While Henry had been in Brittany, he had also found a lot of support from France and protection from Brittany. Henry had remained in exile in Brittany for 14years. During this time, the Duke of Brittany provided, shelter, warmth, food and drink. When Henry decided to attack Richard, France gave Henry around 1,500 troops (although they were not of the best quality). France also provided the boats that Henry sailed across to England.
As well as the number of French troops he had, Henry Tudor also had a number of close supporters who had joined Henry in Brittany after the failed rebellion in 1483 against Richard III. About 400-500 supporters were in exile with Henry including the Earl of Oxford, Morton, Fox and his Uncle Jasper (Earl of Pembroke). Henry Tudor also had a number of supporters in England. However, many of them did not join in at the Battle of Bosworth because many were unsure whether Henry would succeed and if they did choose to support him and he ended up losing, they would also lose everything that they had. Henry was also depending on Lord Thomas Stanley and his troops who had promised to use his troops to back up Henry. However, Henry couldn’t be too sure on this as Richard III held Thomas Stanley’s son in captivity and Stanley was unlikely to help Henry unless he was certain Henry would win. In total, Henry had around 5,000 troops in his army and although this was quite a good amount, it was nothing compared to the 10000-1500 that Richard was supposed to have.
When it came to the Battle of Bosworth, Richard III was supposed to have a huge number of troops and therefore a big advantage. However, many of them were unfaithful and although he should have been stopped when marching through Wales, Henry and his troops walked right through to Bosworth without any problems. Richards unpopularity was shown therefore, especially when Rhys Ap Thomas let Henry through his land and didn’t fight against him. Henry also had some tactics when it came to the actual battle. Henry and a few horsemen and footmen stood at the edge of his troops, nearest to Thomas Stanley in an attempt to persuade Stanley and his troops to join his side in the battle. Henry had also placed his troops on the right side of a marsh to serve his men as a defensive wall. This also meant that the sun was behind his troops. However, even with all of these tactics, Henry was still thought to have little chance in succeeding. When the battle actually started, neither Thomas Stanley nor The Earl of Northumberland joined in the battle till the very end and therefore both Henry and Richards’ troops were equal giving Henry a much bigger chance. When Richard heard that Henry Tudor was at the side of the battle, he made a rash action and charged at Henry’s group with a number of horsemen to attack Henry. This may have been the main reason why Richard lost the battle that day. When Stanley saw that Richard had charged with only a few of his men at Henry, he took his troops and attacked Richard from the back therefore giving them no chance of survival. Richard was killed during the battle mainly because of his lack of troops, his mistake in charging at Henry personally and the fact that Thomas Stanley’s troops helped Henry at the end and attacked from behind.
Although all these reasons gave Henry all the chances at becoming King, I personally think that Henry would not have had a chance at becoming King if it wasn’t for the incident in 1483. If Richard had not taken the throne from his nephew, Henry would have had almost no chance in becoming King. This is also the same with Richard’s unpopularity. If Richard had been a popular King and hadn’t started the rumours or had the wrong favourites, it is likely that Richard would have at the time had a strong army behind him at the battle therefore giving Henry no chance to the throne. But, all the circumstances since 1483, helped Henry to winning the throne at the Battle of Bosworth and therefore legibly becoming King Henry VII.
