Editing Battle of Wakefield (section)

===York's response===
Faced with these challenges to his authority as Protector, York despatched his eldest son Edward to the Welsh Marches to contain the Lancastrians in Wales and left the Earl of Warwick in charge in London. He himself marched to the north of England on 9 December, accompanied by his second son [[Edmund, Earl of Rutland]], and the Earl of Salisbury. He tried to bring a train of artillery under "one called Lovelace, a gentleman of Kent"{{sfn|Clark|2016|p=229}} but bad weather forced the artillery to return to London.

York's and Salisbury's army was said by some to number 8,000 to 9,000 men, but by others to be only a few hundred strong, as York intended to recruit local forces with a [[Commission of Array]].{{sfn|Dockray|Knowles|1992|p=8}} He had probably underestimated both the numbers of the Lancastrian army in the north and the degree of opposition he had provoked by his attempt to seize the throne. On an earlier expedition to the north during his first protectorship in 1454, he and the Nevilles had easily subdued a rebellion by the Percys and the Duke of Exeter.{{sfn|Clark|2016|pp=120–125}} In 1460, not only had almost every other northern peer joined the Lancastrian army, but York's nominal supporters were also divided. The Nevilles were one of the wealthiest and most influential families in the North and in addition to controlling large estates, the Earl of Salisbury had held the office of [[Lord Warden of the Marches#Warden of the Eastern March|Warden of the Eastern March]] for several years. However, in the [[Neville–Neville feud]], the cadet branch of the family headed by Salisbury had largely disinherited and eclipsed the senior branch (sometimes referred to as the "northern Nevilles"){{sfn|Rowse|1966|p=143}} under his great-nephew, the [[Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland|Earl of Westmoreland]]. Westmoreland had spent several years trying to recover his lands.{{sfn|Clark|2016|p=50}} He had since become too ill, perhaps with some mental disorder, to play any active part. His younger brother, [[John Neville, Baron Neville|John Neville of Raby]], had much to gain by York's and Salisbury's destruction.{{sfn|Goodwin|2012|pp=145–146}}

The Lancastrians were still being reinforced. On 16 December, at the [[Battle of Worksop]] in [[Nottinghamshire]], York's vanguard clashed with Somerset's contingent from the West Country moving north to join the Lancastrian army, and was defeated.{{sfn|Warner|1972|p=49}}