The disasters in France strengthened the Yorkists, and brought their representative, Richard, Duke of York, to the front, with armed forces to support his claims.

A battle was fought at St. Albans, in which the Yorkists were superior, and, without suffering any material loss, slew about five thousand of their enemies, among whom were the Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland, the Earl of Stafford, eldest son of the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Clifford, and many other persons of distinction.

They granted the Yorkists a general indemnity; and they restored the protectorship to the Duke, but at the same time they renewed their oaths of fealty to Henry, and fixed the continuance of the protectorship to the majority of his son Edward.

He feigned a retreat, and allured Audley to follow him with precipitation; but when the van of the royal army had passed the brook, Salisbury suddenly turned upon them, and partly by the surprise, partly by the division of the enemy's forces, put this body to rout; the example of flight was followed by the rest of the army; and Salisbury, obtaining a complete victory, reached the general rendezvous of the Yorkists at Ludlow.

She herself marched with the larger division toward London, where the Earl of Warwick had been left with the command of the Yorkists.

While the armies were warmly engaged, Lovelace, who commanded a considerable body of the Yorkists, withdrew from the combat; and this treacherous conduct decided the victory in favor of the Queen.

Lord Bonville, to whose care he had been intrusted by the Yorkists, remained with him after the defeat, on assurances of pardon given him by Henry; but Margaret, regardless of her husband's promise, immediately ordered the head of that nobleman to be struck off by the executioner.

The Yorkists were chased back with great slaughter, and Lord Fitzwalter himself was slain in the action.

While the Yorkists were advancing to the charge, there happened a great fall of snow,

The Lancastrians, imagining that they were gotten within reach of the opposite army, discharged all their arrows, which thus fell short of the Yorkists.

The bow, however, was soon laid aside, and the sword decided the combat, which ended in a total victory on the side of the Yorkists.

All the other considerable Yorkists either fled beyond sea or took shelter in sanctuaries, where the ecclesiastical privileges afforded them protection.

But an accident threw the balance to the side of the Yorkists.

Sensible that the only circumstance which could give him security was to gain the confidence of the Yorkists, Richard paid court to the Queen Dowager with such art and address, made such earnest protestations of his sincere good-will and friendship, that this Princess ventured to put herself and her daughters into the hands of the tyrant.

After the battle of Towton a certain kind of wild rose is reported to have sprung up in the field where the Yorkists and Lancastrians fell, only there to be found: "There still wild roses growing, Frail tokens of the fray; And the hedgerow green bears witness Of Towton field that day.

By his wife Maud he had one daughter named Alice, who was thrice married, first to Sir John Philips, and afterwards to Thomas Montacute earl of Salisbury: her third husband was the famous William de la Pole, duke of Suffolk, who lost his head by the fury of the Yorkists, who dreaded his influence in the opposite party, tho' he stood proscribed by the parliament of Henry VI.

The castle fell into the hands of the Yorkists, and the great Earl of Warwick, the "King-maker" himself, made it his headquarters for a time, while he superintended the sieges of Alnwick, Dunstanborough, and Bamburgh, which were all invested at the same time.

This was the opening of the War of the Roses,so called because as badges the Lancastrians wore a red rose and the Yorkists a white rose.

Richard was the son of Richard, Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, daughter of the Earl of Westmoreland, his father being the legitimate heir to the throne by descent in the female line, so he was the head of the Yorkists in the War of the Roses.

From Cerne she went to lead a force against the Yorkists at Tewkesbury.

Situated 2-1/2 miles from Market Drayton is Audley Cross, marking the site of the battle of Blore Heath, fought between the Yorkists and Lancastrians, when many Cheshire gentlemen were slain.

This was bad enough, but it was not the worst, for the snow slackened their bow-strings, causing their arrows to fall short of the Yorkists, who took them from the ground, and sent them back with fatal effect.

The Lancastrian leaders then sought closer conflict, but the Yorkists had already achieved those advantages which, under a good general, are sure to prepare the way to victory.

They lost twenty-eight thousand men, and the Yorkists eight thousand.

between the adherents of the noble houses of York and Lancasterrival claimants for the throne of Englandwhose badges were the white and the red rose respectively; began with the first battle of St. Albans (1455), in which Richard, Duke of York, defeated Henry VI.'s forces under the Duke of Somerset; but not till after the decisive victory at Towton (1461) did the Yorkists make good their claim, when Edward (IV.), Duke of York, became king.