The Battle of Tewkesbury.

The Battle of Tewkesbury.

Fought May 4th, 1471
More for than hundred years have pass’d away
Since English fools did English fools oppose,
In deadly feud, for Lancaster’s Red Rose,
Or the White Rose of York. That shameful day
Saw men of the same kindred glad to slay 5
Each other, both alone as there they stood
In the array of battle; in cool blood
They were no better. Though around them lay
Their slaughter’d thousands, Edward, Clarence, Grey,
Gloster, and Hastings—men of rank most high— 10
Delighted in such horrid cruelty
As murdering the Prince after the fray,
Their youthful prisoner. O, from them may
Mankind mark well now and learn to shun such wickedness for aye.

George Markham Tweddell
[Rhymes in M/S, notional p. 66]

From Wiki
"The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on 4 May 1471, was one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses. The forces loyal to the House of Lancaster were completely defeated by those of the rival House of York under their monarch, King Edward IV. The Lancastrian heir to the throne, Edward, Prince of Wales, and many prominent Lancastrian nobles were killed during the battle or were dragged from sanctuary two days later and immediately executed. The Lancastrian King, Henry VI, who was a prisoner in the Tower of London, died or was murdered shortly after the battle. Tewkesbury restored political stability to England until the death of Edward IV in 1483." More here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tewkesbury