April 24th 1471: Edward’s army on the move

King Edward’s foot soldiers

(Tewkesbury Medieval Festival)

Once St George’s day had passed, King Edward made his move from Windsor. His spies must have convinced him of Margaret’s army’s movements and he departed towards the west, in the direction of Cirencester. Cirencester was a convenient place to monitor Margaret’s progress and, with its good road connections, to move to the south towards Bath or west towards Gloucester, when there was better information about the enemy’s likely movements. Edward must have decided that their most likely destination was Gloucester, which was the first bridging point on the River Severn. He would have factored the strong welsh support for the Lancastrians into his decisions and have undoubtedly been aware that Jasper Tudor was raising troops for Queen Margaret.

Edward’s army was by now likely to be about 5,000 strong, which was quite a considerable force, but not exceptional for the period. Progress from Windsor was slow, largely because of the baggage the army was taking with it, including an artillery train of large guns, to complement the Flemish hand-gunners in the army.

Their probable route was to Henley on Thames, where they were able to cross the river, an on towards Wallingford, then following the Thames to the first named destination, Abingdon.