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King Henry with them at St. Albans, and having under 

 their command an army of Yorkists, attempted to stop 

 the progress towards London, of the Queen and her army 

 of Lancastrians ; a battle ensued, the Queen's forces 

 obtained the victory, and delivered Henry out of the 

 custody of the Yorkists. A junction was soon afterwards 

 effected between the army of Edward and the portion of 

 the Earl of Warwick's forces that had escaped from the 

 battle of St. Albans. The Queen was refused admittance 

 into London, and she consequently retired with the King 

 and the young Prince of Wales towards the north, and 

 Edward, with the Yorkists, entered London without any 

 opposition; where, on the 4th of March, 1460-1, he was 

 proclaimed King, by the title of Edward IV. 



On the 7th of March the Earl of Warwick and a large 

 portion of the Yorkist army marched from London to- 

 wards the north; and on the 12th, Edward and the 

 remainder of his army also left London, in order to en- 

 counter and fight the army of Henry ; and the important 

 and sanguinary battle of Towton, at which Edward and 

 the Earl of Warwick commanded the main body,'^' was 

 fought by the rival armies on Palm Sunday, the 29th of 

 March 1461, when the Lancastrians were completely de- 

 feated, with prodigious slaughter, and which established 

 Edward for a considerable time upon the throne of 

 England. He was crowned King at Westminster, with 

 all the usual forms and ceremonies of the Sovereigns of 

 England, on the 20th of June following; after which 

 there was nothing of honour, authority, and benefit that 

 the new King could bestow, and which the Earl of War- 

 Avick desired, but he obtained it. He was soon made 



(1) I do not consider it necessary to notice the statement which is to be found in 

 some authors, that the Earl of Warwick stabbed his horse, upon hearing of a disas- 

 ter having occurred to Lord Fitzwalter and his forces at Ferry Bridge ; the tale 

 is an improbable one, and he, as a soldier, most likely knew the value of a war 

 horse too well, to destroy it wantonly or foolishly. 



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