Page:Life and transactions of Mrs Jane Shore (3).pdf/23

 23

Richard with an army of double that number; and a decisive action was every hour expected between them. Lord Stanley, who commanded a body of 7000 men, posted himself at Atherston, not far from the hostile camps; and he made such a disposition as would enable him, on occasion, to join either party. Soon after the battle began, lord Stanley appeared in the field, and declared for the earl of Richmond. This measure, which was unexpected to the men, though not to the leaders, had a proportional effect on both armies. It inspired unusual courage into Henry's soldiers; it threw Richard's into dismay and confusion.-- The intrepid tyrant, sensible of his desperate situation, cast his eyes around the field, and, descrying his rival at no great distance, he drove against him with fury, in hope that either Henry's death or his own would decide the victory. He killed, with his own hands, Sir William Brandon, standard-bearer to the earl, and was now within reach of Henry himself, who declined not the combat; when Sir William Stanley, breaking in with his troops, surrounded Richard, who, fighting bravely to the last moment, was overwhelmed by numbers, and perished by a Fate too honourable for his multiplied and