The Rout of Ludford Bridge – 12 October 1459
Following
the qualified success of Blore Heath, Salisbury, reached Ludlow and
was reunited with the immediate Yorkist family as well as his son Warwick,
who had crossed from Calais with a contingent of experienced soldiers
under the command of Andrew Trollope. Other rebel supporters appeared:
Lord Grey of Ruthyn and Walter Devereux. They then proceeded south to
Worcester and on 10 October York, Salisbury and Warwick took an oath
of loyalty to the king but decried the ‘evil’ councillors surrounding
him. The king responded with a pardon to those who would join him within
six days. The Yorkists returned to Ludlow, via Tewkesbury, and took
up a position south of Ludlow at Ludford Bridge, where they dug a ditch
and fortified it with artillery. However, despite the consolidation
of the Yorkists, their numbers were inferior to the royalist force that
was making its way north through Ledbury and Leominster. By the 12th the two armies faced each other
across the river Teme but Trollope and his force defected and during
the night the Yorkists decided that discretion was the better part of
valour and stole away. York
and his son Edmund went to Dublin, leaving his duchess and two younger
sons to the mercy of the king, and his eldest son Edward and Neville
relations went to Calais. The following
day Ruthyn and Devereux submitted to the king. A parliament summoned
to Coventry in November then proceeded to attaint the rebels.
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Earl of
Warwick |
Lord Clinton |
Sir Walter
Devereux |
Sir John
Dinham |
Sir William
Oldhall |
Andrew Trollope |
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Ludford
Bridge and Mortimers Cross: the Wars of the Roses in Herefordshire and
the Welsh Marches and the Accession of Edward IV by Geoffrey Hodges, 1989. Booklet.
A chronicle of both battles by a local historian who tries to bring
to life the military campaigns and analyse the complete change in Yorkist
fortunes and leadership in the two years between the battles.