Commanders at Mortimer's Cross

Right, i've finally decided who will lead the right and left battles of Edward's army for my Mortimer's Cross project.

On the left, the leader shall be Sir William Herbert, lord of Raglan.

Why him? Well, he was one of the older men present on the field, about 38. He had lands in those parts too,  and later he became the earl of Penbroke when Jasper Tudor went into exile.

As for his coat of arms, all i could find were these; a shield, and some pictures of shields and heraldic devises at Raglan castle.

Not too bad, so i'll work with what i've got and say William's men will be wearing red and blue, like Edward. As for a badge, they can either wear one taken from a devise above, or use Edward's.

The commander of the right shall be John Stafford. Although the last son of a Lancastrian, he later became earl of Wiltshire, a title that James Butler of Ormond held, who happens to be at the Battle too.

Being part of the Stafford family, his badge is the Staffor knot.

Quite handy i have some men in black and red then! :-D

There were other candidates; William Hastings, but i discovered that before Towton he was a retainer to first Richard of York then to Edward, so probably fought will him. Humphrey Stafford was a retainer under John Stafford, so he was out. Then there was a certain John Grey of Wilton. Other than a coat of arms, i couldn't find out much about him. I know his father was still alive in 1461, so he was not a baron at the time, and seeing he was not really mentioned maybe suggests he was 'less important'. Still, i toyed will the idea that he was the commander of the right that got pushed back by Ormond's men so did not receive the attention or advances of the more successful Yorkists.

As for the Lancastrians, i found this, the arms of the Butler family.

So maybe Ormond's Anglo-Irish retinue will be dressed in blue and yellow?

As for Jasper and Owen Tudor, i'm tempted to do them in green and white, but i don't know if that's just Henry Tudor's colours. If i don't find anything, that will probably be the best resort. Many are militia though, so if they're not in uniform then no one will know!

As for the French and Breton mercenaries, well, they're a band of brutal cut throats, so maybe an old coat or coloured hose from when they fought for the French king!

Time to put my money where my mouth is and make some figures!