The Battle of Edgcote 1469

Finally found several, uninterrupted hours on a flight back from Montreal this past weekend to tackle Graham Evans' (of Wargaming for Grown-ups blog) recent book, The Battle of Edgcote 1469 Re-evaluating the Evidence.  More on the trip to Montreal in another post but, for now, on to Graham's 1469.

First, my knowledge of the War of the Roses and this period in British history would likely take up little space on a hard drive.  In fact, my background in this conflict is nearly non-existent.  Given that preamble, I undertake this reading with no historical bias or agenda.  My goals are to gain an understanding of the conflict, in general, Edgcote in particular, and to support a fellow blogger.  Perhaps, this book will spark interest in a new period of study for me?

First off, Graham shatters my weak knowledge of the WotR by stating upfront that Edgcote may not even fit into the classification of the broader conflict.  If the larger WotR pitted the Yorkists against the Lancastrians, where were the Lancastrians at Edgcote?  Perhaps better to classify Edgcote as part of the Yorkist Civil War or the Warwick Rebellion.  Already I am confused!  

In 1469, Evans presents a forensic detective puzzle in which he sifts through the evidence (much of it conflicting or sparse) to build a plausible approach to answering the questions addressed in the book.  This book is indeed a re-evaluation of the battle evidence.  As historians tend to build upon past works to compose their prose narrative of the historical event, many introduce their own historical biases and agendas while often times propagating errors of those going before.  Evans attempts to identify and cull these biases, agendas, and misinterpretations present in the historical record.  He points out that previous battle chroniclers have either overlooked (intentionally or not) or dismissed the evidence at hand.  These choices of the historian may lead to propagation of fictional battle accounts.  Evans uses conjecture too but within an evidence-based, scientific approach.

Each of the first seven chapters tackles one particular facet of this puzzle.  One after one, each question is presented, evidence laid out, and a conclusion drawn.  Well, not all questions proposed have answers.  The question of the identity of Robin of Redesdale is left ambiguous with several possibilities.  Even the day Edgcote was fought is open for scrutiny and debate.  Evans provides a fine example of deductive reasoning, comparison by analogy, common sense, application of military science and the scientific method in action.

While I found the comparison of the various battle returns used in estimating the number of combatants involved sometimes tedious and confusing, I appreciate the process employed.  A scatter plot showing the various estimates and upper/lower bounds on these disparate estimates may have provided clarity and a useful visual illustration as the iterative estimation process converged to the most likely force compositions. 

Bringing all of this analysis together, the author presents a plausible battle narrative in broad strokes based upon the evidence and conclusions drawn.  Evans' battle narrative asserts that the Welsh army broke when a Rebel force appeared upon its flank.  The sudden appearance of a reinforced enemy to fore and a new threat on flank panicked Pembroke's army and casualties soared when the routing army reached the choke point of Trafford Bridge.  There, the Welshmen were cut down trying to make good their escape over the narrow bridge. 

Is this battle narrative conclusive?  Reading the hypothesized narrative and following along closely using the accompanying battle diagrams, another alternative, battle progression came to mind.  With little in the way of battlefield archaeological evidence found and with the data provided, perhaps, an alternative narrative is equally plausible?

If interested in how the battle might appear on the wargaming table, again, visit Graham's battle reports at:

• http://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/2019/07/edgcote-ing-even-closer.html
• http://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/2019/07/conference-of-wargamers-2019-saturday_11.html

In summary, this is an enjoyable read and a thought-provoking piece of battle forensics.  A comprehensive list of sources is included in the Appendix.  Given the evidence Evans provides, put your detective hat on and draw your own conclusions.  You may learn a little Welsh too.