Battle of the Pelennor Fields
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| Battle of the Pelennor Fields | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 The initial siege as shown in Peter Jackson's films. | |||
| Conflict: War of the Ring | |||
| Date: March 14-15 TA 3019 | |||
| Place: The Pelennor Fields (initially Minas Tirith) | |||
| Outcome: victory for the men of the West | |||
| Combatants | |||
| Gondor | Mordor | ||
| Commanders | |||
| Gandalf
| Witch-king of Angmar† | ||
| Strength | |||
| 10,000-15,000 Men of Gondor, Lossarnach, Knights of Dol Amroth under Imrahil (700 Knights )+ Man at arms and others, 6,000 Rohirrim, later reinforced by the Southern army of Gondor under Aragorn's command (numbers unknown, possibly in the thousands) | About 200,000+ Orcs, 18,000 Haradrim, all Nine Nazgûl, Trolls, at least a thousand Easterlings, and a few hundred men of Hildorien, unknown number of Wargs, and Mûmakil | ||
| Casualties | |||
| Heavy, 6000+ ( one third of the rohirrim ) | Partial destruction of besieging force, survivors scattered | ||
| |||
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields was a battle for the city of Minas Tirith during the War of the Ring. It was the greatest battle of the War of the Ring, and indeed the largest of the entire Third Age. Many casualties have been also mentioned here including the Men of Southern Gondor, some Riders of Rohan, the King Théoden and the Witch-king of Angmar.
On the morning of March 10, 3019, the Dawnless Day started. Sauron sent forth a large mass of cloud to cover the lands of Gondor and Rohan. Sauron's purpose is to spread fear and uncertainty among his enemies, especially the Men of Gondor, as well as aid the orcs. The forces of Mordor arrived in two fronts: the army of the Lord of the Nazgul that came forth from Minas Morgul, and another one from the river Anduin from Umbar, which is the ships of the Corsairs. On March 13, 3019, the Siege of Gondor began, and on the morning of March 15, the Rohan army arrived with 6,000 riders. While this was not enough for a decisive turn of the battle, it held the enemy off until the Umbar ships arrived, carrying, instead of corsairs, Aragorn and the Grey Company, leading a large number of Minas Tirith's allies.
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[edit] Background
The War of the Ring is declared at June 20, 3018: Sauron sent the Nine Nazgul in search for the One Ring, which is believed to be in the possession of a person named Baggins in the Land of Shire. The city of Osgiliath was attacked by the forces of Mordor, in the hopes of making a diversion for the Ringwraiths. However, the sons of steward Denethor II drove the enemy in the east bank of the river and destroyed the great bridge of the city.
Nine months passed after the little skirmish in Osgiliath, Sauron's fallen ally, Saruman the White, sent a large army to invade all of Rohan. They were, however, defeated by the forces of the Rohirrim in the Battle of Helm's Deep. This made the Dark Lord's anger to increase a hundredfold: he decides it was time to prepare the greatest assault to be ever seen in Middle-earth: an assault against Mordor's greatest enemy, Gondor. Aragorn revealing himself through the Stone of Orthanc hurried him into action, making him send his armies before the full force was prepared.
Due to the threat of a huge fleet gathered by Umbar, the allied forces of Minas Tirith sent far less people that expected. Lossarnach, for example, only sent 200 people, a tenth of what was expected, and less that 3,000 arrived in all.
[edit] The Dawnless Day
- "Nay, this is no weather of the world. This is some device of his malice, some broil of fume from the Mountain of Fire that he sends to darken hearts and councel"
- —Beregond
There was no dawn between March 9 and 10. This is the day which is called the "Dawnless Day". A large cloud from Mordor silently crept over the lands of Rohan and Gondor, covering the sunlight, preventing it from penetrating the clouds. Sauron's purpose is to spread fear and uncertainty among the Rohirrim and the Men of Gondor, and also to make his own orc forces more comfortable. At that same day, an army from the Black Gate emerged and captured the island of Cair Andros. The purpose is two-fold: to prevent the Rohirrim from entering Anorien and at the same time guarding the northern regions of Gondor. The Muster of Rohan, led by King Theoden left the camp of Dunharrow at that same day; while the beacons of Gondor were lit up one day before.
At the same day, the ring-bearer Frodo Baggins and his friend Samwise Gamgee approached Minas Morgul, with their guide Gollum. When they arrived, they saw a red flash issuing from beyond the eastern mountains, probably from Orodruin, answered by lightning and blue flame issuing from Minas Morgul and the surrounding hills, as well as screams of the Nazgul. The Witch-king of Angmar emerged from the city on a black horse, accompanied by a large army stated to be larger that any coming from the vale since the times of Isildur, and others, sometimes even larger, were stated to be sent by Mordor, presumably from Morannon as well.
[edit] Fall of Osgiliath
- "They have paid dear for the crossing, but less dearly than we hoped."
- —Faramir'smessenger
At March 9, Faramir sent his forces to reinforce the Osgiliath garrison, expecting a blow there. After giving a report to Denethor, he left on March 11 to command the garrison. That night, the enemies attacked. The Dunedain expected the enemy to attack there in force, since any other place on Anduin would have required a very large number of boats to cross. However, they didn't expect that the enemy already built many boats in secret, and were attacked with more forces (and from more directions) than expected.
On March 12, Faramir retreated to the Causeway Forts. There, he did his best to hold the rearguard lest the retreat turn into a rout. However, he was wounded on the approach to Minas Tirith.
[edit] Siege of Minas Tirith and the Fall of Rammas Echor
What the Men of Gondor feared came: the army of Mordor approached Minas Tirith and breached the wall of the city, the Rammas Echor. They also started dismantling it completely, an action which later contributed to their own undoing. A large force was sent to guard the northern roads against possible reinforcements for Rohan. It put trenches and stakes on the road, enough to halt any charge.
After that, the enemy started building large catapults, a task which no engines in Minas-Tirith managed to hinder. While no missile from a catapult could have damaged the wall, built with Numenorian stonecraft and as strong as the walls of Orthanc, the catapults were powerful enough to throw incendiary missiles over the walls, setting part of the city afire. After that, they launched a salvo of the heads of those slain by them in the previous battle, to demoralize the enemy.
In his despair, Denethor refused to lead the people, resulting in Gandalf commanding the defenders. Thousands of orcs and maybe hundreds of Men of Gondor were killed during a prolonged shoot out. Mighty siege towers rolled onwards to the walls, but those were mainly a distraction and a test of Gondor's strength. The main assault was launched against the Gate - the only vulnerable point in the wall. A giant battering ram named Grond, in honor of Morgoth's hammer, was used. It was a hundred feet in length. The Gate was strong enough to withstand several hits from the ram, but with the Witch-king of Angmar adding his sorcery to the power of the strike, it was eventually broken. The Nazgul leader entered the city, with all fleeing before him, save Gandalf upon the Shadowfax. At this exact moment, the horn of the Rohirrim sounded, making him leave to join the battle against them. Still, the assault of his forces continued.
[edit] Arrival of Rohan
Unknown to both Gondor and Mordor, the Drúedain showed Rohan an old forgotten road built by the Dunedain long ago, and forgotten by all save the Wild Men. This allowed the Rohirrim to circumvent the defenses on the northern road, and attack the enemy from the rear. Due to the enemy dismantling the walls of Pelennor, they could not mount a strong defense quickly, and Rohan forces quickly overran the northern half of Pelennor. However, after forcing the retreat of the Haradrim cavalry, they were halted by the appearance of the Witch King. He mortally wounded Theoden the King, before being slain himself by Eowyn and Meriadoc.
After that, the Rohirrim, under the command of Eomer, continued their assault, while the Footmen of Gondor launched their own counterattack. Still, even so, they were outmatched, as the enemy recovered quickly from the loss of their commander, and had enough space and strength to regroup. As the tide of battle turned against Gondor, they saw a new sight, one which made them lose all hope. The ships of Umbar were coming.
Yet, even as the forces of the West prepared for a last stand, a new sight greeted them, one which surprised both sides.
[edit] The final stage
Neither side knew that Aragorn and the Grey Company, with the help of the Army of the Dead, took over the fleet of the Corsairs, and, after loading them with as many allies of Minas-Tirith as possible, carried them to the battle. Upon them arriving, the enemy has found itself in a very disadvantageous position, with their enemies where (and when) least expected. The Armies of the Dead and the extra reinforcements brought in by Aragorn punched a wide salient within the most vulnerable area of the Mordor-host, severing the forces nearer to Minas Tirith and the ones close to the River Anduin. The Men of Gondor and the Rohirrim exploited this tactical advantage to the fullest, utterly routing the enemy with prolonged infantry charges and cavalry pursuit. The tactical and moral advantage granted by that was sufficient to turn the battle into a rout of the Mordor host. Most, if all of the Mordor-host was slain and lay on colossal carrion piles while the few stragglers crossed the Anduin through Osghiliath or on barges. However, one crucial delaying action was critical to the survival of the Enemy and thus prolonged the War of the Ring. A 7000-strong force of Easterlings, with their backs to the River Anduin, halted and fought to the last man while their Orc and Haradrim companions-at-arms retreated like sheep pursued by wolves. While they were utterly wiped out by the now-numerically superior Armies of the West, they inflicted considerable casualties among their foes and bought critically important time for their comrades. The battle was over by sunset, with most enemies dead and but a few fleeing.
[edit] Losses
The Dark Host was lost all but completely. Few ever made it to Mordor, and fewer still survived of the Haradrim forces. However, it was but a fraction of the forces of Sauron, although probably a significant portion of those who were armed. Most important to Sauron was the loss of his mightiest servant, the Witch King. While the manpower losses were considerable (virtually the entire nation of Harad was annihilated on the Pelennor Fields), it was only a temporary check and delay for Sauron on the manpower issue. He could afford to take millions of casualties while his foes could only spare thousands in battle, and thus he retained a considerable advantage over his opponents. On the other hand, however, the loss of the Witch-king was a massive blow to both his ego and his confidence; no longer would his armies trample the Men of Gondor into the dust so easily.
The losses of the West were significant. In addition to the lost commanders, it was said by Eomer later that not 4,000 Riders were combat worthy, and the losses in other forces was probably considerable, as well. However, despite that, with the newcomers from Southern Gondor and more arriving by previous orders of Aragorn, even with all the losses of the battle and the 7,000 going for Morannon, the city was estimated to be better defended that before the battle, discounting, perhaps, the loss of the Gate.
[edit] Trivia
| Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. |
The Led Zeppelin song, "The Battle of Evermore", may have been about this battle, as it makes references in the lyrics to the Ringwraiths, a walled city, and a battle on a vast plain.
