is described in the last chapter, two vast armies,
belonging respectively to the two parties, which had been gradually
gathering for a long time, came up together at a place called Blore
Heath,[14] in Staffordshire, in the heart of England. A great battle
ensued. During the battle Henry lay dangerously ill in the town of
Coleshill, which was not far off. Margaret was at Maccleston, another
village very near the field of battle. From the tower of the church in
Maccleston she watched the progress of the fight. Salisbury was at the
head of the York party. Margaret's troops were commanded by Lord
Audley. When Audley took leave of her to go into battle, she sternly
ordered him to bring Salisbury to her, dead or alive.

[Footnote 14: For the situation of Blore Heath, see map.]

[Sidenote: Decorations.]

Audley had ten thousand men under his command. The soldiers were all
adorned with red rosettes, the symbol of the house of Lancaster. The
officers wore little silver swans upon their uniform, such as Prince
Edward had distributed.

[Sidenote: Battle lost.]

The queen watched the progress of the battle with intense anxiety, and
soon, to her consternation and dismay, she saw that it was going
against her. She kept her eyes upon Audley's banner, and when, at
length, she saw it fall, she knew that all was lost. She hurried down
from the tower, and, with a few friends to accompany her, she fled for
her life to a strong-hold belonging to her friends that was not at a
great distance.

[Sidenote: Feeble condition of the king.]

The king, too, had to be removed, in order to prevent his being taken
prisoner. He was, however, too feeble to know much or to think much of
what was going on. When they came to take him on his pallet to carry
him away, he looked up and asked, feebly, "who had got the day," but
beyond this he gave no indication of taking any interest in the
momentous events that were transpiring.

[Sidenote: Spirit and temper of the queen.]

[Sidenote: 1460.]

[Sidenote: Success of her efforts.]

This defeat, instead of producing a discouraging and disheartening
effect upon Margaret's mind, only served to arouse her to new vigor
and determination. She had been somewhat timid and fearful in the
earlier part of her troubles, when she had only a husband to think of
and to care for. But now she had a son; and the maternal instinct
seemed to operate in her case, as it has done in so many others, to
make her