The preparations for the invasion have been described in the preceding chapters, but there was a war of words before Henry Tudor even set foot in Wales on 7th August 1485. Henry had for some time been writing to potential supporters in England. Such correspondence was dangerous in the extreme, and it was naturally destroyed as soon as it had been read. There is however a surviving example in which 'your poor exiled friend' stated that he proposed to deprive 'that homicide and unnatural tyrant' of the dominion which he unjustly bore over the people of England. The letter went on to ask when people would be ready to fight for him in such a laudable enterprise and what forces could they raise. When he had enough support, he would cross the Channel. The letter was signed H.R. - Henricus Rex

However much care was taken, the vigilance of the government was such that at least some of this correspondence must have fallen into the King's hands, and he was predictably enraged by its contents and its signature. In June 1485, King Richard III issued his own proclamation, and this was not sparing in its abuse. Richard's enemies were attainted traitors "of whom many be knowen for open murdrers avontrers [adulterers] and extorcioners" who had forsaken the land of their birth "a yenst all trouth honour and nature". Not getting the support they needed from Brittany, they had sought it from the age-old adversary of France, and they were led by Henry Tudor "of bastard blood both of ffather side and of mother side", the one-time Earl of Richmond who now had the temerity to style himself King of England! To get French support, Henry had bargained away England's rights to the Crown and Realm of France and the Duchies of Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Gascony, Guienne and the City of Calais. Richard now called on all "like gode and true Englishmen" to "endevoir" themselves in the defence of their wives, goods, children and inheritances. This remarkable tract may have been lacking in strict accuracy, but playing as it did on the average Englishman's xenophobic view of the French, it cannot have been entirely without effect.

There was a severe outbreak of the "Sweating Sickness" in England during 1485, and whilst it must have had some effect on the preliminaries to the invasion, it is impossible to say just how much influence it had on events. This was another of the strange medieval diseases of which very little is known. It made its appearance in rural England during the hot summer months (there were very few known cases in English cities or outside England), and first became known during the mid-15th-century. There were several widespread epidemics until 1551, when it disappeared just as mysteriously as it had first arrived. The sufferer was afflicted by 'flu-like symptoms, with a high temperature and profuse perspiration. Some died within 2 or 3 hours of the original infection, although those who survived for 24 hours were thought to be out of danger. After such an experience, the convalescent was greatly enfeebled and took some time to recover his strength. Those who did not wish to obey the King's call to arms could plead (whether truthfully or not) that they were suffering, or recovering, from the Sweating Sickness. [The Times dated 18th August 1997 gives an excellent description, and points to a possible link with the hantavirus, which affected some soldiers during the Korean War 1950-1953, and is thought to have reappeared in southern Argentina during the 1990s. It attacks the lungs]

During July 1485 Thomas, Lord Stanley, sought the King's leave to absent himself from Court and to visit his estates in Lancashire and Cheshire, from which he had been long absent. He promised to come promptly with his men to the King's army should his step-son Henry Tudor invade. King Richard III was sceptical but, against the advice of his ministers, granted him leave, but only on condition that his son George, Lord Strange should come to Court. There was no doubt in anybody's mind that George would be a hostage for his father's good behaviour. George was summoned and duly arrived, whereupon Thomas departed; he may have been out-of-sight, but he was certainly not out-of-mind.

Henry Tudor's march through Wales and the West Midlands 7th-21st August 1485

During the evening of 7th August, Henry landed his small army at the village of Dale, close to Milford Haven. It was a Sunday, and Henry bade his men to give thanks for a safe crossing and a successful landing. According to Fabyan [The New Chronicle of England and France p 672] the psalm "Judica me Deus et discerne causam meum" - Look kindly on me Oh Lord, and favour my cause - was sung before Henry made the sign of the Cross and kissed the ground. Camp was pitched at Dale for the night, and during the morning of the 8th, the army marched the short distance to Haverfordwest. There Henry heard news which both heartened and disquieted him.

A deputation arrived from Pembroke, promising that Pembroke men would support their 'natural Lord' Jasper Tudor. They had not seen him for a long time, but they had not forgotten him. Of Rhys ap Thomas, the Great Chieftain of South Wales and Sir John Savage, both of whom had sworn to support him, there was no sign. There were stories that they were mustering their men, and even rumours that they would fight for the King. Henry nevertheless marched North-West towards Cardigan, and was disturbed that the countrymen of South Wales did not flock to join his standard of the blood-red dragon of Cadwallader as he had hoped. There was instead a report that Sir Walter Herbert was about to descend on them from Carmarthen 'with a mighty host'. Scouts were sent out and John de Vere, Earl of Oxford anxiously sought a good position for a defensive battle. Mercifully, the reports turned out to be false, and somewhat shaken, the army continued its march.

At Cardigan, Henry at last began to gather recruits, in small numbers perhaps but they were nonetheless welcome. Typical was a lawyer, John Morgan, who had gathered together a like-minded band. Some of the small garrisons of the Royal castles they passed threw in their lot with Henry, who now found that he had some useful recruiting sergeants; just as they had done in the days of Owen Glyndower, the minstrels were strumming their harps and singing of the ancient glories of Wales gained under the blood-red dragon of Cadwallader. That banner was even now flying again, could the people not see it? A useful trickle of men joined Henry and his ranks began to swell, but nowhere near to the extent that he had a substantial field force. Until Rhys ap Thomas and Sir John Savage honoured their promises, there was little hope of achieving this.

Now at last there was a messenger from Rhys. He was in arms to the North-West (he did not say where) and was wondering what he stood to gain by fighting for Henry. The messenger was sent back with the promise that, once victorious, the Lieutenancy of Wales would be his. That persuaded Rhys, and he duly joined Henry's army at the mustering point of Newton with a horde of wild-looking Welshmen. With others who had sworn to support him, Henry adopted an imperious tone. Sir John Savage, Sir Gilbert Talbot and John ap Meredith were told that he would cross the River Severn at Shrewsbury, and that they were to join him at Newton for the march on London. His letters, signed 'by the King', denounced Richard as an usurper, and stated that their failure would incur his severest displeasure. They did indeed muster at Newton, a town about 20 miles to the East of Shrewsbury, where Henry arrived on 12th August.

Shrewsbury proved to be friendly, and opened her gates to Henry and his soldiers. [By one account, Shrewsbury was initially reluctant, and only relented on the persuasion of Sir William Stanley]

But what of the Stanleys, Lord Thomas and his brother Sir William? Henry found their attitude as puzzling as did King Richard III. By the time he reached Shrewsbury, he had a sizeable force, either with him or committed to him, but not yet of such numbers that he could hope to engage the Royal army with confidence of numerical superiority Their support was essential, and from the answers he received to his letters, he was aware that they each led substantial contingents, not a single force as he may at first have supposed. Sir William had promised him armed support before he had even left France even if Lord Thomas was far too circumspect to commit himself in any way. Now at long last he received letters from them. They would join him 'when the time was ripe', Lord Thomas explaining the difficulty of his son George being in Richard's hands; if Richard received any adverse report on Lord Thomas's loyalty, whether it was true or not, George would be beheaded within the hour. Their only safe course was to fall back onto the Royal army as if retreating in the face of a superior force, but they would always remain close enough so that 'at the proper time' they could join Henry's army immediately. In the meantime, they advised against a march on London, in any event a Yorkist stronghold, which would give Richard's undefeated army the chance to fall on their rear. The best course, and one espoused by Henry's own officers, was to march to confront the Royal army without delay.

From what Henry Tudor did next, there appears to have been something of the gambler in his character, although this trait seems to have been absent from that of King Henry VII. He left Shrewsbury on 14th August to complete the muster of his troops at Newton before taking the best, or the least unpromising, of the options open to him, that of marching to give battle to the Royal army. Oxford, who knew Lord Thomas well, would have left him in no doubt about the true nature of the man, and of his ability so to manage things that, whatever happened, he would always end up on the winning side. He had hoped for better from Sir William, apparently a more forthright and honourable man, but he now seemed to be just such another as his brother. He may have been inexperienced in military matters, but he could see the good sense in refraining from turning his back on the Royal army and inviting it to pounce upon his rear, but there was now another reason for marching directly to confront King Richard. If he now marched for London, he ran the risk that the two Stanleys, once he had lost contact with them, would join the Royal army and fight against him. In one sense it was disquieting that they were not retreating before him as they said they would; in another, it was comforting to know that they were shadowing him on each flank. [The proclamation that Sir William Stanley was a traitor was not made until the evening of 15th August at the earliest. A day or so must have past before it became widely known, but it is not clear if it reached Henry Tudor's ears] Henry now advanced 13 miles to Stafford, where he was pleasantly surprised to find that Sir William Stanley was waiting for him. Sir William had brought no troops with him, but explained that his force was not far off. He repeated what the letters had said, that he and his brother would join Henry 'when the time was ripe', but promised a further meeting, this time with Lord Thomas himself. He made a suggestion which struck Henry's officers as good sense. Henry's army was advancing on Nottingham, whereas the Royal army was mustering at Leicester, a days march to the South. Henry should alter his line of march South-East to Lichfield with a two-fold purpose in mind; he would still be heading towards the Royal army, but could fool Richard's scouts into thinking that he was after all making for London. This could throw the Royal army off balance sufficiently into tempting Richard to leave any strong defensive position he may have taken up. Accordingly Henry's army marched the 17 miles to Lichfield.

Henry stayed in Lichfield for only a short time, and on the 19th set off for Tamworth. During the march, Henry let his men go on ahead and stayed behind with only a small escort to rest and to try to marshal his thoughts into order. He was now approaching an epic battle with insufficient numbers, and the fate of all things hung in the balance. What had he so far failed to do to marshal his supporters who had sworn to fight for him? What could he now do to persuade them to come? What should he now do besides this? Above all, how could he force the Stanleys to face the issues which involved them all? He turned all these questions over in his fevered mind, but found no answers.

Rousing himself from his reveries, he saw that it was now getting dark. His army was no more to be seen, and he had no idea how to find Tamworth. After some agonised searching for their way in the rapidly gathering gloom, he and his men sought refuge in a local farm, where he learnt to his relief that Tamworth was only three miles away. Forbidding his men to show themselves, Henry spent what he later described as the worst night of his life. Leaving in the first light of the dawn of the 20th, he cantered into his camp to find that his officers too had spent an anxious night, wondering if Henry had deserted them and fled. He told them airily that he had merely wanted to be alone for a time and that nothing untoward had happened, but it had been a nasty moment for them all.

Now the Stanleys wanted to see him at Atherstone, only a short distance away. Here for the first time, Lord Thomas Stanley set eyes on and shook hands with his step-son. He found himself face-to-face with a young man just 28 years of age, of middling height, with a pleasing and charming manner. He noted the small blue eyes, the fresh complexion, the long nose of his mother and the abundant flaxen hair. When Henry smiled, he also saw that his teeth were bad, a sure sign of poor health. Henry on his side found that his mother had given her hand to an elderly man with a long beard, but with a grave expression and a distinguished manner. Each party had brought only a small escort; it would never do for some spy in the Stanley forces to report to Richard that they had met with the rebel. The pleasantries over, the meeting then got down to business.

Henry to his dismay found that it was still no easier to pin down the Stanley brothers to a definite commitment than it had ever been. He emphasised what his scouts had told him, that Richard was gathering a large and well-equipped army, amply supplied with all that an army needs. Without their contingents, he had no hope of matching the King in numbers. Could they not see that if the detested tyrant was to be toppled, it was now or never? Another chance like the present one was most unlikely ever to arise again. Did they not understand that what they had so far done would damn them for ever in Richard's eyes? The news that Sir William had already been proclaimed a traitor may not have been known to Henry, but it is inconceivable that Sir William himself remained in ignorance of what had been done nearly a week before, which makes his behaviour all the more difficult to comprehend. Perhaps he too cared what happened to his nephew. They had advised him that he should march directly onto the Royal army, and here he now was just a few short miles from Richard's mighty host. Retreat for the safety of Wales was now impossible, he was committed to a great and terrible battle. In honour they must now join him. All the two brothers would do was to nod sympathetically, repeat the now familiar litany that Lord Thomas's son was in deadly danger, and promise that they would intervene 'when the time was right'. No more than this could Henry get from them.

Henry cantered back to his camp with a heavy heart, the nightmare vision rising before his eyes of the blood-red dragon of Cadwallader faltering on the field of battle, when the two Stanleys would join Richard's men and finish off the Tudor. The safety of Wales lay far to his rear, and a hostile army lay close in front. The battle had to be fought. There was no going back.

The Web of betrayal King Richard III - 11th-17th August 1485

Between Henry Tudor's landing on 7th August, and the battle of Bosworth on the 22nd, there was a series of events which at first sight were unconnected with each other, but when taken together indicated that King Richard III was being betrayed by those on whom he should have been able to count for support.

The news of Henry Tudor's landing first reached Richard in his Headquarters at Nottingham Castle on 11th August. It must have struck him as curious that the news should not have reached him sooner than this; the arrangements he had put in place [pages ] should have sufficed to bring this information to him by the 9th August, or at the very latest the 10th. Was there any question of intentional delay? Why was there no word from Sir William Stanley, who held the command in North Wales, that he was marching, in company with Sir John Savage, to crush the Tudor? He needed no command or authority to do this. Why was there no word from the Herberts, who could easily have raised a force in South Wales strong enough to stamp on so puny and so impudent an invasion? No matter, the agonised period of waiting was over at last and the time for action, something that Richard rejoiced in, had finally arrived.

Richard promptly summoned his Lords to war. Some answered readily, like John Howard, Duke of Norfolk and his son, Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, Francis, Lord Lovell, Sir Richard Radclyffe, Sir Robert Brackenbury and a score of others who hastened to bring their contingents to the mustering point at Leicester. Some answered not at all, such as John de La Pole, Duke of Suffolk even though his son John, Earl of Lincoln was Richard's heir, but then Suffolk had always held himself aloof from any fighting, and had not joined in the desperate battles of Barnet or Tewkesbury.

Others seemed strangely reluctant, such as Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. He acknowledged receiving the summons and said that he was marching to join Richard with all haste, but there seemed to be a curious reluctance to do so. Why should this be? On 15th August, Richard received a letter from Thomas, Lord Stanley, which told him that Thomas was suffering from the Sweating Sickness and could not possibly come; there was no suggestion that his troops were marching to join the King under the command of a trusty subordinate. At the same time, some other disturbing pieces of news reached Richard's ears. Henry Tudor had reached Shrewsbury on 12th August and there he had been made welcome and substantially reinforced. This could only mean that he had marched through Wales unopposed and that the Welsh chieftains, and some English Lords as well, had joined him. To crown it all, the vigilant guard mounted upon George, Lord Strange now brought that worthy before the King and told him that he had been detected in an attempt to slip out of Nottingham Castle.

Richard questioned Strange closely and probably resorted to torture. Strange had received a message from his father, borne by the same messenger who had carried his father's letter to Richard, that he should escape and rejoin his family. His uncle, Sir William Stanley and Sir John Savage had conspired with Henry Tudor to join him as soon as he had landed. Strange swore that his father Thomas had not been a party to this plot; he had no intention of joining the Tudor but would assuredly remain loyal to Richard. Whether or not Richard believed this extraordinary story,  only Sir William Stanley and Sir John Savage were proclaimed traitors. Strange was given paper and pen, and bidden to write to his father to describe the desperate danger in which he now stood, and urge him to join Richard at once.

To take his mind off things whilst his army was gathering, Richard went hunting in Sherwood Forest on 16th and 17th August. Unlike his brother Edward, he had never been a keen huntsman, but he had to do something active to escape the web of events which seemed to envelope him ever more closely. On his return to the hunting lodge in the evening of 17th August, he found two dusty and sweat stained messengers awaiting him. He knew them both well, John Sponer, Sergeant of the Mace of York and John Nicholson. On the previous day the City Fathers of York had met to express astonishment that their King, to whom they had always been most loyal, had not sent to them for a contingent of troops, which they would readily provide. They had their difficulties, including plague in the City, but they would somehow surmount them if only they knew what their King expected of them. Richard heard their message with foreboding. Northumberland was the Commissioner of Array in the North, and it was he who should have called out the men of York, plague or no plague. Even though time between receipt of the summons to fight and the 16th August had been short, he had clearly made no effort to do so. Richard, without betraying his alarm at this ominous indication, thanked both messengers and sent John Nicholson back to York asking that troops be sent. On 19th August, the ever loyal City dispatched 80 well equipped horsemen for Richard's army and busied itself in raising more soldiers. It was already very late; there is some doubt if even the 80 cavalry-men reached the battle-field in time.

As Richard rode back to Nottingham Castle, his thoughts cannot have been pleasant or comfortable. It was not the thought of a battle with Henry Tudor which concerned him; he earnestly wanted such an encounter to settle things with the Tudor once and for all. There was not the question of having to fight superior numbers which gave him any worry; he was always likely to have a superior force at his back. The problem was, how reliable was it going to be, and now a new factor, that of betrayal, entered onto the scene. The fear of treachery is insidious, and saps the will and vigour of even the most resolute. Should he relieve Percy of his command as soon as he appeared? No doubt many of the northern men he brought with him would be prepared to fight for him under any new commander that he appointed; Richard had always enjoyed the loyalty of many in the North, and no doubt many in the Northumberland division would prove to be staunch to him. The new commander would have to be a Northerner, but there were plenty available who could command a division such as Sir Richard Radclyffe or Sir Robert Brackenbury. But was this such a wise idea? Many others of Percy's division would be Percy retainers, as they and their forefathers had been for generations. They could re-act very badly to the disgrace of their chief, and perhaps would desert in a body to the enemy. It would be madness to make a virtual present to the Tudor of several hundred prime fighting men. This sort of thing, or the threat of it, had happened before during the Wars of the Roses. There was no simple answer.

This brought him to other considerations. Where were the two Stanley brothers, Lord Thomas and Sir William? Richard had never believed the story of the Sweating Sickness, and Sir William had been denounced as a traitor. He had a hold over Lord Thomas, who must have heard by now (in case he had made a miraculously quick recovery from a dread disease) that his son George, Lord Strange was Richard's hostage, and could lose his head if Richard received any adverse report, whether it was true or not, that Lord Thomas was contemplating treachery.

Perhaps at this point Richard smiled grimly to himself, a smile with no sign of mirth but full of malice and menace. He was the Richard, the Duke of Gloucester who had been famous for his loyalty to his King and his friends. His motto was "Loyaute me lie" - Loyalty binds me - and all had marvelled at the way he had lived up to it. But since the death of his brother King Edward IV, he had lived by one betrayal after another. He had betrayed his brother whatever his dying wishes may have been, he had betrayed his two nephews by seizing the Crown (possibly even murdering them into the bargain), he had betrayed his mother 'Proud Cis' by spreading stories that she had been unfaithful to her marriage bed, he had betrayed his old friend Hastings by cutting off his head on the basis of unproved suspicions, and last but by no means least, he had betrayed his gentle Queen Anne. In return, he had been betrayed by Buckingham, and perhaps this was just the first of many such betrayals, for those who live by betrayal will assuredly die by it.

That there was any feeling of remorse is too much to expect, for Richard was a man of his times, and if Might was Right, it did impose certain requirements on those who exercised the Supreme Power. Some things were going to have to change, and the foremost of these was his method of rule. He had earnestly tried to make himself loved by his people by the beneficence of his rule, by giving good governance, by righting wrongs, by removing oppression, by lightening taxation and by many other ways. The people had taken all the benefits of his paternal administration, but had withheld their love and their duty. From now on he would rule ruthlessly and without mercy so that they would learn to fear him. Only in that direction lay the hope of survival.

King Richard III - the days before the battle of Bosworth - 18th-21st August 1485

Richard left Nottingham Castle on 19th August to march the short distance to where the Royal army was mustering at Leicester. He was bringing with him his own strong division, consisting mostly of midlands men. His soldiers, with their burnished and shinning armour and weapons and with the banners of their officers waiving gaily above their heads, make a brave show as they marched, four abreast, out of the Castle. In their midst rode the King, mounted on a white charger, at the head of his household knights. Each man and each horse wore full armour polished until it shone like silver, and Richard's helm was surmounted by a coronet, symbolising the Crown of England. He wore his visor up so that all might see his face. His expression was grave and composed, and masked the sense of impending doom which tore savagely at the breast of the last of the Plantagenet Kings as he rode forth to give battle to his enemies.

Richard's division reached Leicester that same evening of the 19th. Tradition has it that he was quartered at the "White Boar", his own emblem. John Howard, Duke of Norfolk and his son Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey were already there with their own division, a strong force from East Anglia and heartening to Richard's eye. At least these two men would be loyal whatever happened, but Norfolk told Richard that all was not well with the Howard force. Their call to arms, where it had been answered at all, had only been responded to with reluctance. Many had thought that the long drawn out Wars with their constant battles had been concluded in 1471, 14 years before, and could see no reason to leave their hearths and homes to fight yet again. Desertion, a common feature in any army, had been more than usually noticeable, and the scouts had frequently had to return would-be deserters to their places with the Colours. Some had even ignored the call and had stayed at home. Among these was John Paston who, whatever his troubles had been with the Mowbray Dukes of Norfolk, owed everything to the Howards. Ordered to muster at Bury-St-Edmunds, he had simply stayed away. [The Summons sent to John Paston may be seen in the Paston Letters Vol 3 p 320] On a more cheerful note, the division was still not fully mustered; other more reliable people had sent word that they were on their way and would shortly arrive. Northumberland had sent a message that he was in the last stages of his long march from the North, and expected to arrive during the evening of the 20th.

The Howards, father and son, heard their King's account of his dealings with Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland and the Stanleys with grave and concerned faces. They agreed that all three must be regarded as unreliable, and it would be folly to place any trust in any of them until they had given proof that they were worthy of it. It was however worth waiting for Northumberland to arrive on the following evening and then to hear what he had to say for himself. An explanation might well show that things were not as bad as they presently feared, and they should have his strong division with them before any attempt was made to engage the enemy.

Northumberland duly arrived as the evening of the 20th August was turning into night, and Richard demanded an explanation for his tardiness. Northumberland replied with some heat that there had been no tarrying. Time had been short between the receipt of his summons and his arrival in Leicester. Nevertheless he had gathered all his retainers together as quickly as was possible for a series of forced marches. Surely the king could understand that it took three days to march from Alnwick to York and a further two to reach Leicester, and then only by forcing the pace. Why had he not called out the men of York? The King must be aware that they had the Plague in York, and it would be the height of folly to introduce the disease into the Royal army. The pestilence would decimate it and ensure its defeat without the enemy even striking a blow. In any event he had brought a substantial force with him as the King could see with his own eyes. This questioning sounded as though his loyalty was being questioned, and this he greatly resented. The Percies were loyal to their King and intended to remain so. In the meantime, his men and horses were exhausted and must have some rest. If Richard proposed to leave Leicester in the morning, he would march as the rear-guard in the afternoon.

On this he insisted. On this note an ascorbic and at times acrimonious meeting was brought to a close.

On their face, these were perfectly reasonable explanations and suggestions and Richard had perforce to accept them, but their were other grounds to doubt the Percy loyalties. The enemy was a sprig of Lancaster, and in the past the Percies had been staunchly loyal to that House. They had suffered many losses in the Wars of the Roses; this Percy had lost several close relatives during the battles, one at St Albans 1455, another at Northampton 1460, and his own father at Towton 1461. It was true that he had given good service to King Edward IV when he had returned from his exile in 1471, and had been commended for it, [page ] but he doubtless resented the fact that John de La Pole, Earl of Lincoln and not himself headed the Council of the North. [page ] Richard had been aware when he himself was in the North, Percy had not altogether welcomed his presence where previously the Percy writ had run supreme. Was Percy now prepared to transfer the regard and affection he had held for King Edward IV, the King who had restored his Earldom to him, to Edward's brother? That was not nearly so certain. Would Percy welcome a new King who would give him the free hand in the North that his family regarded as their birth-right? That could not be discounted. Had he refrained from calling out the men of York to reduce the numbers of Richard's supporters within the ranks of his own division? That was quite possible.

There did however appear to be an answer, and this lay in the local topography. Richard's scouts reported that Thomas, Lord Stanley's force lay at Stoke Golding, his brother Sir William's at Shenton and Henry Tudor's at Atherstone, which sat astride Watling Street, the main road to London. An easy march westwards towards the enemy brought Richard's vanguard (the Howard division) to the small village of Sutton Cheyney. From Sutton Cheyney a ridge, still running in a westerly direction and somewhat higher than the surrounding plain, ends in a pronounced knoll, Ambion Hill, which stands some three miles due south of Market Bosworth whose church spire can be clearly seen. Ambion Hill's south-western aspect is in places steep, and where it slopes away on its easterly side there was at the time a marsh. This marsh, fed by the springs on Ambion hill, formed a substantial barrier to a body of advancing troops, and served as a guard to one of the flanks. Today the marsh has gone, and in its place stands Ambion Wood. The springs too have dried up. Legend has it that King Richard drank from the clear waters of one of the springs; today it appears stagnant and singularly uninviting. The hill however formed an admirable defensive position, thrust as it was between one hostile and two possibly disloyal forces. There could be no question of the Tudor army marching on London with a strong,  hostile and undefeated force to its rear. Its only realistic option was to attack the Royal army for which it would have to advance uphill. Moreover, the hill could be held by the Howard's and the King's divisions without having to rely on Northumberland's dubious loyalties.

On the night of the 21st, the Royal army pitched camp on the ridge around Sutton Cheyney. An advance guard was sent forward to the knoll with orders that it was to hold it at all costs should the enemy attempt to occupy it during the night until help could be sent to it. During the march to Sutton Cheyney, Richard had cast many anxious backward glances and was rewarded, to his intense relief, by the sight of a silver, shimmering column marching in his wake, with the sun glinting off their weapons and armour. Northumberland, true to his word, was following as the rearguard. As soon as he arrived, Richard supped with his commanders and outlined the course for the morrow. His own and the Howard's divisions would occupy Ambion Hill at first light, and Northumberland's division would remain on the ridge as a reserve.

Before he retired to his rest, Richard, accompanied only by his squires, strolled about his camp, casting his expert eye on the faces of his men and running it over the state of their equipment. No doubt he stopped to talk to some of them, and rejoiced in their rough bucolic accents, for like his brother Edward, Richard was a soldier's general, and liked to have an idea of the morale of the men who would soon have to stand in line and fight against the malice of the enemy. His stroll would have brought him to Ambion Hill where he also chattered to the advance guard. He stood on the summit, and looked down pensively on the twinkling fires of three other camps and listened to their trumpet calls. Deep in thought, he strolled back to his tent, his faithful squires trotting at his heels. Had he done all he could to ensure victory on the morrow? Had something been left undone? Only God knew what lay ahead. Richard, a devout man, prayed to him, but no answer came.

The numbers engaged in the Battle

As usual, medieval numbers are hopelessly elusive, and we have to make the best judgement that we can of the strengths of each of the forces which took part in the battle. Henry Tudor is thought to have brought about 5, 000 men to the field, Scots and French mercenaries and Welsh and English adherents. Some of these would have been returning exiles. Rather than trouble the reader with tedious speculation on the strengths of the other forces, it is thought that a table will be of greater assistance, if only because it represents the probable thoughts going through the minds of King Richard III, and very probably those of Henry Tudor's commanders as well:-