POLITICAL HISTORY 



Warwick had marched meanwhile from St. Albans, and had taken 

 up a position on Gladesmore Heath, on the northern outskirts of Barnet. 13 * 

 He encamped there on the night of Easter Eve, hoping from that 

 position to take the enemy's troops in detail as they came out of the 

 narrow village of Barnet. Edward was too wary a soldier to be caught 

 in this trap. Marching north towards Barnet he sent his advance-guard 

 to drive Warwick's outposts from the town, but would allow none of his 

 main body to enter it. 183 He drew his forces under cover of darkness 

 very quietly to the right and took up a position on the then uninclosed 

 slopes which fell eastward from the Hatfield-Barnet road on which 

 Warwick's left was stationed. 134 But the manoeuvre was not effected so 

 quietly that Warwick did not detect it. He accordingly opened 

 fire on the unseen foe, but not until Edward's forces were mostly under 

 cover of the hill, so that the Lancastrian guns overshot their mark, 136 

 and Warwick had to be content to draw up his troops along the high 

 road, where they passed the night under the hedge-side. 136 Edward 

 would allow no guns to be fired in reply, so that his exact position should 

 not be betrayed. He ordered the advance before sunrise on Easter 

 morning, 187 and without any blowing of trumpets, and taking advantage of 

 the thick mist, 138 the Yorkists fell upon the enemy. Warwick's right 

 wing under the earl of Oxford and Lord Montagu swept across the heath 

 and overpowered Hastings on the Yorkist left, driving him from the 

 field. 139 His troops fled through Barnet, and spread the news even as far 

 as London that Edward was already defeated. 1 * Similar misfortune 

 befell the Lancastrian left under the duke of Exeter, for they were driven 

 back and overpowered by Gloucester on the Yorkist right. Consequently 

 the positions of the forces were now so altered that the Yorkists faced 

 south and the Lancastrians faced north. 141 Meanwhile the fight in the 

 centre raged fiercely, Edward himself displaying great prowess. 149 The 

 mist had lain so thick on the ground that the centre was unconscious of 

 the triumph of the Lancastrian left, and Oxford's men returning from the 

 pursuit of Edward's right wing were themselves mistaken for Yorkists, 

 and before the mistake could be discovered, Warwick's men had fallen 

 upon them. Oxford raised the cry of treason and fled from the field. 143 

 Edward, quick to take advantage of the confusion, pressed the attack 

 hard, and after heavy fighting won the day. The Kingmaker was among 

 the slain, but accounts vary as to the manner in which he met his 



188 Ramsay, Tork and Lane, ii, 370 ; Hall, Chron. 295 ; cf. Fasten Letters (ed. Gairdner), ii, 4. 

 m Chron. of the White Rose, 62 ; Warkworth, op. cit. 1 5, says that Edward reached Barnet first 

 and that, therefore, Warwick stayed without the town. 



184 Ramsay, loc. cit. Edward's left was on the cross road to Monken Hadley (Herts.) and his right 

 stretched northwards over the Middlesex border along the slopes towards Wrotham Park. 



185 Chron. of the White Rose, 62. 



" Arrivallof Edtv. IV (Camd. Soc.), 18. 



87 Waurin, Ancbiennet Cronicques fEngltterre (ed. Dupont), iii, 125. 



88 Fabyan, Chron. 66 1. The mist was ascribed to the incantation of Friar Bungay. 



89 Hall, Chron. 296. " Chron. of the White Rose, 63. 



141 Waurin, op. cit. iii, 213. "* Arrival! of Edtu. IY (Camd. Soc.), 20. 



148 Warkworth, Chron. (Camd. Soc.) 1 5. Oxford's livery was a star with streams, the Radiant Star 

 of the de Veers. Edward's was a sun with streams. 



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