The date is 1454; the reigning King of England, King Henry VI has just recovered from a terrible year of mental illness. When Henry the chief protectorate of the Crown of England during the King’s illness, claims the throne for himself the country is plunged into war, divided house by house, across the green pastures of England.

Where do you stand? Do you stand by the rightful, but ill, King Henry VI and the house of Lancaster? Or do you betray him and back the upcoming chief protectorate, Henry and fall into the house of York?

In 1455, the first English blood was spilt at the Battle of St. Albans with over 300 men killed. Edmund Beaufort, the Duke of Somerset, Thomas de Clifford, Henry Percy, the 2nd Earl of Northumberland were killed. And the treacherous Yorkists were the victors.

At the second battle in September 1459, after four years of uneasy peace, the two armies met at the Battle of Blore Heath and again the Yorkists even though outnumbered two to one grasped a decisive victory over the Lancastrians although more Noble blood is spilt with the death of Lord Audley of the Lancastrians.

At Ludford Bridge at the town of Ludlow, October 1459, the Yorkist Faction regrouped and began to advance towards Worcester. However on encountering a massive Lancastrian army led by the King himself, they fell back and struggled to get a position as the massive Lancastrian army set up opposite the Teme River. Though, that night, a significant amount of the Yorkist army deserted all led by Andrew Trollope, the leader of the Calais troops (remember Calais was still English from the Hundred Years War). This led to the first victory for the Lancastrians, even though no blood was spilt. And after, Andrew Trollope even betrayed the Yorkists again when he switched sides and agreed to fight for the Lancastrians for his pardon.

The date, June 1460, Richard Neville of the Yorkists, sails back from Calais on his way to give siege to the Tower of London and the Lancastrian army defending it. Upon changing situations on arrival in England, he instead marched his army North to attack the Lancastrian army moving South from Coventry. Upon learning of this, the Lancastrian army, Set up defensive positions in Northampton when they met, the Battle of Northampton was bloody and during the middle of the battle one of the King’s trusted Lords Changed allegiance and attacked the King’s army in the flank. This spelled defeat for the Lancastrians and the King, and yet another victory for the Yorkists and Richard Neville, leader of the Yorkist army. Even more the Duke of Buckingham of the Lancastrians was killed, and the King was captured and at Yorkist mercy. However this was no end to the Wars of the Roses as the Queen, Margaret of Anjou was assembling an army in Wales to continue the hostility.

In December 1460, the Battle of Wakefield. Richard Duke of York, Richard Neville Earl of Salisbury, and the son of Richard Duke of York, Edmund Earl of Rutland, travelled North to face the threat of a massive Lancastrian army assembled near the City of York. Upon reaching Sandal Castle they took up a defensive position which assured them of victory over the Lancastrians. However, (why, we do not know) he left his stronghold to attack the vastly larger (by 10,000 more men) Lancastrian force. Richard the Duke of York was slain in battle, and both Richard Neville and the Son of the Duke of York were executed afterwards, marking the end of chivalrous conduct in the Wars of the Roses. The Yorkists had suffered more than a defeat, the death of three of their most experienced leaders of the Wars of the Roses.

February 1461, when Edward Earl of March of the Yorkists, read about the disaster at Wakefield he decided to march East to link up with Warwick, who was in London. However after he discovered a Lancastrian army in the centre of Wales, he changed direction and attacked it. Edward’s army routed the collection of French, Irish, and Welsh mercenaries in the Lancastrian army. But the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross, although a victory for the Yorkists had dire effects, firstly Owne Tudor, the Grandfather of the Future King Henry VII was killed in battle, and the battle itself delayed Edward’s army in meeting up with Warwick’s in London.

Warwick’s army was positioned on the planes near where the first battle in the Wars of the Roses had taken place and the Second Battle of St. Albans proved how much timing is important in warfare. Before Edward Earl of March’s army could arrive the Lancastrians attacked Warwick’s army. Warwick himself fled and was forced to leave his hostage, King Henry VI under a tree. It was yet another victory for the Lancastrians.

After proclaiming himself King in March 1461, Edward IV (previously the Earl of March) gathered together a large force and marched north toward the Lancastrian position behind the Aire River. On March 28th during the Battle of Ferrybridge, the forces engaged and at first the Yorkist army was pushed back and their leader, Lord Fitzwalter, was killed. However, more Yorkist forces arrived later on in the day and beat back the Lancastrians and during the fighting the Lancastrian leader, Lord Clifford was also killed.

The day after the battle of Ferrybridge on the 29th March 1461, the Yorkist forces attacked the Lancastrians in a driving snowstorm up a sloping hill at Towton. During the Battle of Towton, using the snow and the wind direction as an aid, the Yorkist archers were able to shoot farther than their adversaries. The Lancastrians believed their best strategy was to charge. After many hours of intense fighting the Yorkist line was showing signs of strain. Fortunately the duke of Norfolk, John Mowbray, arrived with reinforcements and the reinforced Yorkist army defeated the Lancastrians. King Henry VI, the Queen, and their son fled to Scotland. Edward IV marched into York and on June 28 1461 he was formally crowned king at Westminster.

On his way to the border of Scotland to meet a group of envoys to discuss peace, John Neville (Lord Montagu), brother of Warwick, clashed with a Lancastrian force of similar size. During the battle, the Lancastrian wings commanded by Lords Hungerford and Roos fled leaving Sir Ralph Percy with the only holding force. Percy's troops were crushed. Montagu continued north and the Duke of Somerset led the remaining Lancastrian army south to Hexham .

After completing his mission at the border of Scotland on the 15th of May 1464, Lord Montagu marched south and engaged the Lancastrian forces at Hexham. His army rapidly charged downhill and crushed the Lancastrian forces. The Lancastrian leaders were executed which ended most of the Lancastrian resistance. The Duke of Somerset, Lord Hungerford, and Lord Roos were all executed.

After eight years of rule, Edward IV began to alienate many of the nobles including Warwick because of his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville and his alliances with Burgundy. In July 1469, Edward rallied an army to put down an uprising in Yorkshire. He was intercepted by a Lancastrian force and swiftly defeated it. Meanwhile Warwick and Edward's brother, George duke of Clarence, who had changed allegiance and had begun to support the former King, Henry VI, had already landed from Calais and were on their way to join forces with Robin of Redesdale, field leader of the Lancastrian force. After the battle, Warwick ordered his brother George Neville, the archbishop of York, to intercept and capture King Edward.

At the defeat of his forces at the battle of Edgecote Moor, Edward waited for another opportunity to strike. In early 1470 it came under the name of the Battle of Losecoat Field, under the guise of putting down an uprising, Edward raised a new army and attacked the rebels at Empingham. The King's forces were victorious and the defeated rebels shed their coats to flee more quickly (hence the name of the battle.) Edward was back in control and Warwick and George fled to France to make an alliance with Margaret of Anjou.

In October of 1470, Warwick (the kingmaker) drove Edward IV out of England and reinstated Henry VI as king. Edward returned in March 1471, with ships and money supplied by the Duke of Burgundy. He landed in Yorkshire, and soon assembled a small army, and he gathered reinforcements as he marched south. On 12 April he entered London unopposed. Warwick marched to attack him through St. Albans with a mixed force of about 9,000 men, and took up a position on Hadley Green, just north of Barnet. Edward, with 8,000 men, arrived at Barnet in the evening of 13 April. In spite of the darkness, he marched to within a short distance of Warwick. Throughout the night, Warwick had his cannons bombard where he thought his enemies were encamped, but they had moved to a closer position, so they were not hit. The battle started early next morning in a thick ground mist. Initially, Edward’s left flank, (under Lord Hastings) was beaten from the field by the Earl of Oxford. Richard of Gloucester (the future Richard III) had some success on Edward’s right. The centre ground was fiercely fought, with no immediate advantage to either side. Oxford, returning from pursuing Hasting’s men, misjudged his position, and his banners were mistaken for Edward’s by Warwick’s centre. (Oxford’s symbol was a star; Edward’s was the “sunne in spleandor”) Thinking that he was being betrayed, Oxford fled the field with his men. The overall battle lasted between three and four hours, and ended in a complete victory for Edward. The Earl of Warwick was struck down on the field, and his machinations in the politics of the time ended.

On the day that Warwick was defeated and killed at Barnet , Queen Margaret and her young son landed at Weymouth, and were soon joined by many Lancastrian leaders and the remains of their fighting men. The Duke of Somerset took command of the army, but realizing that he needed reinforcements of men and materials, decided to join forces with Jasper Tudor in Wales. He also planned to gather military stores from Bristol on the way. Edward IV was at Windsor for the feast of St. George, and on 24 April he moved on the West Country. There followed a pursuit, with Margaret's army desperately trying to cross the Severn River and Edward anxious to bring her to battle before reinforcements could arrive. Margaret lost some time in Bristol, where Gloucester (The future King Richard III) closed its gates to her. On May 3, Somerset decided to stand and fight at Tewkesbury, rather than risk a lengthy crossing with exhausted troops. He had the choice of ground, and arrayed his 6,000 men to take advantage of it. Edward was slightly outnumbered, and his troops were also weary from their forcedmarch to catch their opponents. The next morning, Edward began the battle with heavy artillery bombardment, which forced Somerset to lead an attack on the junction of the Yorkist left and centre battles. (Each side was divided into three divisions or "battles") Edward would have been in serious trouble, had Somerset's centre under Lord Wenlock supported him and attacked. As it was, he fought alone, and was caught between two forces. Somerset's forces were forced back, and the King advanced his troops to attack. Somerset is reputed to have personally executed Lord Wenlock on the battlefield for cowardice. The Lancastrians, demoralized by the retreat of Somerset, offered little resistance to Edward and their lines broke. Many were slaughtered during the retreat, perhaps 2,000 died in the battle and on the banks of the Severn. Queen Margaret escaped, but her son was killed, and Somerset was taken from the abbey (where he had claimed sanctuary) and executed.

Henry Tudor (Henry VII), earl of Richmond, landed in Wales on August 7, 1485 to challenge Richard III for the crown. Richard moved to meet Henry's army for the Battle of Bosworth South of the village of Market Bosworth. After the armies engaged, Lord Thomas Stanley and his brother Sir William switched sides and fought for Henry. The Yorkist forces were defeated, King Richard III was killed, and Henry ushered in the rule of the house of Tudor effectively ending the Wars of the Roses.

The Battle of Stoke is considered by most people as the final conflict in the Wars of the Roses. A group of Yorkist loyalists concocted a scheme in a last gasp attempt to regain the crown. Lambert Simnel, a commoner, was instructed by Richard Simons a priest and others to impersonate the earl of Warwick, grandson of the late Warwick the Kingmaker. Lambert was to claim he escaped from the Tower of London where Warwick was being held. Upon his "escape" he was crowned King Edward IV in Dublin Ireland on May 24, 1487. The new Yorkist group landed in England in June 4 and began to collect an army of English soldiers and German and Irish mercenaries. Henry VII moved to intercept the force at East Stoke on June 16 and crushed the rebel army. Simon was imprisoned, Simnel was captured and made a servant of the king, and the Yorkist faction was destroyed.

Thus with the end of the Yorkist faction, the conflicts which were the Wars of the Roses finally came to an end with the Late Medieval King Henry IV being replaced twice firstly and shortly by Edward III and then by Henry VII the first Renaissance King in an new family line - the Tudors - in control of England which began to be transformed into the Empire building State that it would be known as in only a few centuries after this conflict which lasted 32 years.