John was a beneficiary of the spoils of war after the Yorkists fled England in 1459, being awarded many of his rival Neville cousins' confiscated lands and offices, and was also raised to the rank of baron. When Richard of York returned in 1460 and claimed the throne, Lord Neville initially posed as an ally, but went back to the Lancastrian side just before the Battle of Wakefield. York gave battle, likely thinking Neville would arrive to reinforce him, but was instead attacked and slain. Lord Neville himself, however, was killed shortly thereafter in an ambush leading up to the Battle of Towton in 1461. His son later inherited the earldom of Westmorland.