Editing Battle of Towton (section)

== Rout ==
[[File:Battle of Towton - Engagement.svg|thumb|left|300px|alt=The Lancastrians were pushing back the Yorkists, but are engaged on their left flank by Norfolk's soldiers.|At the crucial moment, Norfolk's troops arrived, helping the Yorkists (white) overcome the Lancastrians (red).]]

The tired Lancastrians flung off their helmets and armour to run faster. Without such protection, they were much more vulnerable to the attacks of the Yorkists. Norfolk's troops were much fresher and faster. Fleeing across what would later become known as Bloody Meadow, many Lancastrians were cut down from behind or were slain after they had surrendered. Before the battle, both sides had issued the order to give [[no quarter]] and the Yorkists were in no mood to spare anyone after the long, gruelling fight.{{Sfn|Gravett|2003|pp=50, 69–73}} A number of Lancastrians, such as Trollope, also had substantial bounties on their heads.{{Sfn|Ross|1997|p=35}} Gregory's chronicle stated 42&nbsp;knights were killed after they were taken prisoner.{{Sfn|Ross|1997|p=37}}

Archaeological findings in the late 20th century shed light on the final moments of the battle. In 1996 workmen at a construction site in the village of Towton uncovered a mass grave, which archaeologists believed to contain the remains of men who were slain during or after the battle in 1461. The bodies showed severe injuries to their upper torsos; arms and skulls were cracked or shattered.{{Sfn|Gravett|2003|pp=85–89}} One exhumed specimen, known as Towton 25, had the front of his skull bisected: a weapon had slashed across his face, cutting a deep wound that split the bone. The skull was also pierced by another deep wound, a horizontal cut from a blade across the back.{{Sfn|Gravett|2003|pp=37, 88}}

The Lancastrians lost more troops in their rout than from the battlefield. Men struggling across the Cock Beck were dragged down by currents and drowned. Those floundering were stepped on and pushed under water by their comrades behind them as they rushed to get away from the Yorkists. As the Lancastrians struggled across the beck Yorkist archers rode to high vantage points and shot arrows at them. The dead began to pile up and the chronicles state that the Lancastrians eventually fled across these "bridges" of bodies.{{Sfn|Ross|1997|p=37}}{{Sfn|Gravett|2003|pp=72–73}} The chase continued northwards across the River Wharfe, which was larger than Cock Beck. A bridge over the river collapsed under the flood of men and many drowned trying to cross. Those who hid in Tadcaster and York were hunted down and killed.{{Sfn|Gravett|2003|p=73}}

A newsletter dated 4 April 1461 reported a widely circulated figure of 28,000&nbsp;casualties in the battle, which [[Charles Ross (historian)|Charles Ross]] and other historians believe was exaggerated. The number was taken from the heralds' estimate of the dead and appeared in letters from Edward and the Bishop of Salisbury, [[Richard Beauchamp (bishop)|Richard Beauchamp]].{{Sfn|Ross|1997|p=37}}{{Sfn|Gravett|2003|pp=79–80}} Letters from an ambassador and a merchant from the [[duchy of Milan]] broke this number down into 8,000 dead for the Yorkists and 20,000 for the Lancastrians;{{sfn|Hinds|1912|pp=68, 73}} in contrast, bishops Nicholas O'Flanagan ([[bishop of Elphin|Elphin]]) and [[Francesco Coppini]] reported only 800 dead Yorkists.{{sfn|Hinds|1912|pp=65, 81}} Other contemporary sources gave higher numbers, ranging from 30,000 to 38,000; Hall quoted an exact figure of 36,776.{{Sfn|Ross|1997|p=37}}{{Sfn|Gravett|2003|pp=79–80}} An exception was the ''Annales rerum anglicarum'', which stated the Lancastrians had 9,000&nbsp;casualties, an estimate Ross and Wolffe found to be more believable.{{Sfn|Ross|1997|p=37}}{{sfn|Wolffe|2001|p=332}} A more recent analysis of the sources and archaeological evidence, which posits that accounts of Towton were combined with those of the actions of Ferrybridge and Dintingdale, suggests total casualty figures in the range 2,800 – 3,800.{{sfn|Sutherland|2009|pp=21–24}}

The Lancastrian nobility sustained heavy losses. The [[Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland|Earl of Northumberland]], lords [[Lionel Welles, 6th Baron Welles|Welles]], [[Ralph Bigod (Baron Mauley)|Mauley]] and [[Ralph Dacre, 1st Baron Dacre of Gilsland|Dacre]], and Sir [[Andrew Trollope]] fell in battle, while the earls of [[Thomas Courtenay, 14th Earl of Devon|Devon]] and [[James Butler, Earl of Wiltshire|Wiltshire]] were afterwards taken and executed.{{sfn|Wolffe|2001|p=332}} Lord Dacre was said to have been killed by an archer who was perched in a "bur tree" (a local term for an [[Sambucus nigra|elder]]).{{Sfn|Gravett|2003|p=77}} In contrast, the Yorkists lost only one notable member of the gentry, Horne, at Towton.{{Sfn|Ross|1997|p=38}}