War of the Roses Chronology

Timeline from the book Tewkesbury 1471: The Last Yorkist Victory by Christopher Gravett, published in 2003 by Osprey Publishing.

1455
22 May: First Battle of St. Albans. Drawn contest between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists.

1459
23 September: Battle of Blore Heath. Salisbury holds off the Lancastrians.
12-13 October: Rout of Ludford. Yorkists are defeated and Richard of York, Edward, Salisbury and Warwick escape abroad.

1460
26 June: Yorkist leaders return from exile.
July: Battle of Northampton. Henry VI is captured by Yorkists.
September: Richard of York claims the crown in London.
30 December: Battle of Wakefield. Richard of York and Earl of Rutland killed.

1461
1-3 February: Battle of Mortimer's Cross. Edward defeats the Welsh Lancastrians.
17 February: Second Battle of St. Albans. The Yorkists are defeated.
1 March: Edward is proclaimed king.
28 March: Battle of Ferrybridge.
29 March: Battle of Towton.
28 June: Edward crowned in Westminster Abbey.
9 September: Edward arrives at Bristol.
30 September: Pembroke Castle surrenders to Herbert.
16 October: Jasper Tudor, the Duke of Exeter and Welsh Lancastrians defeated at Twt Hill near Caernarfon.

1464
25 April: Montagu routs Lancastrians at Hedgeley Moor.
1 May: Edward marries Elizabeth Woodville at Stony Stratford.
15 May: Battle of Hexham. Montagu decisively routs the Lancastrian.

1469
April: Robin of Redesdale's revolt.
Early June: Edward on pilgrimage in Norfolk.
4 July: Richard of Warwick takes Clarence to Calais to wed his daughter, Isabel.
5 July: Edward reaches Stamford.
18 July: Warwick and Clarence leave Canterbury and arrive outside London.
25 July: Pembroke and Devon quarrel about billets and split up.
26 July: Lancastrian rebels defeat Pembroke and Devon at Edgecote.
27 July: Pembroke and his brother are beheaded on warwick's orders.
29 July: Edward leaves Nottingham for Northampton. Hears of the disaster at Edgecote and the bulk of his men desert. Edward presses on towards London but is arrested by Archbishop Neville.
10 September: Edward seen in York.
Mid-October: Edward met by the mayor of London and reinstated.

1470
Spring: Feud between Sir Thomas Burgh and Richard, Lord Welles and Willoughby, draws Edward north.
7 March: Edward at Waltham Abbey in Essex, where he learns of the revolt.
11 March: Edward reaches Fotheringhay; he learns the enemy is marching towards Leicester.
12 March: Edward arrives at Stamford. The rebels are arrayed at Empingham. Lord Welles and Sir Thomas Dymmock executed. Battle of Lose-Cote Field; rebels flee.
20 March: Edward marches from Doncaster to York. Warwick's fleet attack a Flemish convoy off Calais.
24 March: Edward gives Warwick and Clarence four days to submit.
Early May: Warwick arrives in Seine estuary.
25 July: Betrothal of Warwick's daughter to Margaret's son at Angers Cathedral.
End of July: Pro-Neville risings in the North Riding of Yorkshire and around Carlisle.
9 September: Warwick, Clarence and the Earls of Oxford and Pembroke sail from La Hogue.
13 September: Warwick makes land, possibly in Devon or Dartmouth.
2 October: Edward sails from Kings Lynn for Holland.

1471
February: Invasion fleet assembles at Flushing.
19 February: Edward leaves for his fleet.
2 March: Edward embarks on the Antony.
11-14 March: Edward's fleet sets sail for England and lands at Ravenspur.
2 April: Edward at Warwick Castle learns that Clarence is marching to his aid from Burford.
3 April: Edward, Clarence and Gloucester reunited.
5 April: The brothers leave Coventry.
12 April: Men arrive to swell Edward's army. Richard of Warwick reaches St. Albans.
14 April: Battle of Barnet. Edward defeats and kills Warwick. Margaret lands at Weymouth.
15 April: Edward returns to London. Henry VI is returned to the Tower.
19 April: Edward sets up headquarters at Windsor.
3 May: Margaret, in Berkeley, heads for Gloucester. Rebuffed, she marches to Tewkesbury. Edward marches to Cheltenham and thence to Tredington.
4 May: Battle of Tewkesbury.
7 May: Edward marches from Tewkesbury.
12 May: Fauconberg's forces demand entry into London, but are beaten off.
13 May: Rebel attack at Kingston rebuffed.
14 May: Second assault on London beaten off and rebels routed.
21 May: Edward arrives in London. Henry VI murdered in the Tower.

1483
Edward IV dies. Accession of Edward V.
Edward V never crowned. Accession of Richard III.