Sir Hugh Peshall and Sir William Stanley

I have nearly completed my Tudor/Lancastrian army for Bosworth and these two units get me to within sight of the end…before I start all over again with the Yorkists! This week I have Sir Hugh Peshall’s troops and those of Sir William Stanley.

I couldn’t find a banner for Peshall but I did have a description from one of the Heraldic Banners books by the Lance and Longbow Society. The description was clear enough for me to recreate the banner and be reasonably confident it is ‘close’ to accurate. Certainly close enough for a 1cm square flag! Sir Hugh was an indentured retainer of Lord Hastings so it's unsurprising he would be fighting for Henry Tudor following King Richard's execution of his former patron. Sir Hugh must have distinguished himself in the fighting at Bosworth because he was knighted later the same day.

Then we have Sir William Stanley, the younger brother of Thomas Stanley. He was a knight of the Body to Richard III and had received numerous land grants in the Welsh Marches. Despite this he eventually committed his forces to the battle, indeed his intervention tipped the balance at the crucial moment, ensuring victory for Henry Tudor. Despite this, he met an ignominious end just ten years later when he was executed for his part in the 1495 Perkin Warbeck conspiracy. Warbeck, for those that don’t know, was a pretender to the throne, claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower".

Because Sir William commands his own small army I have modeled him on his own base as a commander