On Christmas Eve, the Duke of York took up his position, at Sandal; and his friends, retainers, and tenants, speedily began to assemble around him. Margaret marched with diligence from York, {54a} with the Duke of Exeter, {54b} the Duke of Somerset, {54c} the Earl of Devonshire, {55} the Earl of Wiltshire, {56a} Lord Clifford, {56b} Lord Roos, {56c} the Earl of Northumberland, {57} and many of the knights and gentry of the northern parts, at the head of about 18,000 men, and advanced before Sandal, with the object of attacking him before his forces were fully mustered. It is certain that the Duke of York’s army was much inferior in numbers, and some accounts state, that he was only at the head of 5000 men. It is said that he was advised by his officers, in a council of war, not to risk an engagement, until his son Edward could arrive with the Welsh march-men. Several reasons have been conjectured, why the Duke of York came to the fatal conclusion, to hazard the chances of a battle; but it is very probable, that the true reason may be found, in the impossibility of provisioning a considerable body of troops, in the depth of winter, at Sandal, when no previous preparation had been made for them; or that he was ignorant of the great disproportion in numbers, between the two armies. Some of the historical accounts state, that he imagined that the main body of the Lancastrians who presented themselves and offered battle under the command of the Duke of Somerset, constituted all the army with which he had to fight, and that he was not aware of the fact, that there were other bodies of troops on each of its flanks, but at some distance, and concealed from his observation, one commanded by the Earl of Wiltshire, and the other by Lord Clifford. It is not, however, very easy to understand, how it could be possible, with the advantage of overlooking the flat country occupied by the Lancastrians, that two considerable bodies of them could be so placed, as to be near enough to assist the main body, without being observed by him. Sandal Castle stood upon an eminence upon which the Yorkists were posted, which extends a considerable distance, and gradually slopes down towards the meadows on the northward, and towards Wakefield on the north-westward side. Having determined on a battle, the duke and his forces, on the 31st {58a} of December, 1460, descended the eminence and furiously attacked the Lancastrians. The battle was fought at the place then called Wakefield Green, {58b} and the result was such as might have been foreseen. His array nearly surrounded and overwhelmed by numbers, was completely defeated.