April 22nd 1471: Margaret’s army on the move
Salisbury: The Poultry Cross (Louise Rayner)
The ‘Arrivall’ says that before the Lancastrian’s main force moved out of Exeter they sent fore-riders towards Shaftsbury and then on to Salisbury, part of their deception tactics, to suggest to King Edward that they would be following a route to the south east towards London. This tactic was repeated as they moved north, sending men towards Yeovil, then Bruton, in Somerset. The ‘Arrivall’ speculated that their pretended objective was Reading, and then to London via Berkshire and Oxfordshire. King Edward was not taken in, and this is no surprise. The ruse depended on it being reported back to him, but he’d also be told that the dust of the Lancastrian army was not to be seen, and there’s surely be scouts watching and reporting from Exeter. The ‘Arrivall’ suggested two reasons for these moves;
Such manner sending nevertheless served them of two things; one was, to call and array the people to make towards them for their help out of all those parties; another was, to have abusyd [deceived] the King in his approaching towards them
The first is probably the real reason, that they were seeking more troops from the towns and villages of the area. The second suggestion is maybe to suggest a greater level of guile than Margaret had, which would make the final victory look that much better.
It was probably round about now that the force arrayed in Exeter left the city on its journey towards Lancashire. Their slow journey through Devon and Somerset was toward Bath, via Taunton, Glastonbury, and Wells.