First Battle of St Albans The First Battle of St Albans , fought on 22 May 1455 at St Albans , 22 miles ( 35 km ) north of London , traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses . Richard , Duke of York and his ally , Richard Neville , Earl of Warwick , defeated the Lancastrians under Edmund , Duke of Somerset , who was killed . With King Henry VI captured , the parliament appointed Richard , Duke of York , Lord Protector . Background . By Christmas of 1454 , King Henry had recovered from his illness , which was quickly followed by the Duke of York ' s resignation of his protectorate . The Duke of Somerset was restored to his former position and given York ' s former post as the Captaincy of Calais . With his court reconvened at Westminster by mid April 1455 , Henry and a select council of nobles , minus York and Warwick , decided to hold a great council at Leicester . Both York and Warwick , believing this council would question their loyalty , gathered their retinue and marched to stop Henry from reaching Leicester . Their forces met at St Albans . Fighting . The Lancastrian army of 2 , 000 troops arrived at St Albans first , with Buckingham in command , and proceeded to defend it by placing troops along the Tonman Ditch and at the bars in Sopwell Lane and Shropshire Lane . The 7 , 000 - strong Yorkist army arrived and camped in Keyfield to the east . Lengthy negotiations ensued with heralds moving back and forth between the rival commanders . After a few hours , it was believed in the Yorkist camp that King Henry VI knew nothing of the letters of negotiation . After several hours , Richard , despairing of a peaceful solution , decided to attack . The bulk of Henry ' s forces were surprised by the speed of Richard ' s attack ; most of the army was expecting a peaceful resolution similar to the one at Blackheath in 1452 . However , two Yorkist frontal assaults down the narrow streets against the barricades near St Peter ' s Church , which were command by Lord de Clifford , made no headway and resulted in heavy casualties for the Yorkists . Warwick took his reserve troops through an unguarded part of the town ' s defences , through back lanes and gardens . Suddenly the earl appeared in the market square where the main body of Henry ' s troops were talking and resting . There is evidence they were not yet expecting to be involved in the fighting , as many were not even wearing their helmets . Warwick charged instantly with his force , routing the Lancastrians and killing the Duke of Somerset . On the earl ' s orders , his archers then shot at the men surrounding the king , killing several and injuring the king and the Duke of Buckingham . The Lancastrians manning the barricades realised the Yorkists had ouflanked them and , fearing an attack from behind , abandoned their positions and fled the town . Result . The first battle of St Albans was relatively minor in military terms , but politically was a complete victory for York and Warwick : York had captured the king and restored himself to complete power , while his rivals Somerset and Warwick ' s arch - enemies Henry Percy , Second Earl of Northumberland , and Lord de Clifford both fell during the rout . Among the wounded were Buckingham , Thomas , Earl of Devon and Somerset ' s son Henry Beaufort , the Earl of Dorset . The next day , York and Warwick escorted King Henry back to London . The Duke of York was restored as Protector of England by the parliament a few months later . In literature . Shakespeare ' s historic play " Henry VI , Part 2 " ends with the conclusion of this battle .