Battle of Wakefield The Battle of Wakefield took place in Sandal Magna near Wakefield , in West Yorkshire in Northern England , on 30 December 1460 . It was a major battle of the Wars of the Roses . The opposing forces were an army led by nobles loyal to the captive King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster , his Queen Margaret of Anjou and their seven year - old son Edward , Prince of Wales on one side , and the army of Richard , Duke of York , the rival claimant to the throne , on the other . The Duke of York was killed and his army was destroyed . Background . The House of Lancaster was established on the throne of England in 1399 , when Henry Bolingbroke , the Duke of Lancaster , deposed his unpopular cousin King Richard II , and was crowned Henry IV . Throughout his reign , he was troubled by doubts over the legitimacy of his rule , and there were several revolts against him . His son , Henry V inherited the throne after these had been suppressed , and he enhanced the prestige of the dynasty by good government and victories over the French , notably at Agincourt . However , Henry V died in 1422 and his only son became King Henry VI when only nine months old . He grew up to be an ineffective king , and prone to spells of mental illness . There were increasingly bitter divisions among the regents and councillors who governed in Henry ' s name , mainly over the conduct of the Hundred Years ' War with France . By the late 1440s , two opposing factions had formed behind Edmund Beaufort , 1st Duke of Somerset , and Richard of York . York was Lieutenant in France for several years and resented being supplanted in that office by Somerset , who had then failed to defend Normandy against French armies . Richard of York was not only the wealthiest magnate in the land , but was also descended from King Edward III ' s third son Lionel of Antwerp and fifth son Edmund of Langley , leading to calls that he be recognised as successor to the childless King Henry . His rival , Somerset , belonged to the Beaufort family who , like Henry , were descended from John of Gaunt , Edward III ' s fourth son , though by his former mistress , Katherine Swynford . Although the Beauforts were supposedly barred from succeeding to the crown by the Act of Parliament which made the children of Gaunt and Katherine legitimate after their marriage , their line eventually produced King Henry VII and the Tudor dynasty . In 1452 , Richard led a small army to Blackheath near London in an attempt to force Henry to dismiss Somerset from the government , but at this stage he lacked support and was forced to submit to arrest and take an oath of allegiance to the King at Old St Paul ' s Cathedral . Then in 1453 , Henry VI suffered a complete mental breakdown . The peers appointed Richard Lord Protector and he governed the country responsibly , but Henry recovered his sanity after eighteen months and restored Somerset to favour . During Henry ' s madness his Queen , Margaret of Anjou , had given birth to a son , which dashed Richard ' s hopes of becoming king on Henry ' s death . Fearing arrest for treason , York and his most prominent allies , the Nevilles ( York ' s brother in law , the Earl of Salisbury and his son , the Earl of Warwick , later known as the " Kingmaker " ) , finally resorted to armed force in 1455 . At the First Battle of St Albans , many of York ' s and Salisbury ' s rivals and enemies were killed , including Somerset , the Earl of Northumberland ( whose family had been involved in a long - running feud with the Nevilles ) and Lord Clifford . After the battle , York reaffirmed his loyalty to King Henry , and was reappointed Lord Protector and Lieutenant of Ireland . Queen Margaret nevertheless suspected York of wishing to supplant her infant son , Edward , as Henry ' s successor , and the heirs of the Lancastrian nobles who were killed at St Albans remained at deadly feud with York . Events of the year preceding Wakefield . After an uneasy peace during which attempts at reconciliation failed , hostilities broke out again in 1459 . Richard of York returned from Ireland without leave and concentrated his forces near his stronghold of Ludlow Castle in the Welsh Marches . At the confrontation which became known as the Battle of Ludford , some of Warwick ' s contingent from the garrison of Calais , led by experienced captain Andrew Trollope , defected overnight . York and the Nevilles promptly abandoned their troops and fled . The next day , the outnumbered and leaderless Yorkist army surrendered . York went via Wales to Ireland where he had support from the Irish Parliament , while Salisbury , Warwick and York ' s eldest son Edward , Earl of March made their way via the West Country to Calais , where Warwick was Constable . Lancastrian attempts to reassert their authority over Ireland and Calais failed , but York and his supporters were declared traitors and attainted . Only a successful invasion would restore their titles and property . Meanwhile , the victorious Lancastrians became reviled for the manner in which their army had looted the town of Ludlow after the Yorkist surrender at Ludford Bridge , and the repressive acts of a compliant " Parliament of Devils " , which caused many uncommitted peers to fear for their own property and titles . The country remained in disorder , increased by piratical raids launched by the Nevilles from Calais . In 1460 , the Nevilles invaded England through a foothold they had already established at Sandwich and rapidly secured London and the South of England where Warwick had popular support . They then advanced north to engage Henry ' s and Margaret ' s army in the Midlands . At the Battle of Northampton , part of the Lancastrian army defected and the rest were decisively defeated . For the second time , Henry was captured on the battlefield . He was taken to London , and confined in the Bishop of London ' s palace while the Nevilles appointed themselves and their relatives and in - laws to most of the offices of state . The Duke of York landed in Chester some weeks later and made his way to London with much pomp . Entering Parliament , he attempted to claim the throne , but was met with stunned silence . Even his close allies were not prepared to support such a drastic step . Instead , after the House of Lords had considered his claim , they passed the Act of Accord , by which Henry would remain King , but York would govern the country as Lord Protector . Henry ' s son was disinherited , and York or his heirs would become King on Henry ' s death . The powerless and frightened Henry was forced to assent . Lancastrian moves . When the Battle of Northampton was fought , Queen Margaret and her seven - year - old son Edward had been at Eccleshall Castle near Coventry . In the aftermath of the battle , after many adventures with brigands and outlaws they fled into Cheshire and subsequently to Harlech Castle in North Wales , where they joined Lancastrian nobles ( including Henry ' s half - brother Jasper Tudor and the Duke of Exeter ) who were recruiting armies in Wales and the West Country . They later proceeded by ship to Scotland , where Margaret gained troops and other aid for the Lancastrian cause from the Queen and Regent , Mary of Guelders , in return for the surrender of the town and castle of Berwick upon Tweed . At the same time , other Lancastrians were rallying in Northern England . Many of them , including the Earl of Northumberland , Lords Clifford and Ros and John Neville of Raby ( who represented a northern branch of the Neville family who had been eclipsed by the southern branch headed by the Earl of Salisbury ) had estates and influence in the north . They were joined by the Duke of Somerset and the Earl of Devon , who brought their forces from the West Country . Northumberland , Clifford and Somerset were the sons of York ' s and Salisbury ' s rivals who had been killed at St . Albans . The Lancastrian forces mustered near Kingston upon Hull , and were said ( in " Gregory ' s Chronicle " , a near - contemporary account ) to number 15 , 000 . A substantial part of these forces encamped at Pontefract began pillaging York ' s and Salisbury ' s estates nearby . York ' s response . Faced with these challenges to his authority as Protector , York despatched his eldest son Edward to the Welsh Marches to contain the Lancastrians in Wales and left the Earl of Warwick in charge in London . He himself marched to the north of England on 9 December , accompanied by his second son Edmund , Earl of Rutland , and the Earl of Salisbury . His force was said by some to number 8 , 000 to 9 , 000 men , but by others to be only a few hundred strong , as York intended to recruit local forces with a Commission of Array . York had probably underestimated the numbers of the Lancastrian army in the north , which was still being reinforced . On 16 December , at the Battle of Worksop in Nottinghamshire , York ' s vanguard clashed with a contingent from the West Country moving north to join the Lancastrian army , and was defeated . Battle . On 21 December , York reached his own fortress of Sandal Castle near Wakefield . He sent probes towards the Lancastrian camp at Pontefract to the east , but these were repulsed . York sent for help to his son Edward , but before any reinforcements could arrive , he sortied from the castle on 30 December . It is not known for certain why York did so . One theory was later recounted in " Edward Hall ' s chronicle " , written a few decades after the event , but partly from first - hand sources , and the contemporary Burgundian " Jean de Waurin ' s " chronicle . In a stratagem possibly devised by the veteran Andrew Trollope , half the Lancastrian army under Somerset and Clifford advanced openly towards Sandal Castle , over the open space known as " Wakefield Green " between the castle and the River Calder , while the remainder under Ros and the Earl of Wiltshire were concealed in the woods surrounding the area . York was probably short of provisions in the castle and seeing that the enemy were apparently no stronger than his own army , seized the opportunity to engage them in the open rather than withstand a siege while waiting for reinforcements . Other accounts suggested that , possibly in addition to Trollope ' s deception , York was fooled by some of John Neville of Raby ' s forces displaying false colours into thinking either that reinforcements sent by Warwick had arrived , or that the northern Nevilles under the Earl of Westmoreland , John Neville ' s older brother and the most senior peer in the family , were prepared to support him . Another suggestion was that York and his opponents had agreed a day for battle ( 6 January , the Feast of Epiphany ) after a Christmas truce , but when York moved into the open the Lancastrians treacherously attacked earlier than had been agreed , catching York at a disadvantage while many of his men were absent foraging for supplies . The simplest suggestion was that York acted rashly . For example , historian John Sadler states that there was no Lancastrian deception or ambush ; York led his men from the castle on a foraging expedition , and as each Lancastrian contingent joined in the fighting , York ' s army was outnumbered and overwhelmed . The Yorkists marched out of Sandal Castle down the present - day Manygates Lane towards the Lancastrians located to the north of the castle . It is generally accepted that , as York engaged the Lancastrians to his front , others attacked him from the flank and rear , cutting him off from the castle . In Edward Hall ' s words : . . . but when he was in the plain ground between his castle and the town of Wakefield , he was environed on every side , like a fish in a net , or a deer in a buckstall ; so that he manfully fighting was within half an hour slain and dead , and his whole army discomfited . The Yorkist army was surrounded and destroyed . Casualties . One near - contemporary source ( " Gregory ' s Chronicle " ) claimed that 2 , 500 Yorkists and 200 Lancastrians were killed , but other sources give wildly differing figures , from 2 , 200 to only 700 Yorkist dead . The Duke of York was killed in the fighting . His son Rutland attempted to escape over Wakefield Bridge , but was overtaken and killed , possibly by Clifford in revenge for his father ' s death at St Albans . Salisbury ' s fourth son Sir Thomas Neville , and his son in law William , Lord Harington , also died in the battle . Salisbury himself escaped the battlefield but was captured during the night , and was taken to the Lancastrian camp and beheaded . Although the Lancastrian nobles might have been prepared to allow Salisbury to ransom himself , he was dragged out of Pontefract Castle and beheaded by local commoners , to whom he had been a harsh overlord . Aftermath . After the battle the heads of York , Rutland and Salisbury were displayed over Micklegate Bar , the western gate through the York city walls , the Duke wearing a paper crown and a sign saying " Let York overlook the town of York " . The death of Richard of York did not end the wars , or the House of York ' s claim to the throne . The northern Lancastrian army which had been victorious at Wakefield was reinforced by Scots and borderers eager for plunder , and marched south . They defeated Warwick ' s army at the Second Battle of St Albans and recaptured the feeble - minded King Henry , who had been abandoned on the battlefield for the third time , but were refused entry to London and failed to occupy the city . Meanwhile , Richard of York ' s eldest son Edward , Earl of March , had defeated the Welsh Lancastrians at the Battle of Mortimer ' s Cross . Having lost possession of Henry , Warwick could no longer claim to be acting on his behalf and Edward of March was proclaimed King Edward IV of England . The Lancastrians withdrew to the north but were decisively defeated by Edward and Warwick at the Battle of Towton . A monument erected on the spot where the Duke of York is supposed to have perished is positioned slightly south of the more likely spot where an older monument once stood , but which was destroyed during the English Civil War . The battle in literature and folklore . Many people are familiar with William Shakespeare ' s melodramatic version of events in Henry VI , Part 3 , notably the murder of Edmund of Rutland , although Edmund is depicted as a small child , and following his unnecessary slaughter by Clifford , Margaret torments his father , York , before murdering him also . In fact , York was killed during the battle , and Rutland , at seventeen , was more than old enough to be an active participant in the fighting . Margaret was almost certainly still in Scotland at the time . The battle is said by some to be the source for the mnemonic for remembering the traditional colours of the rainbow , Richard of York Gave Battle In Vain , and also the mocking nursery rhyme , The Grand Old Duke of York although this much more likely refers to the eighteenth century duke , son of George III . " Dickie ' s Meadow " , a well - known Northern expression , possibly refers to Sandals Meadow where the battle of Wakefield took place and where Richard met his end . The common view held that Richard was ill - advised to fight here . The expression is usually used to warn against risky action . ( " If you do that you ' ll end up in Dickie ' s Meadow " . ) It is a moot point how early the expression arose , and whether through folk memory or local history .