Classic campaign:
The battle of Barnet
We know the classic methods of fighting with swords from training manuals and engravings such as those of the 15th-century German master swordsman and instructor Hans Talhoffer. His fighting manual shows us that the whole sword was used as a fighting tool. Not only did combat involve offensive and defensive swordplay, it also depended on two-handed jabbing, axe-like swings, trips, pommel blows, wrestling, grappling and disarming. In other words, hand-to-hand sword fighting was brutal, effectively an 'anything goes' affair with little room for the romantic ideals of fair play.
One classic sword-fought battle took place in a time of gunpowder and arrow storms. Easter Sunday 1471 was one of the bloodiest days of the Wars of the Roses. The foul conditions found at Barnet, now a suburb 11 miles north of central London, led to the soldiers falling back on their weapon of old in a battle that would decide who would be king of England.
The 'Kingmaker'
The Wars of the Roses were a series of battles and feuds that lasted off and on for over 30 years. The Yorkists and Lancastrians continually argued and fought over control of the English throne. A significant figure in this struggle was Richard Neville, earl of Warwick, who was such a powerful and influential man that he was nicknamed the 'Kingmaker'.
In 1461, the Lancastrian king Henry VI was deposed and the Yorkist Edward IV took the throne with Warwick's help. However, initially Edward was weak and poorly supported, which soon lost him favour with the powerful Warwick. After a great deal of argument, Warwick swapped allegiance and deposed Edward, who was sent into exile. Henry VI returned to the throne, but his reign was not to last.
Fog and smoke
By 1471, trouble was brewing once more, and both sides were massing armies in the Midlands. Edward marched on London and took back the throne. Warwick gave chase and encamped on high ground at Barnet to await battle. Duly drawn by the challenge, Edward marched from London and reached the village by dusk. During the night, his troopers moved into position and were surprised to find themselves right under Warwick's artillery positions.
Alerted to Edward's presence, Warwick ordered a night bombardment, but it overshot the enemy. By morning, a thick fog combined with cannon smoke rendered most of the gunners, archers and crossbowmen of limited use. This was to be a day for the sword.
Fight to the end
At dawn, brutal hand-to-hand fighting by some 24,000 soldiers commenced and continued in a violent and confused maelstrom for over three hours. Many of the combatants were wearing plate armour, which proved exhausting to wear even for the fittest and best trained. Many knights, including Warwick, dismounted and sent their horses to the rear as a signal that they were there to fight to the end.
As the morning advanced, it became clear that the armies were misaligned, and they rotated in a mass like a huge rugby scrum. Warwick anxiously waited for the return of his ally, the earl of Oxford, who had been distracted earlier by a separate action. Unfortunately, Warwick's forces mistook the returning Oxford and his 800 men as Edward's army and unleashed a ruthless archery attack that decimated the reinforcements.
Captured, stripped and killed
Mayhem ruled and Warwick realised that this huge error of 'friendly fire' had lost him the battle. Thousands of his soldiers had already left the field. Without his horse, Warwick, sword in hand, struggled back through woods on foot in full armour, no doubt suffering from heat exhaustion. He was soon trapped by Edward's men, captured, stripped and killed. His remains were taken to London for public display.
Edward had won the day. However, the three hours of continuous close-combat sword fighting had resulted in over 5,000 casualties on both sides, not to mention countless numbers of wounded, some of whom suffered the most hideous mutilation.
