Losecote Field

Battlefield

What is recorded here

At Losecote Field near Empingham on 12 March 1470, Edward IV quickly broke the Lincolnshire rebels led by Sir Robert Welles. The victory ended the rising and exposed the part played by Warwick and Clarence, helping to force both men out of England.

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Why they fought

A local quarrel in Lincolnshire widened into rebellion against Edward IV. Sir Robert Welles gathered the rebel host, while the king chose to meet the challenge himself after escaping the Earl of Warwick's control. Evidence after the clash connected Warwick and the king's brother Clarence to the rising.

The forces and their positions

Edward reached Stamford and sent his leading troops to locate Welles. They found the rebels beside the Great North Road near Empingham, around five miles away, and the rest of the royal army moved up. The open ground gave the king room to place a trained force directly across the rebels' path.

How the battle unfolded

The rebel line advanced while calling on Clarence and Warwick. A single royal volley appears to have broken its order, after which the force fled rather than sustaining a long fight. The familiar tale that fleeing men cast off their coats is a later explanation of the field name and is not secure.

The result

Edward won a sharp and complete victory. Welles and other leaders were caught and put to death, while many ordinary followers were spared. Papers or testimony obtained after the battle pushed Warwick and Clarence to escape to France.

Why it mattered

The action ended the Lincolnshire rising and briefly restored the king's control during a dangerous split among the Yorkist leaders. Its exact location beside the main road explains how Edward found and stopped the rebels before they could move farther. The place also guards against treating the doubtful coat story as the battle's only meaning.