First Battle of St Albans
The First Battle of St Albans was the first battle of the Wars of the Roses and was fought on May 22, 1455 in the town of St Albans.
Richard, Duke of York and his ally, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick defeated the Lancastrians under Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, who was killed. York captured King Henry VI and had himself appointed Constable of England.
In an attempt to avoid becoming outflanked, Henry's 2,000 strong army had pulled back into the town and barricaded themselves in the streets with 3,000 Yorkist troops ranged in the surrounding fields against them.
The Lancastrians attempted to hold St. Albans behind two blockades in Hollywell and St. Peter’s Streets against a Yorkist attack from the east. Whilst the bulk of Henry's forces were surprised and fully occupied by the speed of Richard's attack, two frontal assaults made no headway, but Warwick took the reserves of his troops through an unguarded part of the town’s defences by following a path through the back lanes and gardens, and spreading out, overcame both barricades in the flank. This manoeuvre so surprised the Lancastrians that the whole army soon fell.
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