England's bloodiest battle: 1461AD Historical Battle of Towton | Total War Battle
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- čas přidán 4. 06. 2024
- The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between an estimated 50,000 soldiers in a snowstorm on Palm Sunday, the Yorkist army achieved a decisive victory over their Lancastrian opponents. As a result, Edward IV deposed the Lancastrian Henry VI and secured the English throne.
Source - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...
Game - Total War Attila
Music by: MrDinko
Channel: [ / @mrdinko ]
Song Name: A War Without End
00:00 Introduction
00:42 York's Army
01:54 Battle Location
02:18 Lancaster's Initial Moves
03:02 York begins the battle
03:20 Skirmish begins
04:56 Lancaster moves forward
05:54 Lancaster cavalry engages
06:12 The armies clash
06:43 Edward joins the battle
07:41 Norfolk arrives
08:58 Lancaster's army breaks
09:16 York pursues Lancaster
09:52 Battle at the river
11:19 Lancaster's men hunted down
The number of dead is really mind blowing if you think about it. High estimate is something like 12,000 men killed in a single day. America’s bloodiest single day of fighting was at Antietam, where 6,000 men died. And that was done with rifles and cannons. Imagine men hacking each other to pieces and still resulting in more deaths. The Wars of the Roses were absolutely brutal.
Antietam casualties (September 17, 1862) have to be corrected: Federal losses were 12,400; Confederate losses were 13,700 (Encyclopedia of military history by Ernest and Trevor Dupuy, p. 963). You can say that "losses" include KIA and WIA, but it's true even for Towton. The numbers of Towton (p. 456 of the same book) could also have been overstimated by contemporary records: they talk about 30,000 men each army "but they were probably barely half that size". If should it be so, 8,000 casualties for Yorkist and 20,000 for Lancastrians have to be halved. However, Towton has to be considered the bloodiest battle ever on British soil.
@@pietromeloni6486 the population of USa was 35 million at the time of the civil war and in England at the population at the time of the civil war was 5 million.
@@leeedsonetwo You're right, but he didn't refer to losses in relation to the population. However, England population was 2 millions in the second half of XV century.
Yes, I agree with you, maybe I should make this topic the subject of my second video!
The battle was enormous for the time
1 in 20 men in England were fighting on that battlefield
I live in Tadcaster, as pointed out below, there's a cross memorial at the entrance to the field where the battle was fought. Old London Road is still exists in Towton although it's tarmaced now.
Interesting fact, the real Uhtred of Bamburgh from the Lost Kingdom books and Netflix show was killed in a village called Wighill, which is about 2 miles the other side of Tadcaster and not far from where the Lancastrian Army camped the night before the battle of Towton.
Greetings from Massachusetts. I’ve always been so jealous to not have grown up in the UK. I’m certain I’d have been out i my yard or anywhere I could with my metal detector. I’ve found some beautiful Native American artifacts over the years but finding a Roman coin or even just an ancient piece of metal is something I’ve always wished I could do lol
I live about 10 miles from Towton (Tow pronounced like cow or how) and the sight of the battle is marked by a stone cross and there is a chapel, too. It’s as beautiful a place as it is ominous. Thanks for the video.
Richard III actually had the chapel built to honour the dead . He himself was to young to have participated .
My apologies but since the narration was made using AI a number of things are pronounced incorrectly, but thanks for watching man
@@cinematicbattles559 Hey man, it’s okay! I did wonder if the narrative was AI (a lot of channels use AI these days). I pointed out the Tow, Cow, How thing for those that might not know the correct pronunciation, not as a complaint against you. My list is long for my own mispronunciations!😇😂😂
@@katakauchi Indeed he did, but sadly it was never completed as Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth. The remnants/ruins were discovered around 10 years ago. Another medieval chapel, St Mary’s, Lead, close to nearby Saxton still stands, and it stands alone in the middle of a field (many mistake this as Richards IIIs chapel). Incidentally, many skeletons, believed to be the battle dead, were discovered under the chapel/dining room floor of Towton Hall, Towton. The Battle of Towton subject is fascinating!
@@Simonize41growing up when Lead Chapel was mentioned I was amazed that someone had contructed a Chapel from lead. It was just too much of a journey on our bikes to explore.
The mastermind of the Yorkist victory was Lord Fauconberg, Edward led the army but Fauconberg was the brains
This battle confirmed young Edward ( the 4th ) as king of England . The outgoing king Henry the 6th fled to Scotland but was captured after another battle in 1471 and was thought to have been quietly put to death behind the scenes so he could raise no more rebellions against Edward . Edward is thought by many historians as one of the great warrior kings of England . I don’t think he was ever defeated on the battlefield and was always present to lead his army
But he still ended up on the losing side overall.
Edward was defeated at the battle of Edgcote in 1469
@@stephenbesley3177 I don’t think he was present at the battle Stephen , though his forces were defeated
I am happy to see that this presentation toned down the ridiculously high body counts which have been commonplace in other accounts of this battle for decades. I think that a better description of the Lancastrian deployment including the fact that they held a position atop a hill would have made the people viewing this video more aware of how risky and aggressive the initial attack by the Yorkist archers really was. The Lancastrians atop the hill who should have held the advantage were literally shooting blind into a snow squall at an enemy whom they assumed to be in range because of the casualties incoming arrows were inflicting on their ranks.
Thanks , excellent presentation of what happened , very good information ! Keep up the great work !
Thanks man glad you enjoyed it
This was very good. Thank you.
One error, quite a big one, was the number of casualties. You estimate around 10,000 killed, when the real figure was far higher and around 30,000. Some have said up to 60,000 were killed but that is unlikely.
Towton was England's bloodiest ever battle, with more dying on that Palm Sunday in 1461 than were killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. What is surprising is few know about Towton, even though its impact was huge. Your video will help educate.
Thank you for your comment. I have seen many conflicting sources estimating the number of casualties so I was left quite unsure. But yes, this battle is not mentioned very often and I found it very interesting to make a video on, hope you enjoyed 👍
Remember that this battle was fought at the end of winter, after the Lancastrian army had been to London and back over this area. Provisions would have been scanty. Edward IV came at speed with a baggage train, meaning a fairly small army. Look at the roads of the period. You can only get smaller armies operating in this time frame. Most of those killed were killed in the retreat, which was over a large area. Horrific death rate, from Ferrybridge, Dintingdale and the main event at Towton and the retreat 7-9,000 tops. This battle is constantly inflated, based on exactly one letter written by Bishop Neville, the Kingmaker's brother, to a papal representative to make it sound apocalyptic and decisive. It was decisive, but with probably fewer total troops than were present at Bosworth, fought at a much more campaign-friendly late mid-summer time. The logistics are the key here. Yet the Legend persists.
So he estimates 10,000 killed you estimate 30,000 killed and maybe up to 60,000.. The American Civil War they estimate around 650,000 killed with approximately over 700,000 killed. There were no actual records so it's all an estimate. Just enjoy the history behind it, because all those folk killed are known but to God and it was a shame people died for b.s.
That and the peasants walking around empty, snow covered fields with scythes as if they were about to harvest something.
40,000 dead in the war of the roses would be a good guess me thinks
As always, great stuff. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it man
This was really well done. Thanks. This is a period of history which I am aware of but really don't know much about.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed watching 👍
Brilliantly done reenactment, sir!
I live close to Towton and coincidentally cycled over the ex-battlefield yesterday. Apparently it hasn’t changed much, although it's arable farmland now, and was heathland in 1461. Only quite recently a burial site was discovered and it showed that the bodies were of captives who had been executed with blows to their heads from war hammers. It's one of the first battles where firearms were used - small handheld cannons. Of course, although it was between the Lancastrians and Yorkists it wasn’t a battle between two counties, as some seem to think, and it was fought by professionals (archers,men-at-arms etc) who owed allegiance to one family or employer. Ordinary folk,peasants etc weren't invited! Anyway, I enjoyed your interpretation of the battle!
Wow that’s cool to hear, glad you enjoyed watching
I love that orginary folk werent invited, it sort of highlights the madness of mankinds desire to fight and kill... we are a primitive species at heart
The execution myth comes from the arms from one skeleton being misassigned to another ,making it seem his arms were tied behind his back....The documentary "Blood red Roses" is well worth a watch.
Would be cool to go over the area with a metal detector.
Excellent presentation there on a very historic event , well done !
Thanks for watching !
This was great. Good job.
Very well done, best I have seen, please do more. Thank you.
Thanks for watching glad you enjoyed
I love so much your content. You PC is mighty and can handle Attila in the ultra settings and your content very educational and epic at the same time. Not just battle and effects or even with suitable music But great like a 3D documentary and TW Attila and Rome 2 are the only one that can provide both spectate with effects and cinematic stuff and educational facts. Just keep up this dude, I really enjoy sometimes before get to sleep to watch these like a movie stuff
Thanks a lot for your comment, yes I agree I think Rome 2 and Attila are the best games cinematically speaking. But it’s good to know I’m providing some quality entertainment 👍
@@cinematicbattles559 Yes I agree , Rome 2 and its unique and gore animations ( charge fight kill death wounded ) including its epic mods together with Attila gave the most cinematic beautiful picture than any other older or newer TW. But giving your best to create also a very educating picture by all this is like you see a special movie or series (HBO Rome..) but in a Game and for me is better than the movie series or even the most hollywood movies. That's why these 2 games are Special my friend 💪🏻
@@poseidon3292 Thanks man I'm glad you enjoy them, the Total war games are definitely my favourite
Well made and very suggestive 💯
Very well done! This is very interesting.
Thanks man glad you enjoyed
That gripping AI narration really does run the gauntlet of emotions from A to B !!
great stuff dude!!
Thanks for watching again bro
This film reminds me of a line from Asterix and Obelix in Britain, when Asterix asks a local if it's always this foggy in Britain and the local answers: only if it's not raining.
If there is no fog, then the Britons wont try anything!
And they drink hot water with a spot of milk until ... The last word in that comics is "TEA" :-)
As wind speed and direction was a major consideration in this battle, the snow fall shows essentially no wind.
Yes this is true, unfortunately the game doesn’t let me control the wind direction, hope you enjoyed regardless
It's amusing how folks complain about anything.
The video is a hobby. It's made for general educational purposes.
Wind speed....
Give me a break.
Yes, as mentioned this battle really set a nightmarish precedent for the British isles. And given how bloody said history is that's really saying something.
Yes you are right, I had to re-upload as the song at the end of the old version got a copyright strike
@@cinematicbattles559 Sorry to hear that but it happens. Keep up the great work, your videos that cover both historic and fictional battles are top notch. 👍
@@manuelacosta9463 Thanks man
Very well done!
Thanks 🙏
The why and wherefores of battles fades rapidly as a red haze takes over.
Best Cinematic/Educational battles around.
exellent work
Where did you get the map with the bridge at the beginning?
It’s the londonium map on the 1066 mod for total war Attila 👍
When reenacting a battle from the 15th century, finding soldiers wearing 13th and 14th century equipment seems too awkward
No it entirely possible generally speaking the Lancastrian troops were less well equipped than the Yorkist troops,the Lancastrians were naked meaning unarmoured rather than no clothes it was bitterly cold after all so they would’ve made use of what ever armour they could beg, borrow or more like steal of course the Lancastrian nobles would’ve been well armoured.
The coat of arms for Henry VI is also totally wrong
Unfortunately there are no mods for the 15th century but I know what you mean, I would love to see one in the future
@@paulroberts8946 I'm surprised, and kind of doubt, the Lancastrians were less well equipped. Generally more of the wealthy magnates of the kingdom were Lancastrian rather than Yorkist.
@@paulroberts8946 Yes, its entirely possible that they went back in time and asked armourers to make archaic shields and styles of helmets not worn for 100 years. Entirely possible.
My respect goes to the workers in the fields, while around them two armies clash and try to decimate the other...
Doubt anyone was working in the fields on that day.A raging blizzard was blowing.
Wow, a bloody mess in the snow for sure.
Excellent
Thank you so much
At the time of this battle Edward was a 6ft 3" 19-year-old, fighting in the front rank of his army.
Very different to the present King of England😂😂😂.
🙂 What a beautiful battle !
A while ago I was looking through some of my family history documents and found that one of my ancestors actually fought in this battle, on the side of the Yorkists, I can’t remember what his first name was (I think it was John) but his last name was Hodgson, which is my mother’s maiden name, I know that he survived the battle but I can’t remember much else about him
Wow that’s insane , thanks for the comment
@@cinematicbattles559 I went through the documents again and his name was indeed John, apparently in his younger years he was a mercenary who came under service with the Scottish, though it isn’t recorded what he did when under them or who exactly hired him, in the family documents there is even a sketch of him by a close friend of his, which is the only known portrait of him as he apparently forbade anybody else from drawing him 👍🏻
Based on absolutely nothing at all, I have a feeling that ancestors fought and died there.
Always had a morbid fascination with it.
Given the numbers involved I guess maybe it’s possible.
I visited the sight of this battle recently. Its steep descent down to the beck would have been total carnage for the fleeing Lancastrians. A very atmospheric location especially in winter with crows flying overhead, muddy farmland and isolated trees.
Great video and superb graphics.....what an utter waste of life....would of hated to of lived during that era!
Imagine leading an army at 18 year old! Edward IV was a strong but amiable king, it’s a shame he died relatively young! Had he lived longer, it’s very possible his pig of a grandson and tyrant Henry VIII would never have been heard of!
I recommend another video, but this time make it a map exercise with arrows showing who is attacking who at what time.
4:10 History may never know his name but he took those arrows like a boss!
The route would see small skirmishes probably 7 to 15 miles from the battle so i would imagine the clean up would be finding bodies and parts of bodies for few generations.
I think shields had gone out of favour by Towton, armoured men, i.e without bows were the main hand to hand fighting force. I had conversations with the Archeaologists about the size of the battlefield and how much room the fighting soldiers took up. Since then they have increased the size of the protected area.
Protected from what historians
A bit late to the party , I studied the Battle of Towton at University and as people have rightly mentioned the sticking point was the number of casualties inflicted , The chronicles at the time suggested the dead at around 28,000 and this was widely circulated at the time but for the most part it was recognized as Yorkist propaganda to cement Edwards crushing defeat of the Lancastrians and to discourage future revolts and it worked as their was peace for some 9 years after the battle.
Actual casualties of the battle were are 7,500 Yorkists and around 12,000 Lancastrians and this is significant because only 10 years later as the wars re-ignited both armies could only muster half the amount that they did at Towton showing just how devastating that battle was , For instance at Tewkesbury in 1471 both sides could only muster around 12,000 men in total for both armies.
Thanks for the comment , there must have been a big lack of young men at the time , very interesting
Modern estimates are between 3000 and 8000 casualties, prior estimates were exaggerations
One problem I have here is every man hit by an arrow dies. I think that even with the deadly arrows of war, the number of wounded will still be higher than the number killed. But every man falls down in a spray of blood and it becomes inert with in two seconds. I believe most men hit by arrows would have run to the rear as incapacitated wounded instead. Only a very few would have died right away . In summary, there are too many instant KIAs from the archers missiles
Yes you are right, I would have liked to portray it like this but the game doesn’t allow for that and the video had to take a less realistic “movie” approach - thanks for watching though
@@cinematicbattles559 thanks. we all wish our favorite video games had small tweaks for this or that. in movies too - everyone falls down from musket fire. No - from the firing line would be a steady, increasing movement of ambulatory casualties rearward
Most of those killed died in the rout.Both commanders had ordered that no prisoners be taken.
what mod/game is this of in the video?
This is the Medieval Kingdoms 1212AD mod for Total War Atilla
The brutality of this Battle was shown when Quite recently a burial pit at the area of Battle was excavated and the Skeleton of a Man was uncovered, by looking at the bones they deduced he was a Giant of a Man but had been killed Horribly with massive Sword Blows to his Head and Face!!
the units charge each other. they make contact. after 5 or so minutes, if neither side has broken, units in contact would take some paces back away from each other and rest and exchange fresh troops for winded. unit formation and cohesion would be extremely difficult otherwise. Your vids lack this feature of ancient battles. I do enjoy your vids. thanks mate
Great video, just one crit, Towton, is pronounced Tow as is in Ow, when you hit your thumb with a hammer.
Imagine making a film about this battle just the battle like Waterloo gettysburg or stalingrad the battle off Towton carnage in a massive scale in a snowstorm
I know it would be great
I have a cabinet from around that time with both the red and white rose on them
Great video , can you also put the names of the mods used in your future vids?
Yes sorry I will from now on, do you want to know what mods i used in this video?
@@cinematicbattles559 No need to say sorry friend, and yes , would be great to know the mods used in this video, and if you don't mind what's the location of the map here?
@@azylumZ Unfortunately I do not know the location of the map as I made this video a while ago now, but the mods I used are as follows: Medieval Kingdoms 1212AD, Return to Glory, Aztec 2015 Graphics, Attila Ultimate animations, Olympian battle Camera and the Blood and Gore DLC
@@cinematicbattles559 thanks friend for your time
Costumes are only available if they haven't been hired out
If the wind was simply blowing in a different direction that day
I drive through Towton every day to go to work
How did they arrange a battle in those days? Did they send a message to the other army saying "meet you in Towton on Sunday at 12pm for a battle" ?
It makes me think it may have been better to secretly send small groups of fighters into enemy areas, like in Inglorious Bastards, to stealthily inflict damage onto unwary enemy fighting men. But I don't really know anything about this subject.
Day before towton saw at ferrybridge over crossing at River Aire over 3000 dead.
The wars of the roses were fought on foot. Horses were used to ride to the battle. The commanders were less vulnerable dismounted.
My great grand father fight fought the last old battle on a horse it’s not easy .
Setting sounds familiar 🧐
Those damn Lannisters
Is that a washing machine they using to make the noise for the marches? 😂
Yeah right, they'd have popped like ripe berries when hit by arrows.
Strange how people will sacrifice their life for some tyrants . Maybe it's because if you don't show up for battle you will suffer lifetime abuse for being a coward .
Where is the snow?
i can see an even bigger battle coming in this country in the next few years the way its going a religious battle
History lasts a long time.I'm 3rd generation English Canadian my Dad born in 1908 in Canada .My Grandfather was from Manchester.My Dad told me to never trust anyone from Yorkshire. Kinda neat if you think about it.
One party I am glad I missed.
I see no chainsaw cut protective attire or mention it is safer than cut usage without it......
Not usually a fan of these video game recreations but this one seems pretty well done.
Glad you like it!
@@cinematicbattles559 I did, very much actually. Great channel my friend.
@@Andy_Babb thanks man, that means a lot :)
@@cinematicbattles559 I appreciate your reply and actually just subscribed. I think it’s pretty cool when channel creators engage with folks. If you ever have the opportunity I would love to see what the battle of Watling Street would have looked like. There may not even be enough known about the battle to recreate it lol But I’m looking forward to watching more of your videos. I’ll be sure to like and comment to help the algorithm!
It is estimated that between 28 to 30 thousand men were killed at the battle of Towton.
When you compare modern battles with then I rather be in a modern battle. Your dead in a flash mostly, you could imagine what these men suffered on the field, brutal slow and painful. 😱
I know it’s mad to think about… literally everyone who died in those battles died a painful, horrible death. Even makes getting shot in the head sound tempting
When you consider the lack of antibiotics as well, well ofc you would.
Lmao love how ai acts during arrow volly
We need a total war medieval 3 and we need it this decade, all of those saga's and warhammers did the series no justice, i was playing medieval 2 back in 2007..
They should have waited for spring? IDK but would've been warmer?👍
imagine what this army could have done had they been united
Gone to France ?
Less than half this army in numbers terms went to France and done the job
There's the world, and then there's Yorkshire. If you've never been. you'll never know.
I've been. And I'm none the wiser
@@simonyeo3246 And i was born there and left in 1969 , no regrets.
I tend to need to pee more when I'm nerved up, I can't imagine sitting there in full plate armor on a horse and suddenly feeling like my bladder was full
And then you can't just say "fuck it" and piss your armor, because then someone next to you is going to notice and go "Hey, this coward is pissing himself". How would you respond to that? "No, I just happened to really need to piss and I didn't want to get off the horse and fuck with the armor". Yeah right. Nightmare scenario
😂😂very true
the Tow in Towton is pronounced as in cow.
The enemy general flees from the battlefield like a spavined nag!
Royal Milksop
Let`s go and fight and die for the vanity of a man lucky enough to be born into the right family.
Yeah completely
Let us serve our own vanity by the judgement.
@@AleisterCrowley. You've lost me!?
@@hughjarse3808 who are you to judge anyone but yourself.
@@AleisterCrowley. Who are you to judge me?
❤❤❤
Shields were barely in use at all by this time, let alone large rectangular ones.
Lower ranks with little armour would of still had them and large rectangular shields were used with infantry, though armoured knights relied on their plate armour, the shield for knights was pretty much redundant at Agincourt 40 years earlier.
what mod is this?
Medieval Kingdoms 1212AD
I would hate to have a sword stuck through my body , wondering if it was worth it .
The carnage
I wonder what the average age of the warrior was back then.
20?
It's amazing how loyal humans are.
Im very loyal too. In my younth i was super loyal.
Not so anymore.
A say day when a country fights its self.
I think getting rammed by a giant horse would suck. Trampled and shit. I need some grog for this.
How different would England have been if Lancaster had won the war?
They did
@@James-xw4wqthen invert the statement... would things have changed if the Yorks had won?
Lancaster pudding?@@BlastersandBladesPodcast
@@BlastersandBladesPodcast You wouldn't of had the Tudors, so England would still be Catholic, Henry 7th wouldn't of married his daughter into the Scottish dynasty meaning no line of Stuarts to unite the kingdoms of England and Scotland. Richard 3rd would have lived and his story would of been a lot different. With no Protestant monarch, things would have been calmer in Ireland, so no plantations in Ulster. Things would have been more easier with Spain, meaning there would not have been much need for English ships to attack them out in the Americas. This would have meant that England would not of made advancements in ship building, so exploration would not of happened, meaning no visiting the Americas and no Mayflower, so no colonists, no 1776 and no USA. Seeing how the USA never gained independence, France would not go bankrupt helping to fight the war, which was the cause of it's revolution, so the French king would have survived and no Napoleon. So Scotland would be an independent state, Irish politics would be different with no Protestant Catholic divide. Calais in France would still most likely be an English enclave. No Australia, no New Zealand, no Canada.
There would be no English civil war, meaning the king would continue to rule autocratically, which would probably lead to a full on revolution and a republic rather than a constitutional monarch.
Yeah things would be different.
Not sure what it is but when I look at English history........then hear an American accent.....I tend to run a mile.....I think its a reflex action 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂
This is what the Starks and Lannisters blood feud are based of, the YORKS and the Lancasters.
A map at the beginning wd have been very useful. Otherwise brilliant!
Thanks glad you enjoyed
Living under the monarchy must suck, Blessed Be.
God save the king
All that bloodshed because of an argument over a tin of chocolates.
So in my calculations of deaths were 120,500 aboustlety mind blowing it will be scary fighting only because you see people slicing each other people getting burned
Nicely done , however no real detail of any ambush what so ever
i thought that was the battle of hastings
what mod?
Conquest 1066 mod for Total War Attila
@@cinematicbattles559 thanks great video
@@The_Dodge_Meister Thanks man
What’s it like playing the total war game
Great fun they’re great games
The battle took place mainly on a pea field. The suffering of those thousands of men in a snowstorm with a bitter wind off the Yorkshire hills must have been terrible, standing and fighting for hours without hot food. As always in war the real slaughter happened when the Lancastrian army broke and fled. All this and the other battles in a civil war fought to serve the greed and ambition of two wealthy aristocratic families.