Battle of Pelargir

The Battle of Pelargir was the battle in which Aragorn and the Grey Company, with the aid of the Army of the Dead, drove away the Corsairs from Gondor's coastal city of Pelargir.

History

Prelude

After Aragorn had summoned the Army of the Dead at the Stone of Erech with Gimli, Legolas, the sons of Elrond, and the Grey Company, they planned their next move. Aragorn had discovered when using the palantír that a fleet of Haradrim Corsairs of Umbar was making its way up the Anduin to reinforce the Enemy, who had overrun the Pelennor and besieged Minas Tirith. Thus, Aragorn and company decided to intercept this fleet before it reached Minas Tirith, and then hopefully use the enemy vessels to swiftly move up the Anduin and break the siege. As they made their way through Gondor's southern provinces, they gradually gathered more and more reinforcements.

The battle

On March 13, 3019, Aragorn along with the Grey Company, and their new reinforcements including archers from the Blackroot Vale near Erech and infantry from Lebennin and Lamedon, finally intercepted the enemy fleet at Pelargir, a famous port city on the lower Anduin known for its skilled mariners. The Corsairs had foolishly delayed their arrival at the Pelennor by stopping at port towns along their way to loot and pillage them. While they were just about to do the same at Pelargir, Aragorn's forces arrived just in time to give them battle in the streets and harbour of the city. The moderately sized force of Aragorn was able to triumph over the much greater Corsair force by systematically defeating small units of men who were spread throughout the city. The Army of the Dead's chief weapon was fear, which drove the Corsairs manning the ships to flee their vessels and jump overboard, without giving battle. In just a short time, Aragorn's forces had freed Pelargir from the Corsair threat and had wrested control of their vessels, opening the way to a speedy relief of the Siege of Minas Tirith.

Afterward

Aragorn's army, now reinforced with mariners from Pelargir, could now sail up the Anduin unopposed, but first Aragorn had to disband the very useful Army of the Dead. Instead of taking them to fight at the Pelennor Fields, Aragorn decided to hold their oath fulfilled and thus freed them of their living death, much to their King's satisfaction. With the Corsair force defeated, Aragorn's army quickly loaded the vessels at Pelargir and set off up the Anduin to relieve the siege of Minas Tirith.

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