supplies. As one of the three field commanders, Neville had been put on the royal council since 30 April, on Warwick's death, before a new regent could emerge. In October, Fauconberg helped recapture Harfleur, expelling the French garrison; only Dieppe remained intransigent. The field commander's pre-eminence was supplanted in March 1442 by the appointment of William, Lord Bourgchier, as governor-general of Normandy. On 7 March 1443, while back in England, he took custody of Roxburgh Castle. He was granted £1,000 per annum (around £1,000,000 at 2005 prices) during peacetime, twice this if at war with Scotland, and until 1448, satisfactory payment was made. However, in 1449, he returned to France as part of a diplomatic mission, and in May 1449 he spent the night that the French chose to capture Pont de l'Arche in Normandy. One hundred and twenty men were taken in all. Neville was reluctant to surrender to a lowly archer, who almost killed him. While in captivity in France, he spent two years of his own income supporting the upkeep of the castle. In spite of a grant from Parliament in 1449, by 1451 he was owed £4,109. He was forced to settle for less. The loss of such an experienced captain was a blow to English administration. The English had already lost the Bretons for taking their salt fleet, and then in July 1449, Somerset refused Fauconberg's return in a deal for Fougeres. In 1453, he was ransomed (for 8,000 French ecus) and freed from captivity. He still had the custody of Roxburgh Castle, but was impoverished by maintaining this and by his captivity in France. By now, he was owed £1,000 by the government. He settled this by accepting a grant of 1,000 marks from the customs at Newcastle. Not only was this only worth about two-thirds of the original amount, there was no guarantee that he would ever get the money. As Griffths says, "What is so remarkable about his tale is that the Lancastrian crown could command [his] loyalty". Alliance with York Until this point, he can be seen as a loyal supporter of the House of Lancaster. However, at some time during the next two years, his allegiance began to shift. He was a member of the council of Richard, Duke of York, during Henry VI's second period of madness. Although he was with the Lancastrian nobility at the First Battle of