Editing Battle of Bosworth Field (section)

==Shrewsbury: the gateway to England==
[[File:Henry Tudor and Rhys ap Thomas' march through Wales translated from Welsh.svg|thumb|upright=2.3|March through Wales, to Bosworth Field.]]
Since 22 June Richard had been aware of Henry's impending invasion, and had ordered his lords to maintain a high level of readiness.{{sfn|Ross|1999|pp=208–209}} News of Henry's landing reached Richard on 11 August, but it took three to four days for his messengers to notify his lords of their king's mobilisation. On 16 August, the Yorkist army started to gather; Norfolk set off for [[Leicester]], the assembly point, that night. The city of York, a historical stronghold of Richard's family, asked the king for instructions, and receiving a reply three days later sent 80&nbsp;men to join the king. Simultaneously Northumberland, whose northern territory was the most distant from the capital, had gathered his men and ridden to Leicester.{{sfn|Ross|1999|pp=212–215}}

Although London was his goal,{{sfn|Chrimes|1999|p=44}} Henry did not move directly towards the city. After resting in Shrewsbury, his forces went eastwards and picked up [[Gilbert Talbot (soldier)|Sir Gilbert Talbot]] and other English allies, including deserters from Richard's forces. Although its size had increased substantially since the landing, Henry's army was still considerably outnumbered by Richard's forces. Henry's pace through [[Staffordshire]] was slow, delaying the confrontation with Richard so that he could gather more recruits to his cause.{{sfn|Ross|1999|p=212}} Henry had been communicating on friendly terms with the Stanleys for some time before setting foot in England,{{sfn|Chrimes|1999|p=39}} and the Stanleys had mobilised their forces on hearing of Henry's landing. They ranged themselves ahead of Henry's march through the English countryside,{{sfn|Gravett|1999|pp=44–45}} meeting twice in secret with Henry as he moved through Staffordshire.{{sfn|Carpenter|2002|p=217}} At the second of these, at [[Atherstone]] in Warwickshire, they conferred "in what sort to arraign battle with King Richard, whom they heard to be not far off".{{sfn|Rowse|1998|loc=p. 217: a quote from Vergil}} On 21 August, the Stanleys were making camp on the slopes of a hill north of [[Dadlington]], while Henry encamped his army at White Moors to the north-west of their camp.{{sfn|Gravett|1999|p=45}}

[[File:Bosworth Field - Prelude.svg|thumb|upright=1.15 |alt=Battlefield map. Three white boxes are across the top; arrows extend downward from the left two, labelled "Norfolk" and "Richard III", but not from the right one, "Northumberland". Two red boxes are at mid-left: the smaller is "Henry", and the larger, "Oxford" has an arrow going right and then reversing up. Two stationary blue boxes near the bottom are labelled "Lord Stanley" and "William Stanley".|Early battle (a scenario based on historical interpretations): elements of Richard's army charged down Ambion Hill to engage Henry's forces on the plain. The Stanleys stood at the south, observing the situation.]]

On 20 August, Richard rode from Nottingham to Leicester,<ref name=B/> joining Norfolk. He spent the night at the Blue Boar inn (demolished 1836).<ref name=B>{{cite web |url=http://www.le.ac.uk/richardiii/history/blueboarinn.html |title=History of the Blue Boar |publisher=University of Leicester |access-date=9 February 2017}}</ref> Northumberland arrived the following day. The royal army proceeded westwards to intercept Henry's march on London. Passing [[Sutton Cheney]], Richard moved his army towards [[Ambion Hill]]—which he thought would be of tactical value—and made camp on it.{{sfn|Gravett|1999|p=45}} Richard's sleep was not peaceful and, according to the ''[[Croyland Chronicle]]'', in the morning his face was "more livid and ghastly than usual".{{sfn|Gravett|1999|p=46}}