nsulted one of the Earl of
Warwick's; their companions on both sides took part in the quarrel; a
fierce combat ensued; the Earl apprehended his life to be aimed at; he
fled to his government of Calais; and both parties, in every county of
England, openly made preparations for deciding the contest by war and
arms.

The Earl of Salisbury, marching to join the Duke of York, was overtaken
at Blore Heath, on the borders of Staffordshire, by Lord Audley, who
commanded much superior forces; and a small rivulet with steep banks ran
between the armies. Salisbury here supplied his defect in numbers by
stratagem a refinement of which there occur few instances in the English
civil wars, where a headlong courage, more than military conduct, is
commonly to be remarked. He feigned a retreat, and allured Audley to
follow him with precipitation; but when the van of the royal army had
passed the brook, Salisbury suddenly turned upon them, and partly by the
surprise, partly by the division of the enemy's forces, put this body to
rout; the example of flight was followed by the rest of the army; and
Salisbury, obtaining a complete victory, reached the general rendezvous
of the Yorkists at Ludlow. The Earl of Warwick brought over to this
rendezvous a choice body of veterans from Calais, on whom, it was
thought, the fortune of the war would much depend; but this reenforcement
occasioned, in the issue, the immediate ruin of the Duke of York's party.
When the royal army approached, and a general action was every hour
expected, Sir Andrew Trollop, who commanded the veterans, deserted to
the King in the night-time; and the Yorkists were so dismayed at this
instance of treachery, which made every man suspicious of his fellow,
that they separated next day without striking a blow; the Duke fled to
Ireland; the Earl of Warwick, attended by many of the other leaders,
escaped to Calais, where his great popularity among all orders of men,
particularly among the military, soon drew to him partisans, and rendered
his power very formidable. The friends of the house of York in England
kept themselves everywhere in readiness to rise on the first summons from
their leaders.

After meeting with some successes at sea, Warwick landed in Kent, with
the Earl of Salisbury and the Earl of March, eldest son of the Duke of
York; and being met by the Primate, by Lord Cobham, and other persons of
distinction, he marched, amid the acclamations of the people, to London.