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Tuesday, August 6, 2019

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:
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.

18 comments:

  1. I am always surprised how even relatively recent events are open to interpretation, not only of the unfolding battle, but even its perceived location. Two of our major battlefields, Bosworth (1485) and Hastings (1066) have both come under recent revisionist scrutiny and these two battlefields in particular had local council investment put into the 'original' sites.

    Bosworth does have strong evidence to shift its position, Hastings much less so. So Edgcote being in the same time frame as Bosworth is a good topic for speculation. Oh to have a time machine .... just for 1 day!

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    1. Scott and Turton's "Edgehill 1642: The Battle Reinterpreted" is another in this battle re-interpretation genre that I found fascinating. As more data become available, these old battles desire a fresh look but not solely for the purpose of presenting a revisionist theory.

      If i had a time machine to which day would I return? That is a ponderous question!

      Thanks for your comments!

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  2. Interesting book and an interesting period, lots of the numbers and positions of battles of this period are contentious. I grew up in Barnet, the site of a war of the roses battle in1471 and just in my life time the site has moved a number of times , the chronicles disagree about the disposition of for instance Gloucester on the left flank in the first report but on the right in every subsequent history and that is just one example in one battle,it all makes it that bit more fascinating to me, thanks for the post I think I'll probably get the book!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks for the information on your local battlefield, Iain. Now i understand your "1471" suffix!

      The book is quite inexpensive and a relatively quick read even for me. Graham will enjoy another sale, for sure!

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  3. Jonathan,

    Thanks for the write up. The discussion of the numbers does get a bit opaque, and when I do the accompanying talk & presentation (I'm available in the UK for a very reasonable fee + expenses. All proceeds to Northamptonshire Battlefields Society, same applies to the book) I have used a bar chart of the battle numbers to make things clearer. My views on the sizes of armies - especially Towton - aren't universally popular, as generally I think they're not very big in this period, with 10,000 being an awfully big army.

    For people in the UK as well I'll be at The Other Partizan in Newark if you want to come and say hello and buy a copy (or get yours signed). Otherwise Mr Amazon is your friend.

    All the best,

    Graham

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    1. You're welcome! Thank you for writing this interesting look into the WotR and Edgcote.

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  4. Interesting. Not my period, but it's unusual to see authors go right back to the primary evidence like this, I might need to check this out.

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    1. Hi Markus. Not my period either but it is an interesting analysis. As noted above, the book is inexpensive and available via Amazon.com.

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  5. Very nice to see you getting into WotR, Jonathan. Not to mention the nice selection of figures from the Perrys. :) Best regards, Dean

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  6. I really enjoy a good revisionist look at things, I would also agree about the exaggeration of Towton in both numbers involved and casualties suffered.

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  7. Interesting read. Seems like a thought provoking book, even if my knowledge of the WoTR is extremely limited.

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    1. My knowledge of the WotR is extremely limited too. Even with no period knowledge, it is the approach used in the analysis that is fascinating.

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  8. Thanks for sharing Jonathan, a period I have often looked at but not yet jumped into. Perhaps one day ?

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    1. You're welcome! "Perhaps, one day" is a phrase I mutter to myself frequently.

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  9. Interesting stuff. I actually have a large 6mm WOTR collection if you want to try and game it some time. I still find this part of English history difficult to parse, especially as peoples names/titles always seem to change throughout the narrative.

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    1. You may borrow the book if you are interested. I am sure Graham would enjoy another reader and review.

      You have WotR in 6mm? You never cease to amaze me in the breadth of your collections.

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