This, the first actual confrontation (and 'most serious incident to date') between the two families, in response to the marriage of Thomas Neville and Maud, a marriage which Griffiths has said must have been 'obnoxious' to the Percys, and particularly Thomas Percy, 1st Baron Egremont. This clash, on 24 August 1453, has been described as having the intention of 'the destruction of the entire Neville party' on the latter's way to the Neville stronghold of Sheriff Hutton Castle; it is, says Griffiths 'unclear' as to whether the Earl of Northumberland was party to Egremont's plans. Since only five members of the wedding party are ever named as being present by contemporary chroniclers, it is impossible to assess the strength of their force—Griffiths suggests 'their retinues must have impressive.' It has been suggested that the earl of Salisbury was personally targeted for attack by one Sir William Buckton, due to the fact that at the later indictments, his name was individually recorded as being "contra comite Sarum in campo" (‘against the earl of Salisbury in the field’).