Battle of Ludford Bridge

Date	12 October 1459
Location	By Ludford Bridge, south of Ludlow, in Shropshire, England
Result	Lancastrian victory

Belligerents

House of Lancaster

House of York

Commanders and leaders

Henry VI

Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham

Richard, Duke of York

Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury

Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick

Strength

Unknown

Casualties and losses

Unknown

The Battle of Ludford Bridge was a largely bloodless battle fought in the early years of the Wars of the Roses. It took place on 12 October 1459, and resulted in a setback for the Yorkists. Although this seemed to be a triumph for the rival Lancastrians at the time, they had thrown away their advantage within six months.

In the first pitched battle of the wars, the First Battle of St Albans in 1455, Richard of York had eliminated most of his rivals at court. He reaffirmed his allegiance to the King, Henry of Lancaster and was reappointed Lord Protector, until February 1456. However, Henry's Queen, Margaret of Anjou, suspected that Richard ultimately intended to supplant her infant son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales and become King himself. She continually plotted and agitated against Richard and the Nevilles, his chief supporters amongst the nobles. She was supported by several nobles, many of them the sons of York's opponents who had died at St. Albans.

The renewed outbreak of open warfare was precipitated by some high-handed actions by York's nephew Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. Warwick held the post of Captain of Calais, and late in 1458, he had led ships from Calais in attacks on merchant ships from Lübeck and Spain, on obscure grounds of acknowledgement of English sovereignty in the Channel. Though these actions infuriated the royal court, they were popular among the merchants, particularly in London and Kent, as they removed competitors for English trade with Flanders. When Warwick was summoned to London to explain his actions before the King's council, there was violence between Warwick's retinue and the royal household. Warwick claimed that his life had been threatened, and he returned to Calais with any charges unanswered.

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Wikipedia