After the Battle of Ferrybridge, the Yorkists repaired the bridge and pressed onwards to camp overnight at Sherburn-in-Elmet. The Lancastrian army marched to Tadcaster and made camp. As dawn broke the two rival armies struck camp under dark skies and strong winds. On reaching the battlefield the Yorkists found themselves heavily outnumbered. Part of their force under the Duke of Norfolk had yet to arrive. The Yorkist leader Lord Fauconberg turned the tables by ordering his archers to take advantage of the strong wind to outrange their enemies. The one-sided missile exchange, with Lancastrian arrows falling short of the Yorkist ranks, provoked the Lancastrians into abandoning their defensive positions. The ensuing hand-to-hand combat lasted hours, exhausting the combatants. The arrival of Norfolk's men reinvigorated the Yorkists and, encouraged by Edward, they routed their foes. Many Lancastrians were killed while fleeing; some trampled one another and others drowned in the rivers, which are said to have run red with blood for several days. Several who were taken prisoner were executed. It was "probably the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil". The strength of the House of Lancaster was severely reduced as a result of this battle. Henry and Margaret fled to Scotland and many of the most powerful Lancastrian followers were dead or in exile after the engagement, leaving a new king, Edward IV, to rule England.