The Battle of Hexham 1464
by John Watson (Hobilar 36)

The Campaign

The battle of Hexham on 15th May 1464 brought to a close the phase of the Wars of the Roses that had begun in 1459 at Ludford Bridge. Its result saw the death, imprisonment, exile or reconciliation of all the leading Lancastrians and left Edward IV in undisputed control of the kingdom, with the aid of the Earl of Warwick amongst others. This happy state of affairs was to continue until the falling out between Edward and Warwick which lead to the next phase of fighting between 1469 and 1471 and the final destruction of the House of Lancaster at Tewkesbury.

Despite their catastrophic defeat at Towton in 1461 Margaret of Anjou, supported by the Duke of Somerset, Sir Ralph Percy, Lord Hungerford and Lord Roos used Scottish and French troops to create trouble for Edward in the north. The main areas of activity were around Carlisle and in Northumberland around the castles of Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh which were under siege at various times until a temporary peace was concluded with the Scots in December 1463. As a result Margaret had few soldiers with whom to cause problems so the North seemed to have been subdued.

Early in 1464 the Duke of Somerset, previously reconciled to Edward, declared again for Henry and made his way north to Henry's court at Bamburgh Castle stopping to collect around two hundred retainers at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Sadly for Somerset his plan was leaked and his retainers were either arrested or moved on, so he arrived at Bamburgh empty handed.

After marauding through the area during February and March 1464 matters came to a head when John Neville, Lord Montagu, Warden of the Eastern March led a force of around five to six thousand men from Newcastle towards the Scottish border to collect the Scottish peace envoys. Neville's force met Somerset who was determined to stop them reaching the Scots at Hedgeley Moor on 25th April 1464 north west of Alnwick. Somerset was supported by Lord Roos, Lord Hungerford, Sir Henry Bellingham, Sir Ralph Percy and the former Yorkist Sir Ralph Grey. The numbers involved were about even but the quality of the Lancastrian troops must be in question as the rear battle commanded by Roos and Hungerford fled before contact was made. Outnumbered, the remaining Lancastrians advanced to battle but were defeated by the numerically superior Yorkists. Sir Ralph Percy died in the fighting, but the remainder of the nobles broke and fled. Montagu was then able to continue north to Norham to meet the Scottish peace envoys and escort them back to Newcastle to meet Edward.

Meanwhile, Edward was arranging a muster at Leicester to take a large force to subdue the north once and for all. The Lancastrians had retreated to Alnwick from where they decided to march back south to the Tyne with Henry VI at their head, to gather supporters for a further attempt to gain control of the north. It seems that Somerset had perhaps tired of the defensive policy adopted by the Lancastrians after Towton and saw only way to increase their support as being through campaigning. Somerset may have had reasonable ground for expecting support in the Tyne Valley as Hexham, Prudhoe, Bywell and Langley were held for Henry. Somerset's approach to the campaign may have been prompted by the need to prevent peace between England and Scotland, which would deprive the Lancastrians of a convenient retreat and a base from which they could continue to raise the north. Peace would break the Lancastrians in the north as surely as military defeat and would probably force Henry into exile in France or lead to his capture. Hedgeley Moor had been Somerset's second attempt to prevent Montagu reaching the Scots. His first attempt had been a failed ambush near Newcastle with a small body of men, which Montagu avoided by taking a different route, the ambush site having been leaked to him.

When Somerset reached the Tyne towards the end of April, Henry was lodged in Bywell Castle. Montagu, meanwhile, had delivered the Scots envoys to York and returned to Newcastle. From there he set out for Hexham on 14th May, which suggests that Henry had by then moved on from Bywell, but whether he had joined Somerset at Hexham or had fled further afield beforehand, possibly into Cumbria, is unknown. All that is clear is that Henry was not captured in Hexham after the battle, but near Clitheroe in Lancashire in July by Sir Thomas Talbot.

It is not clear whether Montagu marched along the north or south bank of the Tyne but he made no attempt to take any of the Lancastrian strongholds en route and appeared before Somerset's camp, presumably early in the day, on 15th May. Despite being warned by scouts Somerset had little time to prepare his men suggesting that Montagu had moved at speed to reach Hexham. Somerset's camp was by Linnels Bridge over the Devils Water south of Hexham. Montagu's force approached on the road from Bywell to the east so if they had started on the north bank they must have crossed at some unknown point onto the south bank of the Tyne, possibly at Corbridge or Bywell.

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