The Battle of Buckingham was fought in the spring of 881 AD when the army of King Alfred the Great of Wessex engaged in a final battle against the Danish army of King Copsig of Bedeborg at Buckingham in Buckinghamshire, England. The Anglo-Saxons destroyed the already-depleted Danish army, recapturing Buckingham and putting an end to the petty kingdom of Bedeborg.
Background[]
King Alfred the Great of Wessex began a campaign to conquer the Midlands in 879 AD, taking advantage of disunity and warfare between the Danish city-states in the region. His first conquest was Buckingham, a small town in the realm of Bedeborg, ruled by King Copsig; he then continued on north to take Northampton and destroy Heimiliborg's last army at the Battle of Kelmarsh in 880 AD. At the end of that year, he captured Bedeborg's last stronghold of Bedford and dealt Ledeborg a resounding defeat at the Battle of Cambridge, going on to capture Ledeborg's undefended towns of Ely and Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire. Despite these conquests, he was - for a considerable period of time - unable to confront King Copsig of Bedeborg's Danish army, which had been wandering around the Midlands in search of allies. Ultimately, King Copsig took advantage of Alfred's campaigning in Cambridgeshire to invade Bedfordshire, sacking Bedford before moving into Buckinghamshire and occupying Buckingham. This temporarily re-established Bedeborg as a landholding principality, but King Alfred and his army quickly marched southwest to confront the Danes of Bedeborg at their last stronghold.
Battle[]
Dead Danes at Buckingham
King Alfred deployed his army in an extended line with his cavalry positioned on the right flank, where they were in a position to outflank the Danes when the battle began. King Alfred ordered his infantry to advance and attack the Bedeborger army in detail, with multiple companies of West Saxon soldiers charging singled-out Bedeborger companies. Meanwhile, the West Saxon cavalry charged around the Danish flank before charging into their rear, massacring them from behind. The Danes were enveloped and slaughtered, with 252 being slain and 39 being captured and recruited into Alfred's army; Alfred lost just 29 dead in the battle, which was a one-sided victory for Wessex. Copsig was among the Danish dead, and the destruction of his army and the fall of Buckingham resulted in Bedeborg being eliminated.
Aftermath[]
The conquest of Bedeborg left the Midlands firmly in West Saxon control, with King Alfred leading his army north to Northampton, where they encamped and replenished their numbers. Meanwhile, he ordered counteroffensives against the Nordmann invaders in Hampshire and the Gliwissig rebels in South Wales, continuing to bring his enemies to heel.