Henry, after Lord Stanley 

 and Sir William Stanley had joined him. 



Authors differ very much respecting the number of the slain ; some 

 state it to have been very considerable ; Mr. Hutton on the contrary 

 inclines to think that it was only about nine hundred on both sides,* 

 of which by far the greatest carnage was in the pursuit. Probably his 

 estimate is too low, but as the battle did not last very long, and as the 

 principal part of Richard's forces were indifferent or reluctant to 

 fight in his cause, it may perhaps be reasonably inferred that the 

 slain did not very greatlj; exceed that number. Hall, Holinshed, 

 and Grafton, concur in stating, that the number of the slain was not 

 much more than a thousand, which may probably be correct. 



Henry with great pomp proceeded the same evening to Leicester. 

 Richard's corpse was found amongst the slain, covered with wounds, 

 dirt, and blood, and was hung, perfectly naked, across a horse, the feet 

 dangling on one side and the hands on the other, behind Blanc Sang- 

 lier, Pursuivant at Arms, so called from the boar argent, the cog- 

 nizance of Richard, and was carried in triumph to Leicester that 

 afternoon. This disgusting spectacle was meant as a disgrace to 

 Richard, but it was really a disgrace to Henry. Insults offered by the 

 victor to the corpse of a soldier slain in battle, be he whom he may, 

 evince a great degree of meanness or cowardice on the part of the 

 former. The body was exposed to public view during two days in the 

 Town Hall, and was then interred in the Grey Friars' Chm'ch. At 

 the destruction of religious houses, his remains were turned out of it 

 by the town's people, and there is reason to believe that they were got 

 rid of by being thrown into the river at the end of Bow Bridge, at 

 Leicester ; " borne out of the city, and contemptuously bestowed under 

 the end of Bow Bridge, which giveth passage over a branch of Stoure, 

 upon the west side of the towne."' A stone cofifin in which they had 

 originally been deposited was converted into a watering trough at the 

 White Horse Inn, in Gallow Tree Gate, and was, early in the last 

 century, broken to pieces.* 



' Hutton's "Boswortth Field," p. 75. 



* HutDon's " Bosworth Field," p. 129, 



' Speed's " Annals," fo. 936 ; see also Thorsby's " Views in Leicestershire," p. S88. 



* Baker, p. 235; Stow; Hutton, p. 143; Saudfurd's " Genealogical History ," p. 410. 



