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This battle at Barnet did not resolve the Wars of the Roses but it was nethertheless of enormous significance.

The scene was now set for a major confrontation between Edward and his erstwhile ally, the Earl of Warwick. The Yorkist proximity to the Lancastrians proved fortuitous as the artillery bombardment that Warwick now launched passed over the heads of Edward’s troops. Whether by accident or design he deployed very close to Warwick’s lines, down in a marshy valley, instructing his men to light no fires and keep silent. In spite of the dark Edward chose to deploy his troops on arrival rather than wait for the morning. Edward arrived that evening with a force of between 10,000 - 12,000 troops and took up position to the south of the Lancastrians. With a Lancastrian army of some 15,000 troops he took up position about a mile north of Barnet on 13 April. Aware of Edward’s movements, the Earl of Warwick, who had been in the Midlands raising troops, marched towards London to confront him. Edward reached London unopposed on 12 April. Landing in Yorkshire Edward assembled troops and equipment and headed south, gathering more troops as he went. In March 1471 Edward returned to England, with the assistance of his brother-in-law the Duke of Burgundy. A resurgence of Lancastrian activity over the course of the next year resulted in Warwick driving Edward from England in October 1470 and restoring Henry to the throne. This break in allegiance was good news for the Lancastrian cause which grumbled on despite Henry VI being imprisoned in the Tower and most of the principals being in exile abroad. Once Edward’s most loyal ally Warwick was now a bitter enemy. The alliance between King Edward IV and the powerful earl of Warwick was broken by 1469. King Edward IV's Yorkist army defeated a Lancastrian force and killed its commander, the Earl of Warwick, as the first step to securing the crown following Edward IV's return from exile.